Garmin nüvi 275/275T 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic

by Garmin

Product Details

User's Guide [1.34mb PDF]

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User's Guide [721kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.8 x 0.8 x 2.8 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001ELJ9Q0
• Item model number: 010-00576-00
• Batteries: 1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (159 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #832 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

  #41 in

  Electronics > Car Electronics > Vehicle GPS > Portable Vehicle GPS

• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com

Garmin's nüvi 275T improves upon its 200-series predecessors by adding free real-time traffic updates from Navteq (for the life of the device) as well as Bluetooth connectivity to your cell phone. Other significant improvements in the 2x5 series include a predictive technology that provides faster satellite lock, a redesigned screen with more information, terrain maps, and an exciting new photo navigation feature. The 275T provides complete maps for North America as well as Europe and the handy Text-to-Speech feature, so you get turn-by-turn spoken directions with the real names of streets (e.g. "turn left in 50 feet at Nebraska Way", rather than merely "turn left in 50 feet").

The nüvi 2x5 models all sport the slim design that Garmin introduced with the 200-series last year, so they all fit comfortably in your pocket or purse, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that makes them convenient for navigation by car or foot. All of the models include useful travel tools like a JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more.

Important Product Information: This device features a "screen lock" feature. This is a standard feature on all nüvi 2x5 and 7x5 Garmin units. If you slide the "Power" key to the right, it will lock the screen and prevent any accidental touches. Once the screen lock feature is engaged, the screen will go black/gray after about 15 seconds to save power on the device. To unlock the screen, just slide the "Power" key to the center position. This feature is really targeted for "Pedestrian" mode so that a user can put the device in his or her pocket/purse and quickly unlock the screen instead of powering on/off continuously. For more information, see page 5 of the product manual.

Integrated Traffic Receiver

Steer clear of traffic with an integrated GTM 20 FM traffic receiver designed to receive alerts about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. No subscriptions or additional hardware needed. Just open the box, turn it on, and get instant access to traffic information--the traffic updates are free for the life of the device.

All you have to do is simply touch the screen to view traffic details and you'll be ready to detour around any problem area. And if you end up missing a turn, or you're forced into a detour that is not relayed through the traffic receiver, the nüvi's sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time. Watch informational video

In most areas, the traffic broadcasts are continuous--there's no waiting for scheduled traffic news updates or random alerts. Because traffic broadcasts are received via a "silent" FM data channel, you can still listen to music or news programming on your car radio without interference from incoming FM traffic data transmissions.

Hands-Free Calling

In more and more places, it is becoming illegal to use cell phones while driving without a hands-free kit. WIth Bluetooth capability, microphone and speaker, you can match your nüvi to any Bluetooth-capable phone to make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial the phone number with the nüvi's touch screen keypad to make a call on a compatible phone. To answer an incoming call, just tap the screen and speak into the built-in microphone. Making and taking calls on the road has never been easier, or safer. In addition, Garmin makes it a breeze to look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or even tap into your cell phone's call history log.

Key Features/Benefits for all 2x5 Series Navigators

• New -- HotFix (Long Term Ephemeris Prediction) finds satellites faster (Learn more)
• New -- Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Basemap shows 3D shaded terrain features (Learn more)
  
• New -- Faster 333 Mhz processor offers faster, smoother map drawing and vehicle icon motion through turns
  
• New -- Redesigned user interface offers more information (Learn more)
• New -- Photo Navigation lets you upload geo-coded photos from a phone, geo-coding camera or photo site and navigate to them. (Learn more)
• New -- Add Enhanced MSN Traffic and Content with the optional GDB 55 antenna and charger (Learn more)
• New -- Send addresses directly to your Garmin from Google Maps or Mapquest (Learn more)
• New -- Automatic Time Zone Transition
• Text-to-Speech gives directions with real street names
• 3.5-inch Widescreen shows you more of what's around you as you drive (Learn more)
• Memory Card Slots so you can add maps and travel guides, or store photos (MicroSD card slot on 3.5-inch units; SD card slot on 4.3-inch units)
• Preloaded Maps with Navteq data of North America + Hawaii + Puerto Rico, including 6.5 million searchable points of interest (Learn more)
  
• Rechargeable lithium-ion battery for easy portability (up to 4 hours per charge)
• Custom Vehicle Icons let you personalize your navigator (Learn more)
• Integrated Antenna for a slim form factor
• Where Am I? -- instantly shows you all of the emergency services nearby (Learn More)

Which nüvi is Best for You?:
Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators

Learn More

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New -- Improved Interface

One of Garmin's key product philosophies is to make extremely complex technology easy to use for anyone right out of the box, and perhaps nowhere is that better exemplified than in the user interface for Garmin's portable navigation devices. Garmin's interface is a key to their success part of what makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with turn-by-turn voice directions, 2-D or 3-D maps and smooth map updates as you navigate. This year, Garmin has redesigned its interface to include much more useful information.

