The Garmin GPS was a godsend on our trip to Europe. If you have ever driven into cities or small towns in Europe you will know how difficult it is to navigate, while trying to read foreign street signs, dodging motor scooters and bicylists, finding the right exit out of a around-about all the while being pushed along by the very aggressive drivers behind you. But with the GPS most of that stress goes away as you know when and where to turn and you drive through towns like a native. I was very impressed that even going through the miles long tunnels of the alps the GPS must be programmed to keep the unit tracking without a satellite signal because several minutes later coming out of the tunnel it still provides instructions. I purchased the pricier model 270 because of the factory installed European maps. If you purchased a GPS with only North America maps and had to load the European maps the cost of those maps would be another $250. It's less money to get the 270 or 370 with maps already loaded. The windshield mounting is excellent and worked well in the rental car. The Nuvi series GPS is convenient enough in size to be carried in the pocket for walking around the cities. But it does not work as well for pedestrian purposes because it cannot keep bearings well as you tend to rotate the device and it looses it sense of direction. I read all the reviews on GPS's and chose the Garmin because of it's higher ratings for search engine, ease of use and maps. You will immediately become an expert user even without reading instructions with this device. It is literally that easy to use.

My Nuvi 270 arrived two days ago, and after a few minutes to locating satellites, the unit found my location and in all later driving followed my routes faithfully. The POIs are accurate, and reasonably up to date although resturants, gas stations, and hotels have changed names although not locations. The routing to destinations seems good with my limited experience although the estimated mileage to destinations I have visited often seems underestimated.

I purchased the Nuvi 270 unit (my first GPS) for upcoming trips to Midwest USA, England, and Northern Europe. I anticipate that it will perform well with mapping and directing my movements in these regions.

But I suspect that the unit has many additional capabilities that I have not been able to learn because the "manual" for the unit is a joke. Where is a full guide for users who want to fully use the Nuvi 270's features? This lack of documentation is the primary reason that I give the Nuvi 270 only three stars instead of 5.

Presently I would like to learn how simulate directions from a location different from the present location of my unit. For example how can I sit in California and find the driving directions from Bloomsbury in London to Oxford. How can I display a map of my likely destinations? (I find that "sliding" the map with my finger, will bring me to London. But I can not then zoom in without the map display changing back to my home.) Without better information I guess I will have to wait until I arrive in England.

Another issue where better documentation might help is in the use of the picture viewer. This is a rather nice feature, and a fairly large number of pictures on a SD card can be displayed in a slide show. The show can be stopped at a particular slide, and the image can be enlarged and "slided" to regions of interest. However with a large number of pictures (arranged in directories on the SD card), I can not figure out how to view efficiently a picture far down the list of files. The Nuvi 270 appears to not allow the user to use the directory structure for images, but rather just presents a long list of pictures that take a long time to sequentially display and provide only a slide show with all of the pictures. What is a user supposed to do: buy many SD cards with different sets of pictures?

I am very happy with the unit, and in no way do I regret my purchase. However with more attention must be made to users who want to get maximum benefit from their investment.

I purchased the Garmin 270 because it included European and US GPS. When the unit arrived, I took it outside in the front yard of my house in Seattle and powered it up. It took a few minutes to acquire the sattelite, and then picked up my location immediately. I purchased the gravity mount device (didn't want the sticky mess), which worked very well. I punched in a few local locations and listened to the directions to guide me in, which worked fine. When I got to Paris, I attempted to use it for walking from my Metro stop to the apartment we rented in the Marais. My daughter was quite annoyed with me, as the GPS took us on a very circuitous route, due to the many one-way, winding streets in this section of Paris. Not a good start. So I packed it away, until we were picking up the rental car, for the drive to Brugge. It was raining that day, so it took a while for the satellite to pick up. Once we acquired the satellite, flawless directions to our hotel in Brugge, and flawless performance on the drive to Brusells and Cologne. Back in Seattle, I used it to navigate to my daughters' friends located in the backroads of Sammamish and Issaquah -- highly recommended for road navigation here and in Europe. Not so good for walking. Also, if there is an electrical storm or bad weather, you will need to fall back on Le Michelin, we discovered this in Reims, when a storm blew in quickly.

Used this on a trip to southern Ireland. Only Garmin seems to have current maps of Ireland so it was hobson's choice.

Overall worked fine. Ireland is under major construction so it's helpful to have looked at a map before going someplace. Found several cases where the roads no longer existed or the new Nx freeway was formerly a field of stones on the map, but overall worked good.

Major flaw was the system can't tell the Irish difference between an N road (freeway of sorts) an R road (probably means a real road) and everything else, (cow path with or without cows). It routes by what it thinks the shortest path is, which may be the longest time wise. In some GPS systems, there's a SELECT freeway option. In Ireland, it would have been wonderful if there was NEVER SELECT cow path option. It may be that competition like Tom Tom which doesn't have cow paths actually gets you there faster. I would gladly take an N road for 4 times the distance and arrive in half the time of an optimally routed cow path.

There is a new slogan in ireland. Give the Gift of Life. Get a Doner Card. Then drive at the posted speed limit. Garmin calculates trip times at the posted speed limit. If you plan on donating body parts, you too will drive at the posted speed limit. Over two weeks the average trip time was what Garmin calculated plus 45 minutes, whether the distance was 10 kilometers or 200 kilometers. Just add 45.

The more expensive Garmins will pronounce road names instead of turns. In Ireland, that's probably a very bad idea. Let's say you're on the N9 coming up to a round about. The 270 will say, "enter round about and take the 2nd exit". If you actually pronounced the roads it might have said "enter round about and take the o'Hagerty cow path on the left" Road names change every 50 meters or so. Plus, they're only identified on the map. Look for a street sign and you'll die of old age going round and round the roundabout.

System never got lost. Always got us to our destination.

Compared to U.S. destinations Ireland destinations were about 50% present by name, 25% findable under a different name, or otherwise findable by selecting a pub in a nearby town. For Galway, finding the nearest grocery store might take you to Dublin, so some of the features weren't real for Ireland.

Half the time, I thought the unit was trying to get me to die in traffic. Half the time, I thought it was a life saver. Probably more about Irish roads than GPS features.

Net net, study the map before you go so you know if you should be on an N or R road instead of the cow path. Otherwise, it will get you there, somehow.

I bought the Nuvi 270 in anticipation of using it during a trip to Europe. I did extensive research comparing the major brands. I also considered TomTom, but their maps for Europe were less comprehensive than the Nuvi and the Nuvi had newer technology and maps. Reviews for the Nuvi were excellent at all tech sites, as well.

I initially used it in the states and was impressed by its design, display and compact size. Excellent verbal directions, sound and visibility in the car. Good access to settings and easy to customize (would like more options for voice and icons, though). Good battery life. Easily obtained 6-8 hours of use with display set at 30%. There are a few quirks in the interface. For instance, I find it hard to browse a town when you are not in the town itself. POI database is nice but not comprehensive. Sometimes difficult to find historical landmarks. Very impressed with accuracy and ease of use in the car. Had some "drift" initially when stationary but this was improved by downloading latest software upgrade. Overall, I was not pleased with difficulty determining which way I was facing when at stand still. Sometimes the database amazed me with the obscure places it could find. Other times I was amazed at points not available in the database.

First tested the unit on the airplane over the atlantic. It showed position and speed if I held the unit against the window. Arrived in Barcelona and had significant difficulties obtaining good satellite signal, even when near a large window. This problem was especially pronounced during start up, requiring me to leave the unit on a lot to maintain contact with satellites. Signal reception was also poor when walking the streets. Streets and alleys in Europe are much more narrow than US. This problem plagued me from Spain to Italy, France, Greece, Croatia. Accuracy especially erratic in Greece.

Overall, I was disappointed in the unit while in Europe. Poor reception (extremely frustrating), difficulty determining heading while walking slowly or standing, difficulty with searches and POI.

I will still keep the unit because it is great in the states and it is a quality product. Hand-held GPS still has a long way to go before they are practical for use outside US and for walking tours. Garmin is the industry leader as far as I am concerned. They market this as a "personal travel assistant". I think it fell short in Europe.

