491 responses so far ↓

• 1 Phil Corcoran // Jul 23, 2007 at 5:16 pm

  A good detailed write-up which certainly sold me on the device. Unfortunately Lemon Digital, recommended above doesn’t seem to stock them. Elsewhere they are £212.

• 2 Dean // Jul 23, 2007 at 5:26 pm

  Hi Phil,

  I checked with Lemon Digital. They do have the Garmin Nuvi 250W in stock but it is not listed on their web site yet. It should be on their web site in the next day or two. Give them a call if you have any queries. They’re very helpful.

• 3 lemon digital // Jul 26, 2007 at 8:23 am

  Hello all! The Garmin nuvi 250w is now live. With a new updated price too!

• 4 Magdalena // Aug 3, 2007 at 8:05 pm

  Very hard to get hold of at the moment but worth searching for. Very good!

• 5 Ken Hallett // Oct 6, 2007 at 12:15 am

  Informative write-up.I purchased a Nuvi 250W best thing I did..a great package. Lemon Digital was a good price..but I bettered it and receive a free PC link cable as well. Have booke marked your site for future reports.

• 6 when driving cant get any sound whats wrong volume is switched to 80 // Oct 6, 2007 at 10:06 pm

  when driving why isnt there any volume even thou volume is switched up what am i doing wrong

• 7 Dean // Oct 7, 2007 at 8:22 am

  When you first switch on the Garmin touch the speaker icon in the bottom right of the screen.

  Do you see a MUTE box?
  If so make sure it does not have a check in it.

  Let me know if that helps at all.

• 8 Bernie Donnelly (GA/USA) // Oct 11, 2007 at 5:50 pm

  Excellent Review…………………….

  For Any USA Readers

  UPS just delivered mine from QVC………
  Special Value of the Day this past Friday
  $289.00 US From the prices I am seeing elsewhere
  this seems like a good price + 6 egual monthly
  payments. I am retiring my Cobra Nav One which has served me well for the past 2 years.
  My only dissatisfatction from the initial playing
  around would have been the USB cable also but
  fortunatley all my blackberry accessories are compatable, The lack of the MP3 capability which it seems most of the Tour Guide POI’s require, and a little more in-depth user guide although the touch screen interface is super easy to navigate and configure. Will do a follow up post once I actually get it out on the road. Thanks, B

• 9 Dean // Oct 11, 2007 at 7:10 pm

  That’s a fantastic price. I’ve seen a couple of deals on the Nuvi 250W recently but that is a good one.

  It’s still the best system I’ve used so far. With 6 million POI it’s a winner for me.

  Let us know how you get on with the Nuvi on the road.

• 10 Nghia Ho // Oct 12, 2007 at 12:12 am

  Hi Dean,

  Great review. Have you had a change to review the Magellan Maestro 4040? If yes, how do these two compare?

  Thanks,

  Nghia Ho

• 11 Dean // Oct 12, 2007 at 7:18 am

  I haven’t had a chance to review the Magellan Maestro 4040. It looks like a nice GPS system.

  There is not much difference between the two systems. Reading reviews from other people the Garmin overall looks like the better system.

• 12 Charlie // Oct 29, 2007 at 9:45 pm

  Very informative review.
  I am looking for a satnav and this review has certainly put the Nuvi250W on the shortlist.

• 13 Dean // Oct 29, 2007 at 9:51 pm

  Glad you like the review.

  I’ve got another widescreen sat nav which I will be road testing over the next few weeks. The Sony NV-U53.

  Looking forward to see how it matches up against the Garmin.

• 14 Ken Hallett // Oct 30, 2007 at 8:21 am

  Hi Dean
  Thanks for your report on the Garmin Nuvi 250 which I purchased a while back as mentioned on Oct 6. Without your unbised report purchasing a Sat Nav would have been based on the adverts and the info gleaned from suppliers. Keep up the good work.

  Thanks Again

  Ken.

• 15 Jay // Oct 31, 2007 at 11:26 pm

  How do I change the language on my garmin nuvi 250, it seems to be locked into italian and I want to change it to English. I have pressed the re-set button, but when I switch it back on it still opens up with Italian.
  Can anyone help please ?
  There is nothing about it in the start up book

• 16 Dean // Nov 1, 2007 at 7:32 pm

  Have you tried this?

  Switch on the Garmin Nuvi 250W and press the spanner icon at the bottom of the screen.

  A screen will appear displaying the following options:
  - System
  - Display
  - Navigation
  - Time

  In the bottom right of the screen is a down arrow icon. Press that icon and the following options are displayed:

  - Time
  - Language
  - Security
  - Map

  Press the Language option. You should now see a screen where you can change the language.

  Let me know if that doesn’t work.

• 17 Ray // Nov 8, 2007 at 7:48 pm

  I recently and cautiously bough a garmin 250w for under 200 pounds at Halfords. I`ve been talking myself out of it for over a year now as I`m a bit of a technophobe but they were so helpful that I took the plunge. Its strange to just hand over my trust to this but if you just do what it tells you and leave your~`INSTINCTŚ` at home it will get you there.

• 18 Dean // Nov 8, 2007 at 8:33 pm

  Ray – glad you took the plunge!

  The Garmin is a cracking sat nav system. You won’t be disappointed.

• 19 Charlie // Nov 14, 2007 at 9:41 pm

  I posted earlier,…..very good review,…..spent considerable time researching many units – I eventally went for the Nuvi 360T (can be had for under £220) comes with many extras and does many things more than the 250W. My only gripe is the speaker volume of the unit (inadequate), however this should not be a problem when I eventually figure out how to connect the unit via bluetooth to my car audio. Nevertheless the review was instrumental in deciding my final choice as the 360T operates and performs in much the same way – The comments also have been useful / informative.

• 20 Harry Whitelaw // Nov 17, 2007 at 10:48 pm

  Hi Dean,
  Great report and I was ‘sold’ until I read a review which stated that all nuvi sat navs used in the UK have a mapping fault whereby the audio announcement to turn left or right is given 0.2 miles before the actual corner. If there are turnings between the announcement point and the actual turn you could take a wrong turn. Do you agree?? Thanks

• 21 Dean // Nov 18, 2007 at 7:19 pm

  Harry – I’ve done a bit of investigation on this. Apparently Garmin did accept there was a problem with the mapping data, but it seemed to only affect a particular part of the UK (around Cheshire and the North West of the UK). The person who reported the problem went on to say that on a trip to London they did not experience this problem.

  This ties in with my own findings. I tested the Nuvi around London and the M4 corridor and cannot remember seeing this problem.

  I don’t know if this problem has been fixed with a new release of the mapping software. If you do decide to go ahead and buy the Nuvi you always have the option to return it should you come across this problem.

• 22 Paul C // Nov 21, 2007 at 10:27 am

  Great informative review, just what I needed as am about to splash some cash on satnav and I have to go to Europe quite often. The 250W seems to fit the bill, I have also looked at the 660 which has a few more toys and features on it – and also more cash. So my question is as far as the map software/version is concerned, is there any difference in detail etc, or is it just a case of more features.

• 23 Dean // Nov 21, 2007 at 1:42 pm

  Paul C – glad you liked the review.

  I don’t believe there is any difference between the mapping software used across the Garmin nuvi range.

  The 660 is just a higher spec model in terms of more features/toys like bluetooth and TMC and so is more expensive.

• 24 Ian // Nov 21, 2007 at 3:01 pm

  I bought the 660FM a few days ago and am pleased with its features and functions but when entering an address the miles to destination on the display screen is about 25% less than the actual distance,is this a common occurrence on Nuvis

• 25 Dean // Nov 21, 2007 at 7:11 pm

  Ian – what it might be doing is showing the distance as the crow flies, rather than the driving distance.

  When it plots a route on the map does it show a straight line or does the line follow the roads?

  Also, have a search on Google for “as the crow flies routing”. I found a few sites that mention this for GPS systems.

  Let me know if you manage to find out anything more.

  Thanks.

• 26 Ian // Nov 22, 2007 at 6:59 pm

  Dean. I checked those sites but as a non techie it didn’t help me, also the line follows the route,in desperation I took it back to the store in case I was doing something wrong.They tested it alongside one of theirs and mine still showed a lower destination mileage by 20-30% every time even though they were on the same settings.After much shaking of heads I was given a replacement with the mystery unsolved.
  Thanks for the advice and I’ll continue to check in on this very useful site.

• 27 Ray // Nov 27, 2007 at 5:07 pm

  Just read Dean’s review of nuvi 250W. I’ve been thinking of buying this one & found the review & it’s presentation first class. Well done!

• 28 Dean // Nov 27, 2007 at 5:37 pm

  Thanks Ray. I appreciate the comments. I’m glad readers are enjoying my reviews. Plenty more to come in the future!

• 29 Mick Hoy // Dec 3, 2007 at 1:05 pm

  after an in shop demo, and reading your review i purchased the 250w a great bit of kit, thanks for pointing me in the right direction. grin) you mention opff road nav? how do you set the system for that? Regards Mick

• 30 Dean // Dec 3, 2007 at 7:05 pm

  Mick – From the main screen tap the wrench icon at the bottom of the screen and then select “Settings”.

  Next tap the “Navigation” option and select “Route Preference”. You will probably find it is currently set to “Faster Time”. If you tap the “Faster Time” button you can then select a different route profile, including “off road” mode.

• 31 Dave Swann // Dec 6, 2007 at 6:37 pm

  I am about to buy my first SatNav system and it looks as though the Garmin 250W would be ideal, ( with may thanks for your excellent review Dean ).
  My only worry is that people who reviewed it on the Amazon Website complained that it is very slow to find satelites, to an extent that can make it unuseable. Any comments ?
  Best Regards
  Dave

• 32 Dean // Dec 6, 2007 at 7:15 pm

  Hi Dave,

  I had no problems with the GPS signal on my Nuvi 250W. It would acquite a satellite signal in under a minute, even indoors.

  I read the two reviews on Amazon about the poor GPS signal. Not very comforting to read when you’re about to buy your first sat nav system.

  I’m not sure what caused their problems. One possibility is a faulty batch of Garmin products but that is just guesswork on my part.

  One suggestion would be to try and find a shop that sells these and ask for a demo before parting with your cash.

• 33 Dean // Dec 6, 2007 at 7:23 pm

  I also found this on another web site which suggests others have encountered this problem:

  If your Nuvi is taking a long time to acquire a satellite, you can try this:

  Sometimes the almanac data that your nuvi stores for satellite acquisition becomes corrupted. This causes acquisition to become slow.

  To correct this we need to perform a master reset. This procedure will erase all user data.

  With your nuvi powered off, press and hold the lower left corner of the screen. Next, turn the power on. Continue to hold the screen until it asks if you really want to enter maintenance mode. Next, choose clear user data. The screen will flicker a bit and then start up like it did when it was first turned on. Follow the directions to set time and location. You will have to reacquire satellites by turning on your nuvi outside in full view of the sky. This one time acquisition may take up to 30 minutes.

• 34 Dave Swann // Dec 7, 2007 at 10:07 am

  Thanks for your replies Dean.
  Just one other question, – in the ‘Box Contents’ you mention a ‘Vehicle Suction Cup Mount’. Is this suitable for mounting the 250W on the windscreen and removing at the end of each journey ? We plan to use the 250W in Italy !!!!!
  Best Regards
  Dave

• 35 Paul Moran // Dec 7, 2007 at 3:24 pm

  Just read your review on the Garmin 250w and it is amazingly comprehensive and helpful. I am trying to decide on a system, and from what i have read on other sites it seems to be a toss up between this Garmin or a Tom Tom Go 720.
  Any comment would be very helpful.

• 36 Dean // Dec 7, 2007 at 4:56 pm

  Dave – The suction cup is suitable for mounting the 250W on the windscreen.

  The suction cup is very easy to use, you press the suction cup against the windscreen then press a lever to apply the suction. When you want to remove the suction cup you lift the lever up and the suction cup will come away from the windscreen.

  It’s very easy to use and is one of the better suction cups I’ve seen compared to some other sat nav systems.

• 37 Dean // Dec 7, 2007 at 5:52 pm

  Paul Moran – I’ve got no personal experience of the TomTom Go 720 so I’m not really in a position to advise one way or the other, but I have used Tom Tom navigation software on PDA devices before and found them to be reliable and good performers.

  You have probably read this on other web sites, but here is the information I have found.

  The Nuvi 250W supports an off-road mode whereas the Tom Tom Go 720 does not. I’ve also heard that the Garmin is easier to use.

  The TomTom does have more features which is understandable given the price tag. It is about £80 more expensive than the Nuvi on Amazon.

  The Tom Tom Go 720 has bluetooth which the Nuvi 250W does not. The Tom Tom also has text to speech so it will say “Turn left onto West Avenue” whereas the Nuvi does not.

  If you look at the reviews for both devices on Amazon you’ll get a mixed bag. Both get positive and negative reviews.

  Hope this helps a bit, and if you get the chance, try and find stores that sell these devices so you compare both before deciding to buy.

• 38 Steve // Dec 7, 2007 at 9:29 pm

  Dean,
  I just purchased the 250W and had a question regarding POIs. Can these be accessed for a different location while still en route? We travel in Central California and it is sometimes many miles between cities and would like to be able to search for services in an upcoming city without having to stop the ongoing routing.
  By the way, I have been to a lot of sites and your review was far and away the best. I also prior to purchasing the Garmin went to their site. Your review is more comprehensive then their instructions.
  Thanks!!!

• 39 Wayne // Dec 8, 2007 at 2:42 am

  I want to purchase a nuvi 250w. My question for you is can this navigator be used as a regular GPS on a boat or in the wilderness showing routes and waypoints. I am comparing this unit to the Lowrance XOG which has road, land and sea. thank you

• 40 Ken Hallett // Dec 8, 2007 at 8:51 am

  Hi
  I purchased a navi 250w and I love ..much better that the Tom Tom . Also consider the history of both company’s. Tom Tom is the new boy on the block with regard to Sat Nav. Garmin brings planes , cruse linners etc etc safely to their desternation and are world renound makers of Sat Nag equipment…Tom Tom are renound for bulk advertising only.. You should by now have your answer of which Sat nav to purchase.

  Dean keep up the good work, your keeping lots of people on the right route.

  Ken

• 41 Dean // Dec 8, 2007 at 2:16 pm

  Wayne The Nuvi 250W does support an off road mode. You can navigate to a set of longtitude/latitude co-ordinates.

  I don’t really have much experience with using GPS devices off road or at sea, so my advice would be to get the views of a few people before deciding which one to buy.

• 42 Dean // Dec 8, 2007 at 2:28 pm

  Steve If you go the Points of Interest screen, the Nuvi will default to searching for POI near your current location.

  But you can also specify to search for POI for a different city, somewhere along your current route or somewhere near your destination.

  I didn’t actually test this feature out whilst driving, but you should be able to do it without cancelling the current route.

  By going back the main screen, you should be able to search for POI, and then switch back to the map when finished.

  Someone else might be able to confirm 100% for you.

• 43 Simon // Dec 16, 2007 at 9:26 am

  Thanks Dean for the great review! I’ve been looking over the internet for some decent sat-nav reviews but none had the detail yours had.

  I’m interested in buying the 250w as my first sat-nav, but have a couple of (probably stupid) questions:

  Does it read out the direction you have to take, i.e. “Turn left in 100 yards”, or just display this on the screen?

  What different ways can you search for a destination? Can you for example search for a train station or a certain place in the country with ease?

  Finally you mentioned it not coming with a USB cable. Is this expensive to buy, and is this needed to update the 250w?

  Sorry for my probably obvious questions, but I’m new to this.

  Cheers.

• 44 Dean // Dec 16, 2007 at 9:49 am

  Simon – The 250W will read out the directions to you as well as display it on the screen.

  You can search for a destination in a variety of ways. You can either enter a town/city name or postcode, or you can search for a point of interest. The points of interest are split into categories, such as train stations, hotels, restaurants, etc. You could for example search for train stations near your current location or near your destination city. The 250W is very easy to use.

  A USB cable costs about £11 ($22) on Amazon. Search for “Nuvi USB/PC cable” on Amazon and you should find the cable. You will need the USB cable for performing any future updates to the Nuvi.

  Glad you liked the review. Any more questions then let me know.

• 45 Craig // Dec 19, 2007 at 5:19 pm

  My Nuvi 250W lost grip on reality last week. When using the touchscreen keyboard, the “T” showed as a “D”. Of course I hoped that it was just a visual and that the entry would reflect correctly in the system as a “T”. No such luck. Now other letters are jumbled. Has anyone else had this experience. I’ll probably try to reset, but I’d really like to avoid losing the favorites I’ve accumulated in the last couple of months. In response to Steve’s question I live in Florida and can confirm that the search for POIs in another location works just fine. If “backing” up to the current trip map doesn’t work you can always go to recently found locations or favorites. Your current trip will be at one of those unless you’ve mapped a complicated multi-stop trip.

• 46 Colm // Dec 22, 2007 at 9:26 pm

  I’d like to compliment you on your excellent review and it was very helpful in deciding which Sat Nav to buy. I bought the Nuvi 250W recently. Everytime I try to use it cannot get a signal. Can you please tell me what to do?

• 47 Dean // Dec 23, 2007 at 8:34 am

  Hi Colm – The very first time the Nuvi is used it can take a while to establish a signal. Maybe up to 10 minutes or more. In my tests though it took less time than this. How long have you tried leaving the Nuvi switched on for?

  I would try the following if you haven’t done so already. Connect the Nuvi to a power source (such as in a vehicle), switch on and wait for 10 minutes.

  If it still can’t get a signal then disconnect the Nuvi from the power source, press the reset button on the bottom of the Nuvi, reconnect to the power supply, switch on and wait and see if it can get a signal.

  Let me know if that works.

• 48 Dave Swann // Dec 23, 2007 at 10:05 am

  Hi All. Apparently your Nuvi may not be able to aquire a signal if you have a heat reflecting (solar protective) windscreen. Its one other possibility on newer cars. Easy to find out by trying the Nuvi outside the car. If this does turn out to be the problem, an external aerial is available.
  Happy Christmas to all.
  Dave

• 49 Chris Bolton // Dec 23, 2007 at 1:47 pm

  Have just bought the 250W and I am delighted with its performance.
  I only have one observation. Why is not more publicity to given to the friction dashboard mount as an optional extra. It is fantastic, easy to use, doesn’t move on any surface and doesn’t leave a mark on the windscreen to attract thieves.

  Loved the review. thanks.

• 50 Colm // Dec 25, 2007 at 7:02 pm

  Thanks a million for the help Dean and know me Nuvi is working perfectly. I look forward to reading more of your reviews.
  Thanks again,
  Colm

• 51 Most Popular Reviews of 2007 // Dec 25, 2007 at 9:50 pm

  [...] Garmin Nuvi 250W Widescreen Sat Nav [...]

• 52 Phil B // Dec 28, 2007 at 2:24 pm

  I think my mind is made up about what sat nav to opt for, thanks to your review Dean.
  The only question I have is about updating the speed-camera information. Do I have to pay a monthly subscription for this or can I update as and when I prefer to?

  Thanks in advance,
  Phil

• 53 Dean // Dec 28, 2007 at 8:53 pm

  Hi Phil – you can update the speed camera information as and when you like. You are not tied into any monthly subscription.

  When you want to update the speed camera information you could either purchase a yearly subscription from the Garmin web site, or you could use the speed camera plugin I mentioned in the review and download updates from there when you want.

• 54 bill ford // Dec 29, 2007 at 2:40 pm

  guys
  does the picture viewer on my garmin 250w only display screen shots or can photos be viewed on it also can additional voices be downloaded if so from where?
  if these seem like idiotic questions,I have only just had it!

  cheers

  bill

• 55 Rick // Dec 29, 2007 at 9:56 pm

  I just bought the 250w as well, and reading the review and comments i’m pretty much in agreement. I did try the handheld one by Garmin as well, the Etrex. With the Etrex you can use the computer software program Mapsource and download maps and plan routes on the computer etc and transfer it to the handheld. My question is Garmin says you can use the same software with the 250w but i can’t see how since the view is completely different on the 250w compared the Etrex line. Has anyone tried the Mapsource with this unit and is it worth buying since it doesn’t come with the 250w.

• 56 Dean // Dec 29, 2007 at 10:14 pm

  Bill – As far as I am aware the 250W only displays screen shots, not photos. As for the voices, it looks like you are stuck with whatever is preinstalled. I have not seen any easy way to download additional voices. If anyone knows otherwise please let us know.

  There are some utilities out there for editing the existing sound files but I have no experience of using them.

• 57 bill ford // Dec 30, 2007 at 4:05 pm

  me again
  tried using my 250w while out walking across the fields.two problems,could not mick up a satallite signal also I had it set on off road is this correct or is there a pedestrian mode I should be in for journeys on foot?
  please point me in the right direction
  thanks for your help

  cheers

  bill

• 58 Dean // Dec 30, 2007 at 9:31 pm

  Pedestrian mode will limit you to roads and footpaths. If you want to walk across fields you need to use the off road mode.

  Regarding the satellite signal problem, did you manage to establish a signal before setting out on your walk?

• 59 Neil // Dec 30, 2007 at 10:04 pm

  Super review and some great comments.
  I`m buying one tomorrow!
  My only query would be of an alternative mount. I dont want it stuck to the window or any sticky patches on top of my dash, can you recommend any alternatives?

  Thankyou.

• 60 Harish Verma // Dec 31, 2007 at 4:57 am

  I bought 250W a couple of days ago. I came across your review and found it EXTREMELY HELPFUL. Here are my comments/questions:
  1. Was disappointed not to have a “detailed ” manual. Could’nt find one on the Garmin website.
  2. My unit is for N. America. Having not found some of the more popular department stores in my neighbourhood, more than two years old, I thought that the map may have to be updated. Regretfully, there is no update available. There is no information as to how old the presently loaded maps are.
  3. I have looked up and found many POI files on the internet. If I have downloaded POI’s for say all Walmart Stores from one source and I come across another file (perhaps in a different format), and decide to download the second file, what happens to the first file?
  4. How can one install comany icons along with the POI file? Will the icons show up, when the POI shows up?
  5. Your review states that your 250 came preloaded with speed alterts etc. for UK. I am not sure if the N. American versions comes the same way? I have found some POI files of POI’s of speed alerts and red light cameras. How do they work? I mean, once you have downloaded these, how do you know that they are working?
  5. If I carry my 250 W to UK, will it work there?
  May have more questions. Hope you won’t mind.
  Thanks again for a very helpful review.
  Harish

• 61 Dean // Dec 31, 2007 at 9:30 am

  Hi Neil – I’ve got no experience of alternative mounts so not in a position to recommend anything for you.

