I purchased the Nuvi 255 as a replacement for my Nuvi 350. There is nothing wrong with the 350Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech. The 255Garmin Nuvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator has safety features I want which include "Where Am I" that gives your location by street address, city, state, zip code, nearest intersection and coordinates. This is important in an emergency in a strange and/or unfamiliar location. Another safety feature is the display of the posted speed limit directly above your actual speed. This helps to avoid tickets and reminds one about safe driving.
br /
br /Other improvements include a brighter clearer display, revised touch screen graphics, an arrow indicating direction of next turn and a TTS voice that sounds like a real person instead of an elocution professor.
br /
br /The 255 also has a world clock, unit converter, calculator and photo
br /display.
br /
br /In closing, I saved the best feature for last--the GPS function is fast, flawless and exact.

Let me set the scene for you: I arrive in Los Angeles at the airport, turn on my GPS system and instantly am ready to navigate. I then spend two days driving around Los Angeles not knowing where anything is located and haven't gotten lost once...
br /
br /The nuvi 255, as in my review title, is everything you need. Don't spend more because you think you'll need to talk for navigation or that you want to connect to some navigation service or whatever else they're selling. This is a small, FAST, device that you can easily carry with you when it isn't in your car. And folks, that's part of a portable GPS system: you can take it with you so it doesn't get stolen.
br /
br /I will give the following heads-up. The first time you calibrate the GPS system, it may take up to 10 MINUTES. Be patient, stand in a large open field, and don't move the device. Just let it sit. After that initial setup, you'll be walking on sunshine. Second, charging the device is easy. All you need is a standard USB cable that is used for most electronics. The downside, it doesn't show a progress bar on the screen as to when a charge is complete. Third, when you turn it on, make sure you have clear views of the sky from all directions. Otherwise, the system may not initialize properly. Plus, if you're in a city with tall buildings, you may be out of luck for getting signal (i.e. NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago). Normally, the difficultly comes from initially turning it on. After that, it's great.
br /
br /This device is FAST in recalculating routes. Mere seconds and boom, you're back on track. No downtime whatsoever. This is really amazing.
br /
br /You are given the option of navigation as a pedestrian or in a car. That is really great if you're on foot. You can easily switch between the two.
br /
br /NOW... my word of advice. SPEND THE MONEY to get the 255 with the "text-to-speech." When you're driving in traffic in an unfamiliar place, you don't want to have to constantly look over to read the street names on the device then find them on the street. It is worth the extra cash.
br /
br /All-in-all, I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. As I said to a friend today, it isn't often that I buy a piece of electronics equipment and have my expectations met and surpassed. As I continue to use it, new things continue to amaze me.

My son, who does not drive, wanted a GPS because most of his friends, who DO drive, don't have one. He thinks of it, along with some gas money, as his contribution to the trip. Since it was dad's money paying for it, I decided to give him my nuvi 260 so that I could get a 255 with its ability to make use of traffic information. (I've just ordered the receiver and will report on that aspect later.)
br /
br /I'm not quite sure how to review a GPS. The 255 makes the fourth GPS in out family. The others are the Garmin nuvi 200, 260, 260w. Since there are so many makes and models on the market and few people will own multiple GPSs, the most helpful information would be areas in which a particular unit was found to be lacking. I've never found any of these units to be lacking. Other than the well reported difficulties they sometimes have locating satellites (the 255 seems a bit better in this regard), there's nothing about the Garmins that would make me want to try a different brand.
br /
br /People debate about the 255's voices. Many prefer the 260's voices. My wife is one of them. I find the 255's voices similar to the 260's, except that I miss Emily. She and I have grown close over the months we've been together, but, alas, she was unable to make the jump to the 255. The format of the voice files must have changed. The .vpm files on the 260 are 10+kb, where those on the 255 are about 2kb and Emily was not offered as a download. So, Emily is no more. She was not included on the 255 and I could not get the voice file from the 260 to work on the 255.
br /
br /I find pluses and minuses to the new interface. I'm not fond of the speed function because it takes up a lot of real estate and isn't reliable. I traveled Route 119 from Route 2 in Acton, MA, to Route 495 in Littleton, a main drag. The speed limit varies from a high of 50 to a low of 25, but the 255 showed a constant 45, so I would not rely on the 255 to warn me of speed traps.
br /
br /I DO like the new distance and direction of turn indicator. It's convenient seeing the arrow indicating the direction of the turn right next to the distance indicator.
br /
br /I do NOT like the new way the keypad changes from upper to lower case after the first character of a name is entered.
br /
br /I WISH there were an option for a QWERTY keyboard layout.
br /
br /I WISH Garmin would allow zip code entry in addition to City and State.
br /
br /About 30 seconds after the 260's on/off switch is placed in the lock position, the screen dims and the voice goes silent. This is a very convenient way to silence the unit when traveling a well known road and bringing it back with a minimum of fuss when needed. On the 255, the screen goes dim, but the voice is no longer silent. It's necessary to go through menus to make the unit quiet. This means that there is no longer an easy way to silence the 255 since pressing menus is too dangerous to attempt when the car is moving.
br /
br /But the quibbles are minor. They're not enough to make me remove a star.
br /
br /Garmin makes a fine, accurate unit. I've stopped all but the most cursory glances at maps prior to making trips. I'm happy to let the unit send me on its merry way. (There's a movie here where someone figures out how to reprogram GPSs, luring victims into out of the way places. "Dear, are you sure the way to the mall is through the cemetary?") Just last night it showed me a new way to a place I'd been visiting for years and never used the GPS to guide me because I knew the way there. (Ah, so *that's* where that road goes!)
br /
br /Now, if only I could figure a way to get Emily back...
br /
br /Added in edit: Another thing I REALLY LIKE about the 255 over the 260...
br /When you're driving down the road, the title bar of the 260 will often say something like "Continuing on Route nnn". On that same stretch of road, the title bar of the 255 will have the name of the next turn/exit/route. That is, once you're where you're supposed to be, the 255 immediately displays the name of the next road.