The reception seemed to suffer after I downloaded the software upgrade. Maybe I just got a weak unit. Having a harder time obtaining signal at start up. Signal seems to be stronger in US in general. Quality hardware, though. You really don't need a higher end Garmin unit for use in the states. The 200 series is great and should be enough for most users.

I own a Magellan Meridian Color GPS. I wrote a very negative review for this unit. It was a poor unit in its use of technology that existed at the time I bought it . Maps were inaccurate, incomplete and very restricted. Loading them to the GPS was a nightmare. Garmin Nuvi 270 is like a night and day different. It is very intuitive and in every respect near perfect. I travel a lot in Europe. I have been looking for a GPS I could buy here with European maps as well as US/Canada maps installed. I considered Tom Tom 910, but reviews I read discouraged me from buying one. G 270 is a basic unit that seems to do everything it is supposed to do well. It has a bright screen and sensitive reception. I love this unit. Having said all those nice things, I am disappointed that only charging capability that came with it is a car charger. I use my GPS in Europe for days without getting into my car. I quickly rectified this problem by ordering an AC charger at about $30 including shipping. If you need a GPS only for Europe, Garmin Nuvi 250 can be purchased in EU for 299 Euro. When you get your VAT back, it would be about $350. I opted to get 270 for another $110 to cover both sides of the pond. I have no regrets.

I bought the Nuvi 270 for my 24 day trip to Italy. The unit is very user friendly for menus and visibilty. We used our Garmin in coordination with a TomTom 910 and our unit out mapped the TomTom every time. The mapping is great and points of interest are good, but rememeber that Italian locations are not always translated the same IE; "leaning tower of Pisa" is actually "tower pendentta. The other thing you never want to do is hit "shortest route" when in Italy!!! You will end up driving curvy mountain roads and maybe end up on a goat trail. We almost trippled our trip time by doing this one evening. So to end this, I highly recommend this unit if you are going to Europe and keep it when you come home, cause it has even better use on the US roads.

This is my third Garmin GPS. The other unit I use is the Streetpilot 2610. Compared to the 2610, the Nuvi is more simple but it does the job quite well. The display is a little small but definitely readable. The unit is a little more primitive than the more costly Streetpilot (has less software features and programmability) but, I didn't want to pay for the extra MP3, bluetooth stuff that is in the 300 series. The navigation engine in the Nuvi is as good or slightly improved from the Streetpilot. When I have both GPS's side by side and select a waypoint 30 or 40 miles away, the Nuvi picks a better route most of the time. I also liked the window suction cup adapter for the Nuvi. It is well designed and does a good job holding the Nuvi steady.

I have a few complaints that are small but noticeable. First, there was almost NO documentation with the unit. There were little pamphlets for about 10 different languages with very minimal info but it left a lot of questions unanswered. I suppose Garmin decided that the "hunt and peck" method of figuring out the Nuvi would suffice :( I can't seem to find in the Nuvi 270 menus how to disable rerouting. I also would like some more info on the 3D map page such as total distance to go. That information is available but you have to go to another page. And, the voice prompts on the Nuvi are surprisingly poor in quality. It sounds like the voice is talking out of a 10 cent can.

Other than those issues, I am very happy with the features and compact size of the Nuvi. It should make our trip to Germany and France much easier to navigate. One last comment. I give Garmin 5+ stars for keeping the data formats from all of their products compatible. I downloaded my waypoints from my Streetpilot to my Nuvi without any problems and the Garmin Web updater saw the Nuvi and quickly brought it up to current revisions.

I used the Nuvi 270 in Nantucket in August and September and in Provence and Paris in October. It guided us to addresses and to "points of interest" in both places with visual and oral directions. In France, passengers in our rental car were impressed and plan to buy one. It guided us on one-lane roads in Provence and got us to our destination every time. It's database was great offering phone numbers for golf courses, restaurants, etc.

The system for attaching and detaching it from a rental car windshield is terrific. The cigarette lighter plug set up is great. When you turn off the engine (and thereby power down the plug), the Nuvi 270 turns off and when you start up again it comes on. No human intervention needed.

Having a voice that told us in English to take the "2nd exit at the roundabout" and displayed the same info at the top of the screen, also in English, as we were driving through France, made our trip much pleasanter.

A winner from Garmin.

I recently went to Scotland, Ireland and England for 2 weeks. Normally, I would have gone through the trouble of printing maps off of Google however, I decided to purchase a 270 instead. Amazingly Amazon was the best deal out there. I orderered the GPS, a charging cable and a bean bag type mounting kit. If you are planning on using this in rental cars, the garmin bean bag mount is the way to go. It packs flat when you remove the stand and never slid from its spot on my dash!

So, how were the maps? To tell you the truth, I was a little apprehensive to buy a Nuvi because I had such a good experience on my last trip to the UK when my rental car came equipped with a TomTom. The nuvi 270 work like a charm and also has maps of the USA to boot!

I highly recommend this unit, it's not much larger than a deck of cards and I pack it in my laptop case when I travel so I always have it handy!

I bought the 270 before going to Europe on our honeymoon, figuring as long as I was buying a GPS, I should get one that would be useful at home too. We drove from Venice to Sermione (Lake Garda) to Monterosso (Cinque Terra) to Nice, and the 270 did a good job of getting us to the towns/cities themselves. Getting to our final destination in each was a little harder, but since this was my first time driving in Europe, that's understandable. And we has some backup printed maps, but mainly used them in the hotels just to see where we were.

Sometimes the "turn" prompts can be a little confusing, since you don't always know exactly when to turn. In Italy, I thought I was turning at the right place, but ended up down a progressively narrower road where the rental car would no longer fit. Turns out I was supposed to take the next "real" right.

This is my first GPS, so I have nothing to compare it with, but sat acquisition times seem pretty long with the 270 (especially in a new city). It will take a good 5-10 minutes to figure out where I am at times. Also, I've had lots of trouble getting the unit to mount on my Mac to update firmware and maps. It finally worked yesterday on my Mac at work (after trying it on three at home), but as someone else mentioned the documentation is almost nonexistant and the Garmin site doesn't have any FAQs for the problem I was having (only for units that fail to mount on PCs).

All in all, it's a nice unit in a tiny package that will get you where you're going. Amazon now sells it for around $400 (I paid $475), which is a good price for something that includes Europe and North America maps. Probably deserves 3.5 stars instead of 3, but there's nothing in between and it doesn't quite make it to 4.

With a two week drive adventure across Italy and with somewhat limited language skills, we realized we needed help. The Garmin Nuvi 270 saved my trip, my sanity, and my marriage. Some of our destinations were well off the tourist maps and the Nuvi 270 performed almost flawlessly. Almost, since somewhere south of Ravenna, it put us on a dirt road that was just the width of our car and 30' above the surrounding farm land! We drove 8KM praying we didn't meet another car coming in the other direction. We didn't ...I think the locals know better.
The battery power and portability made it handy for the walking parts of our tour also, but because of walking speed it didn't perform as well as it did in the car. It was also tremendously helpful in planning itinerary as it calculated time between points.
If you're traveling in unknown territory, especially in Europe, this unit is a must have.

