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After using the Garmin ecoRoute HD for 2 weeks I found that overall I did save a few pennies and that I did manage to cut down my daily miles. I think that if I would have used the ecoRoute HD for a whole year then it would have had a far greater impact and I would have saved a decent amount. Not only have I cut down the miles on my vehicle but I have also lowered my carbon footprint.

After the highly anticipated release of the Garmin ecoRoute HD i was wondering what all of the fuss was about. So I contacted our good friends Lemon Digital to see whether or not they had these in stock, they had plenty and offered to give me one to review to see what I thought about it.

What Does the ecoRoute Do?

The Garmin ecoRoute HD Onboard Computer is used to help improve Garmin Nuvi users fuel consumption and help the users to reduce their negative impact on the environment. The ecoRoute also specialises in:

• Engine Monitoring
• Fuel Efficiency
• Car Diagnostics

The ecoRoute also offers Sensor and Gauge Data to help you keep track on everything ranging from your RPM to your Coolant Temperature.

The users of this relatively cheap accessory should earn their money back within a year with the amount of fuel saved. This is a rough estimate based upon the amount I think that I saved throughout the two weeks of usage.

Compatible Garmin Units

After looking into the Garmin ecoRoute everyone was listing that it was only compatible with a select few Sat Navs. However, once I received the package it seemed to state otherwise. The package read that it was compatible with the following:

• NuLink 1695
• Nuvi 1210
• Nuvi 1260
• Nuvi 1310
• Nuvi 1370
• Nuvi 1390
• Nuvi 1410
• Nuvi 1490T
• Nuvi 1490TV
• Nuvi 1690
• Nuvi 2310
• Nuvi 2360
• Nuvi 3760
• Nuvi 3790

That is quite a lot more than what Garmin were originally saying on their official website. So i gave them a call and they confirmed that it is compatible with the list that i gave them and what was on the back of the package. In a nutshell, the ecoRoute HD is compatible with nearly all of the Garmin Nuvi units.

Whats in the Box

This is what you get in the box:

• Garmin ecoRoute HD
• Instructions Manual
• 4 Cable Ties
• 2 Self Adhesive Stickers

Here’s an Image of what i received:

The box that the ecoRoute comes in is classic Garmin. A solid cardboard box with all of the glossy images that you would expect, including the compatibility list on the back of the box.

Installation

Once I went through the box and read the Instructions manual i was still unclear on how to install the device to my vehicle. Unlike most other Garmin units this wasn’t as straight forward as I would have thought. I looked in my vehicle for the “OBD II Connector” only to realise I didn’t have a clue what it looked like nor did i know where to find it. The manual did give me a brief image of what it looked like and it told me to search the web for images of it.

I went onto the internet and then onto YouTube to find out exactly how to do it! Once I watched a video on YouTube it was Simple! The Connector was located right in my footwell below the steering column.

After I Installed the ecoRoute i asked myself whether or not it is compatible with all vehicles?

Vehicle Compatibility

I quickly surfed the web to see if anyone had experienced any problems with the ecoRoute HD and whether or not it is compatible with all cars. I couldn’t really find a lot of information about the ecoRoute, maybe this was because its a new product. There wasn’t a lot on the internet to answer my question. So once again, I phoned Garmin to ask them. They were very helpful and gave me a list of vehicles that it wont work with:-

• 1996 Dodge Intrepid
• 2000 Ford F350 7.3L Turbo Diesel
• 2003 Subaru Forester
• Renault Vehicles

Renault were the surprising incompatible vehicles on the list. A market leader which will have a detrimental impact on the sales of these units.

Summary

After using the Garmin ecoRoute HD for 2 weeks I found that overall I did save a few pennies and that I did manage to cut down my daily miles. I think that if I would have used the ecoRoute HD for a whole year then it would have had a far greater impact and I would have saved a decent amount. Not only have I cut down the miles on my vehicle but I have also lowered my carbon footprint.

I was however, slightly bewildered as to why it is not compatible with Renault vehicles. I am guessing its because the OBD Connector II is situated in a non suitable spot, near the pedals maybe?

Buy the Garmin ecoRoute HD from Lemon Digital and quote TechnicalItch to purchase the ecoRoute for £78.99

Lemon Digital                                                               The cheapest satellite navigation from TomTom, Garmin and every other brand, PDA system and digital picture frames

Overall, I decided that the Garmin NuMaps was probably one of the most cost effective software i have ever purchased. Little Price, Simple Code and easy to use software to update my Garmin. What more could you ask for?

I have recently reviewed quite a lot of Garmin sat nav systems. Alot of people have been contacting me to find out the best and most efficient way to update their Garmin unit. I had to look into this and in doing so, i managed to stumble across the Garmin NuMaps Lifetime Map Update for UK and Europe.