Garmin makes one of the best, if not the best, GPS devices. Uniqueness of Nuvi 255 is that it is the least expensive Nuvi, as of September 2008, that reads the street names, which in my experience is an important feature.
br /
br /Like all other Nuvi's it has clear display, is easy to use, and acquires satellites very quickly. The windshield attachment stays in place. This one displays the speed limit too! You just have to be careful with screen of Nuvi series; make sure it is well protected when stored, because it breaks easily.
br /
br /Although you can display pictures on Nuvi 255, I am not sure how many people do that in car. My previous experience with Nuvi 680 is that Bluetooth in a GPS unit is a useless and unusable feature. Stand-alone Bluetooth speakerphones like BluAnt or Parrot are far superior for making handsfree phone calls. My experience with GM cars is that even speech recognition does not work well inside the car with wind and road noise. All these bells and whistles are not worth the extra cost. As pointed out by another reviewer, this Nuvi has everything that you need in a GPS - except traffic.
br /
br /You can add traffic service subscription to this one by an additional FM antenna; but if you need traffic, you may want to look into Navigon GPS which provides free lifetime traffic, although Navigon lacks the simplicity and ease of use of Nuvi.
br /
br /Overall, Nuvi 255 is a great basic GPS unit which reads the names of streets, gives you speed limit, has extensive POI database and Garmin has good customer service. You won't go wrong.

