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Honestly, make the wrong turn just once and you will appreciate this feature. This Nuvi is small enough to put in your pocket, you honestly don't need the manual to use it, free traffic information LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION, no extra fees, this is a great GPS. We already had a simpler Nuvi, the 200, and got this one because we were planning a trip to Europe and this one has a European database built in. Also it has a hands-free bluetooth phone built in, that works fine, we get tickets in California if we talk on a cell phone without a hands free device so that is good to have. I can't think of another feature I would want. Also the MAIN feature this one has that we wanted was for the voice to read the street names, not just say "In 200 yards, turn left." because it is easy to goof the street when you don't know which one is coming up. Now it says "turn left on Hoover Street" and that is a huge help.
I was surprised how useful the info provided by the Garmin was compared to the two nav units (Nissan & Honda) in my automobiles. Of particular usefulness was the speed limit indicator and speed camera alert. After downloading the US and European map updates (it takes awhile) I practiced with the unit on a few local trips.
The real "proof in the pudding" came in our rental car. On several occasions while driving in small towns with very narrow winding streets I missed a turn or two (well, maybe three), the Garmin always found a quick re-route to get us back on track -- trust me in this -- it knows better than you which streets are one way and which are not. Simply put, the nuvi 275T lived up to my every expectation.
I purchased the nuvi 275T for a trip to France this past spring. In France unit worked very well for walking around Paris in the pedestrian mode -- just don't expect to get more than four hours useful time if you leave it on continuously. I have read on a couple of travel sites that implied the Garmin was better in the US but the Tom Tom was better in Europe -- I find it hard to believe that the Tom Tom could be better than perfect -- because that's what the Garmin was.
Everything worked as expected, even the FM traffic updates (you won't get these in Europe unless you subscribe to the service for that area -- unnecessary, in my opinion). No more high priced OEM navigators for me.
I was inspired to purchase the Garmin because a friend has one and I think it is AWESOME. I have only had the opportunity to use mine a couple of times.
It got me to where I wanted but it did take me to a road that came to a river w/ no bridge. I was in Czech & Poland & it took longer than expected. Took me thru winding roads, round a bouts, etc. However, there was a two car ferry nearby that I paid 2 euros to drive onto. The GPS worked and brought me to my destination w/in a few yards.The only complaint I have about this is that it doesn't work that well in eastern Europe as the maps are not as detailed. I bought this for the purpose of going to Europe & doing a road trip there.
The Google map was off by 1 mile while the GPS took me to w/in a few yds of my destination.Back to European driving, it worked well as expected. The reason I know is a friend took a bus to meet me in Poland and the bus took less time. I tested here when I went to Chicago & it worked flawlessly, Although driving in downtown Chicago w/ high skyscrapers can take driving a few blocks to p/up the satellite. I had a spiral bound paper Europe map and I saw that the major highways were faster but some how the GPS took me down to off beaten roads (my setting was Fastest Time). To be fair, the GPS manual did say that maps for Western & Central Europe are in details but not so for Eastern Europe so just an FYI.I also recommend a paper map in case you see bad weather ahead & decide to take a different & farther route to avoid storms. I did come across a conflict between the GPS & the Google map I had printed.
You can set Fastest Time, Least Fuel & two other options.
You would think that the GPS would have to be accurate based on technology, but who knows. As a conclusion, I would think that the database used by Garmin is not as good as the one used by Magellan.Also, an interesting thing I noticed is that the speed displayed by my car is different from the speedometer by 2-3 mph. It seems that I can do better with my own experience.The menu is OK, but not any better than the Magellan 800 (not more intuitive or less, just different) and it could use some improvement in the way it's organized.My children find it fun to be able to change the car on the display and the voices too (same language) -after download-.Naturally, this Garmin is better than nothing. The GPS displays slower.Speed limits for the road are sometimes wrong (again bad database since some of the speed limits on the roads have been there for years), so don't rely on the posted speed limit of the road on the GPS.I'm not as pleased with this Garmin now as I was with my Magellan at the time I got it. The fresh download of the US map did not improve the map accuracy. I have an old Magellan 800.This Nuvi 275 is faster, better on batteries and smaller, BUT the maps are simply not very good.
I guess the other ones were Garmins.You would think that several years later, all maps would have improved, but not so.Also, the traffic awareness system (not the one you pay for from MS) does not seem to be that effective. Now, I'm not sure which one is more accurate. It often drives me 1/4 mile from destination and some parts of the maps don't even show shopping malls decades old.Although my Magellan is several years old and I have not updated the maps, I have had very good luck with accuracy of the destination and being able to find most of everything I was targeting.Based on this experience, I am inclined to purchase a Magellan next time I want to get another one.This Nuvi is better than my Magellan 800 in most aspects, but the maps seem 80% accurate when the Magellan 800 is more like 95% accurate. Download was not that smooth. It feels like Garmin may be over-rated in general and that the others (Magellan and Tom Tom) may be under-rated. With the Magellan, I was also able to find places, I was told, most GPS units were unable to find.
It's good on batteries and it's small, so not so hard to bring with you.If the maps were better than the Magellan 800 that is several years old, I would give it a 5 star (even if the traffic awareness system is not so helpful).-> Please note: even if you have both Europe and the US maps on here, you only get a free update for only 1 of the 2 after you register the item.
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