Old Interface

New Interface

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New -- HotFix™ – aka: Satellite Ephemeris Data Prediction

Your GPS device locks onto transmissions from a dedicated network of Satellites in order to determine its position. Until the device gets a "lock" on three satellites, it can't effectively navigate, so decreasing the time it takes for your device to get "satellite lock" is always a goal of GPS manufacturers. With Garmin's new HotFix technology, your Garmin GPS remembers the position of all satellites it is tracking when you turn it off, and calculates their movements in order to predict where they should be the next time you turn it on. This gives the device an idea of where it should look for satellites, and dramatically decreases the time it takes for your Garmin to get its position and start navigating. HotFix can predict satellite positions for up to 3 days after the device was last turned off. Using Garmin’s unique Web site — Garmin Connect Photos — users can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community and download them to the nüvi for a richer navigation experience using pictures as a guide.

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New -- Navigate by Photo

Using Garmin’s unique Web site — Garmin Connect Photos — users can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community and download them to the nüvi for a richer navigation experience using pictures as a guide. Choose from Panoramio's collection of photos from around the world. Easy to use interface displays photos on Google Maps. Search for photos by location name or map area boundary. Transfer photos directly from Garmin Connect to device with the Garmin Communicator. View photos in Google Earth. Supports Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ on Windows and Mac.

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New -- 3D Terrain Maps

Shaded relief terrain maps show you when to expect hills, mountains, forests and other natural features. Topographic terrain maps are viewable when using the 2D "birds-eye" view.

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New -- Send Addresses Directly from Google Maps or Mapquest

tching to try out a new restaurant, or setting off on a road trip to locate the best toffee apples on the east coast? Now, it's easy to search for locations on Google Maps or Mapquest, then transfer the addresses directly to your Garmin GPS navigator. Hook up your Garmin to the computer via it's USB port Search for the location you want Click the Send link in the info window for the address. That will bring up a popup "Send to" form. Pick GPS, then pick Garmin and hit the "Send" button. The address will instantly transfer to your Garmin device, The point will be saved as one of your favorites, and you can navigate to it or view it on a map just like with any other favorite. The process does require a small plugin, which you can get at Garmin's website at http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3739. You can send business addresses to your Garmin device from these countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Search for the location you want.	Pick "Send to GPS".	Go!

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Traffic-Capable for Either FM Traffic or Enhanced MSN Direct Content

MSN Direct Enhanced Traffic and Content

With an optional receiver, you can access enhanced dynamic content from the MSN Direct service. Check the weather, avoid traffic backups, compare local gas prices, get enhanced movie listings, stock information, news and local events when you travel with your unit. Even plan trips from the convenience of your computer, via Windows Live Local, and wirelessly send custom to your nüvi. Check out a full description of MSN Direct content features, or a coverage map for MSN Direct services. A 3-month subscription to MSN Direct is included with the receiver. After that, subscription fees are $49.95 per year, or $129.95 for a lifetime subscription.

FM Traffic

With an optional receiver, you can get alerts from TMC Clear Channel about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. All you have to do is simply touch the screen to view traffic details and you'll be ready to detour around any problem area. And if you end up missing a turn, or you're forced into a detour that is not relayed through the traffic receiver, the nüvi's sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time. In most areas, TMC Clear Channel traffic broadcasts are continuous — there's no waiting for scheduled traffic news updates or random alerts. Because traffic broadcasts are received via a "silent" FM data channel, you can still listen to music or news programming on your car radio without interference from incoming FM traffic data transmissions. A 3-month subscription to TMC Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network is included with the receiver. For more information on subscription fees, coverage in individual cities, and traffic data networks in the United Kingdom and Europe, check the Garmin website.

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Widescreen -- See More of What's Around

The super-bright, 3.5-inch (diagonal) touchscreen display gives is anti-glare for ease of viewing during the day and automatically changes its color profile for easy viewing at night or in dim light. It offers 2d or 3D perspective views. The widescreen format gives you 70% more actual screen area than a 3.5-inch screen. Primarily this translates into a better view of the area through which you are driving. This is especially useful in showing you what parks, restaurants, ATM, gas stations, etc. are nearby, or in letting you know whether a detour is a good idea. Also, the device itself is larger, meaning controls on the screen are more widely spaced and somewhat easier to push.

Wider screen lets you see more of what's around. Compare these actual size views of a 3-inch (diagonal) screen

and a 3.5-inch diagonal widescreen

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Where Am I?