Map Coverage

The Garmin NuMaps cover the whole of the UK, ROI and Western Europe which includes detailed maps of major metropolitan areas in Europe, including motorways, national and regional thoroughfares and local roads.

Other possible ways of updating the Garmin units are with subscriptions with Garmin themselves but this would cost up to £80 a year. I found this to be quite expensive considering most of the Nuvi’s are around that price anyway. However, when I came across these Garmin NuMaps, I found that they did alot more for you than want a single map update would do, and worked out to be nearly half the price. These Range from £48.34 to £90! The cheapest i found to be was Lemon Digital. So £48.34 for mapping for the lifetime of your system. Not Bad?

Whats In the Box

This is what you get in the box:

• 1 x Gift Card with Unique Map Update Code

Upon ordering the product I had to check whether or not it was compatible with the Nuvi 770. So I contacted Garmin and they confirmed that it is compatible with the Whole Garmin Nuvi, Zumo, Streetpilot and Quest range!

Here’s an Image of what I received:

In My opinion its quite a big packaging considering its only protecting a credit card sized gift card with a small unique code on the back. However, I paid for the code not that packaging so that’s what I am going to review.

On the reverse of the package there was a brief explanation from Garmin just confirming what models were compatible with the code. Furthermore, there was also a link for me to go to if I had any problems or needed more information.

Opening the Package

Upon opening the package I found the card to be a bit like a scratch card. The code being on the back. The back of the card tells you exactly how to set up your Garmin Map Update and what links to go to. Once I scratched off the back and revealed my code I had to activate the card with the URL given. Here I had to create a username, password and type in the product key from the back of the card. Once this was set up I was able to update my system easily enough.

Updating your System

To use NuMaps Lifetime, all you need is your Garmin device, your computer and a USB cable. “There are no monthly fees or continuing maintenance costs”. To update my maps all I had to do was connect my device to the computer and log into my “myGarmin” account, where the latest map data was ready to install. It gave me a list of countries that I wanted to be updated and I just chose which ones I wanted and away it went. It took me 3 Hours to update the system, but I was in no rush and paying just £48 I wasn’t fussed.

Summary

Overall, I decided that the Garmin NuMaps was probably one of the most cost effective software I have ever purchased. Little Price, Simple Code and easy to use software to update my Garmin. What more could you ask for?

Buy the Garmin NuMaps from Lemon Digital

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The following list shows the best selling sat nav systems purchased by our readers this year on Amazon.

Garmin dominate this year with Navman the only other manufacturer to make the list. 7 of the top 10 are priced at £105 or less which shows the budget systems are proving as popular as ever.

• Garmin Nuvi 250
• Garmin Nuvi 255W
• Garmin Nuvi 205W
• Garmin Nuvi 255
• Garmin Nuvi 200 (NOH)
• Garmin Nuvi 200W
• Navman S50
• Garmin Nuvi 265W
• Garmin Nuvi 770
• Garmin Nuvi 1240

This review looks at the Garmin Nuvi 1490T.  This system is one of several new releases by Garmin this year. The Nuvi 1490T is aimed at the higher end of the market offering features like lane assist, junction view, route planning, speed camera warnings, traffic alerts, bluetooth, ecoRoute, public transport and pedestrian modes.  It also sports a large 5 inch screen.

Box Contents

This is what you get in the box.

• Garmin Nuvi 1490T with preloaded maps of UK and Europe
• Suction cup holder and cradle
• Power cable
• TMC traffic antenna and suction cups
• USB cable
• Dashboard disk
• Quick start guide

First Impressions

The Nuvi 1490T looks a nice system out of the box and is well constructed.  Despite the large 5 inch screen it is surprisingly easy to carry around with you and is only 15mm thick.

The suction cup, cradle, power cable and traffic antenna are the same design as other recent releases by Garmin.  The traffic antenna and power cable are two separate cables, with the traffic antenna plugging into a small socket on the power cable.  This means you have the option to take the Nuvi 1490T out on the road without the traffic antenna cluttering up your windscreen if you wish. This is an improvement over earlier models like the Nuvi 770 where the traffic antenna and power cable were one unit.

Setup in the car was a hassle free process and we found the suction cup and cradle easy to use.  Initial satellite acquisition was also quick.

Navigation

One of the features offered by the Nuvi 1490T is junction view and lane assist.  When approaching a complex junction the screen will switch to junction view for a few seconds to help you get in the right lane.

Out on the road we found the lane assist worked well.  Signposts displayed on screen were identical to the real ones on the road and plenty of warning was given when required to change lanes.

The Nuvi 1490T includes a subscription-free traffic alert service.  This service will warn you of any traffic problems on your route giving you the option to take an alternative route. 