  I have seen some web sites that sell spare mounts for the nuvi but don’t know if they are any better than what Garmin supply.

  I have also seen sites that sell an adhesive plate which you attach to either the dashboard or window, which you then attach the existing Nuvi mount onto. But I don’t know if they leave any marks when removed.

  My personal favourite mount is the ones used on the Sony nav-u systems. They don’t leave any marks when removed.

• 62 Dean // Dec 31, 2007 at 8:23 pm

  Harish

  To answer your questions.

  1) I agree. Garmin only do a quick start guide for the Nuvi 250W which I find irritating at times. If anyone else knows otherwise please let me know.

  2) If you tap the wrench icon, select Settings, scroll down and tap Map, then tap Map Info, it will tell you which version and maps you have installed on your Nuvi. The latest maps are City Navigator NT v9. You can also try this page to see if map updates are available. Anyone who purchased a Garmin GPS after May 1st is entitled to a free upgrade if your unit does not have the latest maps installed. Just make sure you register your Nuvi with Garmin. There are rumours of Garmin issuing a map update for the Nuvi 250W in Feb/Mar 2008 so keep any eye out on the Garmin web site.

  3) Don’t have much experience in this area. You can download custom POIs onto the Nuvi which I don’t think interfere with the preinstalled Garmin POI data. As far as I know, if you download custom POI’s onto the Nuvi then it will overwrite existing custom POIs with the same file name. You can avoid this by renaming any POI files you download to the Nuvi to make sure the name is unique and not already in use.

  4) This web site may be able to help. They have a good list of POI icons and there is a discussion board too in case you get stuck.

  5) I guess the only way to tell if the safety camera POI works is to drive past areas where you know safety cameras/red light cameras exist and see if it warns you of them. The speed camera plugin web site I mention in the review is a good one, although it is only Europe based, it has a map which shows camera locations which can be useful in testing out the Nuvi.

  6) You would need to have the UK maps installed before your Nuvi will work over here.

  Hope this helps.

• 63 Neil // Dec 31, 2007 at 8:49 pm

  Thanks Dean.
  After a bit of searching it seems there`s plenty aftermarket items to choose from regarding mounts,
  thanks again for all the advice,

  Neil.

• 64 Dean // Dec 31, 2007 at 8:54 pm

  Rick – The only information I could find on the eTrex was this link. If you scroll to the bottom there is a comment from a guy who used MapSource to input custom POI onto the Nuvi 250W.

• 65 Harish Verma // Dec 31, 2007 at 10:30 pm

  Thank you Dean for your reply.

  Question: My new 250W worked fine for a couple of a days. But today I am finding that it does not readily connect to the satellites. The troubleshooting guide says to take it out in the open till the green bars light up. I have done it once, but when I brought it in the house, it is sluggish in connecting to the satellites. Is there something wrong with the unit, or is it normal behaviour for this unit? I have 30 days to take it back to the dealer for exchange. After that I have to send it to Garmin.

• 66 Dean // Dec 31, 2007 at 11:22 pm

  It is normal for sat nav devices to be sluggish in connecting to satellites indoors, since there may not be a direct view of the sky. I normally position the sat nav close to a window when establishing a signal indoors.

• 67 Pat // Jan 3, 2008 at 3:33 am

  Hey guys,

  I noticed my Garmin 250W taking a long time to acquire signal and I tried to do a master reset with no luck. When I hold the lower left nothing happens, although when I held the lower right it asked if I wanted to clear user data. When it restarted it asked for my location/time zone but never tried to re-acquire the signal like when I originally purchased it.

  Any ideas/help?

  Thanks!

• 68 Lori // Jan 3, 2008 at 6:50 pm

  Hey there,
  This reveiw is awesome. I got my 250W for Christmas and was thrilled. It worked fine for a day or so, and then I started having trouble with accessing the satellites. I called Garmin, and I sadly sent it back for a new one. I am hoping that this on will work better. I LOVE my Garmin, but was very frustrated with not being able to connect to the satellites, either in-door or out-door. I also did the reset, several times. I am hoping a new one will correct the problem.
  Thanks,
  Lori

• 69 Dean // Jan 3, 2008 at 7:52 pm

  My advice is to always acquire a satellite signal outdoors the very first time it is used. It can take up to 20 minutes to get a signal. Thereafter it should get a signal much quicker, typically a minute or less.

  Indoor reception will be variable. I found standing close to a window worked fine, but as I moved away from the window reception dropped. If a GPS signal cannot be obtained indoors then it will switch to ‘indoor’ mode which means you will not get a signal. You will need to switch off the Nuvi and go outside to reacquire a signal.

  Outdoor reception should always be good. If it always takes a long time to get a signal outdoors then it would be worth contacting Garmin.

  Hope this helps.

• 70 Pat // Jan 3, 2008 at 10:16 pm

  Thanks for the advise!

  PS: Great review too

• 71 Bob // Jan 3, 2008 at 11:34 pm

  Hi,
  Great reviews Dean.
  Having read the most useful reviews of any site, i’m now torn between the Garmin 250W and the Sony NVU53 for my first sat nav.
  I like the dash mount system of the Sony, is the standard Garmin suction pad suitable for dash mount and does it leave marks ? Also does the Garmin software support Windows Vista?

• 72 Dean // Jan 4, 2008 at 8:51 am

  The standard Garmin mount is not suitable for the dashboard. They do include a permanent adhesive mount for the dashboard but that would not be easy to remove later.

  Not sure if the software supports Vista. I would contact Garmin first.

  Both the Garmin and Sony are great sat nav systems. I prefer the Sony because of the dashboard mount and road names included in the voice directions, but Sony are new kids on the block compared with Garmin.

  The Sony does have a few flaws but I still like it. The Garmin overall seemed a more robust system.

  If you really want a dashboard mount and don’t mind the flaws then consider the Sony, otherwise go for the Garmin.

  If you get a chance, see if you can visit a store and ask for a demo of each before you buy.

• 73 Brian // Jan 4, 2008 at 9:41 pm

  I am having difficulty connecting my computer as I need to download Geocache information. I am using my camera USB connection cable. My computer recognises the unit and I have downloaded photographs with no problem. “EasyGPS” and “GSAK” software will not recognise the unit and fail to download data. Any ideas????

• 74 Pat // Jan 5, 2008 at 7:51 pm

  Hi to all, Many thsnks to all for coments and help.
  ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN

  Best Regards
  Pat
  IRELAND

• 75 Dean // Jan 8, 2008 at 5:54 pm

  Brian – Can’t help I’m afraid. Have you tried contacting Garmin for help?

• 76 Daniel // Jan 8, 2008 at 9:18 pm

  hi dean and every1. ive got 1 of these and im looking for some funny voices like the ones you can get for a tomo tom. anybody know where u can buy/download any of these for the garmin. would be much appriciated. cheers

• 77 Dean // Jan 8, 2008 at 10:13 pm

  It is not as easy to install funny voices onto the Garmin like it is with TomTom.

  The sound files on the Garmin are bundled into a .VPM file which needs to be split out into its constituent parts and then modified.

  If you’re technically minded then read this link which shows a utility for modifying Garmin sound files. Not sure where you can download funny voices from. But the link above should help.

  Good luck!

• 78 rebecca sparrow // Jan 9, 2008 at 1:13 pm

  Hi Dean,
  I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 250 as a present for my husbands 50th. On the first use in the car the voice and sound stopped working. I have tried the master reset without any luck. I have tried to contact Garmin Product Support in the UK but cannot get through. The mute button is not switched on. Can you help please

• 79 Dean // Jan 9, 2008 at 7:11 pm

  Rebecca – If the mute button is not switched on then the other thing to try is setting the volume to the loudest possible setting.

  If that doesn’t work then I suggest you try contacting Garmin again. These are the support numbers I have for the UK:

  0808 238 0000 (free)
  0870 850 1242

  Are those the numbers you tried?

• 80 Sony nav-u NV-U73 Sat Nav Review // Jan 11, 2008 at 8:38 am

  [...] Garmin Nuvi 250W Widescreen Sat Nav [...]

• 81 Jason // Jan 11, 2008 at 9:05 am

  Dean,

  thanks for a very good review.
  One question though, can the 250w display lat and long co-ordinates on screen for where you are? The Garmin site mentions this as a feature on the 770 but does not on the 250w page.
  This will be the first gps device if I purchase and I was wondering if all do this as standard?
  Thanks.

• 82 Sony nav-u NV-U53 Sat Nav Review // Jan 11, 2008 at 9:21 am

  [...] Garmin Nuvi 250W Widescreen Sat Nav [...]

• 83 herbert Dune // Jan 13, 2008 at 5:40 pm

  My NUVI 250W takes extreme long to find (if any) a satellite…. This is not normal at all… am I the only one ???

• 84 Dean // Jan 13, 2008 at 9:49 pm

  Herbert – How long does it take to find a satellite signal?

  I found the very first time I used the 250W it took a long time to find a satellite, but thereafter it found a satellite in less than a minute.

  If it takes ages to find a satellite, even out in the open, then I suggest you try a factory reset, then switch back on whilst out in the open. That can often fix it. After doing a factory reset it may take longer than normal the first time it acquires a satellite, but thereafter it should be quick.

• 85 Martin // Jan 15, 2008 at 5:45 pm

  Dean,

  Very clear review. I’m caught between the 250 and tom tom one europe v3. Any advise woulkd be much appreciated.
  Also, the 250 signal reception problems as mentioned by many of your respondents is a bit of a concern to me.
  Thanks, Martin

• 86 Lori // Jan 15, 2008 at 8:13 pm

  Dean,
  I got the replacement 250W, and I love the system. I do however have connectivity problems; either I cannot find a satellite or I lose the connection frequently. Is this a typical problem? I did a system restart, twice now. I even try turning on the system through an open window. I have better luck getting a signal with this new 250W, but I’m afraid that it doesn’t get it often enough, and I was also wondering whether storing destinations had any effect on the ability to find the satellite signals?
  Thanks,
  Lori

• 87 Martin // Jan 15, 2008 at 8:39 pm

  Dean,
  As per my concern in message number 86 the next email (97) reiterates connectivity issues. It seems Garmin are not addressing something very fundamental.
  What do you think?
  Thanks, Martin

• 88 Dean // Jan 16, 2008 at 10:18 am

  I experienced no problems with the satellite signal on the Garmin system I tested. It would typically pick up a signal in less than a minute.

  Some car windscreens contain a special coating which is known to hinder reception, not just on Garmin but other sat nav systems too. An external antenna is recommended in these cases.

  Storing destinations on the Garmin won’t affect reception.

  My advice would be to stand outside, clear of tall buildings, and see how quickly the Garmin picks up a signal. If it takes more than 5 mins then do a factory reset. After a factory reset it may take up to 20 minutes to get a signal, but thereafter it should be a minute or less.

  Martin – if you get an opportunity. Try visiting a local store where someone can demo both systems for you, and see which one picks up a signal faster.

• 89 bill ford // Jan 20, 2008 at 3:29 pm

  dean

  me again, can you explain to me how to do the following;
  I was trying to locate through the menu the airport at Poitiers in France which is a nearby landmark to my sisters house in France. The reason being thus even though i put her rural complete postal address in we have used for a year or so the garmin comes up with nothing!

  so my intention was to find the airport on the system and then follow the roads to her village and thus store the location in the system for a trip in the summer.

  can you give me a step by step guide through the menu on how to find POI in other cities?

  thank you in anticipation

  bill ford

• 90 mark // Jan 20, 2008 at 4:19 pm

  i have a garmin 250w, great bit of kit. I have a problem when trying to charge it in the car it goes in to USB mode and i lose the view of the map is this normal

• 91 Dean // Jan 21, 2008 at 12:43 pm

  Hi Bill,

  I no longer have the 250W to provide you with step by step instructions unfortunately. You will need to do something along the following lines. From the main screen press the magnifying glass icon and then select Points of Interest. The Nuvi will default to showing POI near your current location, but there should be an option on that page to search for POI near another city, which is what you want.

  The only manual I can find on the Garmin web site is the quick user guide but that doesn’t go into sufficient detail. You could try contacting Garmin directly if needed.

  Sorry I can’t be of any further help.

• 92 Lori // Jan 21, 2008 at 3:04 pm

  Dean;
  I have the XM receiver in my car (not from the factory). I noticed that when I turned off my XM off completely, I received a stronger signal for the Garmin (it went from 3 bars to 4-5 bars within a few seconds). I initially tried moving the GPS away from the center of the windshield and noticed a difference (I keep my XM in the center near the radio), but didn’t make the connection. Then I tried leaving the GPS centered and then turned off the XM, and also noticed a difference. I thought the GPS, and XM systems are supposed to check for emissions, is it possible that this is a problem?
  Thanks,
  Lori

• 93 Dean // Jan 21, 2008 at 9:54 pm

  Mark – Are you navigating to a destination at the time the map view is lost?

  Lori – I’ve got no experience of XM. That service is not available in the UK. Sounds like you need to experiment with the position of the antenna.

• 94 mark // Jan 22, 2008 at 12:36 am

  hi dean, yes i am navigating,could it be the wrong charger as i bought my 250w second hand

• 95 Dean // Jan 22, 2008 at 5:49 pm

  Hi Mark,
  Garmin do sell replacement chargers on their web site, which is one option to try out. Not cheap though, about £15 ($28). Not sure if that will fix the problem though.

  The Garmin chargers are 12 volts. Do you know if your charger is the same voltage?

• 96 Dean // Jan 22, 2008 at 5:57 pm

  Amazon also sell the chargers too. I couldn’t find one for the Nuvi 250W but this one for Nuvi 310 looks the same. It is cheaper too, only £9.99.

  Garmin nuvi 310 car charger

• 97 Anthony // Jan 23, 2008 at 3:36 pm

  I have entered a comment twice now, but it does not appear, then when I try and repost it, the site says “you have already said that” . So where is it ?

• 98 Anthony // Jan 23, 2008 at 3:39 pm

  Is there a limit on the text as it still will not appear ?

• 99 Anthony // Jan 23, 2008 at 3:42 pm

  I though I had already posted this but it seems to have gone astray. I am torn bewteen this model and the Sony NV-U53, I like the dash board mount on the Sony but I dont like the fact that the ‘safety camera’ alert does not tell you the speed detection of that camera. 1) From the screen shots I am presuming this model tells you the speed detection of the ‘safety camera’ you are approaching. Can anyone confirm this please ? 2) Can anyone confirm that you are notified of the ‘safety camera’ information if you do NOT have a route planned, IE will you be informed of these cameras if you are just driving around or does it have to be on a navigated route ? 3) In the review it states “If you need to add a via point (stop) to your route then you can do that too”, yet on the website it states “Auto sort multiple destinations (provides most direct route): no” So can you or cant you plan multistop routes ? Thank you

• 100 mark // Jan 23, 2008 at 4:59 pm

  HI Dean the charger is 12 volts,i have used my mates charger as he has the same sat nav and it still going to U S B mode?

• 101 Dean // Jan 23, 2008 at 5:31 pm

  Anthony – The comments spam filter on this site blocked your comment for some reason. I’ve re-instated the message now.

• 102 Dean // Jan 23, 2008 at 6:58 pm

  Hi Anthony,
  The Nuvi 250W does not support true multiple destination support. You can though, whilst navigating to a destination, enter a second destination and use that second destination as a via (stop) point.

  I can’t remember if the 250W shows the speed limit when approaching a safety camera, or if it warns you of safety cameras when a route has not been planned. You could try contacting Garmin.

  The NV-U53 has some nice features and an excellent dashboard mount, but it does have a number of niggling issues. Sony support has also come in for some criticism from several readers. The navigation side of the U53 is good, but the niggling issues would mean the Garmin gets my vote. Garmin have been producing GPS devices far longer than Sony.

• 103 Dean // Jan 23, 2008 at 7:11 pm

  Mark,
  One other thing you can try. Do you get the same problem if you use your sat nav in your mates car?

  If you do get the same problem then maybe it is not the charger but the Nuvi itself that has the problem. Have you tried doing a factory reset? If that doesn’t work it would be worth giving Garmin a call.

• 104 Anthony // Jan 23, 2008 at 7:59 pm

  Dean, thank you for finding my message ?!!?
  I shall try Garmin tomorrow about the safety camera info.

  If you buy the additional USB lead, will this charge the unit from your computer, or do you need another charger to charge it at home ?

  Thanks

• 105 mark // Jan 23, 2008 at 10:09 pm

  yes i have the same problem in my mates car,and no i haven’t reset it as yet i will try that next.THANKS FOR THE HELP.

• 106 Dean // Jan 24, 2008 at 8:48 am

  Anthony,
  You’ll need to buy a USB cable for charging the unit from a computer and a separate AC charger if you want to charge it at home.

  I found these on Amazon. Cheaper than the Garmin web site:

  Nuvi Home Travel Charger

  Nuvi USB cable

• 107 Anthony // Jan 24, 2008 at 10:15 am

  Thank you Dean, I have just spoken to a Holly at Garmin and she assured me that the safety camera information DOES give me the speed of that camera, AND it will perform this duty when jusr travelling around with no set route planned. I am a bit wary as you have used one and did not think it did this. If I bought one and it did not do as Holly said, what do you think the chances would be for returning it as it did not fulfill what I was told (especially as I wont be buying it from garmin direct) ???

  Also, can I ask, as you no longer have your unit, what model did you change for ?

  Any one else out there use this machine and can confirm the ‘safety camera’ questions ?

  Thanks

• 108 Anthony // Jan 24, 2008 at 1:35 pm

  To be sure I have rang Garmin again and spoke to a Murray and he has assured me concerning the ‘safety camera’ alerts, so I have ordered one with delivery tomorrow for £140.oo

  Now I need those pesky leads and additional chargers.

• 109 Dean // Jan 24, 2008 at 6:51 pm

  Good choice Anthony. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with the Garmin. My Nuvi was a review model that went back. That’s the only reason I no longer have it.

• 110 Anthony // Jan 26, 2008 at 11:14 am

  Bill Ford, sorry for the delay, you may have the answer by now, but I have just purchased this unit, so if you do the following:
  Where to ?
  Food, Hotels etc
  NEAR at the bottom
  A different city – OK
  POITIERS – done (it found it after POITI)
  Poitiers, 86
  Transit
  Air transportation
  It comes up with “Aeroport de Poitiers-Biard” 1.5 miles away, so I presume thats the one.
  Clicking on that brings up details
  Click ‘show map’ at the bottom
  You can then go from there.

  Good luck

  I would choose Paris 75

  Transit

• 111 Anthony // Jan 26, 2008 at 11:17 am

  Sorry ignore the Paris bit, thats where I thought you were going and forgot to edit the post.
  Oops

• 112 Anthony // Jan 26, 2008 at 11:19 am

  As from the previous post, you may have gathered that the Nuvi arrived on time, and I got a USB lead off ebay for £3.98 which arrived the same day. So far I love it.

  The killing point over the Sony for me was the safety camera alerts (I now know they are supplied by Cyclops) and the fact that they advise me of the speed I should be travelling at, and it does this in plain ‘driving around’ mode as well which is a real licence points saver and one of the main reasons I have the confidence to get rid of my old Road Angel now.

  Also on a minor point I have already downloaded loads of free POI to the system with ease, which even lists all my local chip shops, very important to me, Ha ha

  Great reviews on both enabled me to make my decision.

  Thank you

• 113 Gary // Jan 26, 2008 at 6:38 pm

  Hi, Dean. Bought a Nuvi 250W today on your recommendation – thanks! Also tried the Sony NV-U53 (on offer for £99.99 in Halfords with newspaper coupon this weekend) but liked the styling and interface of the Nuvi much more, and also decided to get Europan mapping for cheaper price than NV-U73 .
  One fault to complain about though – the charger adapter is a very loose fit in my car (bog standard Nissan) , and if I go over a speed-bump it pops out! I’m taking it back for replacement tomorrow, but has anyone else had this problem?

• 114 Neil // Jan 27, 2008 at 4:31 pm

  Despite the tempting Halfords offer on the NV-U53, have gone for the Nuvi, thanks to both the Dean’s reviews and Anthony’s comments (who had the same choice dilemma). One of the other points that swung it for me was the ability to add custom POI into the Garmin – always one for remembering a good pub, I thought the ability to pop these into the unit would be invaluable.

  Cheers
  Neil.

• 115 Anthony // Jan 28, 2008 at 4:47 pm

  Neil, Gary hope you enjoy the Garmin as much as I am, My car charger is fine but I am a non-smoker, could the lighter be worn on your car ?? (obviously clutching at straws here).

  I think we have made the right decision as all the ‘posts’ for the Sony seem to be complaints at the moment.

• 116 Andrew // Jan 28, 2008 at 11:59 pm

  H ello Dean,
  I am consdering purchasing the Nuvi 250w ,
  Tom Tom one XL europe or Navman S70. My preference based on the MAP.. is the NUVI which is NAVTEQ, rather than the TELE-ATLAS of
  Tom Tom. I am shortly travelling from dover to zurich and wanted to have a demo of the units. I went to the local halfords for a demo. The NUVI 250W , taken outside, never acquired the satellites. Even after reset. 15mins later. (Based on previous comments this is worrying). The tom tom XL … also failed to acquire the satellites. Whether this was an this was due to the sales chap not knowing his product … I don’t know. I will go to another halfords branch and try it out. None the less the NUVi 250w seems to have a foundamental problem if it can’t acquire satellite positions out in the open.

• 117 Andrew // Jan 29, 2008 at 12:09 am

  Apologies for spelling fundamental as foundamental

• 118 Dean // Jan 29, 2008 at 10:33 am

  Hi Andrew,
  Let me know how you get on. Tall buildings can block the satellite signal so that might explain why neither the Garmin or TomTom acquired a satellite. You could always buy one and take it home, then stand right out in the open away from tall buildings and trees and see if it picks up a satellite, wait up to 20 minutes. If it doesn’t acquire a satellite then take it back and ask for a refund.