On any nüvi (including this one), you can just tap "Where Am I?" to find the closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection. Also see your exact latitude and longitude coordinates.

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First-Rate Map Data

nüvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.

The nüvi comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps for all of North America, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, including a hefty POI database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. Garmin gets its map data from NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping. In addition, nüvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version. If you ever do need a map update, you can purchase one from Amazon.com at our Garmin Store.

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Garmin Lock

Garmin's patent pending theft prevention system that disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location

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Beyond Navigation

Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer.

Navigation is just the beginning. The nüvi 2x5 models features travel tools including a JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. This device is compatible with optional content plug-ins available via microSD card, such as the Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nüvi for your travel needs. For Accessory Map Cards and Travel Guides the Units Feature: a MicroSD Card Slot on the 3.5 inch Units, and an SD Card Slot on the 4.3 inch Units. Garmin has also added the ability for customers to add custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras.

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Trick Your GPS Ride

Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS. See more icon option

All Garmin nüvis support configurable vehicle icons. These fun, customized car-shaped icons come in a variety of colors to add a personal touch to your vehicle's position on the map.

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Notes

• Optional software for language translation, detailed travel guides, and savings programs allow you to customize your nüvi to fit your travel needs
• Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nüvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.

Which nüvi is Best for You?

Note: All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.

Device	Screen Size inches (W x H)	Included Maps			Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)	Multi-Point Routing	Battery life (hours)
		Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico	AK and Canada	Europe
nüvi 205	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 205w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 260w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 265T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 265WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 275T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 285WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free);		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 465T	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 755T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 760	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 765T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 775T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 780	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 785T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 850	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 855	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 885T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 1200	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1250	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1260T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1300	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1370T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1390T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1490T	4.4 x 2.5					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1690	3.81 x 2.25					NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service)		Photos			up to 4

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Basic MSN Direct Content Features
	Traffic Reports Find the best route through traffic. Your GPS device uses MSN Direct traffic data to select the best route for you to avoid traffic congestion. Check traffic flow. Know at a glance where to expect slowdowns in traffic. Get accident warnings. Receive warnings about accidents, road closures, and construction in the area that may affect you.
	Gas Prices Compare local gas prices. See a list of recent gas prices in your area and an indication of how recently the prices were reported. Find your way to the savings. Once you find the best price in your area, use your navigation system to guide you to the gas station.
	Weather Reports Stay on top of current conditions. View the current weather conditions in your area, including today's high and low temperatures, chances of precipitation, and more. View the three-day forecast, Plan ahead by checking the three-day weather forecast for your area. Check weather in other cities. See current weather conditions in major cities across the country.
	Movie Times Search for a movie. Find the theaters in your coverage area that are showing the movie you want to see. See which movies are playing. View which movies are playing in your coverage area or at your favorite theater. See show times and get directions. Once you find a show you want to see, check the show times and use your GPS device to guide you to the theater.
Enhanced MSN Direct Content
	Web Favorites (Send custom destinations to your GPS with Live Search Maps) Powerful trip planning: Use Live Search Maps on your computer to look up an address, search for a business, or plan a trip Choose your favorite location, and then MSN Direct delivers the address, phone number, and more straight to your navigation system. Visit Live Search Maps at http://maps.live.com.
	Local Events See what's happening near you. Find nearby events to see what's happening in your area. Find the events that interest you. Browse events sorted by category. Search for an event. Get details about a particular event.
	Stock Quotes Watch the stocks that interest you. Select stocks that you want to keep an eye on, and then see regularly updated stock prices and daily changes. Get a little more detail. Touch a stock in your list to see daily highs, lows, and trading volume.
	News Headlines Browse the headlines at a glance. See breaking news and other major news stories of the day. Read more details. Select a headline to read all the details about the news story on your navigation system.
MSN Direct Coverage Map
Get detailed info for your Zip Code at the MSN Direct website.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

217 of 221 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool when traveling abroad, December 22, 2008

By	M. K. Love (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Garmin nüvi 275/275T 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)