As with other systems we’ve reviewed over the years we found the traffic alerts to be a bit hit and miss.  Sometimes it would be spot on in warning of upcoming delays.  On other occasions it would warn of queuing traffic ahead only for there to be no delays at all.

It is also worth noting that on a couple of occasions the traffic receiver was unable to pick up a signal, and this lasted for several miles before reception was regained.

So our advice would be to not expect perfection from the traffic alert service.

As far as speed camera alerts are concerned the Nuvi 1490T was very good.  It excels best with fixed cameras, in our tests it passed with flying colours in this department.

It did a pretty good job spotting mobile and temporary speed cameras too, but there were times where it could have done better.  This is to be expected though.  Temporary speed cameras, such as those in motorway roadworks, are always on the move and it is important to update the speed camera database on the Garmin from time to time.

Speed camera updates can be done via the Garmin web site.  There are also a number of 3rd party web sites offering the same updates, often at a cheaper price, such as the Garmin speed camera plugin from SCDB.info.

You can also see in the screenshot above that the Nuvi 1490T displays the current speed limit for a given road in the bottom right of the screen.  This can be useful, especially when driving on unfamiliar roads where you’re not sure of the speed limit.  In our tests the Nuvi 1490T did an excellent job displaying the correct speed limit.

Points of Interest (POI)

As with all Garmin systems we’ve reviewed the Nuvi 1490T includes an extensive points of interest (POI) database. 

The Nuvi 1490T also includes a feedback feature where you can report any anomalies you find, such as a point of interest in the wrong location.  This is a fairly new addition to the Garmin range and was introduced to compete with similar offerings from TomTom, like the TomTom Go 740 Live we reviewed earlier this year.

Issues

We tested the Nuvi 1490T over the course of a week.  During this time we ran into a number of issues.  None of these are major but when put together it does raise concerns over the build quality.

We ran into the following issues:

• Around day 3 of testing the speaker would not work when the unit was switched on.  We would be driving several miles and then realise there was no audio for the voice directions.  We checked the volume settings and the volume was not muted.  We found that by either increasing or decreasing the volume the speaker would suddenly kick back into life.  This problem occurred every time we used the system thereafter, even after doing a factory reset.
• On one occasion the unit got stuck in USB mass storage mode whilst in the car.  This basically means the Nuvi 1490T thought it was plugged into a computer rather than a vehicle meaning we couldn’t navigate anywhere.  The Nuvi 1490T just displayed a computer icon on the screen and we couldn’t do anything.  We found that once we started driving the unit would reboot itself and then return to normal navigation mode.  This problem only occurred once but was not something we expected.
• The first time we plugged the Nuvi 1490T into a computer using the USB cable it would not connect properly.  The Nuvi 1490T repeatedly rebooted itself and in the end we just disconnected it from the computer, then tried reconnecting and the second time it connected successfully.
• We ran into a couple of issues with the mapping.  On one occasion it directed us through a town centre rather than using a bypass and another time the directions had the wrong road number.  We’ve run into these type of issues when reviewing other systems, so we were not particularly concerned.  Over the course of a week of thorough road testing these were the only two mapping issues we discovered.  In our experience no sat nav system is perfect in this area, so don’t let this issue put you off.
• One other minor niggle.  There were a couple of times where we felt the Nuvi announced upcoming turns too early, which in a busy city centre could result in you taking an earlier turn by mistake.  For the majority of our tests though we didn’t find this a problem, but worth noting nonetheless.

Part of us would like to think that we simply reviewed a dud model, but we ran into a few issues when we reviewed the Garmin Nuvi 775T earlier this year too, so we feel there are a few question marks over build quality recently, especially when you consider the price tag.

Summary

The Garmin Nuvi 1490T is a nice looking system that performs well as a navigation device.  There are a few question marks over build quality though and we’re not convinced this is a good buy when you consider the price tag. 

Our advice would be to shop around for something cheaper.  If you don’t need the route planning or bluetooth then the Nuvi 1340T is quite a bit cheaper and worth a look.

Get a price on the Garmin Nuvi 1490T from Lemon Digital.

Garmin have recently announced the new Nuvi 1690.  Probably the most notable new feature is a built-in wireless module which allows you to access online information like Google search, weather and fuel prices.  Garmin have dubbed this nuLink, and it is similar to the TomTom Live offering on systems like the TomTom Go 740 Live.

This is an interesting move by Garmin, who obviously liked what TomTom were doing and decided to compete with their own offering.  Unlike TomTom though, who only offer their Live services free for 3 months, following which you pay a monthly subscription, Garmin is offering their nuLink content free for the first year.  Once the first year is up it costs 79 Euros per year to continue using nuLink.

One of the nuLink services being offered is Flight Status which gives you the latest information on arrival and departures. Quite handy if you’re on the way to the airport.