The Garmin Nuvi 270 is useful, cheap, compact, and has a
br /simple interface. But, some simple additions to the firmware
br /would make it more useful to the majority of its users. I
br /have not compared it to similar units or other consumer
br /electronics with similar displays and batteries etc., but it
br /is a great improvement in these respects on some devices I
br /know from three to seven years ago.
br /
br /It seems like this is the best or only choice for a cheap,
br /small, useful, unit with north American and European maps,
br /provided the unit can lock satellites where you are (so far
br /it works great for me, but others have problems)
br /
br /The unit I write about here has Software Version 4.20, Audio
br /Version 2.20, and GPS SW Version 2.60m. It came with 2008
br /Europe maps and 2009 N.A. maps. I have heard that Garmin
br /has put different GPS hardware chips in the Nuvi 270 and this
br /may affect the reception, but I don't know if this is true.
br /
br /1) It is small; easy to carry or put in a pocket. But the
br /screen is easy to read given the size. However, trying with
br /my big fingers to get the pointer over a POI so that its
br /label is displayed takes patience. Having the touchscreen
br /instead of physical buttons keeps the unit small. However,
br /it would be nice to be able to choose which buttons and
br /information are displayed so that more display could be
br /dedicated to the map.
br /
br /2) Reception is fine in Tucson, but I am only comparing to a
br /Magellan Meridian. The 270 takes about 40 s to boot. It can
br /lock satellites immediately or take a minute. (These devices
br /typically remember where they last saw the satellites on
br /shutdown)
br /
br /3) The basic navigation and display are fine. I have not
br /compared too much with the Meridian (with
br /DirectRoute). After a little research, I could not find
br /another unit with street maps of both Europe and the US that
br /I was willing to pay for. The maps are much more detailed and
br /complete than the maps for the Meridian of a few years ago.
br /
br /4) It is very easy to get the unit in and out of the small
br /windshield mounting bracket and very easy to get the single, very
br /firm, suction cup on and off the windshield. (there is a
br /lever to apply and release suction.) The bracket hold the
br /unit firmly and it is easy to orient. Much better than my old
br /Magellan.
br /
br /5) The screen is very bright, with brightness easily
br /adjustable. The battery lasts a long time, especially given
br /the brightness of the screen. The spoken turn directions are
br /very loud on the highest speaker setting.
br /
br /6) The unit is charged by the cigarette-lighter adaptor that
br /is supplied. It can also be charged via a usb port on a
br /computer. Garmin's AC adaptor is good but is sold
br /separately, which is good because it reduces the cost. It
br /has only one port for both data and power-- a standard
br /mini-usb port. There is no cable supplied, which again is
br /good because it makes the unit cheaper. The required cable
br /is the same that comes with most digital cameras, usb card
br /readers etc. Most potential buyers probably already have
br /the cable. I have read that the battery is not
br /'user-serviceable', but that actually you can replace it
br /with work. Garmin will replace it for far more than what you
br /payed for the unit. Unfortunately, the industry sees these
br /kinds of products as disposable.
br /
br /7) Contrary to what many people write, the manual does
br /exist. There is a single manual for the entire 200
br /series. The pdf can be found via google or at Garmin's
br /website.
br /
br /8) Just to answer some of the other reviews: It does not
br /know which way you are facing or where you are going even if
br /you take a step forward: This is inherent to the GPS
br /system. GPS technology only tells you where you are, not
br /your speed or the orientation of the device. The devices use
br /a clock and memory to know where you have been at different
br /times, and use this to *compute* speed and direction-- not
br /possible if you are standing still. GPS is not accurate
br /enough to tell that you have taken a step. It is possible to
br /add an electronic compass or other instruments to these
br /devices, but that adds a expense, bulk, etc.
br /
br /9) POIs. You can't choose which are displayed (eg only
br /display gas stations). You can't choose when they are
br /displayed-- The POIs appear at zoom level of 300 feet or
br /closer. You can upload your own POIs which is really nice.
br /I loaded the POIs for channel markers in a bay, but you have
br /to zoom in till the screen is pure blue (300 foot zoom) to
br /see them. You can add POIs to your favorites list and then
br /they appear and are labeled at *all* zoom levels. But this
br /is an awkward and inflexible solution. Contemporary
br /consumer electronics like this unit are powerful computers
br /with fast processors and a bunch of memory, and are
br /programmable with high-level tools. This (and other similar
br /problems) could be fixed easily and cheaply by their
br /software engineers.
br /
br /10) Browsing and locating features on the map is cumbersome
br /or difficult (again this is an easy programming task) One
br /example is, as several people noted, that only a limited
br /selection of items closest to your location are displayed on
br /a list. You can only search more or less easily for things
br /close to where the unit is. I guess that being able to browse
br / the map easily and mark items,
br /etc., is the software feature that most users would miss.
br /[Edited on 12/09/08] I missed a feature in the original review.
br /If you put the unit in "gps simulation mode", then the unit
br /no longer tracks where you are, but a button appears on some
br /screens allowing you to 'set loc.' Then routes and POI searches
br /etc. are done as if you were at the location you set, which can
br /be anywhere.
br /
br /11) It does not have a tracking function or other navigation
br /functions (bearing vs. heading) that would make the unit
br /much more useful. Apparently firmware version 3.40 had a
br /hidden menu that could save a track, but this was removed in
br /later firmware. Why? I don't know. It could be part of a
br /misguided marketing strategy. Maybe they imagine that, by
br /omitting the tracking function, we are more likely to buy
br /the Oregon model plus European maps for $500+.
br /
br /12) The menu navigation and display are cumbersome and
br /inflexible in many ways as noted in other reviews. The menu
br /system is cumbersome, requires lots of clicks ( but it is
br /also pretty easy.) To change the screen brightness from the
br /main navigation screen requires six clicks (plus the clicks
br /to adjust the brightness) and five to get back to the map.
br /The Magellan Meridian had eight different information
br /screens with highly configurable information. It is good to
br /have less important information invisible by default for the
br /majority of users who want to spend as little time as
br /possible with the GPS. But, an 'advanced' mode to turn
br /these on on the 270 would be a good addition.

A fantastic unit - the size of a deck of cards, with both North America and Europe loaded and ready to go. You'll wonder how they got all the info into one small package! And it's fast, responding and answering questions quickly. Best of all it's got a setting for "car" or "walking" so you can use it for city walking tours as we did on vacation. The beanbag car mount lets us move it from car to car (even a rental car) and then slip it into your shirt pocket when checking out a new city. Really an amazing unit for the price.

I was looking for a GPS navigator for an up and coming trip to Europe when my brother-in-law recommended the 270. Whether driving to Normandy from Paris or walking through the streets of Prague; this was my constant, reliable companion..I love the currency conversion,world clock,weight conversion,POIs and ability to save favorites..all helpful features. I have since used it whenever traveling at home and am always impressed by the reliability. I am sure if more people realized the advantage of North American and European maps packaged in one small device..this would be THE pocket navigator on everyones wish list. So glad I have mine!

I purchased the nuvi 270 for the help navigating around the English countryside. The European maps are a great value compared to a nuvi 250 and add-on maps.
The unit performed very well here in the states and then made driving in the English countryside possible. I don't know what we would have done without it. I suppose only tour buses and easy to get to tourist sites.
Only gripes are it can send you to very small or restricted roads. Also the pedestrian mode was spotty in London.

I just returned from Europe. The Nuvi 270 was amazing. Not only did it have all the major highways but the most insignificant of roads (some a little too small of our vehicle). I highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a GPS that will be traveling to Europe.

I recently acquired a Nuvi-270 and have spent a few days playing with it.
br /________________________________
br /Pros:
br /1) Simple to use. All basic functions are simple enough for a novice user.
br /
br /2) The updated maps are extremely accurate.
br /
br /3) Some fun customizations available.
br /A -- Garmin offers literally dozens of "cars" to download that allow you to change your vehicle icon to something more personalized (Planes, Trucks, Motorcycles, even a Tank). They even have seasonal offerings like Santa sleighs, Friendly Halloween Monsters.
br /
br /B -- Garmin had now added a Halloween voice to change from the default speaking directions to something more seasonal. Hopefully they will add more in the future.
br /
br /[...]
br /
br /4) Simple to add personalize locations (Work, home, even Geo-caches can be uploaded to the device!)
br /
br /5) Included mount holds GPS Secure as you drive
br /
br /6) Voice instructions are loud enough to be heard over car stereo and the volume can be turned up, down or muted altogether.
br /
br /7) Crisp clear display even in sunny weather.
br /
br /________________________________
br /Cons:
br /1) Automated voice occasionally repeats turn commands during instructions.
br /Example: "Drive 100 feet, then turn right, turn right"
br /I heard you the first time ;o)
br /
br /2) Manual is all but nonexistent. Even the pdf version of the Owners Manual available at Garmin's page is incomplete.
br /Manual available [...]
br /
br /3) Some settings are buried a little deep in sub, sub, sub-menus.
br /Not a deal breaker, just a bit tedious at times.
br /
br /4) Slot for SD Card can NOT be used to store additional vehicle icons or pictures. Its only use appears to be for adding maps.
br /
br /5) Does not include the USB to mini-USB cable for connecting to your PC.