• 119 Anthony // Jan 29, 2008 at 10:27 pm

  Andrew, my 250W took around 10 minutes to initially find the satelittes on the very first start up. Now it takes around 5 seconds. Still very new to me but today I thought I would deliberately choose different turnings to what it suggested (I knew the roads anyway) and by the time ‘she’ can say “re-calculating” it is virtually done, I would say about 3 seconds to re-route, I was amazed.

  It may take a while first time, but stick with it, its an amazing piece of kit.

• 120 David K // Jan 30, 2008 at 9:42 pm

  Dean
  I’m looking for a sat nav for under £200 with the following.
  1. 4.3″ screen
  2. a sat nav with ac & in car charger
  3. a system that states the road name to take as well as direction
  4. most up to date maps of UK + ok maps of europe
  5. good solid adhesion holder
  6. up to date speed camera’s
  what do you reccommend ?

• 121 Anthony // Jan 31, 2008 at 4:47 pm

  David, The Nuvi 250W does the following:
  1) Yes
  2) In car – Yes, AC – No
  3) States road names in text not in voice
  4) NavTeq maps (the best) City guide 2008, cant get newer to my knowledge
  5) Window holder is very good, have not tried dashboard mount
  6) Camera’s info supplied by Cyclops

  For all that you want this ‘post’ for the 250W would not suffice.

• 122 simon // Feb 3, 2008 at 3:18 pm

  my garmin 250w hates motorways and will do anything to avoid using them can you help
  thanks
  simon

• 123 Dean // Feb 3, 2008 at 9:40 pm

  Hi Simon,
  It’s possible your Nuvi has been setup to always avoid motorways. Go into the settings screen and you will find a section on avoidances. Make sure motorways is not selected on this screen.

  There is also another option in the settings screen where you can tell the Nuvi to use either the shortest or fastest route. It would be worth checking that screen and seeing what is set.

  Let me know if that helps at all.

• 124 Willy // Feb 4, 2008 at 3:08 am

  I have several POI in Favorites. Is there a way to delete them. Thanks.

• 125 Anthony // Feb 4, 2008 at 12:21 pm

  To delete things from your favourites, just go into ‘Favourites’, select the address you want to delete, when it opens up in the bottom right it says ‘edit’ press that, then on the next screen you will have a ‘delete’ option at the bottom.

• 126 Willy // Feb 4, 2008 at 3:53 pm

  Thanks Anthony. That worked.

  Willy

• 127 Neil // Feb 4, 2008 at 5:30 pm

  Apologies if this has already been answered… Ive now bought the 250W and so far I’m impressed. The visual speed camera alerts showing lcoation and speed are working fine, however the only audbile alert I get is a bong/beep/ping/peep (not sure exactly what I’d class it as!). Anyway, it’s just single note. Is there an option for a voice aleart (ie, “30mph speed camera ahead”)?

  Cheers
  Neil

• 128 Dean // Feb 4, 2008 at 5:54 pm

  Hi Neil,
  I don’t recall seeing an option to change this in any of the settings screens.

  The only way to do this, as far as I know, would be to edit the Garmin sound files and replace the bong with some other sound or voice.

  The sound files on the Garmin are bundled into a .VPM file which would need to be split out into its constituent parts before you can edit each individual sound. You would then find the bong sound and replace it with another sound. There is a utility for doing this but it is pretty technical.

  I can send you a link if you’re interested.

• 129 Neil // Feb 4, 2008 at 7:48 pm

  Thanks Dean. I’d appreciate the link – I might summon up the courage to tackle it at some point!

  Cheers
  Neil.

• 130 John A // Feb 5, 2008 at 6:10 pm

  I bought the 250W and agree with Dean’s opinion that it is a super bit of kit. My minor gripe is that when going for a simulation of a journey with the satellite acquisition turned off, is there any way that you can speed up the journey? And is there any way that you can select to abort the satellite acquisition without waiting for the Nuvi to ask you?

• 131 Anthony // Feb 6, 2008 at 10:38 am

  John A, whilst going through the simulation of a journey, if you press the ‘street name’ bar at the top, so that you get the route in step by step information I am pretty sure you can use the up and down arrows at the bottom to scroll you through your route faster, it does mean you cannot see the map at the same time, but if you came to a tricky junction etc you could just go back to the map view at that point.

  I cant remember seeing any option to cease the satelitte’s once you have them.

• 132 John A // Feb 6, 2008 at 5:26 pm

  Anthony, That sounds sensible – I’ll certainly give it a go as soon as I can. Very grateful for your advice. Kind regards

• 133 EDWARD // Feb 12, 2008 at 10:04 am

  HI I have just purchased the nuvi 250w after reading Dean’s review.
  Question on route planning before actually travelling, Can I plan a route from say my home to a city in Switzerland and see a preview of the route on screen in a short elapsed time? if so how do I do it please?

• 134 Anthony // Feb 12, 2008 at 10:51 am

  No, not to my knowledge see post 132, Anthony

• 135 David T // Feb 12, 2008 at 8:00 pm

  Amazon £119.98 inc VAT and free delivery if ordered before 14th Feb. Mines on route. Great review and forum. Thanks

• 136 David Macneil // Feb 16, 2008 at 3:35 pm

  Thank you for the review, very helpful. One disappointment with the 250w is the lack of a comprehensive manual…thus four questions

  1) Having purchased a North American unit where do I purchase the Europe map kit? Reviews comment on the SC card facility to hold maps. Where do I find them, what kind?

  2) How do I get map updates? Any do-it-yourself map capability?

  3) Can I extract my Track from the 250W?

  4) Can the unit display altitude?

  Thanks for any help, Dave

• 137 Dean // Feb 17, 2008 at 9:45 am

  Hi David,
  I agree about the lack of a comprehensive manual. I haven’t been able to find one online either.

  The following link should provide the information you need for purchasing the European maps.

  City Navigator Europe NT

  The 250W does display altitude. Not sure if you can extract the track. Hope this helps.

• 138 Terry // Feb 17, 2008 at 3:35 pm

  Hello Dean

  Excellent review – best I have found! I am still a novice as far as Sat Nav is concerned but so far I am very impressed with my Garmin 250w which I received a couple of weeks ago as a birthday present along with a really excellent dashboard friction mount – I would highly recommend this. So far Dean I have encountered one problem which I don’t know how to rectify. I had to travel to an address in Belfast (the Malone Road – which is a major roadin the university area of the city).
  Once I had dealt with the “Where to?” prompt the Confirmation Screen displayed the address as Malone Avenue which is off the Malone Road but obviously not where I needed to go. It did this repeatedly. I couldn’t find a way of dealing with this issue. Can you help?
  I have to say that this is one example of where a more comprehensive manual would be invaluable.

• 139 Winnisk // Feb 17, 2008 at 9:30 pm

  I too was having trouble acquiring satellites. It was taking 2-3 minutes at best; sometimes 10 minutes and more. I reset twice, left outside to acquire signals – no luck. I reset a third time. This time leaving it out in a different space (wide open) for about 45 minutes. I waited until all bars were green and then left it there for another half hour. Now it receives satellite signals in less than a minute when starting up after an extended period of time (overnight or longer) and almost instantaneously if restarted within a few hours.
  In my case, I believe that the original problem was caused by myself, by not doing the initial set up properly. Originally, I did not place it in an open enough space for enough time. With this issue now resolved, I love this GPS!

• 140 Dean // Feb 18, 2008 at 9:10 am

  Hi Terry,
  Are you entering the address as a postcode? If so my first recommendation would be to enter the full address instead. Try entering the city name, house number and street and see if that works.

  If that doesn’t work you could try this. Get to the screen where it displays ‘Malone Avenue’ as the address, but instead of tapping the ‘Go’ button select ‘Show Map’.

  Keep pressing the small plus sign in the top right of the map to zoom into street level. Once at street level you can see both ‘Malone Road’ and ‘Malone Avenue’. If you tap somewhere on ‘Malone Road’ you can save that as a location, which you can then navigate to.

• 141 Terry // Feb 18, 2008 at 5:25 pm

  Dean

  Many thanks for your prompt response. The advice you have provided will certainly be very useful. What baffled me about my particular predicament was that once I had begun to enter ‘Street’ & ‘House Number’ etc my Garmin recognised ‘Malone Road’ but offered me both ‘Malone Road’ and ‘Malone Avenue’. I obviously tapped ‘Malone Road’ but the confirmation still kept coming up as ‘Malone Avenue’. Should I be very concerned about this or is it just a small ‘blip’ so to speak?

  Again , many thanks.

• 142 Dean // Feb 18, 2008 at 6:57 pm

  Terry,
  This is just a minor blip. I’ve seen this type of thing on other sat nav systems. Overall the mapping software on the Nuvi range is very good.

• 143 Rob // Feb 19, 2008 at 7:19 am

  Hi Dean, Just purchased the 250W($249.00 CDN) and took it for a spin from Vancouver BC Canada to Seattle Wash. USA. I loved it all the way. The picture viewer does show photos. Took the sd card from the camera and put it in and the pictures showed up perfectly. Recalculations work great and got us around many traffic jams quickly. There ia a very good manual built into this unit. Tap the wrench icon and then the help icon. I think you need to scroll down to see it. The help there explains the whole system. I tried it from the top of the space needle and it gave me the correct altitude above sea level. You will need a gun to get this baby out of my hands. Cheers Rob.

• 144 PETER B // Feb 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm

  Amazon are offering the Garmin 250W for £114.99. A great price, but the their site quotes delivery at 4-6 weeks, and they can’t tell me if this unit includes year 2008 mapping. Has anybody bought one from Amazon very recently and can comment or answer this point? Thanks Peter B

• 145 Andrew // Feb 19, 2008 at 5:29 pm

  Dean and All,
  Following up on my earlier post regarding my worries of the Garmin 250w being able to receive the satellite signals. Anyway.. I bought a garmin from my local Halfords. I have a Peugeot 307 with an active windscreen, the Garmin found the satellites without any trouble … no need of an external aerial.(Not that it is an option with the Nuvi 250w).

  The setup is really simple/ easy. I used it last week to travel from Calais to Zurich and then to Davos. It was excellent. Guided me directly to my destinations. (Also recalculated routes quite quickly ). It lost sat reception in long tunnels, as expected, but found the satellites quickly on exit.

  The Navteq maps are excellent and seem up to date.

  One gripe are that there is no detailed manual!!.

  I am very pleased with the NUVI 250w and recommend it anyone wanting a clear , easy, reliable, accurate device.

  The alternative device in my would be the Navman s70, this has many more features.

  I went to PC World where they had all the contenders , Tom Tom One XL, Navman s70 and the NUVI 200W. I spend quite a long time playing with to decide which had the best interface for me. I liked both the NUVI and the S70.

  Anyway .. the NUVI 250w does what I need , of course for the money , I would like it to support the features that the s70 incorporates and the also have a detailed manual.

• 146 David T // Feb 21, 2008 at 4:49 pm

  Peter B – Mapping is ‘City Navigator Europe NT 2008′. I ordered mine on 10th Feb and it was down within the week. Worth waiting for.

• 147 Michael // Feb 22, 2008 at 4:57 pm

  Thanks for the reviews, for someone who is trying to decide which SN to buy yours are the most detail reviews i have come across, the pics. are a real help.
  Regards Michael

• 148 bill ford // Feb 23, 2008 at 11:07 am

  guys
  futher to robs comments on the 19th
  i must be a complete idiot but i have looked
  high and low on my 250w to set altitude
  can someone do a step by step run through the menu
  thanks
  i would be stuck if it were not for this site!
  keep up the good work

  bill ford

• 149 Rob // Feb 23, 2008 at 3:26 pm

  Re Altitude – I’m not sure what you mean by set altitude but if you want to see the altitude simply go to “Map” and touch any item on the screen. If you are interested in where you are touch the car. It will then show another screen giving you Lat and Long and Altitude. This is calculated from the satelites so there is really nothing to set. Hope this helps Rob.

• 150 bill ford // Feb 25, 2008 at 9:33 am

  thanks rob, i miss-read your first comment. got that sorted now. i have yet to purchase an sd card to display my photos,both of my digital cameras use different format cards so i need an sd card to transfer them to first, any advice? do the images pop up as soon as you insert the card or is there a menu i will need to follow? thanks for all the info and help you guys give out!
  cheers

  bill ford

• 151 Rob // Feb 26, 2008 at 6:35 am

  Bill, To view your pictures touch the wrench icon. The next screen top right is called picture viewer, touch that area. You will then get a thumbnail of all the pictures on your nuvi. My Nikon uses the same SD card as the nuvi. You can also transfer pictures in via a usb cable but I’m not sure how much memory the nuvi has. Maybe I’ll play a bit and let you know.

• 152 Peter Baxter // Feb 27, 2008 at 9:43 am

  Hi
  I am considering buying the Nuvi 250w mainly for use in France during the summer. I have read your detailed review which I found most helpful but would appreciate comments on the following:
  how do I establish a POI database – what else do I need to do apart from downloading the POI loader onto my computer ?
  I will be spending time mostly in rural France and want to do some walking on various trails, some in remote areas. I am concerned that the maps may only show national and other major routes and not minor roads leading to these trails. Will the sat nav be useless in this instance ?
  Any help would be most appreciated

• 153 Dean // Feb 27, 2008 at 7:30 pm

  Hi Peter,
  The 250W comes pre-installed with 6 million Points of Interest, so it should already have a decent selection of POI covering France. The POI Loader is mainly for supplementing this huge database with anything extra you want to add.

  Regarding the maps. Whereabouts in France are you heading? I can check on my Nuvi and see what the map detail is like for the area you intend to visit. The map detail should be good for most of Western Europe.

• 154 algy // Feb 29, 2008 at 9:13 pm

  hi,

  Does it cover Cyprus?
  Ta
  Algy

• 155 Dean // Mar 1, 2008 at 8:13 am

  Hi Algy,
  I would expect only limited coverage of Cyprus, covering just main roads but not down to individual street level. You could contact Garmin for more information on coverage in this area.

• 156 airtoair // Mar 2, 2008 at 12:19 am

  thanks alot for the reviwe it’s rely helpfull
  i have 250w and i want to know if i drive and i want to mark a place as pol

• 157 Dean // Mar 2, 2008 at 8:50 am

  You can tap the map at any time and save your current location as a favourite and then navigate to that point later.

  Were you looking at add a custom Points of Interest (POI) too?

• 158 Peter Baxter // Mar 2, 2008 at 9:24 pm

  Dean,
  I hope to be in the south of France and the french alps. The intention is to have a walking holiday. I want to walk on some of the french trails (GR routes) There are quite a few located off minor roads and I want to make sure that I can easily locate them.
  Thanks
  Peter

• 159 Peter Baxter // Mar 4, 2008 at 10:47 am

  Hi Dean,
  Thanks for your comments and attachment showing the road network around Pont Du Gard in France. This was very useful as the network on the Garmin Nuvi 250 is more detailed than that on my Michelin book of maps that I have used in the past. A couple of other queries please.
  1 On the attachment it shows regional D roads and other minor ones not marked. Will the sat nav direct me along the D roads only or does it have the ability to pick up the minor roads?
  2 Can I upgrade my maps on the Nuvi 250w by downloading software from the Garmin website.
  Again many thanks for your help – for one whose technical competence is limited your site has proved invaluable
  Regards
  Peter

  ps Send me your address and I will send you a post card from France.

• 160 mohammed // Mar 4, 2008 at 5:17 pm

  thanks a lot for the reviwe

  i would like to know how i can make my owne poi when i drive .
  lets say im driving and i see an atm machine and i want to save it as poi .

• 161 Dean // Mar 4, 2008 at 5:42 pm

  Peter,
  I can’t give a definite answer on the minor roads, but I would have thought it would work. I’ve tested other sat nav systems on minor country roads and they’ve worked fine. If you’ve got a particular route you want me to try out let me know. I may be able to use the simulation mode and test out a route.

  Regarding map updates. If you go to garmin.com there is a link called myGarmin where you can register your Nuvi. Once registered you have access to map updates.

• 162 Dean // Mar 4, 2008 at 6:04 pm

  Hi Mohammed,
  When you’re driving along you can mark a point on the map and save it as a favourite. That will only store the location in your favourites list though. It will not show up as a POI.

  If you want to create a custom POI you need to use external software to do that. There is a product from Garmin called MapSource that allows you to create custom POI. Then using the Garmin POI Loader you can load these POI to your Nuvi. That’s my understanding anyway. I’ve never tried it out myself.

  If anyone else has any further information in this area, or knows of better/easier ways of adding custom POIs I’d be interested to know. Thanks.

• 163 mohammed // Mar 4, 2008 at 10:19 pm

  thanks dean .
  am now in germany and when i enter bank and atm folder in the nuvi 250w it was empty so i think i have to download some file but tell now i dont find eny file for bank and atm .

• 164 bill ford // Mar 8, 2008 at 10:03 am

  mohammed
  just recieved my 2008 map updates from garmin
  and that now includes atm’s as well as latest map updates
  cheers

  bill

• 165 Tony // Mar 9, 2008 at 12:11 pm

  I am very new to sat nav and am struggling to find anyone (or anywhere) where I can find intructions on updating my speed camera alerts. I have tagged as a favourite on my PC the site listed in the review but am concerned that if I download the programme (SCDB.info) etc, it may conflict with the way the Nuvi250W operates. Can anyone offer advice about keeping my european camera alerts updated in a safe way (I am really not very up to speed with techno-speak!). I live in France, but travel often to UK and other countries. Thanks.

• 166 Harish Verma // Mar 9, 2008 at 12:25 pm

  I had bought 250W at Christmas and before a visit to my daughter in Dubai, downloaded the Middle East Map. It worked fine in Dubai, where construction is always going on and streets changed. The “recalculating” feature is great. My daughter and son-in-law liked it so much that they wanted to keep it. I left mine with them and am on the lookout for a replacement.

  In searching the internet, I found that there are two new models 260W and soon to be released 255W that have better features than the old 250W. Could you please explain these upgrades and let me know which one of the two (260W and 255W) would be a better buy?

  I also have a chance to buy Cobra GPSM 2100. How would this compare with the Garmin models?

• 167 Dean // Mar 10, 2008 at 8:45 am

  Hi Tony,
  One thing you can do before updating anything on the Nuvi is make a backup. When the Nuvi is connected to your PC it appears as an extra hard drive. You can copy the entire contents of the Nuvi to a location on your PC. Then if ever anything goes wrong you have a full backup which you can copy back to the Nuvi.

  You may also find this link useful:
  http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/uksafetycameras-garmin.php

  It provides further information on how to update the speed camera database. There is also an excellent forum where you can post any further queries.

  I have not tried udpating the speed cameras on my Nuvi yet but I’m sure the above link will answer any concerns you have.

  Please feel free to post another comment here on how you get on. I’m sure others would be interested to know.

• 168 Dean // Mar 10, 2008 at 9:10 am

  Hi Harish,
  The 255W and 260w offer text to speech like the Nuvi 600 and 700 series, so the voice directions will include street names, for example “Turn right onto West Street in 500 yards”.

  The 255W is FM traffic compatible whereas the 250W and 260W are not. The 255W also has MSN Direct for North American users which provides not only traffic information but also things like local weather.

  The 255W also has the new “Where Am I” feature like they have on the new Nuvi 700 series. This feature not only shows your current longtitude, latitude and altitude. It also shows the nearest intersection and address, and includes quick access to nearby hospitals, police stations and fuel outlets. This can be a really useful if you break down for example. You can tell the breakdown recovery vehicle your exact location.

  The 255W also allows you use to use either an ABCDE or QWERTY keyboard like the new Nuvi 700 series. This is only a minor point but some people like this feature.

  Finally the 255W is lighter than both the 250W and 260W, 5.2 ounces (147.42 g) compared to 6.1 ounces (172.93 g).

  A drawback to the 255W is a lower battery life, 4 hours compared to the 5 hours for the 250W and 260W.

  I’ve no experience of the Cobra GPSM 2100 so can’t offer any advice there.

  It’s down to personal preference but if it was me I’d go for the 255W.

  Hope this helps.

• 169 Ken Carruthers // Mar 10, 2008 at 1:24 pm

  I’m considering both the 250W and the Sony U73. A key point seems to be the mount. I want to be able to mount the unit on the dash, which suggests the Sony would be the better choice. For other reasons I prefer the Garmin. So before I make my decision, does anyone know a removal, portable dash mount (like a bean-bag) that will work with the 250W please?

• 170 Dean // Mar 10, 2008 at 5:46 pm

  Hi Ken,
  I would opt for the 250W, simply because any replacement dashboard mount for the Sony nav-u range is very expensive and difficult to get hold of currently.

  You can buy a dashboard mount for the Garmin nuvi range. It has received good reviews on Amazon. Here is a link to the Amazon UK site.

  Garmin Nuvi Friction Mount

  I’m going to buy one myself since they look pretty good.

• 171 Dave Swann // Mar 11, 2008 at 9:52 am

  You can even get it from Garmin, a few pence cheaper. I have not compared delivery costs though.

  https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8100

• 172 Ken Carruthers // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:52 pm

  Dean – Hi!
  Thanks for your helpful reply. On reading the Cutomer Reviews about the Garmin dash mount options available through Amazon it is easy to get confused. The link you have given looks to be the right one even if the unit is unhelpfully named “Nuvi Series, StreetPilot c5XX Series”. However, customer reviews of the similar looking Garmin “Portable Mount” (Item model number: 0101030600) appear to have had no end of problems making it fit the Nuvi series. For the Nuv series, one of the reviewers helpfully points out that the important part number to look for is (010-10908-00).

• 173 Dean // Mar 12, 2008 at 1:02 pm

  Yes it is confusing. The part number is 010-10908-00 as you correctly point out. This can be confirmed by going to the Garmin web site and looking at the same portable mount they sell.

  I’ve gone ahead and bought the mount from Amazon and will write up a review of how I get on with it in a couple of weeks time.

• 174 Ken Carruthers // Mar 12, 2008 at 1:30 pm

  Dean – its me again!
  I too have just ordered from Amazon the portable mount plus the NUV 250W to go with it.