The Nuvi 1690 will offer cityXplorer pedestrian navigation, as well as lane assist, junction view, ecoRoute and photo navigation. It comes preloaded with Western and Eastern European mapping.

The Nuvi 1690 also includes Ciao!, a social network application that links multiple social network sites so you can share your whereabouts with friends.  Ciao! makes it possible to see where your friends are and you can navigate to their current location.  Again this is similar to the existing TomTom Buddies functionality.

The Nuvi 1690 is expected to be available from November 15th 2009.  It is available for pre-order from Amazon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Garmin announced today a new model in the Nuvi range. The Nuvi 1490T is aimed at the higher end of the Nuvi range. It will offer a 5-inch display with route planning, lane assist, lifetime traffic alerts, bluetooth hands-free calling, pedestrian navigation, photo navigation and ecoRoute.

It will also support downloading of CityXplorer content (when available). This will allow you to navigate city public transit systems for selected cities, such as bus and rail transportation.

The 1490T will come preloaded with either North American or European maps. It will be 25% slimmer than most Nuvi models already in the market. It is expected to be available in July 2009. Prices in the US are expected to be around $499, so in the UK we can expect to see prices in excess of £300.

News of the 1490T release comes hot on the heels of the Nuvi 1200 and 1300 models. We’ll be hoping to review all these models later this year.

This review looks at the Garmin Nuvi 775T which is an update to the Garmin Nuvi 770 review we published last year.

The Nuvi 775T has the same core set of features and mapping as the original Nuvi 770, but with a few extra features and enhancements. These new features include lane assist to help you navigate complex motorway junctions, 3D building view, photo navigation, ecoRoute, and increased memory.

Since the navigation is essentially the same as the original Nuvi 770 we will just cover the differences between these two models.

Box Contents

This is what you get in the box:

• Garmin Nuvi 775T
• Preloaded City Navigator® NT maps for North America and Europe (full coverage)
• Vehicle suction cup mount
• FM traffic receiver with vehicle power cable
• Dashboard disk
• USB cable
• Quick start manual

First Impressions

The Nuvi 775T looks very similar to the original Nuvi 770. The only visual difference is the colour scheme. The Nuvi 770 had a silver strip around the edges of the device. The Nuvi 775T has this same strip but it is the same colour as the rest of the device so is less noticeable.

Surprisingly, the Nuvi 775T does not include a free leather carry case which was one of the things we liked about the original Nuvi 770. These cases don’t cost much so it was a shame to see Garmin drop this.

Installation

Setting up the Nuvi 775T is straightforward. Using the provided power cable you plug one end in the cigarette lighter socket and the other end into a small socket on the side of the cradle. This is a good design as it enables you to connect and disconnect the Nuvi from the cradle without worrying about unplugging the power cable each time.

The Nuvi 775T includes built-in traffic. Branching out from the power cable is a thinner cable that you attach to the windscreen using the small suction cups provided. At the end of this cable is a small receiver which is used to send traffic reports to the Nuvi 775T.

Map Coverage

The Nuvi 775T has the same transatlantic maps as the Nuvi 770 covering both Europe and North America.

Memory

The Nuvi 775T has increased memory allowing you to store up to 1000 waypoints and favourite locations, which is twice the amount the Nuvi 770 can hold. This should be ample for most users.

Navigation

The maps looks almost identical to the Nuvi 770, although a few tweaks have been made.

The estimated arrival time has been moved from the bottom left to the bottom right of the screen. This makes room for the current speed to now be displayed in the bottom left of the screen. This is an improvement over the Nuvi 770 where the current speed could only be viewed by selecting the trip information screen, something that is not easy to do whilst driving.

The next turn information has been moved from the bottom right to the top left of the screen, we think this in an improvement over the original Nuvi 770.

One of the criticisms aimed at older Nuvi models, like the 770, is that you could only see the estimated arrival time on the screen. The Nuvi 775T has addressed this concern by providing more options.

If you tap the bottom right of the screen you can choose from a selection of routing data options, these are:

• Estimated time of arrival
• Distance to destination
• Estimated time to destination
• Direction of travel
• Elevation
• Time of Day

These new routing data options are a welcome addition to the Nuvi range and should satisfy most user needs.

The other useful new feature is speed limit displays. In the bottom left of the screen it will display the speed for the road you’re driving along. This can come in really useful if you’re not sure what the speed limit is for a particular stretch of road.

On the whole this worked pretty well. In our tests it displayed the correct speed and was quick to adjust when the speed limit changed. It was not 100% accurate though and a couple of times it got the speed wrong. This is to be expected though, speed limits on roads can occasionally change leaving out of date speed limit information on the Nuvi 775T. We also found on some occasions it did not display the speed limit at all, so don’t expect 100% coverage of ‘A’ roads.