I bought the Nuvi 270 just before visiting France and the UK. It comes loaded with maps for North America & Europe and works great. It made my trip in Europe so much better! It is very easy to use and the interface is very intuitive.
I highly recommend the Nuvi! It works great in the US and Europe and is small enough to fit in a pocket.
I even tried it on the plane on the way back from Europe and was able to follow the route and speed of the plane.

We used the system for the first time this weekend and had two different experiences--one in which we were completely satisfied, and one where we were a bit amused, but disappointed. The latter involved veering off the course proscribed by the GPS, because we actually knew a shorter, easier route for the initial part of the journey. After we made our detour, and were back on the recommended route, the GPS seemed a bit undone--it recommended getting off at every single exit on the Thruway!!!

But when we followed its directions exactly, it was great.

The purpose of this review is simply to report that I purchased one of from Amazon in the US and used it for a day or two in Southern California where it worked fine, then took it to Paris, France where it also works just fine walking around. It's first satellite acquisition in the morning sometimes takes a couple minutes, but it always acquires, usually in a few seconds, even in narrow streets with buildings on either side.
br /
br /I will note that there was an available firmware upgrade for mine that I installed before using it. I mentione this because possibly the issues others have with satellite acquisition are fixed with later firmware.
br /
br /BTW I'm not new to GPS. This is about my 10th receiver, starting back with the Garmin GPS12; the point being I'm familiar with the norms for GPS performance.

This is my second Garmin unit, first was the 330c. Both are great units and user freindly and accurate. Niether has ever steered me wrong yet. In the past year, I have turned on 5 people to this product who purchased them and love them too. The 270 is smaller and easier to transport and the reception seems a bit better than the 330c. I also travel to Europe and use this unit which also performs perfectly there as well.
Minus': Battery life is as advertised 5 hours or so, could be a little better. Doesnt come with a wall charger, only PC or Auto.
Plus': Everything else about the unit. Interface, accuracy, size, speed, mounting...

This is the fourth Garmin GPS receiver I've owned. Overall, I'm pleased, but there are a few areas I'd preferred to have better performance. 1. On my previous units (Garmin) you can move the cursor over to another location and have it search for lodging, food, gas, etc. all centered on that location. That is not possible with this model. You have to enter in the city or tell it to look at the destination or along the route. This does work, but it's more work than simply moving the cursor. 2. I found it too often routed me on slower roads even though I had chosen faster route. It was disturbing to be directed off the main route when it was obvious that it was going to take longer. This could have been operator error on my part, but I'm pretty familiar with GPS units and this is the first time I've seen this to this degree. 3. I never could have it search on the database and find a hotel in Europe. Because I was in the US, I was not able to make it shift over to Europe even though I could move the cursor over there and zoom in. I do have to give credit however, it's a very compact and low mass unit that fits real nicely on the windshield with the suction cup. The computer is very fast and responsive so operatins are quick. I liked it , but it's not perfect.

The Nuvi270 is a small bit of a disappointment. In a recent trip to Europe, the only reason I pruchased the 270, it was able to find all addresses but did not know about more recent changes to the street map. In Prague, it kept insisting on bringing me to the same left turn that was no longer allowed since an ad hoc square was put in that place for the last 6 months. It could not find another way of getting me to my hotel. I was able to get to within 1 block of my destination and had to park and find out how to enter the street. It also had a tendency in Innsbruck to take me down remarkably narrow streets when I missed a turn, one of which dead ended requiring some backing up in very narrow quarters. Finally as mentioned in other reviews, it takes a long time to acquire satellites. IN europe, it may take 5-10 minutes to get acquisition which in some cases means you may already be going the wrong way. I now pre-program the address while in the airport and let the acquisition program run.

UPDATE:
I have been using the 270 for the last 5 weeks and am starting to understand its quirks. I have found that in Europe, while it continues to take a fair amount of time for sat. acquisition, this only occurs when it is not under the car's battery power. I find that acquisition time is about 2-4 minutes when plugged in and on the car's windshield. On a trip from Munich to Milan, I was able to have dueling GPS in that the car I rented had a DVD system and I was able to compare the two units. The Garmin faired well. It was able to take me to the hotel and then office address number where the car's GPS only take me to the street. The Garmin wanted me to do an illegal left turn in Milan, but quickly recalculated the route as I kept going straight. It continues to occasionaly take me down a route that puzzles me in that while it is shorter in distance, takes longer than if I stayed on the Autobahn. I confirmed my settings are for fastest route. I would say that I would probably opt for the Nuvi 370 if I were to do it again. Primarily for the satellite acquisition time. I have an 360 and noticed that it conistently finds satellites faster than the 270 when I am in the states.

This product is very easy to use and set up. Typing in an address (whether it's in Italy, Denmark or Washington D.C.) is fast and accurate. It's preloaded with a suitable amount of points of interest.
The screen is incredibly clear and the instructions are easy to follow. The relatively small size of the screen is no problem at all.
The navigation worked very well, no serious problems have been found. I've tested it in the US (east coast) and in Denmark (Europe) no problems anywhere, only a slight dificulty in accepting a high occupancy vehicle lane in the middle of the road (the computer figured I was going in the wrong direction!) but that was no problem in pratice.
It's a simple, foolproof navigator that works well; not many fancy extras but who needs that? Definitely recommended.

First of all, you're reading this because of the European maps, aren't you? If you're not interested in European maps there's newer devices that give you a bit more features for the same price (although I see the price of this guy is dropping fast). But given that most devices come with US maps and then you'd have to shell out a hundred bucks to get European maps, buying a GPS with US+Canada+Europe for $120 is an AWESOME deal. Plus if you register with Garmin online (which takes 5 minutes of your time), you get an upgrade to the 2009 maps for free.
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br /I first used this device in Paris in Pedestrian (walking) mode. I read a lot of reviews complaining about the pedestrian mode not working very well, and not being able to get satellites in cities. I had NO PROBLEMS at all in Paris. I was there for a week and there was one day that it couldn't find satellites for 10 minutes. Other than that, it found and kept satellites effortlessly even in the narrow Parisian streets. You also have to be a bit creative. Even if the device does NOT find a satellite, you can still browse the map and try to figure out where you are, since it does show you street names. So even when it couldn't find satellites, I still found the interactive maps extremely useful and a life saver. Battery life was pretty good, usually lasting me for the entire day (I would turn the device off during meals and inside museums metro to save battery). And it charges with mini-usb, so that's super easy to charge without having to purchase an additional custom charger. Sweet! Well thought, Garmin!!! I will say sometimes in pedestrian mode it was hard to figure out what direction I was heading, but that's not too surprising. Sure, It's much more accurate in Car mode than in is in Pedestrian.
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br /After that, I used it in Auto mode for a week in Provence, France. Again, effortlessly. It even told me where to go in the narrow streets of Avignon (yikes!). The Points-Of-Interest were great and very useful and we found restaurants thanks to our GPS all the time. The maps were accurate and the instructions very useful.
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br /This device DOES have text-to-speech so you can turn that feature on and let the GPS speak to you without having to look at it. Very nice.
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br /Another nice feature is the Detour. A few times we hit road construction, or roads that were either closed or jammed, so I hit the "Detour" button and the device found a new route for me. Very nice. And it does a very nice job recalculating a new route for you when you miss your turn or take an incorrect turn. +++.
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br /Another thing I did with the GPS is I used it to bookmark where I had parked my car. In our travels, we would find parking, bookmark in the GPS where the car was, and then walk around a city for a couple of hours. Of course, by then you have forgotten where you left your car! So I can go to Favorites and find the bookmark to where I left my car. Very nice!
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br /This made our trip to France absolutely effortless and enjoyable. Two months ago we drove in Germany without a GPS and it was an absolute nightmare. This trip was completley different thanks to Garmin! I am happy to give this device a 5 star rating.
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br /It does take a surprisingly long amount of time to lock satellites when you first boot (sometimes a couple of minutes), but perhaps my expectations there are too high. Sometimes it locks satellites within a few seconds, but yes, sometimes, it can take a couple of minutes. Also there are bigger screens out there today, but I loved the 3.5 compact size since it fit in my pocket perfectly.
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br /An Absolute MUST. I don't know how I EVER travelled without this jewel!!!
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I found this product to be mostly good. Some of the things I didn't expect were the compass and the MPH readout. I did however expect it to say the street names, which it doesn't. If I had it to do over again I would look for a unit that said what street to turn on.