• 175 Ken Carruthers // Mar 13, 2008 at 1:28 pm

  My Niv250W arrived promptly this morning from Amazon. Everything seems to work fine and I was able to get a 5-bar maximum strength satellite signal literally within seconds on my first attempt. Brilliant! The portable mount also looks like it should work very well.
  Any disappointments -well nothing significant. However, the local POIs (particularly banks and ATMs) seem incomplete. I have 2 local banks and several ATMs within 2 miles but the nearest is shown as 4 miles away. I thought I might be able to resolve this by downloading Garmins “POI Loader”. The download came through OK but I got stumped when I ran the program and it asked me to identify the location of the current data files. I had my Garmin connected but chickened-out on 2 scores: 1st if the POI Loader downloads everything is there any danger it will overload the NUV’s memory available? and 2nd, which folder am I supposed to identify/assign for the update? Sorry but I’m a novice when it comes to updating a gadget via my PC, so any help advice would be appreciated (in idiot speak please)! Also, how do I go about updating the maps when the time comes please (is this the same)?
  Thanks again for all your earlier advice and info.

• 176 Dean // Mar 13, 2008 at 6:54 pm

  Hi Ken,
  A good place to start is backing up your Nuvi so if things go wrong you can restore from the backup. When the Nuvi is connected to your PC it should appear as an extra hard drive. You can then copy the entire contents of the Nuvi to a folder on your computer.

  I don’t have any personal experience loading custom POIs onto the Nuvi but here is what I know.

  POI Loader is the software to load custom POIs onto the Nuvi. You will need to either create your own custom POI file (containing the missing banks and ATMs) or find one already created, and then using the POI Loader you load this file onto the Nuvi. I don’t think they overwrite the Garmin preinstalled POI files.

  The custom POI files are created in a comma separated (CSV) format. This link might help you further:

  http://www.gpsinformation.org/penrod/poiloader/poiloader.html

  As for map updates, if you visit the Garmin web site there is a link called myGarmin where you can register your device. Once registered you can then logon to myGarmin and look for map updates.

  Hope this helps and let me know how you get on with the custom POIs. If you’ve got any doubts then might be best to not worry updating the missing POIs.

• 177 algy // Mar 13, 2008 at 7:06 pm

  can someone be kind enough to check their 250W or 255W and advise me if it covers Cyprus. I live in UK and Cyprus and it may be a deciding factor

  ta

  Algy

• 178 Dean // Mar 14, 2008 at 8:44 am

  Algy – have a look at comment 155 above.

  I would expect only limited coverage for Cyprus – showing just main roads but not down to individual street level. I made that assumption by zooming into Cyprus on my Garmin and looking at the map it seems to only show main roads.

  Your best bet is to phone Garmin for help. They have a freephone number: 0808 2380000

• 179 Ken Carruthers // Mar 14, 2008 at 9:02 am

  Dean
  Many, many thanks for your very helpful reply and advice about downloads. The trouble you take is really appreciated by me and clearly by others too.
  I shall play around and may decide to ‘risk’ adding the POIs depending how it all looks. As things stand, I don’t want to upset what appears to be a device that is working perfectly. “If it ain’t broke …….”
  Will let you know.
  Regards,
  Ken

• 180 Darren // Mar 15, 2008 at 7:25 am

  Dean – I am looking at buying a system form my father, he is a young 70 and is looking for an easy to use, good size screen & speaker. I have a number of Garmin handheld units but would be grateful if you could advise which is the best for him. By the way great review. Thanks Darren

• 181 Dean // Mar 15, 2008 at 8:34 am

  Hi Darren,
  All the models in the Garmin Nuvi range look good and are easy to use. It depends on your budget. The Nuvi 250W has been very popular and I’ve noticed the price on Amazon fluctuates up and down. Assuming you live in the UK it is currently £135 but I’ve seen the price as low as £115 this year. I road tested the 250W for a month and experienced no problems.

  Garmin have also recently released the Nuvi 255W (I personally have never used one but it builds on the success of the 250W). It’s more expensive at around £170 but it has more features like text to speech (voice directions speak road names) and the “Where Am I” feature which shows not only your current latitude/longtitude, but also nearest address and intersection and quick launch buttons to show nearest fuel outlets, police stations, etc. Quite useful if you break down for example. The 255W also has a TMC traffic module.

  Both the 250W and 255W are good buys.

  If there are specific features you’re looking for I can advise further.

• 182 Darren // Mar 15, 2008 at 9:01 am

  Dean, Thanks so much for your fast response and direct information I will discuss this & if anything comes up I will give you a shout. Many thanks again & great info !! Regards Darren

• 183 MGao // Mar 16, 2008 at 12:14 am

  Hi, Dean and All,
  Many thanks for the info. I just bought a 250W. It looks great. Nothing wrong so far. But one thing I want to know is whether we can change or modify the route, e.g. if we want to go from A to B, of course we can get the direction from 250W, but I want to pass C at somewhere and then to go to B. How can we change the route?

• 184 Dean // Mar 16, 2008 at 9:06 am

  Hi MGao,
  What you need to do is add a via point. Enter the navigation details from A to B and touch Go to start the route, then with the route active, touch Menu –> Where to, and enter address C and touch Go and select ‘Add as Via Point’.

  The Nuvi will then navigate you from A to B via C.

• 185 MGao // Mar 16, 2008 at 7:53 pm

  Hi, Dean,

  Thanks for the helping. That works.

  Now, I have 2 other questions.

  1) The power plug port looks like the normal USB plugs for the cameras, cell phones and so on. Can we use this kind of USB cable to connect the 250W and computer so that we can charge 250W and transfer the data? If yes, I have another question as following.

  2) I am in North America. I use Microsoft Mappoint (North America Version) often to find out the loaction and the directions. This software has a function to transfer the directions to GPS. To configure the program, the message siad: the GPS receiver must be NMEA 2.0 – compatible and that the input/output format (interface) is set to support the NMEA 2.0 or later data format. Can you tell what is that and how we can do. I know you must be in England or somewhere in Europe. I guess you must know and use this Mappoint, do you?

• 186 Dean // Mar 16, 2008 at 9:33 pm

  Hi MGao,

  I’m based in England.

  Yes, the Nuvi USB port is the same one used on other devices like cameras. I can plug my camera USB cable into my Garmin Nuvi.

  Regarding your second question I don’t think the Nuvi range support NMEA 2.0. I suggest you contact Garmin support in the US and see if they can answer that for you.

• 187 Joe Leahy // Mar 18, 2008 at 8:47 pm

  How do you edit the JPG images. I successfully dragged and dropped the new ones I wanted to add using my Canon camera USB cable but I cannot then remove them. If you want to add an image reduce it to 480px 232px 240dpi first and don’t add the full size image as I did when dragging and dropping. Will they fill up my hard disk and how big is it anyway? If you add the image from an SD card does the Garmin reduce the image size itself?

  Joe

• 188 MGao // Mar 19, 2008 at 4:01 pm

  Hi, Dean,

  I found the distance shown at 250W between 2 places are smaller than the real. The unit is km. But a 10 km is showed about 7 km. Did you find this problem?

• 189 Dean // Mar 19, 2008 at 4:47 pm

  Hi MGao,
  The Nuvi will always show the straight line distance between two points (i.e. the air distance). That’s why the distances appear smaller than you expect.

  The straight line ‘air’ mileage will always be smaller than the ‘road’ mileage.

  Once you tap ‘Go’ to navigate to a destination, and then press the ‘Trip’ information button in the lower left of the screen it will show the true road distance.

  This makes sense when you think about it. Until the Nuvi plots a route between two points it won’t know which roads are used to get between those two points and therefore will not know the true road distance.

• 190 Ken // Mar 19, 2008 at 5:44 pm

  Hi Guys – particularly those using the 250W already,

  I want a cheapish satnav to pop onto the top of my tankbag on a motorcycle while in Europe. Power supply for it is no problem. However, hearing the instructions from the satnav will be impossible while riding!!

  What are your feelings on relying on the display alone to give directions? I really don’t feel like shelling out all that brass on a TT Rider (which is not legal in France anymore if you have inhelmet communications!!)

  Ken

• 191 Dean // Mar 19, 2008 at 9:20 pm

  Hi Ken,
  Never tried navigating without voice instructions so not sure how practical it would be. I’ll try and give it a go in my car over the weekend.

  It may be feasible but it depends what types of road your riding on and how often you would need to take your eyes off the road to glance at the sat nav screen.

  The Nuvi 250W has a ‘Turn Page’ screen which may be helpful. It displays a map on the left half of the screen and text instructions of your next turn on the right hand side of the screen, for example “Right on Ridgeview Rd”. For a quick glance down at the sat nav screen it may help whilst riding your bike.

  If I come up with any other ideas I’ll post back here.

• 192 Ken // Mar 20, 2008 at 9:50 am

  Dean,

  Thanks for the reply – very helpful, but I’ll be even more interested in your experiences on my behalf.
  I’m looking at a way of mounting it within reasonable glancing distance of the speedo. If you ride a bike, you’ll realise that you do need to keep an eye on the speedo!
  Main use will be for navigating on the continent (Holland, Germany and Czech Rep – which is where the 250W scores well, incorporating west and east Europe.
  Let me know how you get on (and hope you don’t have to rely on re-routing because you miss a turn!)

  Ken

• 193 Helen // Mar 20, 2008 at 5:46 pm

  Hello Dean
  great review of the 250W thank you! I just bought this nuvi about an hour ago and can’t wait to get going with it. FYI I have connected it to my laptop to charge using the same lead which I use to connect my NIKON D70 to the computer. So as suggested by an earlier poster some camera leads will do the job nicely. Nikon will, Fuji won’t! Maybe some of your posters could tell which of their camera leads fit the Garmin and then you would get a definitive list.

  A question please …….. Any idea on how long I should keep it on charge to get the full 5 hours usage of the stated battery life? There doesn’t seem to be any sort of indicator, the battery icon which only tells you what power is left. It would be useful to have a clue how long is left as the sections on the battery icon turn black.

• 194 Dean // Mar 20, 2008 at 9:57 pm

  Hi Helen,
  The USB camera cable for my Canon Powershot A70 works fine with my Garmin.

  The Garmin Nuvi series normally take about 3-4 hours to fully charge. If you want to know exactly how much charge is left on the battery then try pressing the battery indicator on the main screen for 8 seconds. You will then enter a service screen which displays a lot of diagnostic information including exactly how much charge is left on the battery.

• 195 Helen // Mar 21, 2008 at 6:41 am

  Thanks Dean, as you mentioned before the user manual is a little miserly with its information!

• 196 Anthony // Mar 21, 2008 at 11:41 am

  The USB route of charging is more of a’trickle’ charge, if you charge with the correct in car charger it takes less than 2 hours to charge fully, and that includes using it at the same time

• 197 Helen // Mar 21, 2008 at 6:31 pm

  Thanks for that Andrew. I bought a SatNav because no matter how much I love maps (seriously – I have had counselling) sometimes your nose is not a reliable route to follow

  I have tested my new Garmin today on a route through Derby city centre to nearby the Pride Park Stadium. Apart from a couple of turn right commands where the road simply veered to the right, it was mostly correct.Lets see if it can get me to Ludlow on Monday!

• 198 Dean // Mar 25, 2008 at 7:56 pm

  Hi Ken,
  I didn’t get much chance to test out navigating without voice instructions over the weekend. Only did a small journey but I found that on the open road it is not too bad. You can glance down at the screen and see how far it is until the next turn.

  Where I don’t think it will work out well is in built up areas where there may be many turns close together. You could end up missing turns and have to rely on the Nuvi recalculating the route.

• 199 Ken // Mar 26, 2008 at 9:00 am

  Good morning Dean,

  Many thanks for giving it a try for me and this valuable feedback.
  I reckon most of its use WILL be on ‘open’ roads where advanced notice of a deviation will be useful. I take your point about ‘town’ driving. If the Nuvi works in a similar way to my Navman, at least you can see warnings for a succession of turns.
  I’ll let you know how I progress the matter (though not into Europe until the end of April and beginning of May).

  Thanks again,

  Ken

• 200 Dave Winter // Mar 26, 2008 at 5:52 pm

  Hi,
  I recently brought a Garmin nuvi 250w, i think it’s excellent and well worth the money. BUT in the past two weeks the screen has frozen twice, when this hapens nothing else works, the picture and position of the car stops, the on / off doesn’t work the only way round it seems to be to wait the three hours or so it takes for the battery to go flat and start again.
  The reset button is under the serial number sticker. I tried to press that but dont wont to damage it.
  HAS ANYONE ANY IDEA’S OR SOLUTIONS

• 201 Helen // Mar 26, 2008 at 6:04 pm

  Sorry Dave I have no experience of this but it sounds like you may have to go back to your retailer and get them to replace the unit. I just got my garmin 250w last week. So far it has operated well. My only gripe is its classifiation of major roads. I would have preferred the option to turn off “M” roads instead of IT using its own judgement to determine which are/are not major roads.

  Hope you get this sorted.

• 202 Harish Verma // Mar 26, 2008 at 6:12 pm

  Dave:
  I know that the reset button is under the sticker. In talking to Garmin people, I got the impression that you could reset by pressing the tip of a ballpoint pen on the sticker, and that would activate the reset button. You may have to pierce the sticker. Why don’t you call the Garmin tech support on their 1-800 line and confirm it. I think it is worth a try. Let me know if it works.
  Harish

• 203 Dave W // Mar 26, 2008 at 6:17 pm

  Cheers Helen

• 204 Roger H // Mar 29, 2008 at 1:07 am

  Just bought a Garmin 250W but it will not register with my computer (windows Vista).
  Tried everything in the Help guide, any ideas?
  Cheers Roger….

• 205 mick s // Mar 29, 2008 at 1:02 pm

  went in to the retail shop determined to buy a tom tom came out with a garmin 250w far superior

• 206 michael G // Mar 29, 2008 at 1:31 pm

  Hi, Mick S,

  I did not follow you what you mean. Did you mean tom tom is better than Garmin 250W? if yes, please tell why.

• 207 Dean // Mar 30, 2008 at 8:28 am

  Roger H – I would contact Garmin support and check about Vista compatability. Their web site seems to suggest it does support Vista but I’d phone them up and check.

  Michael G – I think what Mick S means is that he went into a shop with the intention of buying a Tom Tom but ended up buying a Nuvi 250W. I agree with him that the Garmin is a superior unit.

• 208 Dave w // Mar 30, 2008 at 5:27 pm

  Hi again
  Now replaced my Nuvi 250w as it kept freezing up.
  Was getting on great with the replacement until today, used it to go out with this morning (was fully charged after 3 hour drive) come to return home and the NEW one won’t turn on, i’ve tried reseting it but no joy.

  ANY IDEAS ???????????
  COULD THIS BE DUE, TO THE HEAT IN THE CAR TODAY

• 209 Dean // Mar 31, 2008 at 8:30 am

  Hi Dave,
  I doubt the heat has anything to do with it.

  I know you said the unit was fully charged, but I would try charging it again by connecting it to a computer using a USB cable and let it charge for about 4-5 hours. If it still doesn’t switch on after that then try contacting Garmin support.

• 210 Dave w // Mar 31, 2008 at 4:09 pm

  Cheers Dean

• 211 Jacob // Apr 1, 2008 at 6:15 pm

  Hi!

  I have my 250W for couple of months. It works fine in general but twice it wanted me to drive wrong way on a one way road!! I live in Carlisle, UK and that’s where it happened…

  Has anyone experienced anything like that??

  Cheers!

  J.

• 212 Dave Swann // Apr 1, 2008 at 8:18 pm

  Hi Jacob.
  Could be those roads were not one way when the maps were drawn. There is a 2008 map update, check that you have it.
  Good Luck
  Dave

• 213 Ken Carruthers // Apr 3, 2008 at 9:24 am

  Hi Dean and All!
  Some brief feedback on my 25oW which I have now had for about a month. Other than 2 instructions to make a turn when there was simply a sharp bend in the road, it has worked impressively well. One concern I had from other reviews was Garmin’s speed at finding satellites – in this respect mine has never taken longer than 30 and most times it works within about 10 – 15 seconds. Despite concerns and worries about downloading POIs, I have found this straightforward (following Dean’s advice and links provided). What has worked well for me has been to download new POIs to an SD card and, when asked by the 250W, instructing it not to also copy the extra data into the system. That way I have kept the system and the downloads separate for peace of mind. Also, as a precaution I found it easy enough to make a back-up of my Garmin stored to my PC. Finally, the Garmin part number is 010-10908-00ortable dash mount (part number is 010-10908-00) works fantastically if you don’t want to have the usual sticker mount on your windscreen. Great piece of kit all round!

• 214 Dean // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:30 am

  Thanks for the tips Ken. I like your idea about using an SD card. I’ll have to look into buying one of those.

  Regarding the maps I’ve seen a similar thing, where I had to make a left turn but it thought it was just a sharp bend in the road. In my experience no mapping software is perfect from any sat nav system, there are always minor faults like this, but on the whole they perform very well.

  Glad you like the friction dash mount. I will be road testing the dash mount this weekend and will write up a review with photos later on this month.

• 215 Peter // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:34 pm

  Hi

  I got the 250w Garmin in January and it has been fantastic. However it has recently started to play-up off the in-car charger. When I plug the sat-nav via the charger, the screen saver appears on the screen with a pic of computer hard-drive. (A usb connection). How can I fix. Cheers.

• 216 Dean // Apr 4, 2008 at 9:53 pm

  Hi Peter,
  What this means is your 250W has switched to mass storage mode. That’s why you see the pic of a computer hard drive.

  I’m not sure why it’s starting doing this for you. I presume you’re using the same Garmin supplied in-car charger you’ve always used. Maybe there is a fault with the charger?

  What happens if you try plugging the 250W into a friend’s car, do you get the same problem? Might help to narrow down where the problem lies.

  Have you ever connected your 250W to a computer? You could try that using a USB cable, then disconnect the 250W from the computer, then try plugging the 250W back into your car using the in-car charger. That might sort things out.

  The other thing you could try is a factory reset of the 250W. If that doesn’t work you could try contacting Garmin support.

  Hope you get it sorted and let us know what happens.

• 217 Ann // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:14 pm

  Hi,
  I, like several others here am looking to buy my first satnav.

  Thankyou for your very comprehensive review, it convinced me that the 250w is the one for me, that is, until I saw mention of the 255w. Do you think its going to be as good as the 250, only, I really like the idea of text to speech so I started looking again.

  I went to the Garmin website and found that it is not featured on the UK part of the site, only on the american one.

  My questions are…… If i purchased one on the internet does that mean that -
  1 I only get american accents
  2 what about speed camera updates (ooops, I mean safety cameras of course)
  3 If there were problems with the machine/updates would the guarantee be valid in the in UK?

  Sorry if these questions sound silly but Ive never shopped on the internet prefering to buy locally where its easy to go back and shout loudly (if necessary) until I get replacement or refund item doesnt work .

  Thank you

• 218 Dean // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:55 pm

  Hi Ann,
  Although it is not yet on the Garmin website, you can purchase it from the UK Amazon web site. Link below:

  Garmin Nuvi 255W

  The 255W is a nice system that builds on the success of the 250W. It will be as good as the 250W, if not better since it has more features.

• 219 bill ford // Apr 9, 2008 at 9:38 am

  guys

  finaly gave my 250w a try out last weekend with a trip down to cornwall from worcestershire.
  got me down ther fine,even down narrow country lanes right to our destination.
  however on various trips out I had to keep my wits about me as it often told me to turn right or left when it was just a sharp bend and on one occasion ‘to keep right’ when the road forked and I needed to make a right turn!
  on one trip on the A30, a few year old state of the art dual carrigeway, I noticed on the screen the icon was about 1/2 inch to the right of the highlighted road and running along parralell to it
  with the sat nav making recalculations as we went along, eventualy the two married up again
  this happend on the same piece of road on the outward and home journeys, also it lost its way on some of the double islands that are on this piece of road, sending us down the wrong road, telling us to make a u turn, and then telling us to go down the same road again.
  other than that it worked fine!
  any ideas, is it a mapping problem or what?

  cheers

  bill ford

• 220 Dean // Apr 9, 2008 at 1:06 pm

  Hi Bill,
  Yes it sounds like a few minor problems with the mapping software. Hopefully a future map update will help correct some of these issues, especially any new roads recently built.

  If you go to the Garmin website there is a link at the top called myGarmin where you can register your device. Once registered you can then check for map updates.

  In my experience no mapping software from any sat nav system is perfect. You normally come across minor issues like you found. It’s a good idea to glance at the map if you’re unsure about a particular turn. That can sometimes clarify where to go.

• 221 Roger H // Apr 10, 2008 at 9:10 pm

  Hi,
  how accurate is the speedo on the Garmin 250w trip function, as when I checked against my car reading it showed a 5 mph difference (in my favour!)
  Is the Garmin more reliable?
  Cheers, Roger

• 222 Dean // Apr 10, 2008 at 9:28 pm

  A 5mph difference sounds about right. I observed a similar thing. Not sure which is more accurate though – the car or the Garmin. My money is on the car

• 223 Dean // Apr 10, 2008 at 9:33 pm

  If anyone is interested I have now written up a review of the Garmin friction mount. Nice piece of kit.

• 224 Anthony // Apr 11, 2008 at 12:34 pm

  Roger H, the Garmin will give a truer speed, car speedo’s are notoriously set at higher shown speeds, so that you are actually travelling under the cars shown speed. Stick with the Garmin for the correct speed

• 225 Henrietta // Apr 11, 2008 at 5:47 pm

  Having followed all the above discussions, I have been holding off buying my first satnav until the Garmin 255W becomes available (its release date has slipped back until mid-May). However, I have just been googling and discovered that there is now a 255WT also due to become available. Are you able to clarify what the T means? I think it is something to do with realtime traffic reports, but I though that was what the 255W did, which was why I was waiting for it. (The 255WT is about £20 more expensive than the plain W). If you can enlighten me I would be eternally grateful – Awaiting your reply with interest – H.

• 226 Dean // Apr 11, 2008 at 6:11 pm

  The 255W is traffic compatible but doesn’t include the traffic receiver. You would need to buy the receiver separately.