Despite these new features, out on the road though we found the Nuvi 775T a disappointment. We don’t know if we reviewed a dud model or not but it was certainly not up to par with previous Garmin Nuvi systems we’ve tested.

We tested the 775T on the same routes as the 770 and found discrepancies between the two. The 775T on one occasion tried to navigate us into a layby on the opposite side of the road, on another occasion it asked us to turn left, off the main road into a housing estate, when we were clearly meant to continue along the main road.

We also found it had a preference for directing us through city centres when a better route was available. Sometimes this may be unavoidable, but we’d like to see a bit more intelligence built into the navigation so it could try and route us along an alternative route. It is sometimes preferable to take a slightly longer route rather than be stuck in slow urban traffic.

We updated our review unit to the latest firmware but this did not fix the issues we observed, so overall we were left disappointed with the navigation performance.

Safety Cameras

Just like the Nuvi 770, the Nuvi 775T includes safety camera warnings out of the box.

The only difference from the Nuvi 770 is a cosmetic one, the actual warning is now displayed on the map rather than the next turn banner at the top of the screen.

Over time though, new safety cameras will appear on roads across the country, so if you want to keep your Nuvi 775T up-to-date with these new safety cameras you will need to take out a subscription. These subscriptions typically last 1 year and allow you unlimited updates during this time.

There are several subscription options available. You can take out a subscription from Garmin, or another popular option is the Garmin speed camera plugin from SCDB.info.

Traffic Module

The Nuvi 775T includes a built-in traffic module which allows you to be notified of any traffic problems along your route. In our tests we did not encounter any traffic hold-ups so it is difficult for us to assess how accurate the 775T is at providing real-time traffic information, but we did notice differences from the Nuvi 255WT we reviewed last month.

The Nuvi 255WT gives you the ability to search for traffic problems both along your current route and other roads in your area. We couldn’t find any such option on the Nuvi 775T so it seems this area has undergone a redesign. We prefer how the Nuvi 255WT works so we’re not sure why the 775T has been changed.

We’d like to see a more standard approach across the newer Nuvi models so these features have a more consistent look and feel.

Bluetooth

As with the Nuvi 770, the Nuvi 775T can be paired with a mobile phone using bluetooth. This enables you to make hands free calling via the Nuvi, as well as send and receive SMS messages.

Like the navigation though, this was another area which let us down. We found the bluetooth temperamental, sometimes it would work, other times we would make a call but the person at the other end of the line could not hear us. So overall we found the bluetooth pretty unusable.

Photo Navigation

The Nuvi 775T includes the same picture viewer as the Nuvi 770, but the 775T takes this a step further by supporting photo navigation.

Some digital cameras can now automatically add the GPS co-ordinates to the photo metadata whenever you take a photograph. Even for cameras that don’t have this feature, there are software programs available that allow you to edit photos on your PC afterwards and add this location information.

This process of adding location information to the photo metadata is known as geotagging. If you transfer one of these geotagged photos to the Nuvi 775T you can navigate to that location.

It is an interesting idea but we think it is more of a gimmick and is not a feature we used, but it is nice to see Garmin offering features like this for those who may like it.

3D Building View

The Nuvi 775T includes 3D building view. The idea is to make the driving experience on screen more realistic by showing major landmarks in 3D.

As with the photo navigation we think it is a bit of a gimmick, but the feature is there for you if you find it useful. We managed to briefly capture the 3D building view in action whilst driving around.

Lane Assist

The Nuvi 775T includes lane assist which is designed to help you navigate complex junctions, helping you get in the correct lane when approaching a major motorway junction.

We ran out of time with our review model and did not get an opportunity to test this feature out, but it looks like it could come in useful.

Garmin ecoRoute

Garmin ecoRoute is designed to save you fuel. You can use it to monitor how much fuel your vehicle is consuming as well as examine your carbon footprint, it addition you can use it to plot the most fuel efficient route to your destination.

If you don’t see ecoRoute on your Nuvi 775T then you need to download the latest Garmin 7×5 firmware.

To use ecoRoute you first need to setup your vehicle profile, this includes the type of fuel you use, fuel cost and the average miles per gallon for your vehicle in urban traffic and cruising speeds.

Once you’ve entered this information you can examine each route you’ve driven and see how much it cost.

There is also a new Less Fuel option under the Route Preference screen. This allow the Nuvi 775T to plot a route to your destination using the least amount of fuel.

Garmin ecoRoute really deserves a whole review on its own, so we intend to go into this area in more detail over the coming months. From what we’ve seen so far it looks like it could come in useful.

Battery

Battery power is estimated at 3 hours, this is less than the 5 hours for the Nuvi 770. This shouldn’t present too many problems to users, but if you intend to use the Nuvi 775T for pedestrian use frequently then you’ll need to ensure 3 hours is sufficient for your needs.