Invariably, the 200-series will be compared to the super-popular 350, and I can't help but do the same. The 350 was a true pioneer, but I always found myself waiting a half-second for it to get back to me, and overall, the experience was sluggish.
br /
br /The 255 is plenty fast, and brings the GPS interactive experience to a new level. My purchase was based on Consumer Reports' ratings.
br /
br /The 200-line is certainly confusing in terms of number increments not matching up to features, but I would strongly recommend the TTS feature, which is only available on the 260/260W/255/255W. Despite the numbering scheme, the 255-line is newer/faster than the 260-line, which is why I chose the 255, though others may have chosen it for the FM/MSN traffic/info features.
br /
br /Pros:
br /
br /Size/Build:
br /Very small. Smaller than a hockey puck, and completely pocketable.
br /
br /GUI:
br /The interaction with the menu is very fast, and without delay. Searches, map refreshes, etc -- they're all a lot faster and I don't find myself waiting.
br /
br /Map:
br /The 3D GUI updates at what appears to be 3-4fps, which may not sound like much, but compared to 1fps for older models, this is a significant improvement, and is the difference between missing an exit or not.
br /
br /3D Terrain:
br /This is surprisingly useful when going up/down hills, as it gives you an idea of not just a left/right turn, but also the incline. Sudden, steep climbs/downturns (think Laguna Seca) were reasonably well-indicated, which allowed me to slow down a bit more than had I assumed it was a level turn.
br /
br /Antenna:
br /I personally like that the flip-up antenna in the 300-series is gone. It makes it much more usable when holding.
br /
br /Display:
br /The display packs a ton of information, including next turns, speed limits, and all things that were typically a few clicks away. Surprisingly, it does not seem cramped at all.
br /
br /Routing:
br /Routing is very fast -- maybe 1-3 seconds? It's fast enough that I don't need to count, sweat, and worry that I won't get directions before the next intersection.
br /
br /Re-Routing:
br /Most importantly, *re-routing* is fast. If I take an incorrect turn, it will re-route within seconds, and will prompt me with a turn direction half way down the block. In previous models, I would have to slow down or pull over.
br /
br /Overall:
br /Size, build, battery life, screen, volume, TTS, etc... all wonderful. As a standalone GPS, this is quite impressive.
br /
br /Cons: (this is where it gets knocked down to 4 stars)
br /
br /Dock:
br /The 350's dock housed the power cable, which made it a one-handed motion to get it back in the dock with power. With the 255, you need to plug in the power, then place it in the dock. Not a dealbreaker, but it's too bad they couldn't engineer it like the 350.
br /
br /No QWERTY:
br /It amazes me that even with a touchscreen, Garmin still can't give me a QWERTY keyboard. It's not as if there are physical key limitations... This makes inputting text considerably slower.
br /
br /Shortage of accessories:
br /No USB-A to USB-Mini cable, no AC adapter, no case. Not that *I* need any of those things, but someone who's not a computer geek may not have those things handy.
br /
br /Average Web Tools/Content, Photo Bookmarking:
br /I can see they're trying to beef this up, but as of this writing, the on-line, web tool and photo-based location bookmarker is average, at best. The downloadable content (new vehicle models, and the one custom voice) offers considerably less than the competition (eg: TomTom).
br /
br /Other: (Not pros or cons, but FYI)
br /- no mp3 playback
br /- microSD slot, not SD
br /- sorry, no feedback on MSN traffic, as it doesn't fit my usage style

I replace my 350 with this one. Overall this one is better.
br /But I want to mention 2 things which 255 is not as good as 350.
br /1. The TTS voice is not as good as 350.
br /2. There's no the "Ding" sound just before a turn.

This is the fourth GPS that I have tried. Initially I had the VZ Navigator system from verizon. It's a phone GPS and works very well. However, I had to discard that after I moved from Verizon.
br /
br /Then I got the top rated Nuvi Garmin 350. Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech When I started using it, I realized that its navigation features where inferior to VZ navigator. I was surprised that a dedicated GPS had less features than a phone GPS. Few things that annoyed me with nuvi 350.
br /1) It wouldn't show the distance or direction of next turn. I had to press the turn list, everytime I needed to check the distance to next turn. Also, since the direction of turn is not shown in advance, you could endup on the wrong lane before the turn.
br /2) The arrival time shown on the display would not take into account the time zone. If you travel a lot between time zones, you are always forced to calculate the actual arrival time using the time shown on the display.
br /3) It wouldn't remember the last entered city. You have to re-enter the city, everytime you enter an address.
br /
br /The only thing 350 had better than the phone gps was the bigger display. Anyway, my 350 got stolen recently. I was half happy that I could get a new GPS. I researched a little bit and figured that the Tomtom One 130S TomTom ONE 130S 3.5-Inch Touchscreen Portable GPS Navigator did not have any of the annoyances of nuvi 350. It would always display the direction and distance to the next turn. I liked the compact mounting setup of Tomtom very much. Also, the voice instructions were very clear although many reviewers had complained about voice quality. However, I was forced to return the GPS due to one major flaw. The voice instructions and the directions were not correct!!! When I had to go westbound, the GPS would instruct me to take the ramp to Eastbound direction. This happened on two instances and I decided enough is enough.
br /
br /Doing some further research, I figured that garmin has introduced a new model that fixes all of the shortcomings of nuvi 350. I have used it for about 2 weeks and I am very happy with the purchase. Although some reviewers have complained about the voice quality, I havn't had any difficulty in understanding the voice instructions. Apart from fixing the annoyances mentioned above, it also has some nice additional features.
br /1) Faster GPS lock
br /2) Speed limit display
br /3) Internal antenna and slimmer profile; so easy to store in pocket.
br /
br /Overall nuvi 255 is the ideal GPS, atleast for now :-)

I literally hooked this product up in my car right as I got in for a 6 day trip visiting new and old accounts in Salt Lake City/Ogden/Provo/Logan (I live in the Denver area). I had NEVER used a GPS before. Once I got used to how I needed to input adresses (took about 2 minutes with the funky grid system SLC uses inputting E/W/N/S for streets)I was guided to all the new accoutns by voice/map without a problem.....I will never travel to new places without one of these again. This was way easy to use, just glanced at the quick start and was on my way.