The Nuvi 270 is my first GPS. I like the unit, but it's also a disappointment.
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br /The best way to use this GPS is to first use it locally while going to routine places. While doing that, I noticed sometimes odd routes that didn't make sense. I went to one place and liked the route, but for some reason, the return route was terrible. I couldn't figure out how to make it take me back the way I came.
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br /While driving on the freeway and obeying the directions, the device suddenly was re-calculating the route. Why? No idea. Then it told me to turn left. Um... but I couldn't. There was no left turn in sight.
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br /One choice when buying a GPS is to just have turn directions, or the name of the streets spoken. My next GPS will definitely have the streets named. In one instance, two turns were next to each other, and the device was no help. Pay a little more for this feature. You'll be glad you did.
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br /I hope to borrow a more expensive GPS and see if the routes are better and there is more flexibility in choosing a route.
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br /Finally, the police department here warns that you shouldn't leave your GPS in sight when you leave the car since these GPS devices are popular theft items.

Love it for the U.S. It has remote country roads in the middle of South Dakota. When I traveled to Ireland, it was useless. A majority of the roads are misplotted or missing.

Got the package a day before a trip to upstate New York. This thing works well!! All freeway exits and properly marked and directioned- no more go 0.1 miles and turn right from Mapquest!
The other great feature was finding nearby locations of shops and retaurants. Very useful when one is in unknown territory- helped us find a Home Depot closest to our route home.
Havent used it in Europe yet...

My husband and I bought the Garmin nuvi 270 for our honeymoon in Italy since it included maps of Europe. It worked great out there and also here in the states. It's small and light and fits easily in a purse or bag. We did try to use the Garmin while walking on foot in Rome. I would not suggest this... it had us walking in circles! Vehicle use only.

I was sent to England to work for 6 months to 1 year. Actually 4 of us were, and we all bought the same Garmin Nuvi 270 from Amazon...and it is GREAT. Mine has gotton me all over England, and I recently took it back to the US for Christmas...worked like a charm. My co-workers have been to Dublin, Ireland, the Check republic, and Rome, Italy....and it worked GREAT in all locations. Highly recommend for a trip to Europe, and something that you can still use back in the US.

Had this for a couple of months, it really works well. It does get confused soemtimes, especially around large highway interchanges where you have parallel roads and multiple exits. The single biggest complaint I have is the touch screen keyboard. Garmin... PUT A QWERTY KEYBOARD INTERfACE!!!!!!!!!!! Typing in locations using an alphabet interface absolutely sucks!!!! I have looked for a way to re-confgure and try to change it but could not find any options to do so. As others prior to me have commented, the documentation is really marginal. Garmin if you are trying to save print costs, at least put something a little more in-depth up on your website. There are several features that are completely undocumented.... would've been 5 stars...

Garmin nüvi 270 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator This is very easy to install, set up, and use. The small screen is certainly large enough. Haven't used it in Europe yet, but it works really well in the US. The only downside is the included software which cannot be updated. In a fast growing city like Phoenix or Las Vegas, in a search by name or description, it will be missing anything that has opened, closed or moved in the past year, including businesses, shops, roads, and freeways. This can lead to wild goose chases. You really need to use the actual address whenever possible to solve that problem. Otherwise, I think it is an excellent product.

I took the NUVI 270 on a trip to Spain, specifically selecting it for the European maps. Most of the time was spent sightseeing by foot. I never had a problem with the battery running out on me during tours of several hours (I would turn it off once I found where I was going). The unit performed well, without any malfunctions that I was aware of.
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br /However, there are some ergonomic and software issues that Garmin should address:
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br /1. The unit does, in fact, fit in a shirt pocket, and there is a switch position you throw to prevent accidentally triggering the touch screen while it's stowed away. However, being flat, it is difficult to pull the unit out and manipulate it while walking. It should have something that makes it easier to grab out of the pocket, a small bump on one side, for example. So an ergonomic point.
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br /2. If one uses the unit in pedestrian mode in Europe, one will be walking down little narrow streets which block the GPS signals to various degrees. Not a fault of the NUVI, to be sure. However, they could work to permit the unit to zoom in as one approaches each turn while in Pedestrian mode, since you are looking for street signs to find your way around as an additional aid to the information NUVI is providing. Often, even at high zoom levels, streets were not labeled on your route. Also, streets that were labeled had large type that might be suitable for a car, but not for walking, where you are reading the thing like a book. It was possible to use the unit on narrow streets, but it took some getting used to, as the unit often would give incorrect direction information, because of GPS signals being blocked. I suggest a Garmin engineer be sent into the field and walk those narrow streets to see what improvements they can come up with. Tough duty, I know, but someone has to do it.
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br /3. Finally, the maps. It was surprising that the huge main bus terminal in Seville, which has been around for years, was not indicated on the supposedly current map. Also, across the river in the Triana area, several recently built highways were not on the map. Garmin needs to speak to its European cartographer and get the maps updated. Most of the time, however, the older streets were correctly marked. Especially helpful were pathways in large urban parks, which helped one find one's way out!
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br /All in all, I can recommend it to users. But Garmin needs to work on the physical shape of the thing a little so it is easier to handler while walking, work on the software routines for Pedestrian mode in small European streets, and update their maps.
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br /Steve
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This was an excellent choice and what you see and read is exactly what you get. The price of the item is only $310 and I feel after 310 days, I got an excellent product for free. It shows all the local service stations, multiple languages, easy to navigate and it touch screen. The voice on the navigator is clear and it recalculates as soon as you need to take an alternate route to get to your destination. You couldn't ask for a better deal and I know that I am very satisfied with this purchase. All thumbs up on this one. The rate indicator should have more than just 5 stars on it.

Having recently moved to the U.K., I know the importance of having a dependable GPS unit. I initially purchased a TomTom unit but returned it before moving as I heard they were not very reliable. Instead I went with the Garmin Nuvi 270 (which comes preloaded with N.A. and European maps); without a doubt this is the best investment I've made! It is nearly impossible to find sites/locations by following street signs alone in London and the countryside -- I cannot stress how invaluable this unit has been. If you are looking for a solid unit which will get you from point A to B, this is it. Only drawback to date is that not all of the addresses that I type in are available and it doesn't have a "shortest/quickest route" option. Other than that, however, it's absolutely great!

This was a gift for my boyfriend, who makes multiple house calls in the hills and hollows of the Catskill Mountains. He used to spend half an hour each morning printing out reams of paper with directions and many, many maps, and now he doesn't have to do. So it's cool, it's practical, it saves time, and it's good for the environment!

hired one of these for a recent holiday in maine,on arrival in boston switched it on and after a few minutes waiting for it to aquire sattellites we were on our way.
br /simple directions and a map to follow found us out of boston without a cross word or a wrong turning which in its self is a miracle
br /easy to use with all the points of interest
br /i was so impressed that i bought one the next day
br /it may not have all the latest bells and whistles but it gets you to your destination and tells you when you will arrive
br /with maps of n america and europe it should cover all popular vacation destinations

I purchased this because of the Europe maps included. We plan to give it a workout in Southern France this summer. So far I've been comparing it with my garmin 250W that I purchased Oct 2007. The windshield looks pretty funny with them both mounted there but I have learned a few things too. The two are identical at directions in New England. They speak together most of the time and the displays vary very little. Speaking of "Very little" - I prefer the wide screen size of the 250w in the car because you see more info. I find it a bit easier to read the directions too. HOWEVER - The 250w cost $289 13 months ago with USA maps only. The new 270 cost $159 on Amazon With USA/Europe included . The minute I registered I was offered a free 2009 Garmin Europe update on the 270 for free. Not bad, and it will fit nicely in my shirt pocket in France. I believe that it is discontinued but with a free update it's a great $159 free shipping deal (I think it was $600 a few years ago). I have to laugh at some of the other reviews. No, it won't Say the street names/ No it won't do traffic alerts/No, it wont do bluetooth/ bet it won't tie your shoes either! If you want those features just pay for a more expensive model. This one is a huge bargain. Works great and won't break the bank.

