Garmin Nuvi 2545LMT 5" Sat Nav with UK and Western Europe Maps and Free Lifetime Maps and Traffic

I bought this as an upgrade for my Garmin 200W which I loved. I live in the North of Scotland and use my Sat Nav mainly for holidays. I wanted something with junction view and lane guidance because when you don't drive regularly on motorways some junctions can be quite daunting. Also I wanted the unlimited map updates because a real downsides in buying a Sat Nav is paying to keep the maps current. I've just returned from a trip to Glasgow so I've had a chance to try the various features so here's the review.
Firstly this unit DOES NOT have bluetooth or voice control. It does have a 5 inch screen, unlimited map updates, unlimited traffic, photoreal junction views, lane guidance, spoken street names and speed camera locations.
I had no problems updating the maps using the Garmin Lifetime Updater. The maps downloaded and installed reasonably quickly and with no problems. However the maps are still slightly out of date. The new Glasgow M74 motorway extension is still not included. This is where unlimited map updates are great, because I was keen to have this stretch of road included on the unit and I'd have been annoyed if I'd have to pay for this update at some point.
I have encountered problems updating the unit software using the Garmin Dashboard. Although I followed the instructions and I think the software updated, whenever I connect the unit the unit it flags the software as not being the most up to date version, but when I try updating again the same message still appears. I've had a look on the Garmin forums and I think this may be an issue with some series of units. The unit seems to operate regardless so it's not really an issue.
The 5 inch screen is clear, although in sunny conditions I did have to crank up the brightness. I did find the photoreal junctions useful, but slightly difficult to make out sometimes even with the larger screen as it appears as a split view with the map. I would have liked the option to choose whether photoreal real junctions appears as full screen, rather than having split screen as a default. The unit also re-routes very quickly, and I had no problems with the routes selected. The Points of Interest such as nearby Petrol Stations and Parking work really well and are a huge improvement on my previous unit. The spoken street names also work surprisingly well although it would be too much to expect it to get every name spot on.
I discovered the traffic information is only going to work when I am near the motorway network, and will not work locally. I seemed to work fine in Glasgow telling me about busy conditions on the motorway I was on. I did not have the opportunity to see if it would divert me round standstill traffic.
I was not sure if the unit had traffic cameras included when I bought it as this is not mentioned on the Amazon or Garmin websites. I tried to download a trial version of Cyclops speed cameras from the Garmin website but it would not install. I believe this is because the trial version was already installed. A one-off update costs £4.99, and a years updates for the cameras cost £14.99 from the Garmin website. I'll probably do a one-time update once a year.
I had one problem with the unit when I was trying it. I could not get it to switch on one morning, and had to do a reset by holding the power button down for 10 sconds or so. This was a minor irritation and may have been because the day before I had been messing about with the settings when my wife was in the supermarket!
All in all this is a good unit and a big improvement on my older Garmin. I would have given it 5 stars if I had not had the issue updating the unit software. There are a couple of minor niggles (only split screen photoreal junctions, and one freeze), but reading all the reviews for Tom Tom and Garmin units there is no such thing as a perfect Sat Nav. If you are looking for a Sat Nav you could do much worse, and the unlimited maps are a great inclusion.

I value other peoples product reviews as it helpful to me in making my mind up but when i see negative views it puts me off buying a product and this happened in this case, My Mio 4.3" was out of date and i read the Garmin reviews and some were discouraging and so i got another Mio but as that was faulty, soI looked around again. "Bit the bullet" and went for Garmin 2545LMT. So why the change of heart. 1. Map Updates are free. 2. Superb quality. 3. £30 back from Garmin. 4. 10% of other Garmin accesory (I got the camera update). 5 Garmin support. Initially I had a problem when faced with downloading the device software and map update alongside the map updater but quickly resolved it myself but i did ask the Garmin support team who gave an instant reply on what might have happened and a detailed resolution. The discount certainly helped sway my mind as i have only spent an extra £35 on a better satnav with free updates. But the satnav is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. There are many different options to search for the best routes, i like the Where To where you set up your favourites like Banks, Attractions, Garages, Hospitals etc. The dashboard is also good as once the route is set, you can then modify the dashboard to include a trip computer and get trends of your driving. I have used it today for the first time on my local roads and it performed well. I will test it next week on my holidays and then i will update this review. But so far I think its superb. Down side wasnt the lack of the manual as downloading onto laptop is quick and far easier to read but the lack of a case to protect it and a ac charger would have been handy. I'm happy to say that my week on holiday and testing this satnav went very well. I especially liked the Where To where I could select a trip or search for Attractions, Parking, Petrol Stations etc. For example I wanted to use a voucher at a certain Supermarket and at a press of a button, it produced a list of all these Supermarkets in the area each with the store telephone number and you could add this as a destination. TheTrip Planner is also very good to select Via's ibnto the journey. There are so many different options for display and navigation. The only thing i would say is the use of shortcuts that still appear on Faster or Shorter calculation methods - I followed a "Turn left followed by turn right and before i knew it i was faced with a short but very steep hill and next turn left onto a major A road with hardly any vision. (The saving was 1 mile - but i ignored this after the first day!). I haven't figured what Picture Viewer will do. I purchased the camera option which was very good and picked out majority of fixed, average, red light camera and would also showed the location of known mobile camera locations. All in All a great Satnav worthy of 4 ****

I read many reviews before deciding to upgrade from TomTom One to this Garmin 2545LMT. Whilst I do not know, therefore, how a new TomTom would perform, I found on a 950 mile journey through France, Belgium and Germany that the Garmin was near perfect. No problems at all, very helpful to have the spoken commentary, speed, speed limits and junction views. I thoroughly recommend this and look forward to using it again.