Garmin nuvi 250W review

Average user rating

8.2

excellent

Average user rating from 6 users

See all user reviews

Agree? Disagree? Write your own review of the Garmin nuvi 250W

Rate this product

Garmin nuvi 250W user reviews

March 4, 2008

Posted by: Pontiac76

"Entirely delightful"

What I like:

Wide screen, able to move the map around, top view or 3D view

What I don't like:

Won't work as a tall-screen

Review:

*NOTE* Although this is a UK site, I live in Canada, and base these experiences on my living in Canada. I can't see that the UK model would be very much different.

All-in-all:
For the price of the unit (I paid just over $150cdn for it) for a first time user to a GPS device, this is a great beginners unit to start with. Myself, as I've experience with a PC running GPS software, theres a few features I find lacking that I mentioned below, but I am very happy with the unit and don't consider it a waste of money in the least.

History:
I'd been using Microsoft Streets and Trips (S&T) since version 2005 when it first came with the GPS unit. Loved it, although I got pretty annoyed with it later on though. Problems were that I had to lug a notebook around, and have to pull over to make even the smallest adjustments to my routing, wires hanging all over the place, the inverter made a LOT of noise (Inverter=Convert 12v DC electricity from the car battery to 120v AC electricity) Not to mention that the software loved taking me down country roads!!! I HATE dirt on my car, not to mention the pot holes that show up when it rains! Then theres the issue of finding a place to hide the notebook when I'm not in the car for an extended period of time. Also, no auto-reroute available in any version from 2005-2007, just constant "OFF ROUTE" being said when I decide to detour. Manual intervention had to occur for the software to pick up to reroute. So, since the release of S&T 2007 (Which still doesn't have the auto-reroute), I'd been looking to get a real GPS unit.

I had a LOT of hesitation with the thought of getting a dedicated GPS unit, because I'd fear having street maps from the 70s, lack of upgradeability for maps and additional tools that may come along, and lacking in functionality as a whole, and it potentially favor my going down country roads. The fear of not being able to see the screen on a very bright sunny day was a very big deal. Since my sunglasses were polarized, the screen on the laptop was usually black while I had the glasses on, so with the GPS unit, that was another concern. I'd never had long time exposure with an actual GPS unit, other than my Dads for about 20 minutes, which was the time taken from departure to arrival to where I purchased this Garmin Nuvi 250W.

Pros:
The things I LIKE about this unit is, since I'm a geek, I have full access to ALL files on this unit which means I MIGHT be able to hack and slash at some of this and make some custom mods for it. I downloaded the update software from the Garmin site and had it working within minutes, without ANY issues what so ever (This was done on my PC). Other bonuses include being able to adjust the contrast of the display, so on bright sunny days, I can turn the LCD up to 100% and still see everything clear as day (No pun intended). One of the less thought of features in a GPS unit is the MUTE function, but its quite nice to get to the mute function with three button pushes (And another two buttons to get back to the map). My wife and I talk with each other a lot while on the road, and having the GPS unit talk over us is rather annoying. ;) Another PRO for this unit is battery life. For a test, I took the unit, fully charged, and went for a drive without the unit plugged into the cigarette plug. It lasted for better than an hour on its own. I didn't drain it as I had completed my trip. I don't remember how far along the battery use went, but I was still impressed. Oh, and polarized glasses have no effect on the ability to see the screen.

For some people, its important to keep track of trip mileage while on the road. This unit has the ability to keep track of your current trip, and report on your overall average speed, moving speed average, moving time, total time, stopped time, and max speed. It even has an odometer reading, current speed reading, as well as current direction (N/NE/E/SE/S/SW/W/NW).

I mentioned my dads GPS un