Garmin nüvi 270 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Maps of US and Europe.
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br /The Garmin Nuvi 270 has already exceeded my expectations in a short space of time. It was accurate and has safely delivered me to destinations both within the US and Canada without any problems what so ever. The stress reduction factor alone was worth every penny. Put your trust in it if you are a typical family vehicle. Truckers check your road atlas too, not sure it determines bridges, weight and Hazmat restrictions.

I bought a Nuvi 270 for a trip to Italy and brought my 4 year old Magellan Roadmate 700 as a backup. The Magellan took 1 -3 minutes to find satellites. The Nuvi 3 -15 minutes. Accuracy and ease of input was far better with the Magellan.

The Nuvi got lost easily, has no manual to speak of, and is way too expensive for what you get. Garmin a great company, but don't buy this model until at least 3 more software revisions and a $[...] drop in price. There is no AC adaptor or download cable included.

To top it off, the slide switch broke after 2 weeks of use.

I bought this as a Xmas gift but wound up returning it. I'm sure it is a fine product, but was missing a key feature that my Nuvi 260 has - turn by turn voice with street names. This is a feature key to the needs of the person I bought it for.

The Garmin Nuvi 270 is a good first time gps. The graphics are good, the battery life very good and the design are all good. I have owned the device for 6 months and used it in various US cities as well as in France. This is the only gps I've used so I can't compare it to others. My one bit of advice is don't throw away your maps. The directions are correct about 90% of the time. Here is an example for Bay Area residents. We tested the device on a trip to Napa from San Francisco. When we arrived at the intersection of Hwy 37 and 121 the device told us to go south, the exact opposite direction. Some other weaknesses include a slow boot up, and inability to detect satellites indoors, meaning you have to go outside and sit in your car while it finds the satellites, and it often loses connection in dense downtown area or very hilly terrain. It sometimes has difficulty recognizing street names or towns. As long as you have a map and a general sense of where you are going, it works fine and is well priced.

Great product really works well. Little high on price but if u can get it you wont be let down.

Garmin has a lot of different models and it becomes very confusing to pick the right one. After looking into all the Garmin models and reading reviews I decided that I need the Garmin 200. I shopped around for a good deal (I missed the Walmart deals on Black Friday when they had this for $97). I found this one the 270 which has additional maps for Europe, which I do not need, but ships at a lower price than 200.
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br /Here are my pros:
br /1. Simple barebones GPS unit
br /2. Good routing
br /3. Small and sleek
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br /Cons:
br /1. Slightly expensive than the Tom Tom but this one has better routing than the Tom Tom which has some problems in my area.
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br /Bottomline:
br /I would recommend the Garmin nuvi 2xx series. However, if you are a bargain shopper, check the prices of all 2xx series models. Sometimes a model with more features is cheaper than the one with fewer features.
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Good value for the price. European road database was complete for finding even small country roads, but often tries to send you the wrong way down a one-way street. (not a good idea in Rome)

I purchased this GPS for my son ,who is in South West Germany
br /hopefully it will help him navigate and not get too lost.I have a NUVI
br /too ,I think having a GPS saves gas ...this model did'nt come with a home charger so I sent him mine that I got with my unit, his cigarette lighter doesn't work so he needs this accessory...remember being lost in a foriegn country can be a little challenging asking for directions and such.
br /So if in doubt don't leave home without one

I purchased this unit for a trip to Ireland. I had originally tried to purchase an SD card with the maps of Ireland on it for an older unit but that didn't work well. So, this was $199 and bought it. Well worth the money. Particularly, when trying to drive on the left side of the road. It was nice to be able to look at the screen and see that you take the "fourth exit on the roundabout" rather than trying to see a sign or wait for the "turn now" prompt.
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br /The bad-you still need to check a map for Ireland. Here's why: Ireland has insanely high speed limits on their roads, so you will be diverted off a highway to a side road because it's a much shorter distance. This might make sense if there is a rational speed limit on the road, however, when the speed limit is 80 kph but should be 30 kph, it takes much longer.
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br /A specific example was where my wife and I were traveling from Dublin to Glendalough, the GPS had us turn off a highway (By Ireland standards) onto a road which had an 80 kph speed limit. A person would be insane to drive that speed on this road. It was bordered on both sides by rock walls and was about the width of one interstate lane in the US but was for two way traffic. This route shaved about 7 miles off the lenght of the trip (it was 7 miles vs. 14 miles for the other route) but my wife wanted to kill me because it was tight, twisty and took you into the middle of nowhere and then we linked up with the original road.
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br /Another qualm I had with this unit was the fact that commercial locations were not represented very well. For example, we wanted to find the nearest grocery store, but the closest one was listed as 50 miles away. Even when I had the name of the retail establishment, it was hit or miss whether the unit had it in the database. However, if you had an address, it was fine.

The Garmin nuvi 270 navigator is great. I have been using this device locally in South Florida and for short trips and is amazing how accurate it is. I'm looking forward to use it for an European adventure during the summer, but I have already reviewed some of the maps for cities such as Madrid and Paris, and they look awesome.
I certainly recommend this product.

The Garmin 270 is very simple to use. It is small, but the screen is easy to see. I plan to take it to Europe this summer and hope the European maps are as reliable as the US ones! I love that it is portable and can fit into a little case, then into my purse.

I knew nothing about GPS when I started reasearching a christmas gift for my husband. I did hours of reasearch and read reviews and I decided on this one. My husband (who does know about GPS) was so excited and very impressed with my purchase. He uses it all the time, even to drive around town, when he knows where he's going. We haven't had a chance to try the European part yet (one of the reasons for buying this model) but hopefully it works just as well as the US. The price was shocking too, I found it at a local store for about $250 more!

This is a great product. So glad I purchase this model and I am really looking forward to using it in Europe. I even purchase the SD card with points of intnerest for Europe.

¡Kbut you have to update it at LEAST every 2 years (every year is perfect if you can afford it, around $200), if a business or location was established the same year you bought the Garmin, sometimes even the year before, it might not come up. This is okay though because you can just put in another place close to it, and you get there. Only happened once, the Garmin is still very worth it. I just got it though for my boyfriend and he loves it so much he even gave it a name and talks to it sometimes¡Kmen. º Being new to Chicago I use it and I NEVER get lost. I love it. First time to use one of these and I do not think I could live with out it!!

You're gonna love this thing. Don't worry about the smaller screen. You shouldn't be looking at it anyway.(Keep your eyes on the road) You don't need to look anyway. The Garmin talks in a clear voice and gives you plenty of advance notice before you have to turn. You don't even have to look at the instruction book. It's that easy to set up. Get one you be glad you did!!!

I landed in Germany whipped this bad boy out and was on my way. If an overstressed 8 month pregnant blonde chick can use it, anyone can.
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The Garmin and I go back quite a few years. My first Garmin did not speak to me, not 3-D, 2" screen and black white. I loved it. It got me where I needed to go and was packed with great features. Before I purchased this unit I spent time testing the some other brands on the market. This new version is awesome and I am spoiled for life. I will always be flanked by a Garmin. Amazon had this unit at the lowest price imaginable. Great buy.