This is our first GPS and we are very happy with it. As I have heard with other GPS systems, you have to remember that they are not perfect and will not always tell you the way you would have gone, but they will get you there. It is very user friendly and has some nice features that are easy to use. We have used it one two trips so far and have been very happy with it. I was concerned with getting the 3.5 screen as opposed to the 4.3, but the 3.5 has worked out great for us.

After some extensive research and comparison shopping I decided to get the Garmin nuvi 255. My key factors in purchasing was that it was a name brand, it has good reviews, its the latest model with the most recent interface and processor, it has text to speech and it was under $200. I was not interested in blue tooth (I already have a hands free set) or the FM transmitter (I don't think this technology has been perfected yet) or the mp3 player. I actually planned on purchasing the Garmin 350 until I read that the 255 was the new model that replaces the discontinued 350. This is the first GPS I have owned and have had it for about 2 weeks now so I wanted to share some initial impressions.
br /
br /Its a very nice unit with a bright screen and a nice compact size. I was worried that the 3.5 inch screen would be too small but it does the job. A 4.3 inch screen would definitely have been more attractive but that was a nice to have and not a necessity for me. I have read some complaints about the voice on this unit and that worried me too. However, its perfectly fine for a standard GPS unit. I'm not looking for the perfect sounding voice, just something that can be understandable and clear and this does the job. The pronunciation of some streets is not always accurate but thats not a big deal for me as the name of the streets are displayed on the screen. The volume is excellent. When the volume is at 50% I can still hear it clearly even when I have music playing in the background. However, this is with the windows up and so most of the street/car noise is blocked out. The satellite acquisition is excellent and I don't have to sit in my driveway for 15 minutes waiting for the connection. The longest wait so far has been about 2 minutes. The interface is very intuitive and so you don't really need to read any detailed instruction manuals to use this right away.
br /
br /In terms of the negatives for this unit, the first is the route it chooses for you. Garmin will pick the most direct path to your destination but that is not always the fastest, given traffice lights, etc. So sometimes I find myself ignoring the Garmin directions and going down a road/street that I know would be quicker. Garmin will then immediately recalcute the directions which is a nice feature. As you can imagine this is not an issue when I'm totally unfamiliar with the streets - in that case I let Garmin show me the way and it has gotten me there at the end of the day. The other negative is the on/off switch. Its very sensitive and just the slightest pressure will turn the unit on or off which is a problem if your storing the unit and accidently turn it on (there goes the battery)...to combat this there is a lock setting.
br /
br /I'm sure there are a lot more features that I still need to become familiar with but at least in the early stages, I feel this product is definitely worth it given the price and that its the latest model. If your looking for a GPS under $200 then this should be on your short list. I purchased the leather Gilsson 3.5" carrying case which is a perfect fit for this gadget (the original packaging does not come with a case) and I also got the Garmin friction mount which is really excellent.

This is the lowest priced unit that also calls out street names but the voice is too animated although speaker is pretty good.
br /While using the Tom Tom you could easily remove parts of the route that you knew had construction or congestion and it would recalculate your route. This feature has been in the Tom Tom since the GO came out like 4 years ago.
br /Garmin still lacks that feature, they call it Detour in which you have no control at all and the unit decides your alternate route. I know it has the FM traffic update but I am not buying a subscription service for that.
br /I think I will stick to Tom Tom it offers better features for the same money.

This GPS is easy to use: graphics and voice instructions are clear. I like the portable mount.

Went to Toronto over the Thanskgiving weekend, on the way into the city it started to snow so heavily that the road signs became covered, however thanks to the Nuvi, made it to our destination.

I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 255 for my granddaughter who lives in Denver. She loves it - easy to operate and understand. She uses it daily not only for street directions, but eating and shopping locations. The Garmin Nuvi has made her transition to Denver and learning a new city easy. We researched the product at local stores (i.e. Best Buy, Circuit City), and each sales clerk highly recommended the Garmin Nuvi 255- good choice!