I purchased this device a few weeks ago in anticipation of a trip to the UK. I've driven there before, navigating with the excellent AA road atlases, but being an American driving a right hand drive car with a manual transmission, sometimes in bad weather, I would often get task-saturated. I thought a GPS or "Sat Nav" as they call them, would make the job a little easier.
The only features that I really needed in a GPS unit were the U.S and European maps and text-to-speech, ("turn left on High street"), beyond that, additional whistles and bells didn't matter to me.
Initially I looked at both Garmin and TomTom and decided to go with Garmin since it was less expensive to find a unit that had North American and European maps. I paid about $270 for my 275T, it was the least expensive unit that had European maps pre-installed. Buying the European map separately would cost you approximately $150 and the UK-only map runs about $99.
The 275T operation is fairly straight forward. It has all of the normal features that one would expect to find on a modern GPS unit to include a fairly robust POI (Point Of Interest) database loaded with gas stations, restaurants, airports etc... The touch screen works well and although the size is smaller, (3.5" vs 4.3" on some larger units), it was more than adequate to display all of the necessary information. The voice directions are very helpful, especially when driving in heavy traffic. Traffic updates in the US arrive via an FM transmitter in the charger cord, (in Europe you have to plug in an antenna wire which comes with the unit). You can also easily preload lots of destinations to your "favorites" on the device by using the Google map or Panoramio photo websites.
In the UK the 275T proved to be invaluable; you feel much freer to stray from the beaten path and do a bit of exploring knowing that your GPS will always get you to your appointed destination. The time to destination estimates were accurate and the routes were efficient. When initially turned on, the unit located satellites quickly and never lost the connection except when in parking garages, or tunnels. Sometimes when surrounded by lots of tall buildings, like in downtown London, the unit would appear to get confused about the direction in which it was pointing. Moving the car just a few dozen feet or so normally corrected this. The included Europe maps were very accurate with the exception of a new stretch of highway between Falkirk and Edinburgh which was not included on the map database. Road names, one-way streets, and parking areas were all up to date. I found the inclusion of "safety camera" locations, (read: "speed trap cameras"), to be very helpful; it even flashed a red warning when you exceed the speed limit in an area with a camera.
The only feature that I sometimes wish was included was a compass heading. If you just turn on the unit, but don't program in a destination, your directional heading, (North, East etc...), is displayed in the lower right hand corner. However when it's giving you directions, your estimated time to arrival takes up that area of the screen. Overall however, I thought the unit was great and I would recommend the 275T if your travels take you between North America and Europe on occasion. Renting a GPS with your car in the UK will typically add about $15 per day; use your 275T for a couple weeks and it's practically paid for itself.

148 of 155 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Capable Device, But Expensive Maps and Updates, May 23, 2009

By	Rudy Schlaf (Tampa, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Garmin nüvi 275/275T 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)

First the good: The Nuvi 275T is a capable navigator that gives precise spoken instructions and seems to find good routes to specified locations. The display is nice and even readable in adverse lighting situations. The battery life could be a bit longer that one could use it on a bike or for hiking. It runs less than 4 hours, and the batteries cannot be exchanged (this also means it will die an ipod-style death in a couple of years). A great feature is that it can directly be fed with locations through Google maps, so one does not have to use the silly Garmin software anymore for this task. I summary, this is a pretty useful device.
Now the bad: It says on the box that the maps are guaranteed for 60 days after purchase to make sure one has the newest data in there at the time of purchase. Logging on to Garmin however yields a mechanism that only allows to update either the US or the Europe maps, but not both. If you want both you have to pay for the other one...I would call this procedure misleading. Also: 'Lifetime updates' (of course, typically Garmin, only for the lifetime of the device, i.e. for about two years) cost $149, which, considering the current price of the device of <$220, can only be considered a joke. In summary, on the map side, this is a typical Garmin Nickeling and Diming scheme! I really hope for the moment when the iPod Touch will have a GPS receiver, and one can download Google maps on it for free. It needs to be kept in mind that map data are generally made available for free by the US and other governments, i.e. downloading the stuff onto a proprietary device should be cheaper.

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masters of Rural France, April 13, 2009

By	Derrick "Derrick" (Texas, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garmin nüvi 275/275T 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)

I am amazed! We got this device to use on our vacation driving though France and it made the trip. No stress about getting lost, or running out of gas. If we saw a cute country road, we took it, when we wanted to find our way back, the 275 would tell us in easy to follow instructions on how to get back on track. We went on roads without names, signs, or map instructions fearlessly. When we needed gas in rural nowhere, it took us right to it. Highway interchanges in the city, no problem, it tells you in advance if you are going to be splitting left or right. It also will take you right to your hotel, so don't worry about directions, or if you need, it will find you a nearby hotel like the gas station.

I have only used it for the 2 weeks in France, but it far surpassed our expectations. Indeed I just gave up trying to follow where we were on the map and just relaxed. It even gives a rather accurate ETA, which it updates continuously.

Now we did try using it to navigate on foot in Spain with somewhat spotty results. It seems to work much better when you are in a car. It trys to navigate like you are in a car and has difficulty at street corners trying to tell which direction you are going...but it did find us nearby Chinese food in Madrid when we got a craving.

Really this gadget saved us so much stress, time, and fuel. The included car charger worked great in Europe, so don't bother with the travel pack.