I bought this about a year ago. I had bought a magellan prior to this but it wasnt able to load european maps on it. This was a major problem as I was moving to Italy in August. So i returned the magellan and looked at this garmin and a tomtom both were able to get european maps. Best buy was out of the tomtom so i went with the garmin. Drove around FL with it with no problems what so ever. But how would it do in Italy?
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br /I got to Italy in August and drove from Aviano to Venice using only this for directions. Worked well. I've been all over the place and the nuvi 270 has been great! I never have a problem with finding satellites and if a road is being worked on, the gps quickly finds me a detour.
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br /I also love that it has a safety camera warning. Italy has lots of speed cameras all over, the nuvi 270 lets you know when you are around one so you can adjust your speed. Very nice thing to have!

We purchased this just before going to Italy, when we found out that the cost of buying it was about equal to the cost of renting it from Hertz for 14 days. It saved us a huge amount of aggravation, as we didn't need to consult maps or try to translate from Italian to English on the fly. I did find that we went a circuitous way on one part of our trip, but we laughed about it--it took us through narrow streets in very non-touristy part of Pompei, but we got to see how the "real" people live. :)
br /Seriously, it was terrific and we travelled about 1600 km, going from Rome down to Sicily, and it was right on target. Now my husband uses it in the US, and if any of our kids are going to Europe, we will gladly lend it to them. Very portable, detailed and a great value.

So far I've used it in the US and France. The only issue I've had was that within Paris locking in to a satellite was sketchy, depending on what area of the city you are in. I had heard this from other reviews, so I pre-mapped certain areas by address before I arrived. That way, if I couldn't lock in real-time, I could at refer to the area map I had saved. Otherwise, have had excellent luck with mapping and re-routing in both US and Europe.
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br /Good battery life, but would have been nice if Garmin had put an A/C charger in the kit. I am using a Griffin USB A/C charger which works fine. Despite the small drawbacks, for the price, it's a bargain.
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Since I got this unit almost a year ago, it has gotten me through a move to another country as well as through many a distant travels. Not only does it get me around town, it has addresses and information for pizza places, shopping centers, etc so that even if I don't know where I want to go, it can tell me where to go and how to get there.
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br /I've used the TomTom model that has the US and European maps and always come back to the Garmin, mostly because the Garmin is smaller and fits more easily in my purse and pockets.
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br /Small town or big city, the directions always are spoken in time and I've never had Garmin "lose" me and think I was on the next street as some GPS systems do. Very dependable. Highly recommended.

unit had trouble locating points of interest. no problem if you had the address. also, newer maps were available, but download was 5-8 hours using an institutional dsl line.

If your marriage is less than 100% secure, be careful of this product! My lovely wife Stacy is often skeptical of gadgets and has a very good sense of direction. She usually navigates as I drive. The first time I used my Nuvi 270 with Stacy in the car, she became very quiet and even sullen in the passenger seat. Seems there was a "another woman" in the car who was providing direction instead of her. I think she was jealous! Now I use it seldom when Stacy is on board, and Stacy has adopted the other woman's voice when she says, "In point one mile, turn left." or "You have arrived at destination on right." So, be forewarned. Otherwise, the Nuvi 270 works fine and gets me where I need to go almost as efficiently as Stacy does.

I picked this model mainly because of the preloaded Europe map which cost over $250 if purchased seperately. This save about $150 compares to buying an unit with same functionality and the Europe map seperately.

The touch screen and the menu are very user friendly. There is a built in help function that explains everything. The paper instruction manual is close to useless anyway.

The unit usually takes about 20 seconds to boot up. It was quick to find my location the first time I turned it on and I was inside my house. However, it usually takes 20 or 30 seconds for it to acquire satellite signal and start giving direction after entering an address and press go. I happened to travel to Toronto, Canada 2 days after I got my GPS. I plugged it into my rental car. The unit had problem in acquiring satellite. There were lot of concrete structures in and around the Toronto Airport to drive pass before seeing the open sky. The unit was not able to log onto satellite and give me direction until I was completely out of the airport area and already heading towards the exit to the main highway. Other than that it took me everywhere I needed to go.

The thing I would like to see Garmin to improve is that there is no easy way to take a look at the route that the GPS is going to take. You have to go into the route simulation mode and drag the map with your finger to see the route. It would be nice if the GPS could provide a route list. If a street is broken into sections or two towns with the same name (which is common in Europe), the route list and a map would tell you if you have the right destination.

I own several Garmins, including a 345, street pilot 2720, zumo on a motorcycle. This one has excellent graphics and is easy to see in bright light. The routes it picks when I use it locally(where I know the routes) are sometimes illogical, which gives me less confidence when I use it away from home. It doesn't readily accept alternative destinations to knowing an actual street address and is not as user friendly as I think it should be after so many generations have been developed by Garmin and other manufacturers. I do like it, but am a little disappointed. I have not had the oppurtunity to use it in Europe yet, which is the reason I chose the 270.

More than I expected.....except.....the 12v cord takes a man and 2 small boys to remove from the back of the unit. I originally thought I would want the larger screen, but no issue. Clearn, concise, wonderful.

Only other issue that I have taken up with Amazon, the packing of the unit in the shipping box was unacceptable. Out of 6 of the cushioning air pillows in the box, only 2 had any air. The box the unit came in just rattled around in the larger shipping box. Most unlike Amazon shipping.

Bought this unit, and then discovered I needed a unit that provided Bluetooth and Spoken Street names capability. Returned it for the Garmin Nuvi 360, and am very happy with the 360.

Good points: All maps including European, portable, multi language support, price.
br /Bad points: only 1 hour of working without charging, ~120-240VAC charger not included.

User Interface as far as directions to cities is not so great unless you are in the state at the time you look for the city. Try getting directions to Valparaiso, IN and you get two options neither is in Indiana. My friends TomTom has a better UI but is lacking other features. All in all the thing works but is sometimes frustrating to get the destination entered in.

My family and I recently went to London/Europe. The unit took awhile to find the satellite signal but once it did it worked great. With the way the roads are set up overseas, using this gps is the way to navigate. I would highly recommend this purchase. Now my daughter uses it here in the states.

Pros: Works great, durable (dropped it hard few times with no issues), and great value for price. Been using it in the US, Canada and England. Tons of preloaded locations for restaurants, easy to read and understand. I highly recommend it.
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br /Cons: Not sure if this is unique to Garmin Nuvi 270 but it takes over 30 sec to initialize, not bad but if there was an area where Garmin could improve, it would be to reduce the boot time. Also for editing, cursor that allows it to go to any letter would be a nice feature, rather than just a backspace option.

This device is wonderful. It never fails to get me where I need to go. Sometimes it gets confused about where I am but that's usually only in the beginning. Make sure you give it enough time to acquire satellites if at all possible. I like how you can set Home in the favorites so it only takes a couple of presses instead of a lot of fumbling around to get home. I highly recommend the Garmin nuvi series. Amazon has them for an untouchable price currently. I have no doubt they'll go quickly. Enjoy.

Works very well in US, and better than expected while driving across southern France, especially on major tollways and regional highways. Readily identified nearby gas stations, restaurants, hotels, museums while driving.
br /Not as good in small towns, and had trouble where to turn on a number of roundabouts (common in France instead of intersections). Not that useful for pedestrian directions, especially if there's a number of one-way streets, as it provides driving directions. Also has trouble connecting with satellites if next to tall buildings.
br /Biggest negative: still need to buy another USB mini cable to connect it to our computer to download map ugrades (so we were glad it was already loaded with western Europe).

I have been using it in nothern Italy and it works well (most of the time). When we were in Vicenza, we were looking for a McDonalds late at night and it took us to a remote area. Other than that it has been working good. I have not been to a city where it has been congested with tall buildings.
br /I was about to purchase the Nuvi 370 because it tells you the street names. Because of the different langauges, I thought it would be easier to just turn (left or right) at the command of the 270. Also the street names are not always posted and I prefer to keep my eyes on the road!
br /If you're going to travel (drive) in Europe I would recommend the Nuvi 270.
br /Also I can charge my Nuvi through the computer's USB terminal.
br /It's very easy to use! I purchased it through amazon.com for $169.99.
br /Arrivederci

This unit makes traveling in either Europe or North America much simpler. I highly recommend it.

