Customer Reviews

Garmin nüvi 255W/255WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

"I bought this GPS for my girlfriend because she was always having trouble in cities and constantly is getting lost, so it made sense to invest in a GPS that would help her to navigate from place to place easier. I wasn't attached to any brand when I looked but was always impressed with the reviews and testimonies from friends with a Garmin who said they never had problems and were in love with it. I looked at the 205 as it's cheap, but for the price the features and peace of mind of having a Garmin are unbeatable. First, the life-time traffic is great because it helps cut-down on time stuck on the high-way and shows her the quickest way from point A to point B before she even knows the difference. Second, the screen is large and the user interface is incredibly easy to use. It's a bit expensive, but if you're going to invest in a GPS unit, then you might as well make sure you do it right. I'm not sure that a GPS is nearly as valuable without the traffic and not having to pay any subscription fees just sent it over the top.

Definitely purchase if you're looking for easy to use and for a unit that gets it right every time."

So basically I got this and it is truly the greatest thing ever if you drive a lot. Not only does this one come with the FM traffic receiver(much better if you live by a big city-check out their website I live in NY),which is worth $[...] by itself, this unit is great on its own. Nice big screen, good sound, did I mention LIFETIME TRAFFIC??, and it has so many POIs in it. Plus if the unit does not have your desired POI, you can go to Google Maps, connect the unit to your computer via USB cable, and send the location to your Nuvi.
Eco-route helps you save gas (create a profile and it works better) and don't worry about sitting in traffic anymore with the traffic updates. There are a few ads, but well worth the time you don't have to sit in traffic. Granted I live in NY and we have good coverage here, but check the website for your area.
Smooth scrolling during driving, and quick updating. You also get a free download of the newest maps, which does take a while, but its worth a free update, which regularly goes for $[...] (or you can pay $[...] and get lifetime map updates). Do yourself a favor and buy the friction mount so that you don't have those rings on your windshield for thieves to see(big problem around here). This way you can just put it under the seat.
This one doesn't have the bluetooth, but if you go read the reviews for the 265wt, most people say it stinks anyway and this one is [...] bucks cheaper. It also doesn't have lane assist(I can figure out lanes all by myself and I figure most of you can as well) or voice recognition(don't really care, but you might want this option)
This is a great price. Check around (make sure to add at least $[...] for the traffic receiver) and you will see there is no way you can pass this up if you are in the market for a GPS system.
Also, Garmin does not list this model on its website, which worried me at first, but I have had no problems with updates [...]seems to think that they are simply ones that were reflashed by Garmin with the American maps. I agree, but if this truly worries you, perhaps you should buy the 255w and get the traffic separate. Up to you, but this is much cheaper and works like a charm. I suggest that website to compare models as well. Very informative and helped me greatly with my purchase.

Great navigation system. We used it a lot this summer on our vacations and it has navigated us all over, up and down the east coast, from northern New Jersey to Williamsburg, VA. It has been right on for us everytime but one time. Takes a little too long sometimes to search for a location by name, but otherwise loads up pretty quickly. I also figured out it takes via points by touching the locations on the screen and you can scroll around the map using the touch screen "drag and drop" method. I love that you can search for things like restaurants and stores on it when you are in an unfamiliar place. Also, the traffic transmitter is great to have and it sucessfully navigated us around several traffic jams. Also the speed limit posting on the screen is also nice to have. But is also turned my 6-yr-old daughter into a backseat driver as she can monitor on it how fast we are driving versus what the speed limit is :)

FYI - My 255wt is the same as the 255w, but the 255wt includes the traffic transmitter with no montly charges ever for traffic subscriptions. I highly recommend the unit with the traffic transmitter. Also the 255wt is the same as the 265wt, except the 265wt has the added bluetooth capabililities. If that is not a deal breaker for you (as it wasn't for me), I would go with the 255wt if its a lower price.

This is a very nice GPS. It works well and is easy to use. I recommend it to anyone who asks me about GPS's.

Things you need to know:
1. This is a "wierd" model from Garmin. You won't find the 255WT on their website. The box is labeled 255WT, but it's marked 255W on the unit itself. It's basically a 255W with the TMC traffic receiver included via the vehicle power cord; that's what makes this unit a 255WT - an additional peice of hardware.

Any Garmin GPS that is TMC traffic compatible can use that device to receive traffic updates.

It's very similar to the 265WT, but this model does not have Bluetooth.

2. If you buy from an auction site, Garmin will not warranty it. (It can be registered, though.)

3. You need to register it. The problem is, it does not come with a USB cable to connect it to your computer. The cable can be picked up any where like Best Buy, Radio Shack, possibly Wal-Mart, etc.