  The 255WT includes the GTM 25 traffic receiver hence the higher price.

• 227 Ron // Apr 15, 2008 at 2:07 pm

  recently bought the Nuvi 250W, very pleased. One problem left him in Scotland and as I crossed into England the speed camera notifications stopped. On returning next day the notifications started again – any ideas?

• 228 Sebas // Apr 15, 2008 at 2:25 pm

  Hi, im from Spain. One question… I have the 250w and when i try to update the software with the webupdater program its tell me i have the 3.10 version.. the latest version.

  I see in other forums people with 3.60 version of the software, but in the nuvi 250 “standard
  “.
  Its the 3.60 only for non-widescreen versions, the 3.10 is correct for the 250w?

  Thanks.

• 229 Ron // Apr 15, 2008 at 3:37 pm

  Just seen my message, apologies for rushed spelling! Should read “left home in Scotland”

• 230 Dean // Apr 15, 2008 at 9:57 pm

  Ron – Not sure what is happening there. How far into England did you travel and how many safety cameras did it fail to detect?

  Sebas – I don’t know the answer to your question but it sounds like maybe the 3.60 version is only for the non-widescreen version. Have you tried contacting your local Garmin support?

• 231 Sebas // Apr 16, 2008 at 12:56 am

  Thanks Dean.

  Yes.. and still waiting for an answer…

• 232 Ron // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:51 am

  Dean
  I travelled all around North Yorkshire and back and it never detected any safety cameras at all until i arrived back at the border in Berwick.

• 233 Ron // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:56 am

  Dean/Sebas
  I have also contacted garmin twice by email – still no reply

• 234 Dean // Apr 16, 2008 at 8:23 am

  Ron,
  I would have expected the safety cameras to work across the whole of the UK. You could try phoning Garmin on 0808 2380000. Let me know if you find out anything further.

• 235 Darren // Apr 21, 2008 at 1:20 pm

  Hi.I have just bought a nuvi 250w from halfords for £139.99 which i thought was a great price,The problem i have is that the points of interest in my area (south wales)is very limited i cant get any supermarkets up such as asda,tesco etc.Also food outlets such as subway etc.If this is normal i think i will have to take it back.if anyone has a a tip on how to get these sites up please could you letme know.
  Thanks
  Darren.

• 236 Dean // Apr 21, 2008 at 10:04 pm

  Darren,
  Sorry to hear the POI is not good in your area. The Garmin is normally very strong in this area. Have a look at comments 62, 175 and 176 above and see if that helps at all.

• 237 Duncan // Apr 22, 2008 at 1:57 pm

  Ron,
  To the best of my knowledge there aren’t any speed cameras in North Yorkshire – did you actually see some?

• 238 Ron // Apr 22, 2008 at 7:30 pm

  Duncan
  There are certainly cameras between Berwick and North Yorkshire

• 239 Robert // Apr 24, 2008 at 9:33 pm

  I’m reluctantly giving up on the Garmin. Will be returning the unit to shop due to it’s slow satellite acquisition time. Typically takes about 10 minutes to get a fix (rather than an expected 30secs). This is the second unit I’ve had, having returned the first after following all instructions including being advised by helpdesk to conduct a software update and hardware reset. Can’t understand why others have not reported this problem which seems to be comment across a batch of units.

• 240 Dean // Apr 24, 2008 at 10:07 pm

  Hi Robert,
  Did you read comments 33 and 139 above? See if that helps at all. If not then maybe there is a duff batch as you say. Any chance you could ask for a demo in another shop and see if you get the same problem?

  A few people have reported slow satellite acquisition but others have reported no problems at all.

• 241 Anthony // Apr 27, 2008 at 12:55 pm

  Robert 239, you must have a dodgy unit as this is certainly not a common fault. As long as you give it time the first time and dont start driving before you switch the unit on, it should find satelittes in less than 30 seconds. I took mine to Spain by plane, and again it took a while to realise where it was, but once it knew (like the initial time) it always loads up faster than anything I have ever encountered.

• 242 Dean // Apr 28, 2008 at 8:46 am

  All the Nuvis I’ve used have always acquired a satellite very quickly. Just make sure you perform the initial setup correctly. Good advice from Anthony above.

• 243 Clare // Apr 28, 2008 at 5:20 pm

  Thank you for your reveiws and tips. I had the misfortune to buy a sony sat nav a few months back which was terrible – slow to calculate route, touchscreen taking several touches to work and a suction cup that developed an allergy to my windscreen and would fly off after a few minutes.

  After reading up on sat navs and finding this site I have now bought one of these Nuvi’s for 120 quid. If it stays attached to my windscreen I’ll be over the moon. Wish I’d seen this site before buying the Sony but hope to sell the thing soon!

• 244 Dean // Apr 28, 2008 at 6:49 pm

  Hi Clare,
  I’m sure you’ll find the Nuvi a good buy. Also check out comment 223 above. I bought a dashboard friction mount for my Nuvi a couple of months ago. Great piece of kit.

• 245 Clare // Apr 28, 2008 at 8:36 pm

  Hi Dean,

  Thanks for the tip on the bean bag – just looked it up and it looks like the answer to my prayers!

  I hate the suction cups to be honest and this would avoid the issues involved with them all together! I’ll be ordering one soon, thanks.

• 246 Ken // Apr 30, 2008 at 11:02 am

  I remain extremely pleased with the Nuvi 250W I bought earlier this year (see my earlier postings). However, I have come unstuck trying to download an update to the safety camera subscription via the Garmin web site. I have registered my Garmin but, despite successfully connecting my Nuvi 250W to my PC, the Garmin web site fails to recognise it after scanning my PC for the connection. Has anyone had a similar problem please? Also, I’ve found it difficult to trace a ‘phone number or Email address for Garmin support, can anyone help on that score too please?

• 247 Dean // Apr 30, 2008 at 12:19 pm

  Try 0808 2380000 for Garmin support. Please keep us posted as this is something I will need to do at some point. Thanks.

• 248 Anthony // Apr 30, 2008 at 1:00 pm

  Ken – 246, How do you know that the Garmin is succesfully connected ? Is it that the Garmin shows a computer connection, because if that is the case it does that as soon as the USB and computer are linked, but with mine it sometimes takes a minute or two for the computer to ‘properly’ recognise the Garmin. Have you tried leaving it connected for a minute or 2 then ‘re-scan’ your device from the Garmin website ?

• 249 Ken // May 2, 2008 at 11:35 am

  Dean – Thanks, will let you know.

  Anthony – Thanks, I shall try doing what you say, though it was connected for some time and I made quite a number of attempts to scan for the connection via the Garmin web site. Yes, my Garmin showed a connection on its screen with my PC and I was able to view the icons showing folders and files within the Nuvi. The FAQs on Garmin’s site suggest that this problem is most often caused by the “Sychronise” program that runs within Windows which is primarilly designed to identify PDAs. However, I was not able to follow/understand the instructions the FAQ suggested within Windows XP to disable the program temporarily.

• 250 mick // May 2, 2008 at 8:39 pm

  I have been looking at different Sat Nav and the Garmin Nuvi 250w seems to be the one which get the best comment. But the question I cannot seem to find out is if you have the Europe software installed which I need because I want to use it in Ireland this year. Does the Nuvi 250w allow me to load software for Central America which I will need later on this year. If so how much does it cost.

• 251 Dean // May 2, 2008 at 9:39 pm

  Hi Mick,
  Take a look at the WorldMap CD on the Garmin web site:
  http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/ontheRoad/

  It is not as detailed as some of the other map products but it may be sufficient for your travels around Central America. The only thing I’m not sure about is whether this map software can be installed side by side with the existing European maps that are preinstalled on the 250W, or whether the WorldMap would overwrite it. I’d check with Garmin support to make sure first, or someone else on this forum may know more.

• 252 Chris // May 3, 2008 at 1:47 pm

  Can you confirm if the ‘Transcend MMC plus” 1gb memory card is compatible with the 250w? My wife recently bought me the MMCplus card, but the problem is that when I hook up the Garmin to my PC, Windows will show both the Garmin folder and the memory drive but does not register that the card is inserted. I get the message “please insert disc” even though it’s inserted. Also, is there a routine for checking the existance of a card on the Garmin it self.

• 253 Dean // May 4, 2008 at 8:24 am

  Chris,
  Not sure the answer. It says this on the Garmin web site:

  “The nuvi will accept most standard SD and MicroSD (Secure Digital, SDHC) memory cards”.

• 254 algy // May 4, 2008 at 11:55 am

  H,
  Just about to buy the nuvi 250 for uk use. considering also the 255 which i believe has voice.
  Where is currently the best deals to be had for either device for online purchase for uk delivery?
  If you had not bought already would you buy the 250 or 255? is it worth the extra pounds?
  ta
  Excellent thread
  Algy

• 255 Dean // May 4, 2008 at 3:12 pm

  If it was me I’d go for the 255W because it has some of the features seen on the Nuvi 700 series like text to speech and the “Where Am I” feature.

  Amazon vary the price of their Nuvi systems so it is worth keeping an eye on their prices. I’ve seen the price go up and down quite a bit and you can get a good deal when the price is low.

• 256 algy // May 4, 2008 at 7:09 pm

  Thanks Dean,
  I was hoping you would say that as my head tells me to pay the extra as the features seem to be worth it.
  Release date is 16th May and at £179 on Amazon at the moment. I am in UK 16th – 21st so I may not be able to get one during this visit. Is that @ £179 a good price at the mo?

  algy

• 257 paul // May 5, 2008 at 1:02 am

  hi
  considering buying 250. can anyone tell me how accurate it is for use in spain please ? also can the camera detection facility be disabled temporarily as ive heard of people being fined for using this in spain.
  thanks

• 258 Dean // May 5, 2008 at 9:09 am

  Algy,
  The £179 price on Amazon has stayed the same for quite a while now. I have seen it cheaper than this on other web sites although I’ve no idea how good or reliable these other web sites are. Have a search on Google. I found a few sites selling it up to £20 cheaper.

  Paul,
  The safety cameras can be temporarily disabled by accessing the settings screen and choosing proximity alerts.

• 259 Anthony // May 5, 2008 at 9:44 am

  Paul 257, I took my Garmin 250 to Spain when I went to Torremolinos. I admit I was not driving, I just took it for the novelty, BUT it found me perfectly on the promenade (once the satelittes had realised I was over a 1000 miles from homes) and using the pedestrian mode it walked me through the old town to ‘San Miguel’ street where I was told most of the shops were. So I would have all confidence of it working in Spain.

• 260 Andy // May 5, 2008 at 10:21 am

  I purchsed the 250w from Halfords (£129.99, good price!) and it seems to behave faultlessly as a navigation tool.

  A few gripes though……..

  It does not show an accurate time! Since time is one og the key thinsg (as I understand it) in satellite navigation, I would have thought it would be spot on, but it was up to ten minutes out!

  Satellite acquisition is also very slow at times, failing to find any in the open. Maybe it needs the master reset mentioned earler.

  The POIs are a very hit and mss too. I livein North Wales and asked it to point me to a zoo, and it it only came up with one Northern Ireland! Also the food places, it thinks the nearest MacDonalds to me is 12 miles away whereas there is one in my hometown and several nearby. They are not new either.

  Like I say, good navigation though.

• 261 Anthony // May 5, 2008 at 10:25 am

  Andy 260, time is a bit confusing as it should be exact ? Always try and let it find the satelittes before moving off, and concerning POI’s I must agree as I live in a town of 100,000 and it tries to direct me 8 miles away for some shops/outlets that I have in my town. I honestly thought someone had gone in and removed my town ?!!?!?

• 262 paul // May 5, 2008 at 10:35 am

  thanks for replies.
  getting hire car in spain and think it will have the uv reflect windscreen. does anyone know if the 250 and 255 models can have external aerials connected ?

• 263 Dean // May 5, 2008 at 7:01 pm

  Paul,
  This is what it says on the Garmin web site. It seems to suggest an external aerial is not available. Does anyone know otherwise?

  “Most of the nuvi units can use an external antenna. The most commonly used external antenna is the GA 25MCX low profile remote GPS antenna (part number 010-10702-00). The GA 25MCX antenna can be used with all nuvi models except the nuvi 2xx series”.

• 264 Clare // May 6, 2008 at 9:53 pm

  Hi everyone,

  My Nuvi arrived and it’s fantastic. I can not believe how quick and easy it is to use. I’ve had no problems finding signal even it remote areas and I’ve put the most obscure addresses in that I can think of and it finds them with no problems at all. The windscreen mount is fantastic and the unit is ready to use in seconds. I’m over the moon after what I suffered with the Sony (which I’ve now sold!).

  A big thank you to Dean and everyone who took the time to write their comments on here which made up my mind to get the Nuvi!

• 265 Ken // May 7, 2008 at 9:54 am

  Ref Paul’s question at 262. I have a uv screen but have not had problems acquiring satellite signals. I’m not sure how big an issue this is – have others experienced problems?
  It is still strange that quite a number of people are reporting difficulties and slow times in picking up signals. I’ve used mine through southern England and northern France so far without a single problem. I suspect its either down to a few areas with poor reception or maybe there is a faulty batch out there?

• 266 Ken // May 7, 2008 at 10:03 am

  Can anyone say please what is the latest version of European maps and how can I check my Garmin to see which version I have installed? I have seen an advert for 2008 Version 10 – is this new?

• 267 Dean // May 7, 2008 at 12:28 pm

  Hi Ken,
  There are a couple of things you could try. If you tap the spanner icon and go into the Settings I think there is an option called Map. If you select that option there is a screen where you can view Map Info. This should tell you what map version you have.

  The other thing you could try, if you haven’t done so already, is to register your Nuvi with Garmin and then visit the myGarmin link on their web site. Once logged in it should tell you whether updates are available. Their update site is undergoing some improvements at the moment so I can’t provide any further details currently.

  You might be able to do the same thing by visiting this link:

  http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/

  and then selecting Map Updates.

• 268 Bill // May 8, 2008 at 1:26 pm

  Just got a 250w from Empire Direct for £119. Lowest price I could find. Works well so far, found the sats in about 2 minutes. My son is going to Manchester from Yorkshire today so I hope it works for him (terrible sense of direction) !!

• 269 Tony Ray // May 22, 2008 at 11:21 am

  Hello Dean,
  I have just found this web site and have found the comments and your replies very interesting and informative. I have a Garmin c510 DeLuxe which I purchasd from Halfords in July 06. I have been reasonably pleased with it so far. Its one limitation is the inability to transfer a route from MapSource onto the SatNav. I can plan waypoints and transfer them O/K but not the route. I would like to plan my own routes and not blindly follow the route that the satnav decides for me, especially as I tow a caravan. Would the 250 (or any other satnav) allow me to do this? Also, I have tried to get on to the Garmin map updates site but it always says that the site is being upgraded. Can you help please?

• 270 Dean // May 22, 2008 at 6:00 pm

  Hi Tony,
  Yes you can transfer both waypoints and routes to a Garmin Nuvi, but only those that support multiple destination routing like the Nuvi 7xx series. I haven’t tried this myself but I’ve read elsewhere several people who have.

  The map updates site should be back now. I tried a minute ago and it worked OK.

• 271 Phil Upton // May 22, 2008 at 8:40 pm

  Great review site, thanks. I too am about to consider buying my first SatNav device and the 250W looks like a good option. I am travelling by motorbike from North Yorkshire to the South of France. I appreciate that the device won’t be weatherproof so plan to put the unit into a Map Holder on my tank. Questions: Should the display still be good enough? Would the screen holder affix to my bike screen? (i would put a leash around it just in case!). What is battery life like? Are there better alternatives for a biker?

• 272 Dean // May 22, 2008 at 10:31 pm

  Hi Phil,
  It depends on your budget. You could consider the Garmin Zumo if you want a sat nav specific for bikers but they’re more expensive. The cheapest Zumo is over £200 and they go up to £350 or more for higher spec models. I’m planning to get hold of one to review in the next couple of weeks if you’re interested.

  Battery life on the Zumo is around 4 hours compared to 5 hours on the 250W. I would have thought the 250W display through the map holder would be good enough. You could try it out in a shop before buying one. Not sure how secure the screen holder would be though!

• 273 Sean Grant // May 28, 2008 at 9:12 pm

  Hi Dean…

  Great review… i purchased the 250W last november… and so far i love it… i use it mostly in southern ireland while i like in the north.
  The most annoying thing is that about a year ago there was a new motor way constructed between newry and dundalk. and every time i am driving it my garmin doesnt rekognise where it is. it thinks its driving threw fields or something. so it constantly is recalculating. also down the sounth there is a lot of road construction so alot of the time your on a road ind it doesnt know where you are. I cant seem to find any map updates for it at all on the garmin website. would you know anywhere else i could try. Cheers and sorry for the long winded comment. haha

• 274 Dean // May 28, 2008 at 10:15 pm

  Hi Sean,
  You may have tried this link already but have a look at this page on the Garmin web site:

  https://my.garmin.com/maps/updates.htm

  On that page enter the serial number of your 250W and it will tell you whether any map updates are available.

  There are a few other web sites that sell map updates on DVD too but I’m not sure if they’re suitable. I’ve seen them sold on eBay too. I think City Navigator Europe NT 2008 v10 is the latest. The DVDs are not cheap so I’d recommend you do some more research to make sure if they’re suitable or not.

  The other option is to just keep visiting the Garmin web site every so often and check for updates using the link above.

• 275 Clare // May 29, 2008 at 8:05 pm

  Hi again,

  I’m still loving the Nuvi, just one little thing that I would like – to have the road I am currently on displayed(like the Tom Tom) I’ve left it in work so have not tried messing about with the settings but does anyone know if you can have the road you are currently on displayed instead of what is ahead that perhaps you don’t need?

  Thanks,

  Clare

• 276 Rob // May 29, 2008 at 10:38 pm

  Thanks Dean for the excellent review.
  A question for Clare – what was the Sony that you didn’t like and had to sell? Was it the NV-U53? I hope not as it’s one of my 3 final choices…. (together with this Nuvi and the Navman s30)

  Cheers
  Rob

• 277 Dean // May 30, 2008 at 8:31 am

  Clare – I couldn’t see a way to display the name/number of the road you’re currently on. I tried zooming in and out of the map view, setting the map detail to the greatest level of detail, and using the turn page view, but none of them seemed to make any difference.

  Rob – If you need any help narrowing down your final choices let me know.

• 278 Clare // May 30, 2008 at 9:55 am

  Hi Rob,

  The sony I had was a NVU-92T. The unit had a 4.8″ screen and looked amazing. Down side was the touch screen – an average of 6 presses per action for it to work, slow address input and the terrible suction cup. I don’t know if the model your getting has the same style super suction cup but if so stay well away – it kept in place for about 6 journeys for me then started to fail – after approx 5 minutes it would free itself and fly around the car. There is no alternative holder as the charger and ariel is built in to the cradle. I had a terrible time trying to get sony to replace this, but they did in the end. However if something happens to the cradle (you can’t use the unit without it) then it costs 129.99 to get a new one. Since having the Nuvi I can honestly say it’s 100% better than the Sony and a new windscreen mount is only 12.00! Hope this helps,

  Clare

• 279 Anthony // May 30, 2008 at 11:23 am

  Clare (275), If you use the unit without a destination entered, then I am pretty sure that the unit will display the road you are ON. Not much use if you have a destination planned I know but I cant see why knowing the road you are on is so important. Also have you tried the 2D road map version, maybe that will give you the road name you are on ? Not sure as I dont use that option. Sorry if this is not much help.

• 280 Clare // May 30, 2008 at 11:31 am

  Hi Anthony,

  Thanks for the advice, the reason I need to know the road I’m on is sometimes I need to stop a vehicle and to do a check I have to give my location for safety reasons. As I sometimes work out of my area it is not always possible to know the road your on from signs.

  It’s not the end of the world as the unit works so well, just would have been an extra bonus for me!

  Thanks,

  Clare

• 281 Dean // May 30, 2008 at 5:22 pm

  Hi Clare,

  Not much use to you I know, but for anyone else considering buying the 250W and who don’t mind spending a bit more, there is the 255W which includes the “Where Am I” feature. This shows your current location, nearest road junction, etc.

• 282 algy // May 31, 2008 at 10:47 am

  just taken delivery of the 255w.
  easy to apoerate and appears user friendly.
  Problem I have I wonder is anyone has had before?
  All features work but when i actually got to allow the sat nav to plan the route or ‘GO’ it shuts down. Its not the battery as it is fully charged and I have tried using it for 10 mins going from photos to other extras like time etc and no problem stays on for the whole time. But as soon as I imput the address and selct GO it shuts down. it also does it sometimes when ‘aquiring satalites’. So then i have to re-boot and go through the entire proceedure again. sounds liek a hardware fault but just wondering if anyone had their 250 ever keep shutting down like the battery if lat etc?

  algy

• 283 Dean // May 31, 2008 at 10:21 pm

  Hi Algy,
  If a factory reset doesn’t fix it then it sounds like you need a replacement. I’ve not heard of this type of problem before.

• 284 Ann // May 31, 2008 at 11:23 pm

  Hi Algy,
  Please can you tell me where u got your 255, Ive been looking everywhere and cant find any shop, or even internet site, that actually has it in stock.
  Apart from your shut-down problem do you think its worth paying the extra?
  many thanks

• 285 algy // Jun 1, 2008 at 6:44 am

  Hi Ann,

  I’m no wizard or expert on sat nav…..which I suppose almost qualifies me
  to comment on ‘ease of use’.

  Used a few sat navs over the last couple of months and this one (apart from
  the shut down prob) is VERY good. Ease of use is A1. Very straightforward
  and simple to use. I have a couple of things I’m still trying to work out
  but the abilities seem very good. Wide screen of the ‘W’ version is a must
  IMHO. Touch screen is accurate and instant and the general progress of your
  requests is good and clear. Well worth the money I would suggest and I am
  happy I waited a few days to get the 255w over the 250w, I’m sure it will be
  worth the extra few pounds for the added features esp voice. The only so far
  down side is the very basic and brief users guide that comes with the
  device……lots of features you need to work out for yourself and stumble
  upon. Once worked out they become obvious and easy but like I say you are
  kinda left to work it out yourself rather than get advice from the guide.
  (Hence I suspect the reason for this A1 site)

  It costs me £197.98 and that was with International shipping. 3 days. I
  suspect it will be slightly quicker/cheaper if National. I will advise you
  all ref customer service soon when I call ref the ‘shut down prob’ on
  monday. I will also write a short review when its up and running 100%.