I had always wanted a GPS and before we went on our recent trip to Europe I saw the price for the Nuvi 270 (which included the maps of Europe) and I decided to take the plunge. I'm am SOOO glad that I did!!! Upon leaving the airport in Frankfurt it gave us perfect directions to find my Aunt's home. After that the only time we got lost is when we'd either take it out of the car too soon or not have it on. We learned quickly not to do that. This guided us through Germany, into France and to Brugge and back without any problems (although when we went into France from Germany it definitely picked the 'out of the way' route... pretty though! ;-).

I seriously couldn't recommend it more highly. Sometimes it might not pick the same route a native might, but you always get where you want to go (and you don't have to worry about missing signs!).

I haven't traveled to Europe with this yet but having US and Europe in the same machine at this price is the best deal I have ever seen. Worked great right out of the box.

How did people used to get around without GPSs? The one I have is made by Garmin. Not only does it give you directions to the locations you request, but you can also find directions to nearby banks, theaters, restaurants, hospitals, lodging, etc. It even includes a mode that directs you away from traffic to your destination.
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br /I'm usually not much into electronics, but I really appreciate my GPS. Knowing that I can drive around and not get lost has really helped me think about exploring a new way home from work or just going off on a road trip. I can drive to another city or get a rental car and travel anywhere in North America without a paper map.
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br /The other thing I enjoy about this GPS is that it is lightweight and compact. I don't leave it sitting out in my car on the stand because, of course, that would be like begging for it to be stolen. So I stash it away and bring it out when I need it. I can even fit it and the charge cord in a small bag.

Samll size makes it convenient to carry in a pocket when using it while walking. Works well in the car or on foot. Would be nice if they included the cable to connect to your computer to register it and update the software online.

We primarily purchased this GPS for our trip to Europe. We used it in Germany, Austria, and Italy. The unit was incredible and our trip would have been a disaster without it. We drove over 4000 miles and used the
br /GPS the entire time. Even the smallest roads and exits were in the database and it made finding our way easy. I would completely recommend this unit.

I purchased this unit since I travel in the both US and Europe. On a recent trip to Europe, it worked well, even when I was traveling by train and on foot. It located some new restaurants for me in an area that I thought I knew well!

Tfft. I bought this in January 2008, paying $309. It was, however, worth having whilst traveling in Scotland last spring and fall. Good maps there -- but a bit out of date in Ireland. Easy enough to program, loud enough, and all that.

My boyfriend and I recently went on a 2 week roadtrip through Germany, Switzerland, Italy,and Austria. We went all over the Alps!!! If we wouldn't of had the Garmin nuvi 270 GPS, we'd probably STILL be there b/c of being lost! It was wonderful! Occasionally, when we'd go through a tunnel that was over 700 feet long, we'd loose the satellite signal, but as soon as we got out of the tunnel the GPS was back on track again! I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone traveling locally, or abroad!!

I love my Garmin. I tried it out the other day and found it to be very simple to operate. The map is quite easily interpreted as one is driving down the road. And I actually had to turn the audio to 70% because it was too loud for me. I was considering getting one for my elderly mother and I wanted to try it 1st. She is now getting one for Christmas. It will allow her to have the freedom to go and not get lost in unfamiliar territory. I plan on being much more relaxed during my travels to the mainland and Europe. So, I'm lovin' it!

The unit worked as expected. I bought this model for maps of dozens of European counties. Will have to wait to see how it works there.

We got this GPS system for use on a three-week car trip through Scandinavia. We've navigated through Europe before using maps and written or verbal directions. What an improvement! The reduction in navigator-driver (read: marital) tension alone was well worth the price (which was a bargain on Amazon).
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br /We had no problem picking up satellites wherever we were. We could even get them in our hotel rooms most of the time so we could plan out how long a particular trip would take. The unit doesn't like being in tunnels for too long, though, so be sure to look for your next turn before entering the tunnel so you'll know where you need to go when you exit. Navigation was clear and maps excellent. The maps seemed up to date except for roads that had visibly just been moved within the last several weeks. Even on the remotest dirt roads in the woods (which looked and rode more like cow paths through some farmer's backyard), navigation was spot on. Directions for Europe's ubiquitous roundabouts were accurate and easy to understand. Recalculation speed is exceedingly fast. Battery life is good. Travel time estimates are accurate.
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br /Being able to switch to kilometers while in Europe and then back to miles in the U.S. was helpful. A particularly nice feature was the warning about speed cameras -- which we didn't even know existed unit the unit started beeping and flashing red. The unit picked up the cameras and showed us the speed limits before we came upon the cautionary road signs. Another helpful feature was being able to simulate the entire route before heading out on the road either walking or driving. We also liked being able to set route preferences such as "avoid ferries".
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br /We gave the Garmin nuvi 270 quite a workout in Scandinavia and have used it quite a bit since, and thoroughly like it. I'd buy this one again in a heartbeat, especially for the price.
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I love my new Garmin. It was the best price on Amazon that I could find. Howard e.

We just came back from Spain and used the GPS to get all over. It took us right to our hotel in the middle of big cities like Madrd and Barcelona. It's just a great thing to have. We had trouble in one roundabout but I think it was new and had to get used to it. Just loved it.

Recently received this nuvi 270 with NA 2009 and Europe 2008 maps. On registering at my.garmin.com got upgraded to Europe 2009.
br /Small size and reliable navigation. Does not have language translator or other features of larger models.
br /Recognized in Windows XP as 2 drives - one GPS and other SD slot.
br /Easy to edit and backup favorites .gpx file.
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I am so far pleased with the nuvi 270, but I am EXTREMELY disappointed with the fact that you can't register it with Garmin without connecting it to a computer with internet access, *which requires a cable they don't include with the nuvi!!!!* In my opinion this is simply outrageous. You should not require extraneous hardware to register a legitimately purchased product.

This GPS will get you to where you are going, but this was the first one i have bought so i didn't know what i was looking for. I have used a friend's Street Pilot exclusively up until this one so that is what i judged it on. It does not pronounce the street names and I like that feature. It also does not have the "find me" feature which has been helpful on the Street Pilot. I returned this for the 650 and am much happier.

Of the different GPS I've had the Nuvi 270 is the one that's most handy.
I have a built in GPS in my 2005 Prius. Great if you use the Prius, but you can't take it with you and use in another car.
I had an Averatec, portable and easy to use, but battery life is only 30-40 minutes.
I have TomTom software on my Tungsten T3. Works great, but you need a PDA plus antenna.
I also have an iQue 3600, which is also great. But you need to download the software from CD disks, which takes a lot of effort.
Then I have the Etrex from garmin, which is good for hiking, but not for driving.

With the Garmin Nuvi there are no "buts". Out of the box I use it in my Prius, compare the accuracy with the built in GPS, then switch to my daughter's 1990 Ford Probe, and the Nuvi works as flawless as well.
I used it walking my dog in the park, and it tells me where the closest exit/street is!
Next, I'm going to try using it when I fly my little Archer!

If Garmin could add the capability to download on the SDCard additional maps, like Mexico or Singapore for instance, instead of just fotos and music, I would rate it 6 stars!

Garmin must have taken to heart the generally-accepted fact that Americans simply won't read instruction manuals--so they didn't write one.
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br /This unit is designed to be operated by persons who can intuitively divine how to make it function after glancing at the truly-quick-start information. For you, this will do the job.
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br /For the rest of us, who might enjoy taking advantage of the many advanced features of this unit--well, too bad. Garmin won't even reply to emails requesting additional information on the unit's capabilities.
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br /So you'll pay better than a hundred dollars for a highly capable electronic device and--if you're the curious type--you'll spend a fair amount of time wondering how to make it perform its tricks.
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br /For my money, I'd rather have a well-written manual. It would have earned this unit at least one more star.
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br /(Disclaimer: My Garmin 270was a promotional gift.)
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You can upgrade the maps. You can upload European Maps. Easy to browse and quick to find!

Hi, I'm planning on buying this product since I often travel to the U.S., but I would like to know if it works in Mexico.
br /Can anyone tell me if this is possible?
br /I would appreciate any help.