After much research I decided on the Nuvi 255 due mostly to the fact that it is the least expensive model with TTS (Text to speech) in other words it speaks street names so that you can keep your eyes on the raod ahead.
br /
br /This unit also has the ability to get traffic updates via a separate cable (GTM-10 or GTM-12 Traffic Receiver) that can be purchased through Amazon.com. I have not purchased this extra item, so I cannot comment on how this works. I can tell you that you need to check the various traffic providers ie. MSN, Clear Channel, etc. to make sure that they have adequate coverage in your area. There is also a monthly fee for traffic updates. The GTM-10 comes with a 15 month subscription to Clear Channel.
br /
br /I have had the unit now for about 1 month and it has not led me astray. I would recommend this unit to anyone who wants an affordable but reliable GPS unit.

Download WebUpdater from Garmin and it will update quite a lot of items (as of Dec 08) Particularly, voice quality seems to be better after the update.
br /
br /Map redraw is slow compared to my old Mio C310. The lack of QWERTY keyboard is a pain.

I bought the 255 for travels around the Northeast and California. It has served me well thus far. Start up time is quick, TTS is very useful, and the screen brightness is excellent.
br /Con: The speaker is tinny and fills with some static at high volumes. My friends older garmin 200 series did not have this issue.
br /This is a short review but theres not need to go into details. Its a fine unit and gets me to where I want to go accurately. Pay the extra for TTS, it'll come in handy.

This is the first GPS we have owned. I read so many reviews just to be sure I got it right. The one feature everyone stressed was the text to speech technology and I'm so glad I listened. We've only used it a couple of times, but we're very pleased.
br /

I purchased the GPS as a birthday gift for my 20 year old daughter. My daughter has used the GPS several times and has told me it's the best. I would highly recommend the Garmin Nuvi 255 GPS.

Purchased 2 weeks ago, and used to drive from Ohio to Boston. 1600 miles RT. My first GPS. I was totally blown away with these fantastic devices. Great voice quality, easy to read graphics. Shows shortest and best routes. Mapquest can't compare. I exited an interstate that didn't have a return ramp. The GPS saved me. Back on in 5 minutes. Can't believe how instantaneous the transmission is. It made one mistake (twice), the entire trip. Told me to turn right, when it should have been left. Repeated the mistake on the same off ramp turn, on the return trip. It instantly recognized the error and gave accurate directions to get to my hotel. It gave me the exact speed limit of each road I was traveling. Instantly recognized changes in the speed limit. I passed on the factory Nav on my new Honda Ridgeline, after several friends told me the Garmins are better. One uses a portable Garmin, even though his new BMW has factory Nav. Incredibly easy to program. Thought they were an extravagance, when you can get a mapquest printout for free. Boy, was I wrong.

After reading the reviews here in Amazon, I bought 2 units for my two daughters. They both love them, not a single problem with either unit. The street speaking feature is great - a definite must have.
br /
br /The Nuvi 255 is perfect for us. I will likely by another one soon - this one will be for me.

After purchasing a Garmin Nuvi 255 for a long road trip to Florida, we discovered a problem with the car charger that was included with our purchase. The screen would black out when charging and the Garmin was only usable when not being charged. We phoned Garmin's tech support and was advised to buy a Garmin house charger and charge the Garmin overnight. We did so, but it did not solve our problem. We made a second call to Garmin tech support and were finally told that a number of car chargers had been reported as defective and that Garmin would ship us, without charge, a replacement car charger. We gave them a Florida address to ship it to and, in 3 days, we received it. The Garmin now works wonderfully and we love it.

The Garmin Nuvi 255 is terrific. The spoken street names, lack of a flip-out antenna and faster start-up times are great improvements over the earlier models. The reduced battery life is a bit of a downer, however as I use it plugged into the 12V outlet in my car, does it really matter? Perhaps the biggest drawback is the lack of a case - not even a cheap vinyl one, to protect the unit. If you want one you will need to buy it separately.
br /Garmin continues to be the leader in the market and at the discounted prices around, everyone should get a Garmin.

It gets me from point A to point B. I was surprised to find out that it has features I previously thought were only available in the more expensive models, such as adding additional way points en route to your destination. The built in speaker is loud enough that I keep it at 50% volume and can still hear it over moderately loud music. The Australian lady's voice is very entertaining -- she sounds nervous sometimes as if she's unsure of the directions she's giving. It recalculates routes very quickly as well.