  Handtec GPSK Ltd. Peterborough 0845 644 77 27
  http://www.handtec.co.uk

  BTW for anyone who can assist. The memory card that I have installed into
  the device, is recognising on my main computer…………..how do I access
  it and use it via the Garmin? And the Picture viewer on the
  Garmin…….what is its purpose? I see and view the default photos, can
  they be replaced with my own choice etc or allocated to a favourite
  or….cant see its purpose at this point and NO mention of it in the guide
  with the product?

  Good Luck

  Algy

• 286 algy // Jun 1, 2008 at 6:51 am

  Thanks Dean, Yes it is strange problem. I literally play around with the device on features , photos , time etc for as long as I wish and jump from one to the other as you would expect.

  From there on in all goes ‘tits-up’ It Sometimes allows satallites aquired sometimes even starts to plan a route or ene tell me device ready etc…..then at the next hit of GO or even those stages above it just switches off.
  I have reset, reboot done it all….no change. Seems a fault, probably with the soft within the hardware. I will be contacting the suppliers and Grmin technical in the am and advise on here the service level I receive.
  Algy

• 287 Dean // Jun 1, 2008 at 1:22 pm

  Algy,
  The picture viewer is just a way to store photos on your Nuvi. I think you can use it to change the graphic that appears on the screen when you switch on the device, if you don’t like the default Garmin one.

  You can also use it to take screenshots of the map whilst driving along which you can then view later. I can dig out some more details on this for you next week if you’re interested.

• 288 algy // Jun 1, 2008 at 4:12 pm

  Hi Dean,

  Yes u r right I have now done that and changed the default screen picture when I turn on to one of my choice. In the picture viewer it also stores here phots of POI when u download them from the Garmin website. You can then click the fotos and it auto does the route for you from ur location to the POI foto.
  You can delete and insert the fotos using ur main computer to upload from. I suppose that can have its uses as well.
  Trying to see if you could alocate a foto of your choice to a POI as well….ie ‘Home’ and save it to ur favourites. On the garmin site there are to be fair many fotos allocated to each area for you to use but just seeing at the mo if you can substitute their foto for one of ur own choice.

  Algy

• 289 algy // Jun 2, 2008 at 7:00 pm

  Ref the 255w shut down problem Im having:
  Contacted Garmin and they suggested a full reset which we did. Still no good.
  Garmin said USA had informed them that there was a download to be released this week which they say should fix the problem…we will see. I wouldnt purchase at the moment as I get the impression this may be a fault with the new model

  algy

• 290 Navid // Jun 3, 2008 at 9:20 am

  Hi Dean,

  a side from the obvious difference in size,what is the difference between 250 and 250W?do they have the same mapping software?any idea of how up-to-date they are?cheers.

• 291 Android // Jun 3, 2008 at 11:08 am

  Thanks for the writeup. I can get it here in Barcelona for €160, so it seems like a nobrainer.

• 292 Dean // Jun 4, 2008 at 8:18 am

  Hi Navid,
  The size is the only difference. They use the same mapping software. Some people prefer the smaller 250. Not sure how up-to-date the maps are. You could try contacting Garmin about that.

• 293 Phil // Jun 5, 2008 at 12:25 pm

  I’ve done a “compare” search on Garmin’s website bewteen the 200W and the 250W. Is shows their tech spec as being identical – surely not. Does anyone know of their difference other than price?

• 294 Dean // Jun 5, 2008 at 1:06 pm

  Hi Phil,
  The only difference is the map coverage. The 200W covers the UK and Ireland whereas the 250W covers Europe as well.

• 295 Phil // Jun 6, 2008 at 10:02 am

  Dean,

  Thanks. I’m pretty much decided on the 200W, but earlier comments hinted at a problem with the voice indicating turns 0.2m before the actual turn. You said that Garmin admitted a problem for the Cheshire/North West area which is where I live. Do you know if that has been resolved?

  Cheers

• 296 Phil // Jun 6, 2008 at 10:45 am

  Dean,

  I have just got through to Garmin product support who state that they are not aware of any such problem with their nuvi systems. If it did appear, I would be entitled to a refund within the warrenty period. Are you any the wiser on this?

  Cheers

• 297 Dan // Jun 6, 2008 at 2:52 pm

  Someone mentioned not being able to connect to the nuvi with EasyGPS. The EasyGPS freeware program has now been updated to support all of the Garmin nuvi models.

  http://www.easygps.com/gps_receivers/Garmin_nuvi_250W.asp

• 298 Dean // Jun 6, 2008 at 5:10 pm

  Phil,
  The comment about Cheshire/North West I had read on another web site/forum although I can’t remember which one it was. I did not receive any communication from Garmin. I’ll continue digging around to see if I can find out which web site I read this on.

• 299 Don // Jun 8, 2008 at 9:25 am

  Had mine 2 weeks now and I live in West Yorkshire I am having problems with the voice indicating turns as stated in 295 I would guess at 0.2 miles also before the actual turn not very good when there could be a couple of turns before the one you need, is it worth swapping the unit or is it a common fault

• 300 Alan // Jun 9, 2008 at 8:43 pm

  I am going to Germany next week, so I tried to programme my destination.
  What I could not do is enter the ö which is used often in street names in Germany.
  The only way to enter the street name in question was to change the keyboard over to German, then enter my destination, and yes it worked!
  By the way, entering the city name of Munster using the normal keyboard brought up the correct German display of Münster as Germans would spell it!
  I am puzzled!!!

• 301 Alan // Jun 9, 2008 at 9:06 pm

  Hi,
  I am not happy with the current scratchy voice on my 250W. There is a ‘Daniel’ down load available. I have tried to install it, but my PC won’ recongnise the drive! Any idea why it won’t work?

• 302 Dean // Jun 10, 2008 at 8:47 am

  Alan 301,
  When you connect the Garmin to your PC do you see a picture of a Nuvi connected to a PC displayed on the sat nav screen?

• 303 Alan // Jun 10, 2008 at 11:46 am

  Yes I see the PC and the Nuvi.
  Where the problem occurs is there is no USB ‘Device G’ found! Maybe it is a PC thing?

• 304 Steve // Jun 10, 2008 at 2:24 pm

  While using my 250w today the map froze but the voice continued describing the journey.

  I pressed the map button but the screen cleared displaying the message “drawing”. The image did not return.

  The voice was happy though continuing to give instructions.

• 305 Dean // Jun 10, 2008 at 6:29 pm

  Alan,
  I found this on the Garmin support site. Maybe this helps….

  “Question: My Garmin mass storage device shows that it is in disk mode, but the drive does not appear on my computer. How can I fix this?

  Answer: There are a few possible reasons the Garmin USB mass storage device is not showing up on the computer correctly. It could be that the device is not connected to the computer correctly. It could also be that the Garmin USB drive needs to be mapped on the computer.

  To make sure the device is connected correctly:

  1. Unplug the USB cable from the computer.
  2. Turn off the Garmin device.
  3. Plug the USB cable into the computer. The device automatically turns on and goes into USB mass storage mode.

  If this does not fix the issue, the Garmin USB drive may need to be mapped on the computer. This can happen if there are multiple hard drives or network drives on the system.

  To map the drive:

  1. Click Start.
  2. Mouse over Settings, then click Control Panel.
  3. Double-click Administrative Tools.
  4. In the Administrative Tools window double-click Computer Management.
  5. In the Computer Management window, double-click Storage, then Disk Management.
  6. Click to highlight the Garmin removable disk drive (either the internal memory or the SD Card drive).
  7. Right-click and select Change Drive Letter and Path.
  8. Click Edit, select a drive letter from the drop-down list, then click OK.

  The drive now appears correctly.

  If these steps do not fix the problem, please contact our Product Support team. “

• 306 Alan // Jun 10, 2008 at 8:33 pm

  Thanks,
  Got as far as para 6, then found only my C and F drives, but no G Drive!

  I will seek some support from a friend before calling Product Support Team.

  Thanks
  Alan

• 307 Alan // Jun 11, 2008 at 8:00 am

  I now connected my Nuvi this time! However, I am no further. Yes, G Drive is displayed along with my C and F Drive, but I can only change it to another drive letter for which I don’t have!

  As you mentioned. It is a job for the support guys!
  Thanks

• 308 Peter // Jun 14, 2008 at 3:27 pm

  I am thinking of upgrading my GPS as it is no longer supported,the maps are out of date.The 250W sounds just right for me.The only problem I have is that”touch screens” are very hard to read in sunlight and as I spend a lot of time in Spain this is a real problem.Does anyone have thoughts or comments on this problem?

• 309 Dean // Jun 15, 2008 at 8:40 am

  Peter,
  I haven’t run into any problems reading the touch screen on my Nuvi so far when using it on sunny days, but I know what you mean. Reading a display screen for any kind of electronic device can be difficult when the sun is directly shining on it. I think you’d find that on any sat nav system. Perhaps you could try one out in a shop before buying.

  I’ll also try and do some tests the next time we get a bright sunny day and let you know how I get on.

• 310 Peter // Jun 15, 2008 at 10:43 am

  Thanks Dean for your reply.I await the results of your tests.

• 311 Dean // Jun 15, 2008 at 9:50 pm

  Peter,
  I tried out a few tests today since it was bright and sunny. Inside the car I had no problems reading the screen with the sat nav positioned facing towards me. The sun was fairly high in the sky at the time. It was only once I turned the screen upwards to face the sky that it became more difficult to read.

  For outdoor use the screen was not as easy to read as inside the car but it was still more than acceptable. Once the sun shined directly on the screen it was difficult to see anything displayed on the screen. Hope this helps.

• 312 lauriane // Jun 20, 2008 at 12:27 pm

  thank you so much for this great review, this is really what I needed!

• 313 Roger T // Jun 20, 2008 at 8:45 pm

  Hi Dean,
  I bought the 250w a few weeks ago, very happy with it but… I feel my nuvi doesn’t like taking me through motorways or double lane roads!!
  Lets say I want to go from Brighton to Lewes: the nuvi will say to go all the way to Newhaven on a secondary route to then take another secondary road up to Lewes, this will take 30 min aprox. There is another faster way to Lewes (10 min) but there are two double lane roads involved and my nuvi doesn’t like that!!
  I have tried to change the “Route Preferences” to “Faster Time” or “Shorter Distance” in “Settings – Navigation” but the nuvi still insist on going all the way to Newhaven.
  I have read the instructions over and over, I have also checked the “Avoidances” in the “Settings – Navigation” but I could not find any reason on why the nuvi doesn’t want me to take the double lane roads.
  Quite recently I took a trip to Leeds Castle (Kent) and the nuvi also took me through all the secondary roads you can image! great trip out though I really enjoyed it BUT I would like to know if there is a button I can press and the nuvi will take me to the final destination as fast as possible on a double lane road.
  Please Dean, tell me I’m missing something!
  Thanks

• 314 Dean // Jun 20, 2008 at 9:24 pm

  Hi Roger,
  A “Faster Time” setting is the correct one. The “Avoidances” options shouldn’t affect anything unless you’ve set it to avoid major roads and motorways.

  It sounds like either a bug in the mapping software for that part of country of a fault with your unit.

  I tried plotting the same route on a Nuvi 770 and Garmin Zumo 550 and they both take me North up along the A270 and then across to Lewes. It shows the distance as 7.8miles with a journey time of 10 minutes.

  Have you tried plotting a route away from the South coast, say up to the M4, London or somewhere in the North of the UK. I’d be interested to know if it uses any major roads then. If it doesn’t use any major roads at all then something is definitely wrong.

  One last thing to try is a factory reset if all else fails.

• 315 Roger T // Jun 20, 2008 at 11:54 pm

  Hi Dean,
  I tried another city up north and still was giving me a longer route. I have just reset the unit and now it seems to work fine. Thanks a lot for your help!
  Roger T.

• 316 Ann // Jun 21, 2008 at 5:19 pm

  Feel very disappointed today. After waiting patiently for the 255 to arrive, have heard that none of the models have text to speech and it was an error by Garmin advertising.

  Algy, can you confirm this, you mentioned speech on your 255, is it just the basic ‘turn left’ or does it mention street names?

  Dont know whether to go for the cheaper 250 now, only wanted the text to speech on the 255.

• 317 algy // Jun 21, 2008 at 5:38 pm

  Hi Ann,

  I am in Cyprus using mine and roads and mapping here is VERY limited. I bought it for my business trips to UK so hope to be able to get the full useage soon.

  I had a problem with my first 255w as it kept randomly shutting down when requested to ‘GO’. It was replaced by Handtec and I got the replacement yesterday……only to find it did exactly th esame thing!

  I contacted Garmin tech support and the girl suggested a ‘reset’ and to leave it on for 1x hour untouched in an open area. I put it on the balcony and did as instructed…..voila. works perfectly.

  So a lesson seems to be upon first use of your new Garmin dont try to use it but leave it as described. This is even if it aquires satalites within minutes / seconds.

  As to you point ref voice. Mine does speak BUT as mapping is so sparse its difficult to judge what is the norm. It basically says to turn North or South east in *** yards. I rather hope that this is because like I say mapping is so bare and streets are invarably not named, so no street names are said when used in Cyprus.

  I will see later if I can do a simulation for a UK trip and see what happens and report back.

  Algy

• 318 Tony // Jun 21, 2008 at 5:56 pm

  Hi, I also have had problems with the 250 concerning minor roads. We live in a very rural area of SW France and the unit will insist on taking us in the most direct route – and this is not always the preferred or fastest route. Due to our location in the sticks we quite often find that we are being directed up single lane roads with grass growing down the centre!!! I contacted the makers who were very helpful and suggested re-setting the unit by pressing on the bottom right of the screen when firing it up. Then putting it in an area for a good signal and leaving it for about 30 minutes. This apparently re-sets the unit. At first it worked and the little lady who hides inside the unit behaved herself. Unfortunately she must have had a wayward upbringing as she soon slipped backed into her old ways. My wife, who is now a redundant navigator, smirks when this happens and at times the temperature in the car gets quite chilly. However, in major towns and cities I cannot fault it apart from having to keep a careful eye on the map as directions are given as turn left, then turn left” can be quite confusing unless you link the spoken word to the map. If anyone can give definite advice about making this unruly lass in the box stick to major roads I would be very grateful – if only to help to stop my wife from taking the *****!!

• 319 Shaun // Jun 24, 2008 at 11:40 pm

  I received my 255w yesterday, i purchased thinking it had text to speech, after trying it out it doesnt give me street names, i went onto the Garmin website to check if i can set it up on my model, but no TTS on the voices section. I thought i just had a faulty model or software not installed properly, can anyone confirm what Ann said about the 255w was mistakenly advertised saying it had text to speech when clearly it hasnt? Im very disappointed, it was clearly advertised as having it where i purchased mine from!

• 320 Dean // Jun 25, 2008 at 8:14 am

  I agree with what Ann said about the 255W. If you visit the UK Garmin web site now and look at the spec for the 255W it shows no text to speech.

  I’ve done some research and it appears text to speech is available on the American version of the 255W (this is backed up by looking at the US Garmin web site), but it is not available on the UK version.

  Strange marketing decision if you ask me. I’d get a refund Shaun if you’re not happy.

• 321 Ron // Jun 25, 2008 at 1:14 pm

  Hi
  I’m having a few problems with my 250w (UK & Europe version). Since buying and registering in March’08 I have checked map updates regularly and get “no updates available – how often should I check or am I doing something wrong?
  i also purchased the speed camera option, but can’t find how to check for updates. maybe I’m just thick!

• 322 algy // Jun 25, 2008 at 3:38 pm

  Hi,
  I do my speed camera updates here: http://www.scdb.info/en/
  does all POI and cameras.

  Algy

• 323 Dean // Jun 25, 2008 at 4:49 pm

  Ron,
  Garmin do map updates about once a year. There might not be another map update until the end of 2008 or early 2009.

• 324 Ron // Jun 25, 2008 at 7:00 pm

  Algy
  I’ve looked at it but wondered if it had to be paid for or was free.
  I have a subscription to Garmin safety camera, but also cannot identify on the Garmin site how to download updates.

• 325 algy // Jun 25, 2008 at 7:59 pm

  Ron,

  As I recall you can pay for the updates which you can use as often as you like downloading from the web onto your Garmin for 1x year subscription. I can’t recall the cost as they also offer a link facility wherby you link from your website to them and that counts as a years subscription. They also ofer a unique ‘show me a new camera’ option. Here you send in details of a speed or light camera and they again give you a years subscription. I think it has to be a previously unknown site
  I went for the link option. True to their word i got a free subscription. It downloads and updates POI and all cameras in Europe or select countries. I found it useful and easy to use

  Algy

• 326 Ron // Jun 26, 2008 at 2:57 pm

  Algy
  I’ve e mailed Garmin support for an idiots guide to downloading camera updates. I’ll post details if they appear, it may help others?

• 327 algy // Jun 26, 2008 at 6:23 pm

  Ron,

  TBH anything is always useful , The manual with the device is pretty poor.

  anyone,
  Can i put in a route, rather than a destination and will the route display in full?
  i.e. I’m in London but want to do a route from Bristol to Southampton. Can I do it, will it show the route? Cant seem to see how to display a route even from where I physically am

  ta
  Algy

• 328 Dean // Jun 26, 2008 at 7:00 pm

  Algy,
  The 250W doesn’t support route planning. You can plot a destination and zoom out to view the whole route, but that is about it. Proper route planning is available on the Nuvi 700 series.

• 329 jib // Jun 27, 2008 at 11:36 pm

  hi dean,
  i am buying my first sat nav . i have read the reviewes on the garmin and sony .
  do you have any info on the sony nvu83 ?.also, argos and amazon lists a nvu83XXL as well !!.whats the difference .
  i really like the sony’s dash mount but i am getting put off by the bad reviewes on it .
  how good is the garmin 250W ‘s dash mount .?. does it leave a mark ?

• 330 Dean // Jun 28, 2008 at 9:25 am

  Jib,
  I’d be reluctant to buy a Sony now since Sony are pulling out of the sat nav market. You’d be left with a device with limited support in the future.

  The 250W dash mount is a semi-permanent solution that would be difficult to remove.

  You could consider buying a 250W and then getting a Garmin friction mount. You can read my review here:

  http://technical-itch.co.uk/2008/04/08/garmin-friction-mount-review/

  The friction mount doesn’t leave any marks on the dashboard.

• 331 jib // Jun 28, 2008 at 9:35 am

  hi Dean,
  thnx for the quick reply . I did indeed read your review about the fricion mount .
  I have decided to go for the Garmin now with the friction mount . the cheapest on the net is from halfords at £19.99 .
  Also what is your opinion on the 255W garmin . its costs £40 more .you reckon its worth the extra price ?.

• 332 Dean // Jun 28, 2008 at 9:41 am

  I don’t think it’s worth the extra £40. You don’t get much more for your money.

• 333 jib // Jun 28, 2008 at 9:58 am

  hi Dean ,
  thnx a lot for the update .

• 334 algy // Jun 28, 2008 at 12:29 pm

  Ann, Ron and Dean,

  Thanx 4 all feedback. I bought the 255w primarily due to its text to speech feature, one that I believ from what I hear is not installed within the European version. Very dissapointing if true(I’m in Cyprus and have not yet been able to put it through its paces). TBH I think you should have good cause for complaint as I’m not sure what features it does have over the 250, perhaps you can advise Dean?

  I would say tho to get the ‘w’ versions that is worth the extra £’s

  Algy

• 335 Dean // Jun 28, 2008 at 5:45 pm

  The 255W is TMC traffic compatible and has the “Where Am I” feature. It can store twice as many waypoints and favourites too which suggests the 255W has more memory.

  Apparently the 255W supports photo navigation too. The Garmin web site says you can transfer geo-tagged photos to the Garmin and then navigate to the photo location.

  That’s about it. Not a huge difference between the two models.

  The 255W is slightly lighter than the 250W, but the battery life is 4 hours compared to 5 hours for the 250W.

• 336 algy // Jun 28, 2008 at 6:34 pm

  Hi Dean,

  Thanx for that. I guess half the problem when comparing is most people only know the features of the unit they own.
  Yes you are right the 255 had photo navigation which to be honest is excellent. You simply type in any location and there are many pictures dispalyed of the POI. then you save it to your unit on the favourites and when you want to go there it shows the phot as well as the name. Quite handy for nice scenic POI’s.
  Its not a huge difference in price and I suppose coupled with the extra memory etc may be worth it, the choice is the individuals.

  Algy

• 337 Graeme Styles // Jul 10, 2008 at 3:08 pm

  Just wanted to know if there is any facility on the Garmin 250W to change the voice from the female default voice?

• 338 Dean // Jul 10, 2008 at 5:46 pm

  Graeme,
  There should be an option to change it to a male voice. Tap the spanner (wrench) icon on the main screen and select settings->language.

• 339 Graeme Styles // Jul 11, 2008 at 1:19 pm

  Thanks Dean, I’ve tried that but all you can do is change the language. Don’t mind the female voice but already have one woman in the car telling me which way to go. Sorry girls.

• 340 Dean // Jul 11, 2008 at 2:07 pm

  Graeme,
  There is a Daniel male voice available from the Garmin web site. Link below:

  http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=1299

• 341 Ron // Jul 11, 2008 at 2:15 pm

  Evidently men and women react better and more quickly to a female voice, that’s why they are used in lifts, emergy PA annunciations etc. Evidently the only place that a major lift company (Otis I think) installed a male voice was in the new Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh. They had Sean Connery to thank for that. Not a lot to do with satnav but….

• 342 RONDAVIE // Jul 12, 2008 at 4:17 pm

  Excellent review. I read it before buying (£110 on ebay) and then afterwards. This latter not only confirmed my view but also alerted me to functions I might have missed. Thanks!

• 343 Dean // Jul 12, 2008 at 9:29 pm

  Glad you found the review useful. You got a good price on ebay too

• 344 Terry // Jul 17, 2008 at 8:38 pm

  HI
  just purchased Garmin 200wGB When I try to get my free speed camera trial I loose the site completly am I doing something wrong?

