Sat nav/GPS?

[vanderlyle]

Hi all,

I'm in the market for a budget Sat Nav. Anyone had any experience with this one - See lowest price for Garmin Nuvi 255W Auto / Road GPS (http://ubuyhardware.com/p~p-719613444~b-11210000~Garmin-Nuvi-255W-Auto--Road-GPS.aspx) ? Are Garmin reputable?

Thanks!

[sashadidi]

Hi all,

I'm in the market for a budget Sat Nav. Anyone had any experience with this one - See lowest price for Garmin Nuvi 255W Auto / Road GPS (http://ubuyhardware.com/p~p-719613444~b-11210000~Garmin-Nuvi-255W-Auto--Road-GPS.aspx) ? Are Garmin reputable?

Thanks!yes

[kenleyfred]

Civilian availability started with Garmin and then Magellen. Garmin are probably the longest serving company making them. I have had a few. They have all been fautless.

The above is to the best of my memory.When I got my first in '94/95 I don't rmember any other manufacturers.
Kenley

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Look here--
and support AULRO
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/gps/86836-aulro-subscriber-offer-cheap-road-off-road-gps-units.html

[Stuck]

I can't comment on the Nuvi but Garmin are one of the bigger and more reputable names in the marine electronics industry. I've had Garmin in my boats for years and they've been excellent, I can't see their land based gear being much different. Their service back up is good too.
Cheers,
Anthony.

[austastar]

Hi,
they are good BUT not perfect.
They are fine to follow if you don't know where you are, but the information loaded into the unit MAY not be correct
e.g. Road junctions may not be as indicated (ie turn/noturn)
Small roads (such as slip roads) may/maynot be as indicated
Don't rely on indicated speed limits (eg Garmin Nuvi) they are just not ALL correct. Some are spot on but the data set is fragmented.

To most experienced users the errors are obvious because of the hilarious instructions given (Never take GPS instructions as being infallible)

They are however a very useful tool to help YOU do the navigating.

cheers

[richard4u2]

i have the mio c220 but the cost of a map upgrade is stupid so now i use my nokia 6720c phone with a free life time map upgrade

[robertj]

I have a garmin nuvi 5000 with off road mapping and its been great, also took it to Europe, Uk and Ireland using Garmin mapping I bought on ebay. Covered 5500kms faultlessly except for a couple of new intersections but this issue is the mapping and not the unit.
I have my unit wired up with a reversing camera so I can see the tow ball.

[scrambler]

I have a nuvi 250 and it's good - the 255 has street names in the directions and a couple of other minor improvements. There is a 255W (widescreen) as well, but IMHO there's no practical advantage to the widescreen.

I have 2 Nuvi's - a 760 as well which has more tracking and routing options as well as widescreen, plus entertainment for the kids (broadcast MP3s etc). That's in the wife's care and I get the basic model. They work equally well with routing etc. No satnav is perfect and you need to accept that they won't find the fastest (even if you tell them to) or shortest (again, even if you tell them to) route. but mapping failures aside they WILL get you where you want to go.

Garmin maps are available FREE for many areas - the format is essentially Open Source.

Open Street Map Australia (http://www.osmaustralia.org/garmin.php)

Shonkymaps by Shonkylogic (http://shonkylogic.net/shonkymaps/)

The Sensis maps they ship with are decent but certainly not perfect. Make sure you load MapSource BEFORE you use the free update voucher, as that way you get a map on your computer as well as on your device.

GPS Australia - Free and Legit Copy of Mapsource