Summary

Overall we found the Garmin Nuvi 775T a disappointment. Garmin have added some useful new features over its predecessor, the Nuvi 770.

These include lane assist, speed limit displays, new route data display options and ecoRoute support, but the basic navigation aspects of the device were not good enough when you consider the high price tag. The bluetooth malfunctioned in our tests too.

Based on our testing the Nuvi 770 is a more reliable performer and a bit cheaper too, so we suggest you save yourself some money and stick with the Nuvi 770 for now until the bugs with the 775T are ironed out. If you don’t need the North American maps then save more money and go for the Nuvi 760.

Buy the Garmin Nuvi 775T from Lemon Digital.

Buy the Garmin Nuvi 775T from Amazon.

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The Garmin Nuvi 250W review we published back in 2007 continues to be one of our most popular reviews, generating over 400 reader comments and regularly appearing in our best seller list.

Following on from this success, Garmin released new models in 2008 called the Nuvi 255W and Nuvi 255WT. These new models are essentially the same as the original Nuvi 250W but with new features like “Where Am I?”, photo navigation and increased storage for waypoints and favourite locations. The 255WT also includes a traffic module to warn you of any traffic hold-ups on your route.

This review will look at the Nuvi 255WT. Since the navigation is essentially the same as the original Nuvi 250W we will just cover the differences between these two models.

Box Contents

This is what you get in the box:

• Garmin Nuvi 255WT
• Preloaded City Navigator® NT for North America or Europe (full coverage)
• Vehicle suction cup mount
• Vehicle power cable
• TMC Traffic Cable
• Dashboard disk
• Quick start manual

First Impressions

Out of the box the Nuvi 255WT looks almost identical to the Nuvi 250W. It has the same slimline appearance and looks solidly built.

As with the Nuvi 250W, there is no USB cable included which is a shame.

Our other complaint is the position of the USB port on the back of device. When you plug a USB cable into the back of the device (such as when connecting the 255WT to a computer) you can’t lay the 255WT on a flat surface like a desk, since the USB cable is sticking out of the back of the device. We ended up positioning the 255WT on the edge of a desk so the USB cable could run freely.

This is only a minor niggle, but it would have been nice if Garmin had followed the same design as the Nuvi 7xx series which has the USB port on the side of the device.

Map Coverage

As with the Nuvi 250W you get detailed map coverage for UK, Ireland and Western Europe.

Main Screen

The tools menu is accessed by pressing the spanner (wrench) icon from the main screen. The tools menu has been given a face-lift and looks more visually appealing than the Nuvi 250W. Each tool option now has an icon next to it so you can more quickly identify the option you need.

Included in the tools menu is the new “Where Am I?” feature. There is also a “My Data” folder where you can quickly access your favourite locations and trip log. There is also a calculator and unit converter.

As with the Nuvi 250W a picture viewer is included, but the 255WT takes this a step further by supporting photo navigation.

Some digital cameras can now automatically add the GPS co-ordinates whenever you take a photograph. Even for cameras that don’t have this feature, there are software programs available that allow you to edit photos on your PC afterwards and add location information. This process of adding location information to the photo metadata is known as geotagging.

If you transfer one of these geotagged photos to the Nuvi 255WT you can navigate to that location.

It is an interesting idea but we think it is more of a gimmick and is not a feature we used, but it is nice to see Garmin offering features like this for those who may like it.

Memory

The Nuvi 255WT has increased memory allowing you to store up to 1000 waypoints and favourite locations, which is twice the amount the Nuvi 250W can hold. This should be ample for most users.

Where Am I?

This feature allows you to quickly identify your current location. There are quick launch buttons on the right hand side of the screen where you can find nearby hospitals, police stations and fuel. It also shows the nearest address and junction. This could be useful if you breakdown for example, you could tell a recovery vehicle your current location.

If you’re interested in knowing your map co-ordinates and elevation then this information is displayed too. We tested this feature on many occasions and it does a good job of detecting your current location, even down to which house number you’re nearest to.

Navigation

The navigation options are very similar to the Nuvi 250W, allowing you to navigate to an address, point of interest (POI), your home location, a list of favourite or recently found destinations, junctions or a specific set of GPS co-ordinates.

There is an option to navigate to a City, useful if you just want to get to a general city area without entering a specific address, as well as browsing the map to find a destination.

The navigation screen on the Nuvi 255WT differs from the Nuvi 250W. The estimated arrival time has been moved from the bottom left to the bottom right of the screen. This makes room for the current speed to now be displayed in the bottom left of the screen. This is an improvement over the Nuvi 250W where the current speed could only be viewed by selecting the trip information screen, something that is not easy to do whilst driving.

