Easy for the elderly to use | Garmin nüvi 205W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

Very Happy | Garmin nüvi 205W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

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	• Garmin nüvi 205W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Garmin Garmin average customer review:based on 254 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Does what it's supposed to do, and does it well

I read many of the reviews here prior to buying the Garmin Nuvi 205w (especially the one-star reviews). My first thought is that people need to consider that GPS units are meant to supplement your brain, not replace it. If you see that the unit is taking you off-road into Old McDonald's pasture (nothing like which has ever happened with my Nuvi), and that's not your intended destination, don't drive in there. GPS are portable maps, people. They're not auto-pilots or chauffeurs. I'm just saying.

I've used the Garmin Nuvi 205w extensively for a week, and here's the short of it:

The maps are great for the locations of the roads themselves, but with some POIs added directly from Google Maps, the location along the road can be off. A particular barbeque restaurant with an address of 3505 shows at 3505 with both Garmin's built in maps and as a POI added from Mapquest, but add the same restaurant from Google Maps (GM says it's 3505, but stops you at a Taco Bell, which is 2600), and you'll get the "arriving at destination" message 1.4 miles before you get to the actual restaurant (when I switch GM view to satellite photo on my home PC, it's clear GM has the wrong location on their base maps--the restaurant isn't there, but when I scroll 1.4 miles ahead, there it is).

It appears, after more Internet searches that there may be just as many incorrect street address locations with Mapquest as there are with Google Maps. The trick seems to be to use the satellite photos and 360 or street level view to make sure the POI you load into your GPS is the right one.

As for routing, I find that I get where I'm going via routes that are convenient and sometimes surprisingly like those I would take myself were the streets familiar to me.

One of the major complaints I've read about is the built in POIs. I don't use them much, so I can't comment on them except to say that when I pulled up short of the barbeque restaurant, the Nuvi showed me POIs that were over 200 miles away and in an adjacent state. Not sure why I'd want to go that far for Chinese food. I also knew the barbeque restaurant was near a Lowe's, but was unable to locate a Lowe's through the POI interface (Turns out it was 1.4 miles away). Anyway, I prefer to preload POIs into my favorites by finding the locations on my computer before I leave on the journey, so this whole issue is moot for me.

I like the option of adding additional voices, some free, some not. My favorite is the actual voice from KITT the talking car from the TV series Knight Rider ($9.95). It calls me by name.

For the price (I paid $94 at Wal-Mart), I couldn't ask for much more. Except maybe a car charger that had a smaller big end. My truck has extra "lighter" sockets, but where one of them is, the Nuvi plug comes too close to the stick shift and won't fit. It fits in the other or in the actual lighter socket, so no big deal.

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Easy for the elderly to use

As a person who is not tech-savvy, I found this GPS easy to set up and use. The instructions were brief and clear. The one problem I have is that I like to use back roads and not the super-highways which the Nuvi kept directing me to. I'd like to see an option for something like "scenic route" for old-timers like myself.

Another reason I'd advise seniors to get this is for peace of mind when one runs into unexpected detours.

It's a good investment.

Very Happy

The Garmin came in a little over a week. The packaging was superb and no harm was noted to the garmin. This was a gift and I was told that it works great and is easy to use.

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Love this product!

It has already got me out of a traffic jam due to an accident, got me were I was going on a route I knew nothing of. Love it also because it tells me how long it will take me get were I'm going, the speed I am going, and the speed I should be be going. Picking up satellite signal even though I live in the boonedocks is not a problem.

Garmin nuvi 205W

This is the first "street" type GPS I have owned. We took it on a recent trip to Wisconsin. We had loaded and saved several of the restaurants and attractions we wanted to visit before we left Colorado. What an awesome device! It navigated us everywhere we wanted to go, plus we searched the database and added more while we were in Wisconsin. My wife and I both loved it! At under $100, I can't imagine you could buy a better GPS. Garmin nüvi 205W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

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GARMIN NUVI 205W PORTABLE GPS