I read several reviews before purchasing the 255 and most were very positive. Add me to that list of positive reviews--this unit is GREAT! This unit is perfect IF you want: a compact unit, quick to navigate, easy to find locations, announced street names with very good accuracy.
br /
br /The ONLY negative is no QWERTY keyboard. While minor, it does slow down entry of POI's or addresses.
br /
br /The voice quality mentioned in some reviews is fine if you select the "american english" people. Other versions like British do not sound quite as clear.

I have used many Garmin products in the past and the Nuvi 255 does live up to the Garmin repertation. The only down side to this unit is that the voices are not as good as other comparble units.

This GPS is really nice. I was able to purchase it on Black Friday for $151.00. The Points of Interest database is really extensive. The receiver is less sensitive than my TomTom 3rd edition, as it will not pick up a signal when I am in the house.
br /
br /I bought this unit because it has the text to speech feature, which is nice. This GPS has all of the features that I consider important. It is about the size of a deck of cards and fits nicely in my shirt pocket. The 4 hour battery life is also great.
br /
br /The lack of a querty keyboard is my biggest complaint about this unit. In this day and age you would assume that would be a given.
br /
br /I considered getting a Garmin a year ago but at that time Garmins were selling for around $300.00. Nice to see that I can get a feature rich Garmin for $150.

Pros:
br /- Compact
br /- Inexpensive
br /- Seems to do a good job choosing a route
br /- Easy to use touch screen user interface
br /- 3D view is well done, with nice fast refresh rate
br /- Samantha speaks clearly and does a good job pronouncing most names
br /- Mount and power adapter are simple
br /
br /Cons:
br /- Some of the voices aren't loud enough or cause the speaker to crackle at higher volumes
br /- Some of the voices mispronounce "recalculating"
br /- Pedestrian mode is hard to access and doesn't automatically change icon
br /- Menu system is deep and not all that well organized, but it's small enough that you soon memorize it
br /- If you tap one extra time on Back button it cancels your route
br /- Small screen means on-screen keyboard can't use QWERTY layout, but its still easy enough to enter text
br /- Can be slow to find points of interest
br /- Screen can be very hard to see when wearing polarized sunglasses, and washes out badly when viewed off angle
br /- Touch screen not as responsive as iPhone
br /- Power adapter attaches to device rather than mount, and cable is thick and stiff
br /- Dashboard disc uses permanent adhesive
br /- Maps and points of interest are both already stale in some areas
br /- No traffic info
br /
br /Some suggested changes for Garmin programmers:
br /- Touching on car icon should give quick access to pedestrian mode
br /- Pedestrian mode should have independent setting for vehicle icon
br /- Instead of showing "Speed" above your current speed, and displaying the silly "m" over "h" suffix, just display "MPH" above your current speed
br /- Display map scale somewhere, even in 3D mode
br /- When drawing street names on map, make them line up exactly with the street
br /- Support displaying icons for selected points of interest (eg. gas stations) on the main map
br /- Tapping on the arrival time does nothing: why not make it display a map centered on your destination?
br /- Should be able to tap rather than tap and hold to bring up satellite screen
br /- Use blocks rather than miles to describe short distances when driving on surface streets (eg. in 2 blocks turn right on Acorn Place)
br /- Provide option to blink speed limit when current speed is well over limit
br /- There is plenty of room to display PM rather than P over M at the top right corner of the main menu screen
br /- In north up mode, place vehicle near edge of screen rather than the center, so I can see more of what's ahead of me
br /- Include camp sites in POI database
br /- Only 4 icons are displayed at a time in the settings menu when 6 would fit just fine
br /- A bit of rubber trim would make device easier to carry

good unit easy to use fairly quick at picking up satellites some spoken commands are incorrect ( turn right ) when I should have turned (left ) but all in all gets you to the destination with no problems

My wife and I got this Garmin GPS a short while before we flew out to San Francisco (We live outside of Philadelphia.), so we figured that would be a good trial for it. It got us everwhere we wanted to go, with very little trouble. We sometimes had to wait a while for it to acquire a satellite signal, but really it was only a minute or so. I very much like that the unit tells you ahead of time that you'll need to be turning in, say, "0.2 miles", or "keep right" for an upcoming highway exit. As the non-driving passenger on the trip, I liked that the screen shows the names of the cross streets as you approach them, so you know you're on the right route. I particularly liked that it can switch to "pedestrian mode", which I found extremely helpful for walking from our hotel to church on Sunday morning. All in all, a well made and useful device.