The next turn information has been moved from the bottom right to the top left of the screen. In addition, the 255WT displays a car symbol on the left of the screen which indicates it is receiving traffic information.

On the whole we found the navigation as good as the original Nuvi 250W. Our only criticism is the next turn symbol displayed in the top left of the screen. Occasionally the roundabout exit symbol does not match the actual exit on the map.

In the example below we are taking the 2nd exit which is straight across the roundabout, but the next turn symbol in the top left of the screen implies we need to turn right at the roundabout. This only happened a couple of times but it does show that improvements need to made in this area. Our advice is to not rely on the next turn symbol too much, but instead look at the map to know where to turn next.

We also tested the Nuvi 255WT in pedestrian mode. It did a reasonable job of navigating us on foot, but it is far from perfect. The pedestrian mode is essentially the same as vehicle mode except it ignores restrictions like one-way streets, so it is not really design with pedestrians in mind. On a couple of occasions it told us to do a u-turn when in fact the correct route was to carry on walking in the same direction.

Thankfully, Garmin is planning to launch some new pedestrian friendly GPS systems later on in 2009. These are called the Garmin Nuvi 1200 and 1300 respectively so look out for these models.

Safety Cameras

In our tests the Nuvi 255WT did a good job of detecting fixed and mobile cameras. An audible and visual warning is displayed when approaching a safety camera.

The Nuvi 255WT comes with free safety camera warnings out-of-the-box. Just take the Nuvi 255WT out on the road and it will automatically warn you of approaching safety cameras.

Over time though, new safety cameras will appear on roads across the country, so if you want to keep your Nuvi up-to-date with these new safety cameras you will need to take out a subscription. These subscriptions typically last 12 months and allow you unlimited updates during this time.

There are several subscription options available. You can take out a subscription from Garmin.

Another popular option is the Garmin speed camera plugin.

Traffic Module (TMC)

The Nuvi 255WT includes a free traffic module which allows you to be notified of any traffic holds-ups along your route.

You can also do a traffic search which allows you to view any traffic hold-ups, not just on roads along your route. This can be quite useful for seeing at a glance what the traffic situation is like in your area and further afield.

The traffic search will provide a list of roads with traffic hold-ups, a green bar indicates an issue such as slow traffic, whereas a red bar indicates more serious issues such as a road closed.

Below are some example images of the type of traffic information that can be reported from the Traffic Search screen.

In our tests we did not encounter any traffic hold-ups on our routes so it is difficult for us to assess how accurate the 255WT is at providing real-time traffic information, but from our limited testing it seems like it may come in useful.

Points of Interest (POI)

The 255WT uses the same POI database as the Nuvi 250W meaning you have access to over 6 million POI. We’ve always been impressed with the amount of local information provided, whether it be local restaurants, fuel stations or shopping centres. The 255WT performed well in this area.

Settings

There are a couple of minor differences in the settings screen from the original Nuvi 250W. One of these is the option to use a QWERTY style on-screen keyboard. Although only a minor point it is good to see this option available.

The remaining settings are very similar to the Nuvi 250W.

Battery

Battery power is estimated at 4 hours, this is less than the 5 hours for the Nuvi 250W. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people, but bear this in mind if you intend to use the 255WT frequently in pedestrian mode.

Summary

Overall the Nuvi 255WT does a good job of building on the success of the Nuvi 250W. We like the addition of a traffic module and the “Where Am I?” feature. The on-screen menus have also been given a face-lift making the system more visually appealing.

There is a minor bug with the next turn feature, but apart from that we didn’t run into any major issues. Hopefully a future firmware release will fix this.

If you’re on a tight budget then the original Nuvi 250W still represents a good buy, but if want the new features and don’t mind spending a bit extra, then the Nuvi 255WT is a nice system. For those that don’t want a traffic module there is also the slightly cheaper Garmin Nuvi 255W.

Buy the Garmin Nuvi 255WT from Amazon UK.

Buy the Garmin Nuvi 255WT from Amazon USA.

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We thought we’d give a quick taster of some upcoming sat nav reviews here on Technical Itch. We’ve recently got three new Garmin Nuvi systems in the office – the 255WT, 775T and 865T plus a TomTom Go 740 Live. We will be road testing these systems over the coming weeks so look out for these reviews when published.

Here is a quick summary of what these systems offer.

Garmin Nuvi 255WT

The Garmin Nuvi 250W review we published back in 2007 continues to be one of our most popular reviews, generating over 400 reader comments and regularly being in our best seller list.

Following on from the success of the 250W, Garmin released updated models in 2008 called the 255W and 255WT. These new models are essentially the same as the original 250W but with new features like “Where Am I?”, photo navigation and increased storage for waypoints and favourite locations. The 255WT also includes a traffic module to warn you of any traffic hold-ups on your route.