Once you've got the cable and the unit connected to your computer, go to my.garmin dot com. Once registered, click the My Dashboard tab, this will tell you what's available to update.

You only get one free map update.

To get your free update, you must download the update within 90 days of first use.

4. One of the biggest advantages of this unit vs. the 255W is the free lifetime traffic. A lot of GPS's offer traffic information, but charge quite a bit more for that option. This unit comes with the FM Traffic Message Channel (TMC) receiver which it uses to get information broadcast over FM radio frequencies.
Important things to know about the traffic feature on this GPS:

You must have the GPS connected to your car charger for it to receive the traffic information.

The power cord/car charger doubles as the traffic receiver. It would be nice to be able to see if there's any traffic on your route before leaving. While a bit annoying, at least it doesn't require an additional antenna. I have a Sony GPS that requires the power cord, plus an additional antenna to get traffic, so there's cords dangling all over the place.

You do not have to activate the traffic.

It's automatic. You'll know you're receiving traffic information if you see a little car icon in the upper left portion of the screen.

At times, my traffic icon is very slow to display...sometimes as much as 10-15 minutes. I live on the outer edge of the coverage for my area, so that may contribute to the slowness. What I've found is if I leave it plugged in to the car charger (and the charger also plugged in and receiving power), the traffic icon is always there.
There is MSN Direct traffic available for this unit as well. It costs extra, but has more features. But, according to their website, MSN Direct will cease operations on Jan 1, 2012.

5. Once registered you can go to Garmins website and download customizations like different vehicle icons, voices, etc. Most custom voices don't speak street names, though. They simply say, turn left in 200 feet.

You can also download a free program from Garmin that allows you to record your own voice.

Or, you can use a program to edit the Text to Speech (TTS) file in the unit. This allows you to keep the factory spoken street names but still change what the unit says. Simply "google" TTS voice editor, and you'll see the link to download the application.

Another cool site provides many custom vehicle icons for use:
vehiclesforgarminnuvi dot com

6. You can create/download your own POI's. This allows you to create a list of custom business, etc, that you want to search on. An example would be BBQ restaurants, WalGreens, etc. There's a very nice site where people build these files and you can download for free:
POI-factory dot com.

You can also create your own POI's if you know the street address:
poigenie.co.uk

This is a very handy feature. The only thing I don't like about it is that the custom POI's are not "imbedded" into the factory POI's, so searching for them requires a few more "clicks", but no big deal.

7. The suction cup mount will not mount to textured dash boards unless you use the supplied mounting disc. But that disc has an adhesive backing and is near impossible to remove once you stick it to the dash. I bought a vent mount off eBay that works great, the GPS is still near eye level and is more out of sight from peering eyes.

I'm only going to review the free traffic feature. There are 4 things about this "T" (traffic) version of the GPS that make it different from a regular non-traffic GPS.

1. There's a lump on the power cord which is the traffic receiver antenna. In order to use the traffic feature, you have to power the GPS with the cord plugged into your car's lighter socket. If there's no power coming through the cord, the traffic functions are disabled and won't show up (although you can still use regular GPS functions with the unit's built-in battery).

2. There's a little round traffic icon on the screen. It's green if there are no traffic problems on your route, or yellow or red if there are (along with the distance to it and projected time delay). If you touch the icon it'll give you options to show traffic on your route, or other nearby traffic, or route around it. If you really get stuck in traffic (red icon), the unit will automatically try to find a new route for you without you even asking.

3. Sometimes, small ads show up on the GPS screen - (said ads are paying for your free traffic). They're only a line or two of text and don't cover up much of the screen, so I don't find them a bother at all.

4. The GPS takes current traffic conditions into account when planning a route (it took a couple of weeks before I realized this). For instance, twice last week I had it route me from home to work; the first time I traveled at rush hour and it gave me a route that put me on a secondary road to avoid a well-known slow spot on the freeway. The second time I traveled at midday and it gave me a more direct route instead.

5. Although the unit accounts for traffic when it plans a route, it doesn't recalculate the route later if traffic improves; this means you may be driving out of your way to avoid a bottleneck that's gone by the time you would have reached it. To avoid this, I ask the unit to recalculate my route a few minutes before I hit the spot on my commute where things sometimes (but not always) start to slow down. Doing this helps shave a few minutes off my commute once or twice a week.

So how well does all this work?

On balance, it's great! It's helped me avoid getting stuck in traffic dozens of times, which probably adds up to saving several hours of time in the 8 or 9 months I've had it so far. However, it's not foolproof; it occasionally warns about traffic ahead which never materializes; and once or twice it has failed to warn about traffic and consequently I got stuck in a jam.

