Garmin Nuvi 255W Widescreen Satellite Navigation System with Full EU Mapping

Great little unit. I purchased and used only last week after comparing Tom Tom One XL and the Nuvi 255W for several weeks. Nuvi had much more extensive maps and that was really the thing that swung it for me. I was in France and Belgium last week and the Nuvi took me directly to the front door of my navigation points. I also travel to Poland quite a bit and as I can't speak Polish it will help me find the right streets.

Before I purchased I read a lot of people saying that it takes ages to find satellites, which concerned me. When turned on, it does take a couple of minutes as part of the normal start up process, but this not a problem as I just turn it on whilst I walk to my car and it is ready when I reach the car. The unit doesnt get a signal indoors however (can't think why one would be neededed anyway), as it needs pretty clear site of the sky.

Pro's
-Easy to use
-Extensive maps, including Eastern Europe
-Quick recalculation when you miss a turn
-Much cheaper compared to Tom Tom with equivalent maps
-Can add your own Point of Interests (POI's). Loads of sites where these can be downloaded for free
-You can point and drag the map and then navigate to a different point
-Extra features, calculator, convertor etc are very good.

Cons
-No case
-In pedestrian mode the unit can be confusing as it isn't sure which direction you are going for a while. This can be a little frustrating
-Some Tom Tom features such as simulation mode are more elegant
-No case included

All in all great little unit and I would definitely recommend over the Tom Tom XL!

If you are looking for a no frills sat nav that is reliable and will get you to where you are going then this is the one to get. Having said that, this is my first sat nav, but I did a lot of research before opting for this one. I didn't need any extras, just wanted to get to places. It is the same as the which best buy 205 but with the addition of European maps (you could just get the cheaper regional 205 and add European maps if you needed them, but maps are more expensive to purchase as add-ons, than if you buy a model with them already on).

Having driven through London with this, it makes a potentially stressful journey quite easy. It has very clear on-screen mapping which gives you extra support for navigating around huge junctions. The voice is pleasant, and gives turn-by-turn directions. You can choose fastest route, direct route etc and it has a detour option to take you around any bad traffic or road works. It comes with screen mount, car charger (which also acts as the Arial for the traffic alerts), but as yet I'm not impressed with the traffic feature as it didn't pick up on a bad motorway hold up. However this feature is only as good as the information provided to it, so I guess this is not down to Garmin. It comes with a month of free speed camera alerts.

If you are looking for loads of extras, like mp3 player, speech to text etc then this doesn't have them so go for another model. I thought I wanted speech to text, but the road it directs you to turn into is written on the top of the map on this unit, so it does the job just fine.

The display has a daytime and night time view and will change automatically depending on the light, or you can set it to stay on your prefered view. It has a 3D and 2D map view, a pedestrian mode and a few other things like a currency convertor, places of interest, nearest places to eat, nearest petrol stations and shops.

All-in-all I love this, and I now look forward to driving without trying to balance maps and directions.

Cons
The traffic detection doesn't work as well as it should.

Much Much Much better than a Tom Tom! The maps are clearer, the directions are much less confusing. The worst i've had is that it temporarily got confused what road i was on, but it corrected itself within seconds. Has tons of points of interest too, and lets me know where speed cameras are. If the camera doesn't encourage you to slow down, the beeping if your going too fast for it soo will! But unlike the TomTom it only beeps when your near a camera, not EVERY time you go over the limit which could get annoying! and if you go the wrong way she manages to direct you back without telling you to do a U turn or getting annoyed at you - brilliant!