Read the full review.

Garmin Nuvi 775T

The Nuvi 775T is an update to the Nuvi 770 review we published last year. The 775T has the new lane-assist feature which is appearing on more Garmin systems these days. Lane-assist is designed to help you get in the right lane when approaching complex junctions. It also includes 3D city view, photo navigation and increased storage for waypoints and favourite locations.

Read the full review.

Garmin Nuvi 865T

The Nuvi 865T is one of the flagship models from Garmin featuring a full menu voice-controlled system so you can operate the system using your voice alone, rather than touching the screen. The reviews we’ve read of this system so far have rated the voice recognition highly so we look forward to testing it out. The 865T also includes lane-assist and photo navigation.

We’re waiting to road test this system currently.

TomTom Go 740 Live

Having reviewed plenty of Garmin systems we are looking forward to seeing how the TomTom fares against the Garmin. The TomTom GO 740 boasts a good feature set including lane guidance, a voice controlled system and real-time connection to things like traffic and fuel prices.

Read the full review.

What Next?

3 down, 1 to go. We’re just waiting to get hold of a Garmin Nuvi 865T now, we’ll then start road testing.

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This is a question we often get asked on this web site. It can be a difficult question to answer because a lot depends on the features you need. Some people want a budget sat nav whereas others prefer extra features like bluetooth hands free calling and TMC.

Then there is the question of mapping, some sat nav systems cover the UK and Ireland, whereas others cover Europe too, some even cover both Europe and North America.

This list will cover only the Garmin range since those are the ones we’re had most experience with and have proved popular with our readers. We also like how they come with free safety camera warnings out of the box (although you’ll need to pay a subscription if ever you want to update the camera database).

Hopefully this article will steer you in the right direction and help you build up a shortlist of potential buys.

Budget Buys – under £100

Garmin Nuvi 310: This can be bought for under £80 and includes UK mapping which is a good price. This is the smallest and most compact system we’ve seen to date and has some nice features including bluetooth, WAAS/EGNOS, MP3 player and a long battery life. We’re currently road testing this system and a full review will be published on this web site in the coming weeks.

Garmin Nuvi 250: a nice system which sells for around £85 and includes European mapping. It does not have a widescreen, but apart from that it is identical to the popular Nuvi 250W review we published last year.

Mid Range Buys – £100 – £150

Garmin Nuvi 200 Widescreen: a decent entry level system which has proved popular with our readers. It has a 4.3” widescreen display with UK and Ireland mapping and sells for just over £100.

Garmin Nuvi 250W: this has proved the most popular sat nav system with our readers this year. The prices have come down in recent months and it can be bought for just over £100 now. It includes European mapping. You can read the full Nuvi 250W review we published last year.

Garmin Nuvi 255WT: this system builds on the success of the Nuvi 250W and includes more memory, a faster processor for quicker map drawing and new features like “Where Am I” and photo navigation. It includes European mapping and TMC traffic alerts. It sells for around £140. If you don’t need TMC then save yourself £10 and get the Nuvi 255W.

Top Range Buys – £150 and over

Garmin Nuvi 760: this includes European mapping, text to speech (speaks out road names, e.g. “Turn left in 100 yards into Main Street”), bluetooth hands free calling, TMC traffic alerts and an FM transmitter so directions can be broadcast through your car stereo speakers. It costs around £190. We reviewed the Garmin Nuvi 770 which is identical except it includes North American mapping. It is £40 more expensive though which is why we prefer the Nuvi 760. The Nuvi 770 is not worth the extra money unless you travel to the US or Canada frequently.

Garmin Zumo 550: this system is designed for motorbikes but performs equally well in a car. It is expensive at around £400 but has some excellent features like a trip log which records where you’ve travelled. It also has bluetooth and an MP3 player. If you own both a bike and car then it is definitely worth a closer look. We published a Garmin Zumo 550 Review earlier this year.

Other Interesting Models

Garmin Nuvi 765T: we’re hoping to review one of these early next year. It sports a new lane assist feature which is designed to help you get in the right lane when navigating complex junctions and motorways. It also has stereo bluetooth and a 3D building view. At £280 though it is not cheap, and for £100 less you can pick up a Nuvi 760 which is a decent high spec system itself. We suggest waiting a few months for the price to drop on the 765T before rushing out and buying one.

Garmin Nuvi 860T: this system supports full voice control, allowing you to say things like “find nearest cash point” without having to enter anything on the screen. It’s another system we’re looking to review next year. At prices around £350 it is a hefty price tag but we like the idea of hands free operation.

You may also find this Nuvi comparison chart useful for choosing the right model for you. The site is geared to North American users but it provides a handy way to compare all the different models at a glance.

If there is anything else you’d like to see on this page then let us know. Leave us a comment or use our contact form.