To sum up:

This traffic capability (even if it's not perfect), has really changed how I use my GPS. With my old GPS, I only used it on the rare occasions when I was driving somewhere unfamiliar. But now I use my GPS nearly all the time, except on short trips in my neighborhood.

UPDATE:

10 months after purchasing, the traffic sensing stopped working. At first I thought the cord was wearing out, so I contacted Garmin support to see about replacing it. I got the usual canned email response with a list of things to try first, including instructions to reset the traffic module; I tried that and it fixed the problem and it's been working fine for the past 3 or 4 months.

I am a former owner of the Garmin Nuvi 350, which I had for 2 years. It died on me a few days ago, of course, while I was in transit. So I got lost, but fortunately was able to get GPS on my cell phone and found my way to my destination. I just purchased the Nuvi 255WT and cannot be happier. A few tips from the salesman regarding protecting the device: do not leave it in the car in extreme temperatures, hot or cold; do not keep it connected to the car charger (which is what I always did with the 350)unless the battery needs to be charged. Once fully charged, use it without the charger until it needs recharging again. I have not tried the traffic updates yet, but expect to soon enough. The screen size is great, larger than the 350, and the best of all, is that I was able to use the accessories from my Nuvi 350 with the Nuvi 255WT. The accessories I already have are the AC adapter (the 255WT does not come with this), the USB cable (which also does not come with the 255WT) and a bean bag for the dash board (which is a separate purchase for any of these devices). The 255WT comes with the lithium battery built in, the car charger,a window suction cup mount and the traffic update card installed. The display is backlit and very clear, the volume is loud and clear, and the voices that direct you are clear as well. The satellite signal was picked up quickly and I had excellent signal strength even indoors. Within minutes out of the box, the unit was up and running. The battery was was also charged up out of the box. I made a few wrong turns deliberately while testing it out and it quickly recalculated the route. So far, so good. Amazon indicates that this model may no longer be available, but I bought mine today at Best Buy and the salesman said it was a very popular item. He only had 2 left when I went in. If you purchase this device, I wish you many years of enjoyment with the Garmin and safe traveling.

I bought the Nuvi 255WT as an upgrade to my 205W, giving the older unit to a relative. I almost asked for my old 205W back! There are some nice features on the 255WT, but I could not use the spoken street names because the TTS (Text To Speech) voices are muffled and quieter than the sampled voice that is used for the non-TTS. Plus I found that the TTS voices were so quiet that if I turned up the volume past 80% to where I can hear them, there is an annoying distortion as the voice peaks clip. If you have a quieter vehicle or younger ears, you may find the TTS voice (required for spoken street names) usable.
I do not live in an area covered by the traffic alerting system, so don't use it on a daily basis, but the two times I have ventured near Washington DC, I found the feature to be quite useful and on one trip I'm sure it saved me a half-hour or so in what would have been lost time in traffic. Plus I got to see some scenery that I never would have ventured off the beaten track to view!
My last complaint is that the routing on the 255WT is a little squirrely compared to my 205W. It does not seem to always pick the shortest or fastest route, regardless of the setting preference. It seems to have a penchant for avoiding some roads even though they are obviously on the map. Just going to my house, it insists on running me 3-miles out of the way and using a dual-lane highway instead of the closest road home.
Still, it's a great GPS for the money and I do see improved GPS sensitivity and quicker routing response than on my 205W, so I guess I will stick with the 255W.

I tried two of these with similar, less than stellar results. I have the nuvi 350 and love it. Only gripe is it takes a 2-5 minutes to lock onto your position, but then it never loses you. The 255 finds you much quicker than the 350. This unit, however, often loses track of where you are. On a trip from Maryland to NY, it correctly shows me on the highway, then suddenly, it thinks I'm on the side roads and trying to direct me back onto the highway. This occurred no less than 10 times in a five hour trip. Even my kids were shouting for the old unit (which was in the car at home). Re-booting made no difference. It's attached to the windshield so placement is not an issue. Returned it and tried another (the 350 made me a BIG fan of Garmin), but found this one did exactly the same thing. I also compared this to a very cheap unit I bought (Copilot - $70 waste of money). I hate that one because of the awful user interface, but at least it did keep me on the road I was driving on. One other gripe with the 255wt is when entering addresses, the touchscreen beeps with each entry. But very frequently it takes the touch as a double tap, but doesn't double beep. After you finish, you realize the typos on the address line and have to start all over. The traffic feature is worthwhile. Just don't expect too much from it. Garmin is capable of making excellent firmware, as the 350 demonstrates. Unfortunately, this one is not up to par.

I thought I was upgrading GPS units when I bought the Nuvi 255WT. I had owned two different Garmin models, the nuvi 350 and the StreetPilot 500 series.