• 345 Dean // Jul 18, 2008 at 7:57 am

  Terry,
  Can you explain in a bit more detail what you mean.

• 346 terry // Jul 18, 2008 at 10:30 am

  Hi Dean
  I have registerd my Garmin 200w with Garmin clicked on to the camera subscription page to activate my 30 day free trial but when I click on either the activate your free trial or purchase subsciption on the right hand side of the page I loose the garmin site completly ,what am I doing wrong.Thanks.

• 347 Dean // Jul 18, 2008 at 5:51 pm

  Hi Terry,
  I just tried clicking on the free trial link and I get taken to a safety camera subscription page where it asks me to connect my Garmin to the computer.

  Perhaps there was a problem with the Garmin web site earlier? Can you try again and see if the problem still occurs.

  If you still cannot access that site then it might be problem with your web browser. You could try phoning Garmin for advice.

• 348 Terry // Jul 18, 2008 at 9:37 pm

  Hi Dean
  The problem was with my computor tried with my laptop and was successful ,thanks for your help. great site

• 349 Mike W // Jul 30, 2008 at 4:51 pm

  What a brilliant review site. Thanks so much to everyone for their views and comments. I’ve just bought my Nuvi 250W from Amazon, £143 including a leather holder. My first SatNav and I can’t wait for it to arrive! Also, thanks to your review, bought the Garmin Friction Mount. I will write a review here after I’ve put it through its paces.

• 350 John C // Aug 1, 2008 at 1:51 pm

  I have a 250w I just used it in Spain worked very well. Could you please answer me one question.
  I live in Leads can I simulate a journey from Manchester train station to centre of Liverpool. i of course can simulate a journey from Leeds to Liverpool. Thanks John

• 351 Graham // Aug 1, 2008 at 6:45 pm

  I bought a Garmin 250W a few weeks ago and just got back from using it for two weeks in Corsica. It worked very well, apart from the fact that on longer trips there would always be at least one occasion when it directed me off the main road and down a dusty track, though the obvious route was to continue on the main road. For example, north of Porto Vecchio it seemed to think there was a short cut up a long private hotel drive, and then somehow round the back of the hotel and back onto the main road again later… I assume this reflects on the quality of mapping in Corsica, so a little bit of common sense in interpreting the offerred route was required !

• 352 Dean // Aug 1, 2008 at 10:49 pm

  John C,
  I think you can only plan a route from your current position, rather than from a separate starting point. Some of the higher spec Garmins have route planners built-in which enable you to do the type of thing you’re after.

• 353 john c // Aug 1, 2008 at 11:22 pm

  Thanks Dean

• 354 Anthony // Aug 2, 2008 at 12:24 pm

  John C, I live in the Midlands and I have just viewed the route from Manchester Picadilly to Liverpool. It is possible with this 250W

• 355 Len Davis // Aug 5, 2008 at 7:41 am

  Hello,

  Could you answer a couple of questions please.
  1. Will any of this range “auto on” when on the car charger.
  2. Can you still use external aerial at the same time as charger or external speaker.

  I am hiding my unit and need the auto on function that TomTom no longer have.
  Thanks in advance.

  Len

• 356 Dean // Aug 5, 2008 at 6:20 pm

  Len,
  As for your first question about the “auto on” I will test that out and check. I presume what you’re looking for is the unit to switch on automatically when the ignition is switched on?

  I don’t know the answer to your second question.

• 357 Ron // Aug 6, 2008 at 1:27 pm

  Just back from 2 weeks in France. Nuvi 250w performed superbly. Only one mishap where we finished up on a very narrow track thorough a farmyard – not much fun when you have a 6.8 metre caravan on the back! Tip – to avoid this ensure you are on “Quickest Route” not “Shortest Route”, this will in my new experience keep you on major roads. can’t guarantee it but it worked for us!

• 358 Michael // Aug 18, 2008 at 4:27 am

  Hi Dean,
  The adhesive mount disk of my 250W lost its viscidity. Sometimes it fell down only few minutes after I put it on the windscreen. Do you have any good idea to figure it out or should we have to buy a new one? I think this is a common boring thing to everyone. Please give us some suggestions. Thanks.

• 359 Mike W // Aug 18, 2008 at 7:51 am

  Michael, search for bean bag on this page and see what others have to say. I must say for myself I bought one and it fits perfectly on the dash of my Renault Laguna and leaves no evidence to outsiders that a SatNav could be in the vehicle. 100% recommendation for the bean bag! I take my Garmin with me on leaving the vehicle but put the bean bag under the seat, out of sight.

• 360 Dave Swann // Aug 18, 2008 at 8:24 am

  Yes, the Portable Friction Mount, ( Bean Bag ), does an excellent job. My dash has quite a steep slope but the mount never moves despite the fact that it is not sticky.
  https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8100

• 361 Dean // Aug 18, 2008 at 9:23 am

  Here is the link to the beanbag review I wrote a while back. Does an excellent job as the other readers have mentioned.

• 362 Ian // Aug 18, 2008 at 4:18 pm

  I downloaded the POI ‘ UK Football Clubs’ from the Garmin website. When I attempted to use it for the opening game of the season …Hull v Fulham .. it directed me in the opposite direction from the known route from my home in Lincoln. Even as I was driving over the Humber-Bridge I was being advised to make a U-Turn and I would arrive at my destination in 2 hrs, dispite the fact that Hull FC is approximately 10 mins from the bridge. To test this POI further …… I asked to go to Lincoln City FC, only to be told that …’ Unable to calculate route as no streets near destination. I wonder if Lincoln City Council now this fact!!!! I wonder if any other football-fan has had the same experience?

• 363 Helen C // Aug 18, 2008 at 7:22 pm

  Hi Dean:
  I am currently looking around for a pedestrian sat nav/sat nav with pedestrian mode as I get lost very easily and am about to move to london as a student!
  Given that your review was so detailed and you seem to reply very regularly to these posts, I was wondering if there is anything you can reccomend?

  Thanks
  helen

• 364 Dean // Aug 18, 2008 at 10:09 pm

  Ian – I’ve got no experience of that download so not sure what is going on there. Doesn’t sound too good. If you totally give up on the Garmin POI then this link is quite good for downloading POI. You may find something on there. Also searching on Google may find something better for you.

  Helen – Something like the Nuvi 200 or 250 (if you want to use it in Europe) might be suitable. They’re compact and easily fit in a pocket or handbag. Battery life is around 5 hours. Did you have a specific budget in mind?

• 365 STEVE // Aug 20, 2008 at 9:33 am

  Hi Dean,

  Excellent site and very helpful, thanks.
  QUESTION: Can you ‘enter’ a Ordnance Survey’ Grid Reference (eg. 6 digit number from a Landranger map) into ‘Where To’ on Nuvi 250? Thanks, Steve.

• 366 Dean // Aug 20, 2008 at 10:38 am

  Steve,
  The Nuvi 250W supports the following co-ordinate formats:

  h ddd mm’ ss.s”
  h ddd mm.mmm’
  h ddd.ddddd

  I don’t think that is what you’re after. The Nuvi 660 supports entering a British National Grid reference if you’re interested in looking at that one.

• 367 Steven // Aug 21, 2008 at 3:25 am

  Hi Dean,

  How can i tell if my Garmin 250w is fully charged? There is absolutely no light indication (flashing or solid lights). I have charged it overnight and the message on the display has still showed charging diagram.

  Thanks.

• 368 Dean // Aug 21, 2008 at 8:08 am

  Steven,
  There are hidden service menus on these Nuvis which will tell you things like this. To access the service menu varies from model to model.

  Try this. Go into the trip information screen where it shows the speedometer, average speed, etc. Then press and hold the centre of the speedometer. Let me know if that works. If not I know of other ways to access the service menu.

• 369 Steve // Aug 22, 2008 at 4:00 pm

  Hi Dean,

  Re. ‘Where to’ by OS Grid References. Thanks for your help. I’ve accessed the ‘sub menus’ but doesn’t seem to help, as the options are SHUTDOWNS,STACKS (CDP…,FND…, GPS…, HWM.., etc.), TSK MEM. STATISTICS, NONVOL INFO, which unfortunately doesn’t mean much to me! Can you help further? Thanks very much, STEVE BARRACK

• 370 Dean // Aug 22, 2008 at 9:21 pm

  Sorry Steve I pointed you to the wrong screen. From the main screen press and hold the battery status indicator for about 7 or 8 seconds. You’ll then see a diagnostic screen where it will display the exact battery capacity.

• 371 Arthur // Aug 26, 2008 at 3:09 am

  Hi, I would like buy a Nuvi 250 because I could get it for a low price, I live in Canada.The 250 does not have Street names spoken out, the 260 has but cost a lot more. Once I have a 250 can I download the the software for streeat names on the 250? Thanks for helping Arthur……..

• 372 Dean // Aug 26, 2008 at 6:08 pm

  Arthur,
  The simple answer is I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought this was possible otherwise Garmin would lose out.

• 373 Shay // Aug 26, 2008 at 6:37 pm

  I am planning on a 1000 mile trip. How do I research all the PIO’s at the destination before leaving for the trip?

• 374 Chris Bolton // Aug 26, 2008 at 7:07 pm

  Hi Dean,

  Please can you tell me if the Nuvi 250W supports English Grid References.

  If so how do I enter a reference (eg. 088927)
  I don’t understand the coordinates menu.

  Thanks for some excellent reviews

  Chris Bolton.

• 375 Dean // Aug 26, 2008 at 9:47 pm

  Shay – From the main screen select ‘Where to?’, then tap the ‘Near…’ button at the bottom of the screen and select ‘My Destination’. You’ll now be able to search for POIs at your destination.

  Chris Bolton – The 250W doesn’t support English Grid references. You could consider the Nuvi 600 series.

• 376 Marcus // Sep 4, 2008 at 11:44 am

  You can buy this on eBuyer for £119 – Cheap as chips!

• 377 Theo Cupier // Sep 4, 2008 at 8:45 pm

  Is the Garmin 250 compatible with Brodit clips/mounts, or does it only work with the supplied suction cup?

• 378 Dean // Sep 4, 2008 at 9:47 pm

  Hi Theo,
  Is this the kind of thing you’re after? Seems to work across the Garmin Nuvi range:
  Brodit mount

  Another dashboard solution is the Garmin friction mount.

• 379 Henrietta // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:32 am

  Hi

  Can you advise how to use the Garmin to find addresses where there is no house number? A couple of times we have had to find our way to addresses where there is just a house name and then the street, and the Garmin doesn’t seem to allow us to get past the stage of having to add a house number, and not accepting anything less – although I’m sure it must be possible, if we only knew how!

  Also, is there any software that we can download which will give us a compass that we can nagivate from i.e. just a picture of an accurate compass with degrees and needle direction? We have recently tried using the Garmin in Italy, where the roads didn’t exist on the screen, but if we had been able to use a precise compass bearing, we would not have got lost so many times!
  Thanks for now – H.

• 380 Dean // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:38 pm

  Henrietta,
  On the ‘Enter House Number’ screen you should be able to just press the green Enter button in the bottom right of the screen without entering a house number (at least on my Nuvi 770 that is how it works). Does it not let you do this?

  Have you tried navigating by postcode instead?

• 381 ray // Sep 11, 2008 at 7:50 pm

  Hi having purchased a 200 nuvi I am more than happy with its performance. We had a holiday in the new forest and travelling from place to place was an absolute breeze-no more asking strangers the dirctions to anywhere yeah!!- I recently purchased a homer simpson voice for my daughter but unfortunately windows does not recognise the file type .vpm and so cannot open it up. Any suggestions?

• 382 Dean // Sep 11, 2008 at 9:40 pm

  Hi Ray,
  What are you trying to do with the .vpm file. Do you need to edit it before transferring to your Nuvi?

• 383 algy // Sep 11, 2008 at 9:47 pm

  Hi Ray,

  I think you will find .vpm files are made by Gumi for Gumi so they dont play on any other well known device. they are also diffucult to find softwae to convert them into a more recognisable format like wav etc.
  You may hunt about and find some software to convert it to wav etc and I suspect that is the only way you will play on Windows media etc

  algy

• 384 Dean // Sep 11, 2008 at 10:38 pm

  If you want to split the .VPM file into the individual WAV files then take a look at this Voice Utility.

• 385 vince // Sep 28, 2008 at 1:10 pm

  hi dean,
  i have just started doing weekend/evening deliveries for a local restauraunt and needed a sat nav.
  although i know my local area very well,i was finding it hard to find actual streets/roads.
  i tend to drive and know an area by sight and not by road names.
  read your review and decided to get the garmin nuvi 250 w.
  it was my first sat nav.
  all i can say is that it is a fantastic piece of kit and so easy to use.
  vince…

• 386 Peter // Sep 28, 2008 at 4:48 pm

  Hi
  Live in Spain but returning to UK in Nov to buy Garmin GPS from all the comments the 250w is the best. couple of questions what are the differences between the 250w and the 255w except the colour of the 255w and will my Fuji USB cable work in it. Who is the best supplier as living in Spain for repairs could be a problem.
  Do they come already loaded with 2008 maps What about upgraded roads in Spain
  Halfords seem pretty good even they recommend Garin over Tom Tom

  Any advice would be appreciated

  Many thanks

• 387 Dean // Sep 28, 2008 at 9:43 pm

  Hi Peter,
  There is not a huge difference between the 250W and 255w. The 255W has more memory, supports photo navigation, is traffic compatible and has the “Where Am I” feature. I think the 255W has a faster processor too. More memory and a faster processor should result in faster drawing of maps on the screen.

  Any standard USB cable should work. I have used my camera USB cable on several Garmin sat navs.

  Both the 250W and 255W come preloaded with European maps.

• 388 mohd // Sep 29, 2008 at 5:10 am

  hi to all
  i would like to know how i can go to the center of the city input cuese i trayed several way to put the city name and right center but it dosn’t work .

  soary for my english .

• 389 Dean // Sep 29, 2008 at 8:54 pm

  Hi Mohd,
  From the main screen select “Where to?”. Press the down arrow in the bottom right hand side of the screen, then select Cities, then press the Spell button and enter the city name you want.

• 390 mohd // Sep 30, 2008 at 12:13 am

  thnk you dean but i meen the centrum of the city .
  let’s say i inter germany then hannover city and if i would like to go to the centrum of hannover how i can do it .

• 391 Dean // Sep 30, 2008 at 8:52 am

  Hi Mohd,
  I’m not sure how the sat nav decides whereabouts in a city to go, but entering a city as I suggested should take you to the centre of a city.

  If I enter London for example then it will navigate me to Westminster which is the centre of London. But maybe for other cities, like Hannover, it doesn’t take you to the city centre?

• 392 mohd // Sep 30, 2008 at 8:02 pm

  thanks a lot dean i gust trayed it and it’s works good .

  thank agine for your concern

• 393 Dave Smith // Oct 5, 2008 at 11:14 pm

  As mentioned several times, the user manual provided with the 250W leaves much to be desired. My recommendation is to look among other models. You can find a complete manual for the 205/205W. This manual is listed as applying to several models: 205, 205W, 215, 215W, 255, 255W, 265, 265W and 275. I suspect that most (if not all) of the content applies to the 250/250W as well (although Garmin does not come right out and say so).

• 394 Breda Noonan // Oct 12, 2008 at 1:27 pm

  Please help I have tried to register my Nuvi 200w,on mygarmin but this one does not seem to be on the list,is there any other way I can do it there is such a long list there but not this one please help.
  Thanks,
  Breda

• 395 Breda Noonan // Oct 12, 2008 at 1:36 pm

  When you say contact garmin where can we contact them in Southern Ireland wher is our nearest contact, any phone numbers or addresses,as i am trying to register so as to up date my maps.
  Thanks,
  Breda

• 396 Dean // Oct 12, 2008 at 10:08 pm

  Breda,
  I couldn’t find an Ireland office for Garmin so you could try the UK office on 0808 2380000 and see what they suggest.

• 397 John Dodson // Oct 13, 2008 at 9:31 am

  Hi, Is there a way to back-up my maps to an SD card? My wife and I both have Garmins, mine is loaded with the European maps, hers with the Middle East, I’d like to be able to use both maps in both Garmins…

• 398 Dean // Oct 13, 2008 at 10:02 pm

  Hi John,
  Sorry I don’t know the answer to your question. My guess is that the maps are locked to the device ID of each Garmin and that what you’re trying to do won’t work, otherwise people could copy maps and share them with friends and Garmin would lose money.

  Just a guess though. If you get a definitive answer please post back and let us know.

• 399 Which Garmin Sat Nav Should I Get? // Oct 28, 2008 at 10:49 pm

  [...] Garmin Nuvi 250W Widescreen Sat Nav [...]

• 400 Mike W // Nov 11, 2008 at 4:47 pm

  Hi Dean, being an inveterate updater, what are your thoughts on updating the map in a Garmin 250W to the City Navigator Europe NT 2009. At $130 it’s not cheap but is it worth it?

  Thanks,

  Mike

• 401 Ron // Nov 11, 2008 at 5:16 pm

  Dean
  Just noticed my 250w has not picked up the British clocks being put back one hour at the end of October – any suggestions?
  Regards
  Ron

• 402 Mike W // Nov 11, 2008 at 5:24 pm

  Ron
  my Nuvi 250W has changed time automatically. Go to Settings\Time\Daylight Saving and set to Auto. Works for me.
  Regards,
  Mike

• 403 Ron // Nov 11, 2008 at 7:30 pm

  Mike
  Cheers, worked for me too!
  Ron

• 404 Ron // Nov 12, 2008 at 4:59 pm

  Dean et al
  Just checked garmin for map updates and City Navigator Europe NT 2009 (I currently have 2008 installed) is on offer – £59.99.
  I thought updates were free?

• 405 Panos // Nov 15, 2008 at 8:46 pm

  hello guys, one question, does Garmin Nuvi 250 include Cyprus as well?

• 406 algy // Nov 15, 2008 at 8:53 pm

  it does but most roads are not indexed. The Major highways are but that is of little use as they are so obvious. Yiu will also find that your point of location is rarely actually on the road and you seem to be driving on the open space or sometimes in the sea.
  Yes it works in Cyprus but Not a lot of use in Cyprus is the answer

  Algy

• 407 Dean // Nov 23, 2008 at 9:20 pm

  Mike W – $130 is not cheap for a map update. I’m not sure what the latest version offers over the previous version, but if the current mapping software on your Garmin works fine and there are no major omissions (such as new roads missing) then I’d be inclined to stick with what you have.

  Ron – Unfortunately map updates are not free.

• 408 Dani // Dec 1, 2008 at 9:12 pm

  I wondered whether you have a bit more info on the Nuvi 250′s pedestrian mode and whether you tested the accuracy of the that? I’m a flat footed social worker trecing from one home visit to the next getting fed up with my paper A-Z and wondered whether this sat nav would be a good idea for a replacement? Many thanks in advance!

• 409 Dean // Dec 2, 2008 at 8:50 am

  Dani,
  When we tested the pedestrian mode it worked fine for us. It wasn’t an exhaustive test, we only walked a couple of miles, but it directed us correctly. I’ve heard others report the pedestrian mode working fine.

  Are there any particular routes you would like me to simulate on my Garmin to see how well it performs?

• 410 Tony C // Dec 4, 2008 at 10:23 pm

  Can you please tell me if the Garmin 255w has the off road feature as has the 250w as I intend to do some rambling which would include fields and wooded areas. Many thanks for any help and advice. Tony.

• 411 Dean // Dec 4, 2008 at 10:36 pm

  Hi Tony,
  Yes the 255W has the same off-road feature as the 250W.

• 412 Tony C // Dec 5, 2008 at 5:34 pm

  Hello Dean,
  Many thanks for your help with my off road question. However since my last query, I have read on another review that the 255w only speaks the road names on the USA and Canada versions, and not on the European ones. Would you know if this is so? Sorry to bother you yet again. Thanks. Tony C.

• 413 Dean // Dec 5, 2008 at 5:44 pm

  Hi Tony,
  You’re absolutely correct. Only the North American version of the 255W speaks the road names, not the European version.

  When the 255W was first released in the UK it was wrongly advertised as speaking the road names and Garmin got a bit of flak for that. Their web site now shows it only applies to North America.

• 414 mark bishop // Dec 5, 2008 at 7:53 pm

  Brought a UK version 250W in July now it will not do anything at all. Says that the system has no maps in it so cannot route me anywhere. 4-6 weeks to get it looked at find that terrible just another way for the Big people to screw us because I need mine for work and they shold just be replacing it as it’s only been a few month. Should be able to go back to shop and do a straight swoop very fustrated at Garmin…….

• 415 algy // Dec 5, 2008 at 8:26 pm

  Hi Mark,

  I had a problem with mine and I must say the aftersales was good. They offered all sorts of help both from the major elec supplier and Gramin themsleves on the phone.
  Garmin sent me emails with patches and downloads to assist and talked me through.
  Try calling them, they replaced mine eventually on immiediate return,

  Algy

• 416 Top 10 Reviews of 2008 // Dec 22, 2008 at 8:58 pm

  [...] Garmin Nuvi 250W Widescreen Sat Nav [...]

• 417 Pedro // Dec 30, 2008 at 5:29 pm

  Hi Dean,
  I bought a Nuvi 255WT back in the summer and am still finding new things I didn’t know existed and which are not covered in the “quick start” booklet! For example, reading through the messages here I found the speed/average speed screen — something I really wished it had, since I spend a fair amount of time going through “average speed” camera traps.

  There is one thing though that makes this facility barely usable: every few seconds (it seems) the display is replaced by a “50 and/or 70mph speed camera check” warning, which means that every few seconds one has to touch the OK button. I could understand this if I were driving above the limit (which I’m not) so this potentially useful feature is useless! Is there a way of switching off or disabling these popup messages?

  Also, this device doesn’t know the speed limits around the town where I live, and it’s an annoyance being beeped at when I’m doing 35 (in a 40 limit) and the Nuvi thinks it’s a 30 limit. Can the data files be edited? Or is it a case of downloading new map data and hoping that this is correct?

  Apologies for the length of this comment — hope someone can shed some light!