My previous experience has been with a StreetPilot C340.
br /We are not big-time travelers but everytime we borrowed this unit to go out of town - I was blown away by how useful it was.
br /We got the 255 about 3 weeks ago and am impressed with some of the differences. The size is really nice - truly portable. The overall speed of lookups/calculations is noticeably faster. Nice improvements to the interface - I'm still finding little shortcuts they've put in that cut down typing (like the folder icon when entering city name - tap it and a drop-down list will contain the city names you've recently searched).
br /Nice display, timely voice prompts, can't really think of anything I wish it did that it doesn't do well.

I am very challenged when it comes to directions. The product has been very helpful. There were a few newer places that could not be found. No problems finding a satellite and it located most of my places of interests as well as rerouted me when I missed turns (due to my own mistake).

I recently had to replace my Streetpilot 2610 and wanted something without some of the new bells and whistles that a lot of the new gps' have. This has all the features I need and not much else.
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br /I especially like being able to download locations from Google Maps and Mapquest.

I have had the 255 for about two months which I switched from a 260 that was not what I had hoped for and have been very pleased by both the features and performance thus far. I really like its portability and compactness to use both in my vehicle and while traveling with others. On a recent trip to Louisville it was very helpful for fuel stops and eating. Also had the oppportunity to use on a bicycle outing with my wife.
br /Amazon was very helpful and the shipping time was excellent for the replacement.

This was my first GPS navigator, and so far I like it. I suggest you do the same and keep your first GPS cheap and plan to buy a new one in 1-2 years.
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br /Good points are:
br / * Fast boot up/ destination entry - you can save favorites, browse by location type (sorted by distance from your GPS), enter an address, street crossings, or click on the map. So it is always quick to get on the road (lots of POIs)
br / * Street names are spoken, comes in handy
br / * Use Google Maps to Send businesses and POIs to your GPS favorites
br / * I suggest buying this model (vs. 255W) because the size is much smaller for fitting in your pocket when you leave take the unit on foot, plus you save some cash.
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br /Bad points are:
br / * The included manual is too short - takes a while to learn how to use all the features (HINT: there is a help section built into the GPS, read it)
br / * 3D Terrain Maps are not detailed. You have to zoom way out to use the terrain maps. I thought this would be a cool feature for hiking, but you have to zoom out so far to see the terrain that it is unusable for hiking
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br /Things they could improve:
br / * 3D terrain maps would be useful if you could use them while zoomed in
br / * POIs show up on the map when you zoom in, but they are always bunched up and not labeled so you can't read what they are.
br / * The "Trick Your GPS Ride" feature could be improved. How about models of real cars (GM, Honda, Toyota, etc) rather than tanks and jets
br / * It feels fast, but a faster processor would be better.
br / * You can review your course but you can't alter the course. How about letting me delete a street(s) from my planned course before hitting the road? Or better yet...
br / * Have the GPS learn my favorite roads and recommend I use those roads, I find it always suggests taking certain roads and I always avoid them which causes the device to speak in an unforgettable voice...
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br /Recalculating
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New to GPS here, so maybe the problems we're having are intrinsic to all such units. We've used Garmin 255 for about a month now - testing it out in areas we are familiar with.
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br /We've been misdirected numerous times. For example, it doesn't seem to do overpasses and cloverleafs well. We've been told to "get in left lane" for an exit on the Capital Beltway around DC, when the exit was only from the right lane. We've been directed to "make a u turn" in the middle of a major DC-area bridge. And, we've been told our destination address was on the right when it was clearly on the left side of the road.
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br /Still deciding whether to trust Garmin on travels in areas where we are not familiar with the route.
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br /We do like the clarity of the screen and voice commands though, but will continue to use our own maps as backup.

This is a great GPS unit for the first-time owner. It is very easy to use!

Purchased to supplement the GPA in the car. Now my spouse can plan a trip at home in a relaxed atmosphere and then get into the car relaxed and focused on the road

Works well and is accurate. Finds initial location quickly. Voices can be a little weird sounding (especially on street names) but can be understood. The biggest issue is about the keyboard, no qwerty option. Quite surprising.