Customer Reviews: Read 101 more reviews...
 A terrific aid in Europe. November 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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. :)
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.
 Not perfect, but very good so far November 16, 2008
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.
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.
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).
Good in U.S., Bad in Ireland November 16, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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.
Satellite Reception fine in Paris November 14, 2008
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.
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.
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.
Europe and US Maps / Great price November 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
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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