  Pedro

• 418 Dean // Dec 30, 2008 at 9:25 pm

  Hi Pedro,
  I’m not familiar with the OK button you mention. Is this something that just pops up when driving through an average speed camera trap and not a regular fixed camera?

  As for the Nuvi getting the speed limit wrong, this does happen on some roads, it is a case of waiting for an update and hoping the issue gets fixed.

• 419 Pedro // Dec 31, 2008 at 4:56 pm

  Hi Dean,
  I’ve experimented a bit more today (driving past J6 on the M4 where there is a 50mph avg speed check in force) and what happens is that the whole speed screen is overwritten by a plain grey screen with a message in the centre either “70mph safety camera zone” or “50mph safety camera zone” (or something very similar) and a couple of buttons at the bottom of the screen, one of which is “OK”.

  Whether there are more cameras sited here than are obvious and visible I don’t know, but this wretched message pops up 4 or 5 times between the start and end of the speed restriction!

  The unit can certainly differentiate between fixed and mobile speed cameras — assuming of course that the displayed text is accurate.

  Is there any detailed documentation on this model other than the mickey mouse “get started” booklet? I couldn’t find anything on the Garmin site when I looked.

  Pedro

• 420 Dean // Dec 31, 2008 at 5:59 pm

  Pedro,
  Try this owners manual. If you look at the bottom of the first page it says it applies to the 255W model.

• 421 petr // Jan 3, 2009 at 11:22 am

  Bought the 255w superb It always wants to send me back on the motorways when I dont want too.

  What web site do I do to for updates or is it automatic once the USB cable is attached

  Oh Yes I’m in Spain at the moment

  Many thanks for anyones help

• 422 algy // Jan 3, 2009 at 11:29 am

  Petr,

  I use this:
  http://www.scdb.info/en/software-support/

  You have to pay a nominal annual fee or do as I do and supply them a link from your website then its free.
  I have had no problems with it and update POI’s and cameras regularly

  Algy

• 423 petr // Jan 4, 2009 at 10:26 am

  Thanks Algy

  Petr

• 424 algy // Jan 28, 2009 at 9:15 am

  Hi Dean. In a mad rush to airport and cant find my windscreen holder for my 255w….I’m sure its covered here in this excellent review but I flying out the door….where can i get one sensible money and same day in UK…….many thanks

  Algy

• 425 Dean // Jan 28, 2009 at 1:47 pm

  You could try looking on Amazon, do a search for “Nuvi Suction Cup Mount”.

  Alternatively, consider the Garmin Friction Mount.

• 426 Ron // Jan 28, 2009 at 5:49 pm

  Algy
  I recommend the “bean bag” friction mount – brilliant!
  No marks on windscreen and doesn’t move at all. Not sure where you’d get one immediate, try Halfords

• 427 Dave Swann // Jan 28, 2009 at 5:58 pm

  Agree about the Bean Bag, its excellent. I don’t use the suction mount at all now.

• 428 Ron // Jan 28, 2009 at 6:32 pm

  Same here Dave.

  Having said that I’m hiring a Seat Altea in Spain soon, hope there’s a flat spot on the dash!

• 429 Mike Wirdnam // Jan 29, 2009 at 7:58 am

  Couldn’t agree more about the Bean Bag. So quick and easy to use and I just throw said bag under my seat when leaving the vehicle, taking sat nav with me of course!

• 430 Dave Swann // Jan 29, 2009 at 9:15 am

  Ron – I have a Ford Focus and it doesn’t have any flat areas on the dash. The bean bag just sits there at an angle of about 20 degrees, as though it were glued.

• 431 Ron // Jan 29, 2009 at 9:17 am

  This thing just gets better!

• 432 Paul // Feb 12, 2009 at 11:20 am

  I bought a Garmin nuvi 250 (not widescreen) last year and it has been excellent up until Tuesday this week. I used it to take me from Swansea (South Wales) to Birmingham with no problems what so ever. When I left my meeting on Tuesday evening to find my hotel, it asked me to touch the screen in various places to configure, then asked what language I wished to use, then a window appeared with the foll0wing:

  “No detailed maps found that support routing. The nuvi cannot be used without them.”

  The battery is well charged, I’ve tried pressing the reset button, I’ve also started it when pressing the bottom right hand side of the screen and erasing all user data. It would seem that the unit is rendered useless as I can go no further than this window. Anyone got any ides please?

• 433 Dean // Feb 12, 2009 at 5:08 pm

  Paul,
  Can you check the maps are still enabled.

  1. Touch the wrench icon on the Where to/View map screen.
  2. Touch Settings.
  3. Touch Map.
  4. Touch Map Info.
  5. Is the checkbox next to the maps enabled

  Also, have you updated the maps or software on the unit at all since you bought it?

• 434 Paul // Feb 13, 2009 at 7:53 pm

  The unit won’t allow me to get into the Map Info; I’ve checked the Garmin web site and it says that I need to unlock the maps. I registered the unit and updated the maps shortly after I bought it as I had a few weeks updates for free (I borrowed a cable off a friend). I have now ordered a cable and will see if this works.

  Anyone got any ideas why this would happen?

• 435 Paul Ashman // Feb 15, 2009 at 3:08 pm

  USB cable arrived yesterday (good old Amazon) and I followed the instructions from the Garmin site (which I found eventually!!) and it has unlocked the maps – still haven’t got a clue why they should lock, but it worked.

  Below is the link to the page should anyone else require it:

  http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us/support/searchsupport?search_key=No+detailed+maps+found+that+support+routing.+The+nuvi+cannot+be+used+without+them&Go=Submit

  Thanks for your help.

• 436 bill ford // Feb 19, 2009 at 9:38 am

  guys

  with reference to earlier questions regarding using map co-ordinates i.e. from google earth, does any one know how these shoul be entered into which setting on the garmin 250w.
  I have tried each of the three alternatives in the co-ordinates window and I dont get the same area on my garmin as is shown on google earth!
  I must be miss placing a decimal point or doing somthing else just as stupid
  any ideas?

  thanks

  bill ford

• 437 Dean // Feb 19, 2009 at 10:04 am

  Bill,
  Set the format to h ddd mm’ ss.ss”.

  If you take Tower Bridge, London as an example, enter the co-ordinates as follows:

  N 51 30 18.5
  W 0 4 32.3

• 438 Leswin // Mar 3, 2009 at 5:53 pm

  I wonder how much Dean urns, working for Garmin, (only joking but he certainly knows his kit.) I bought a Garmin 250W because I was goung to a strange town where I would be around (out of the car) in the streets. It is pocket size, despite the large screen. It does a perfect job in or out of the vehicle. I have had a TomTom, a Blue Media and a Medion, but the Garmin is the best because it teaches you without you having to learn. You can buy it and use it straight away.

• 439 Dean // Mar 10, 2009 at 10:44 pm

  To all our readers.

  I’ve now published a review of the Garmin Nuvi 255WT on this web site.

  Hope you find it useful

• 440 Leswin // Mar 11, 2009 at 12:39 am

  Hi Dean, Another feather in Garmin’s cap. Took my grandson (20) out and the Garmin only showed major roads and was useless. I had decided to buy another Garmin before I returned home, because I found it the best. I phoned Garmin and a nice young lady took me by the hand and said do this and do that (in perfect English) and the unit is back in perfect condition. 10 out of 10 for service.

• 441 Gerry Gaule // Apr 3, 2009 at 5:38 pm

  I have the 250w for over 12 months and find it very good. I have enountered a problem with my recent purchase of map update City Navigator® Europe NT 2009. It will not download to my device. I have tried unsuccessfully to get support from Garmin. The update downloaded to my laptop and thats it.

• 442 Dean // Apr 3, 2009 at 7:21 pm

  I’m not that familiar with the map update procedure.

  If you haven’t done so already, connect your 250W to your laptop and then double-click on the file you downloaded to your laptop. Does that work?

  The number I have for Garmin is 0808 2380000.

• 443 Gerry Gaule // Apr 5, 2009 at 6:49 pm

  Thanks Dean have tried your suggestion with no success. Will use the phone number you gave me.

• 444 Linda Thomas // Apr 6, 2009 at 2:44 pm

  I just bought the Garmin 250W and when I turn it on there is nothing but a blank screen. I bought an AC/DC charger and charged it overnight but still when I turn it on there is nothing but a blank screen. What am I doing wrong?

• 445 Dean // Apr 6, 2009 at 4:41 pm

  Linda,
  What happens if you connect the 250W to a computer. Does anything appear on the screen?

• 446 Linda Thomas // Apr 6, 2009 at 5:42 pm

  Haven’t tried that – will just take it back to The Source tonight and see if they can figure out the reason why I get nothing more than a blank screen.

• 447 Linda Thomas // Apr 6, 2009 at 9:57 pm

  The manager at the store where I purchased it yesterday tried it with another connector tonight and it turned on. Battery needs charging (said best to do it in the car) so plugged into car enroute home and it guided me home with the message lo battery so I am now charging it. Thanks for your help.

• 448 petr // Apr 12, 2009 at 4:07 pm

  where do I find please the interface option on the 255w gps to switch to Garmin orHost so I can get the latest updates manual useless, or is there anyother way to get updates?

  Many thanks

• 449 Dean // Apr 12, 2009 at 7:08 pm

  Hi Petr,
  To update the software you use Garmin WebUpdater. Any questions let me know.

• 450 Ben // Jun 17, 2009 at 3:41 pm

  Hi Dean

  Fab website. I have just purchased a 255w. Although i have read your site and the comments as carefully as possible i was just wondering (and i know you have been asked this question 16 billion times) if there is now, as we are a year down the line, a facility to read road names on the newer model? or an upgrade available to do so? Thanks very much for your help.

• 451 Dean // Jun 17, 2009 at 4:27 pm

  Hi Ben,

  Not that I am aware of. I don’t think you’ll ever see an update for that. You would have to upgrade to another Garmin model that does read the road names (i.e. text to speech).

• 452 Ben // Jun 17, 2009 at 4:31 pm

  ha, cool. thanks for your quick reply. Thats all well and good but i only bought it today should have done my homework i suppose. Can you tell me if there is any mega disadvantage to not having this feature. To be fair i wasnt even aware of it until i was reading the comments on this page.

• 453 Dean // Jun 17, 2009 at 4:33 pm

  It’s more of a nice to have, it’s not an essential feature although some people do like it. It’s still a good navigator without this feature.

• 454 Ron Johnston // Jul 26, 2009 at 11:10 am

  Hi Dean, just got back from two weeks in Spain. Before leaving I set my Nuvi 250w, with various locations (Barcelona airport, my destination in North Catelonia etc). On arrival in Barca, set up in the hire car and set my destination from Favorites – shock horror message “cannot navigate no roads near your starting point”. Viewded the map, Airport was noted, but rest of screen blank. Scrolled around and found what seemed to be a main red road heading Nth-Sth, but how to get to it. Started from scratch but when I tried to type country, as soon as I entered S, it jumped to Scotland (my home). No other opptions despite many tries. To check it wasn’t broken, I entered a town in France and it came up perfectly. Found destination from a basic map. Have tried since returning, same thing. Working fine for UK. Any ideas?

• 455 Dean // Jul 26, 2009 at 1:25 pm

  Hi Ron,
  That does sound odd. The Garmin City Navigator Europe NT map on the Garmin web site shows full coverage for Spain apparently.

  One idea, try typing E for Espana.

  Also, can you confirm which maps are installed on your Nuvi 250W.

• 456 Ron Johnston // Jul 26, 2009 at 1:57 pm

  Hi Dean
  Thanks again for swift reply. Tried the E thing while in Spain – immediately gives me two options only, England or Eire. Again two countries I visit, and have used it, as if it’s only allowing me to see places I’ve been with it? But if that was the case it wouldn’t have recognised France, Eire, England when I initially tried woould it?
  On purchase in March 08 it had City Navigator Europe NT Regions installed.
  I have done regular updates, the latest installed/ unlocked on June 27th 09 (ready for my trip to Spain!) is described on My Garmin registration as City Navigator Europe NT 20010.10 Limited Deluxe All Regions April 09
  Any help will be appreciated – should I maybe contacting Garmin to explain the problem which seems to have occurred since the June 27 update?
  Maybe somebody else out there has updated and experienced the same?
  Regards
  Ron

• 457 Dean // Jul 26, 2009 at 7:42 pm

  Ron,
  I’d contact Garmin in the first instance and see what they say. Please post back if you find out anything useful.

• 458 Ron Johnston // Jul 28, 2009 at 11:49 am

  Dean
  Success! Got through (eventually) to Garmin support. They advised that on the update, although all maps download to PC, doesn’t always transfer all to Nuvi if you’ve missed a key so I only had UK and Ireland.
  You have to plug in to PC then: Start>Programs>Garmin>MapInstall>Welcome to Wizard etc etc>Find Device>Next>Europe Map>Click on areas of map you want to add, this highlights them>Next> Finish – sit and wait, mine took about two hours for most of Europe France/Germany/Spain/Portugal/Belgium/Netherlands.
  cheers hope others find this useful
  Ron

• 459 Garmin Nuvi 255WT Sat Nav Review // Aug 19, 2009 at 8:57 pm

  [...] Garmin Nuvi 250W Sat Nav [...]

• 460 michael coughlan // Nov 16, 2009 at 9:09 pm

  Hello,was just passed on the garmin nuvi 250 [friend got a new device and very generously gave me the nuvi].I am going to Florida for xmas and i see sites like amazon and ebay selling SD cards with north american maps for garmin sat navs.just enquiring as to whether these cards would work on my garmin nuvi 250.hopefully they will as it would save me a bundle not having to hire a sat nav over there,look forward to your reply..

• 461 Dean // Nov 19, 2009 at 5:51 pm

  Michael,
  These will work fine on your Nuvi 250. Just plug in the SD card containing the North American maps and it should all work fine.

• 462 Kristen // Dec 8, 2009 at 7:16 pm

  Hi,

  I accidentally changed my Garmin nuvi 250w to Turkish (I think!) and have no idea how to get it back into English. I tried following your instructions that you gave someone else further up the page, but my icon layout must be different because it didn’t make any sense.

  Please help this is so unbelievably frustrating!

• 463 Dean // Dec 8, 2009 at 10:06 pm

  Kristen,
  What options do you see on the screen when you press the spanner (wrench) icon?

• 464 Andy // Dec 11, 2009 at 12:39 pm

  It is worst navigation device what I ever had. Dangerous and useless. Using it more than 1 year and everytime some bad surprises like lost signal (in London) and late instruction on motorway – missed my turns couple times.

  TomTom is much faster, map more detalised and more easy to use.

  I bought this Garmin device and got lost in ferst day of use. So how about that?

• 465 algy // Dec 11, 2009 at 2:27 pm

  Andy,

  You surprise me, Ive found the Garmin excellent and would recommend it, nothing is faultless of course maybe you just had a bad run

  Algy

• 466 Jim // Jan 1, 2010 at 3:54 am

  Have just purchased a 255W to replace my 2 year old 250W. I have a number of “Favorites” saved on my old 250W that I want to add to the 255W. In different blogs I have seen different answers. Is my answer as simple as to replace the ‘current.gpx’ file on the 255W GPS with the ‘current.gpx’ file on my 250W or do I have to rename a copy of the 250W .gpx file and add it to the Garmin\gpx folder on my 255W which will then be imported next time I start the 255W?

• 467 Dean // Jan 1, 2010 at 9:53 am

  Hi Jim,
  I don’t have a definitive answer for you, but if you take a backup of the 255W gpx folder you should be able to try out your idea. If it does not work you can revert to the backup to restore it back.

• 468 Most Popular Reviews 2009 // Jan 5, 2010 at 9:26 am

  [...] Garmin Nuvi 250W Sat Nav [...]

• 469 Charlotte // Jan 28, 2010 at 1:42 pm

  Some how the language is not in English. I did all that I read to change it back , but is not doing it. What else can I do ??

• 470 Dean // Jan 29, 2010 at 1:26 pm

  Have you tried a factory reset? If all else fails give Garmin a call.

• 471 Charlotte // Jan 29, 2010 at 2:53 pm

  I don’t have a reset , so I tried holding the on/off button for 8 secs (as it said in the book) and it’s still in German or some language…maybe just return it ??

• 472 Ron Johnston // Jan 29, 2010 at 3:16 pm

  Charlotte
  there is defo a means of changing the language setting, I once changed mine to Spqnish when in Spain -realising it wasn’t helpful I changed it back!
  I’ll check this evening and see if I can work it out for you

• 473 Charlotte // Jan 29, 2010 at 8:10 pm

  ok…thanks

• 474 Ron Johnston // Jan 30, 2010 at 1:40 pm

  Charlotte,
  Here’s how I see on mine (sorry if it seems like an idiots guide!):
  Touch the spanner symbol for settings>ifyou don’t see Language option listed, hit the down arrow>you should see Language>touch and you should have Voice/Text/Keyboard options, probably showing German for yours??>Touch each one and scroll to British English for each and save>it certainly works for me! Good luck

• 475 Ron Johnston // Jan 30, 2010 at 1:45 pm

  Touch the spanner symbol on the home screen >Settings>Language (If you don’t see Language hit the down arrow)>Voice/Text/Keyboard options…probably set as German on yours? Touch each and scroll to British English..or your choice! Hopefully it works for you

• 476 Kit Pears // Feb 6, 2010 at 4:46 pm

  I have a basic question about all the auto gps navigators. I just purchased a nuvi 1450. I just want it to display the map and my position (moving) without a destination. It does this, but only on a small scale (useless) and won’t zoom out (like whole city, state or country view). Is this common to all?

• 477 Dean // Feb 8, 2010 at 3:20 pm

  Kit,
  I know you can zoom out on some models. I’ve seen videos posted on YouTube of people using their GPS devices on planes where they have zoomed out to country level.

• 478 Rod // Feb 16, 2010 at 5:10 pm

  My nuvi 250w is now 2 years old and has given excellent service (although I don’t use it everyday), and I can’t make up my mind whether to ‘Lifetime’ upgrade the maps or to plod on and put up with the occasional directional error. I’m very happy with the unit and don’t want to buy a new unit just for the sake of it. Do you think the life of a 250w (apparently now discontinued) would justify the cost of the map upgrade which currently is £105?

• 479 Dean // Feb 17, 2010 at 6:43 pm

  Rod,
  The map updates are expensive. I’m running maps that are over 2 years old on my Nuvi 770.

  Upgrading to a newer device is one option of getting more up-to-date maps, but there is always the risk the newer device has a minor annoyance the old device didn’t.

  If you’re happy with your 250W then why not stick with it for another couple of years. I’d only update the maps if you’re running into regular mapping issues (missing roads, etc.) on routes you regularly travel.

• 480 Rod // Feb 18, 2010 at 10:13 am

  Hi Dean,
  I am happy with the 250w and I don’t mind buying the upgraded maps; it’s just that I have no idea how reliable sat nav devices can be over a long period of time. Is there a lot to go wrong with these items?

  Being an oldie, I’m not really bothered about having the latest bit of technology, and if I knew that the odds were that the unit might last for say another 5 or 6 years, then I’ll happily buy the lifetime upgrades.

  I know it’s a gamble I have to take – if it doesn’t fail it could get stolen etc etc.

  Many thanks for your help, and congrats on an excellent web site that even I can understand!

• 481 Dean // Feb 18, 2010 at 9:32 pm

  Hi Rod,
  The Garmin should serve you well for several years. There shouldn’t be any issues with reliability. The only possible area that might go wrong is that the battery may start to not hold a charge for as long after years of charging, although this is not a problem if you always have the Nuvi plugged into your car.

  I have heard some people report issues updating the Nuvi 255WT where the newer European maps have become too big for the internal memory to hold the map data of all European countries. Not sure if anyone has hit this issue with the Nuvi 250W though. It’s only really an issue if you travel in Europe a lot as you can simply uninstall maps for those countries you never need.

  You can see more comments on this issue on the Nuvi 255WT review if you read comment #76.

• 482 Chris Keane // Feb 20, 2010 at 11:10 pm

  why is it so hard to upate my gps nuvi 250w ???

• 483 Jess // Mar 21, 2010 at 5:06 pm

  I am looking to purchase my first satnav at the age of 67, something simple. This model seems to fit the bill, but I am concerned now that I’ve read it is obsolete. Would it be a mistake? Would it call for expensive updates?

• 484 Dean // Mar 22, 2010 at 10:50 pm

  Jess,
  The Nuvi 250W is now discontinued. I would consider looking at the newer Nuvi 255W.

  You can read my review here.

• 485 Jess // Mar 23, 2010 at 8:10 am

  Thanks for your views Dean. We have bought a Nuvi 1300, which I’m told is the up to date version.

• 486 John // Mar 24, 2010 at 12:06 pm

  The garmin nuvi is one of the best range available, we stock all these models and more on our website.

• 487 Bez // May 9, 2010 at 12:21 am

  Hi just purchased the Garmin Nuvi 205 the language is in Germen. I can’t read German and am having difficulty trying to re-set it to english.
  I have tried the spanner key at bottom of main screen but can’t read anything from there.
  Thank you for your help
  Looking forward to using it.

• 488 algy // May 9, 2010 at 7:10 am

  Bez,

  I suggest you do one of 2x things. Take the device to your local friendly German teacher at the nearest school or go to http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/ and insert the words and translate.

  Good Luck

  Algy

• 489 Dave // Jun 24, 2010 at 9:35 am

  Suddenly the audio on my unit is giving me conflicting instructions.For example on the screen it shows i have to turn in 1.2 kilometers.The audio says ”go straight turn right in 9 metres 60 kilometres ” What could be wrong?

• 490 gps laptop // Jul 31, 2010 at 7:17 pm

  The Garmin nuvi 250 GPS is an excellent choice when you are looking for a GPS device.
  i have a review of gps laptop

• 491 Terry McNulty // Aug 29, 2010 at 3:38 pm

  I have a Garmin 250w which is two years old. It had full European mapping. I had to go to Germany recently so I decided to purchase a map upgrade from Garmin. Unfortunately owing to the memory limitations I ended up only being able to load Germany and Benelux countries and lost everywhere else including UK maps. As I’m only in Germany a couple of times a year this means my SatNav is sitting useless in a cupboard for most of the time. Any suggestions? Is it possible to purchase a new SD Card with the full European mapping including the UK and insert into my existing Garmin?

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