Garmin Nuvi 200 Widescreen Satellite Navigation System With UK Mapping

tallpete33

at 6:36 am

I’ve had this for several months now and am very pleased with it. It was my first Sat Nav and after a lot of research I went for the 200W as I didn’t need all the top-end features or Europe maps but I was keen on a widescreen and this seemed a good price (now at less than a ton it’s even better)

A multi-stop flat-hunting trip in SE London for my girlfriend was a very relaxed affair. The Garmin took us door to door without a hitch and avoided the usual page turning arguments. It’s taken me to numerous remote Kent villages and towns and door-to-door to villages in South Wales easily too. It was excellent on a recent UK holiday, taking us to various tourist locations without a hitch, making the travelling much less stressful. Missed turns or deviations from the route are re-calculated promptly and safely. It works well if you’re in town on foot, though remember to change to pedestrian mode first for the quickest route.

Out of the box it took a few minutes to locate a satellite but response time after power on now is just a matter of seconds, depending where you are. It really is a smart looking device, I particularly like the impressive “speedo” screen (see photo) which shows your speed, journey time, average speed and more – though this is definitely more for the male of the species ! The 3D map is generally pretty easy to read with voice prompts offering able assistance. You can change the view to 2D easily if you prefer. Safety cameras are well prompted in advance though you have to pay for updates but it has pin-pointed every one so far, including temporary ones. Map updates are free (but infrequent) and you can also download different vehicles if you so desire. I quite like the American cop car….

The manual is pretty spartan but as the Nuvi is easy to use, this has not been a problem for me. It does not come with a mains charger or USB cable but these are available cheaply on auction sites. Your digital camera USB cable could quite easily be the right size (USB A to mini B) and it will charge quite quickly from the PC.

I now also always take it when I go walking in the country, obviously it doesn’t show footpaths etc but it has been invaluable on a couple of “where am I” occasions when I’m on or near a road, and it shows the all-important direction of travel too. Runners could find it useful to log their overall speed and distance.

What I like :

Excellent display – apart from in the brightest sunlight it is easy to read

Screen lock – handy when you’re on a journey break and you put the unit in your pocket

PIN security

Speedo page – all the numbers you could ever want! (journey time, average speed, stopped time etc etc)

7 digit postcode entry

Quality (and discreet) fixing – I use the “dashboard disc” rather than the windscreen and it sits there rock solid all day. It does not have one of those long arms that looks like it fell of a dalek

Very robust build quality (it has been drop tested more than once!)

Memory card slot – if you don’t have a USB cable you can use it to upload photos to view if you want – quite handy if you’re visiting relatives.

Good battery life of 4-5 hours on a full charge

Nice touches like the chequered flag at your destination and the change to night display at sunset

Locates places of interest (with phone numbers) and utilties like ATMs and petrol stations easily – very useful

What I would like :

One-touch sound on/sound off button to make it easier to quickly mute the voice when you’re nearing home. Having said that I rarely use the voice instructions, preferring the sound off

Road colours to follow map standard i.e. motorways blue, A roads red etc

Mains charger – but so far I’ve not really needed one as it charges quickly in-car

Better instruction manual

More user-friendly website – it’s not easy to navigate (even once you have registered your device) and map updates are not at all regular. I haven’t had any since I bought it.

I would not recommend a Sat Nav for new drivers as they can be a distraction when they need to be concentrating on the road.

Overall it’s been a very good buy – I use it a lot more than I thought I would but I haven’t thrown out my A-Z’s yet!
Rating: 4 / 5

K. M. Holloway

at 11:49 am

This was a good buy at £99. Only a couple of drawbacks. When it calculates the fastest route it doesnt take into account that dual carriageways are quicker than country lanes I found it is best to drive as far on your route as you can and then put in the destination when you are not familiar with the roads. Also in towns it will tell you to turn right and show one turn on the right when there is in fact another road close to the same turn but it doesnt show up on the screen my advice is to use the map screen in conjunction with the spoken directions. A good feature is the co-ordinates, if you go to google earth and find your destination such as a reservoir etc find the co-ordinates and put them in the sat nav it will take you straight there.Finally it doesnt recognise house names. Apart from these minor problems its great
Rating: 4 / 5

dovefancier

at 1:21 pm

I won’t be long – enough reviews are available here, so let me just add a couple of things: you’ll definitely need a USB (mini) cable with your Garmin Sat Nav, because

1) with a USB (mini) cable, you CAN recharge your Garmin Sat Nav with your PC/Mac, which is not clearly mentioned in the user’s manual. Remember, your Sat Nav doesn’t come with this cable or an AC adapter (you need to buy them separately!), so you can’t recharge the battery until you connect it with the vehicle power cable.

2) with this cable, you can also download the latest map, update the software, and configure the Sat Nav via Garmin’s website. You’ll need to do all this (and it’s simple) if you want draw out the maximum performance from your Sat Nav!

3) If possible, get a good cable, such as this one AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to Mini-B Cable (1.8 Metres) rather than a cheap one.

*You might already have this cable at home, because the same cable is used for many electric devices, such as mobile phones (such as Motorola), digital cameras and external HDDs.

Hope this helps!
Rating: 5 / 5