After a couple week's worth of using the 255WT, I'm probably ready to take it back. I've been very frustrated by its problems and mapping issues -- but there are some pluses and minuses between the two units.

Pros:
1. The unit locks on to the satellites FAST. The old nuvi 350 sometimes took several minutes to get a satellite lock. I could be several blocks down the road before I would get the map working. The nuvi 255 is very fast, and usually is locked on to the satellites before I get to the end of the driveway.
2. Nice display. It certainly helps to have the bigger display and the colors are crisp and easy to read.
3. The traffic feature is nice (if you live in one of the metropolitan areas covered for traffic). The unit shows traffic quickly and has been fairly accurate. While the local AM radio station gives traffic every 10 minutes with more details, the Garmin info seems to be showing traffic problems accurately.
4. Routing for trips seems to be OK. I haven't had the GPS take me off a route that wasn't expected.
5. The "where am I" feature is nice for quickly finding important things at your location. This is a nice touch compared to the old nuvi 350.

---- however, the problems are also numerous----

Problems:
1. The windshield mounting bracket is OK, but the power cord attaches to the back of the Garmin instead of to the bracket as it did for the old nuvi 350. This makes quick removal of the unit into the glovebox more of a hassle. They should have just kept the power adapter on the bracket and made a quick release for the bracket like that had on the older units. I think this 'older' system is still on some of the 700 series Garmins.
2. ALL of the newer Garmins have changed their display so that the green banner on the map shows the road you're currently driving on, and no longer shows upcoming cross streets. I thought this was just a design issue with the 2oo series units, but apparently none of the new Garmins have the useful feature of showing cross streets. It is rumored that Garmin was forced to remove this feature. I know what road I'm driving on, but it was very helpful to have cross streets displayed as you approached.
3. The map shows street names for streets only about 50% of the time. This makes it hard to to know what streets you've just passed. It seems to make no difference whether you've got the map zoomed in or set to 'maximum detail', you just don't see the information shown on the map.
4. The Garmin 255 I've tested has been prone to frequently powering up with no traffic working. When you'd go to tools-->settings-->traffic, the traffic icon would just simply be missing. If you'd power the unit off and let it restart, it might come on the next time.
5. The whole unit freezes up frequenly. I have this happen when I go to the traffic map and then try and return to the street map, and nothing works. Again, I have to unplug the Garmin to get it to reset. One time the whole unit locked up totally at the screen which warns you about operating the device while driving. The unit wouldn't shut off and I had to get on Garmins web site to find out how to do a master reset.
6. Points of interest are sort of a hit or miss, with long time restaurants in the area still not being listed, and places that never existed showing up in the database. One would think they could have done better just getting a local phone book listing!!

Final verdict:
If you've got an older nuvi, you probably won't find this to be worthy of upgrading. If this is a new unit for you, make sure that you've purchased from a dealer that allows returns and will replace defective merchandise.

In reading reviews, many folks seem to compare a gps device to having no gps at all. In that respect, practically all devices would deserve 4-5 stars. I received this device as a replace to my old, slow, and very large (but quite good) garmin streetpilot III. So here's my issues:
- It produces a route quickly but the algorithm places a heavy weight on large streets, so much that I sometimes get some awkward, unnecessary turns in my routes that cost me time.
- I find the traffic feature to be practically worthless. (This is not necessarily Garmin's 'fault' but perhaps the traffic reporting technology) Sometimes the device reports traffic delays and there is none. Othertimes, the device reports no traffic and there is a large jam. Regardless, I had to turn this feature off because it gave me routes around imaginary traffic.
- On the main map screen or the turn-by-turn screen, you can not see time to destination (only time to next turn and arrival time). You can get to the time to destination by clicking through a few screen but it's not convenient.
- arrival time is always too optimistic for street routes. the algorithm needs to factor in more time for stoplights.
- Previous text entries are not kept once you've completed a search. This is a big step backwards from my old streetpilot. Often times, I find that I need to return to the map for a minute or I need to update a search or I mistyped a name. Instead of being able to update a few characters, I have to start over - typing from scratch. It's just an unnecessary step backwards.
- Main map does not display adequate details. There are less streetnames and features displayed on the map as you're driving. Just a few streetnames show up, so you can't get a good enough sense as to what's around you.
- I'm not impressed with the 3-d mapping. I know a lot of devices tout this now but it's just not as helpful as 2-D. Yeah, it looks like a cool first-person video game, but you don't get as good a view of what's around you. It is pretty good for freeway off-ramps but that's it.

So, if you just want a gps and are not picky, this one will give you a route (as they ALL do) but it's certainly not a great gps.