Today, 11.30am, I purchased a NEW TOY. It's no other than "GARMIN NUVI 255W".
I bought it from "AUTOMOTIVE SYNERGY", SS23, TAMAN SEA, PETALING JAYA.
I paid RM1238 after rebate. It comes with extra freebies:
i) Garmin Leather casing (see photo below)
ii) Garmin Travel adapters + cable (see photo below)
iii) Pre-loaded main maps: Malsing maps (Malaysia and Singapore maps). In addition, I was given New Zealand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Hong Kong. TOTAL MAPS from 12 COUNTRIES.
Picture and video are worth 1000 words. Here's some photos (will upload Video in by this Weekend).
Above, view of the "Navigation map (MalSing) #1. Below, view of the "Navigation map
#2
Above: Right view
Below: Left view with SD Card slot
Below, Back view
Above, Welcome menu screen. Below, The "setup" menu
Above, "POINT OF INTEREST" under "Where to?" menu.
Space for video. Will upload by this Saturday.
For your reading pleasure, Here's a user review I get from a forum:
http://www.gpsreview.net/garmin-nuvi-255w/
"Begin:
First the good:
1. The new interface is by and large great. The map refresh is much much faster than any of the other Nuvis. It now shows a smooth rotation when making turns too, looks really cool. It seems to show the names of surrounding streets more frequently than what I've seen on my roommate's 250W as well.
The turn arrow display is really nice and gives you a much better idea of what to expect as you approach an interchange.
2. Incredibly fast satellite lock. I was astonished actually at how quickly it's been able to pick them up after turning it on. First time took less than 20 seconds or so and after that it's been nearly instantaneous. Was able to get a strong signal sitting in my house no problem. That definitely doesn't work with the 250W.
3. I think the unit may capable of determining time zone on its own. There is no option for setting your time zone, it just has a Time Format and Current Time (which has an auto checkbox next to it) in the time options.
5. It's a nice looking unit, very sleek and dark.
And now the bad...
1. Sound. This absolutely is not the same speech engine found on the other Nuvis. The voices on the 255W are very robotic sounding, hard to understand and made a huge number of road name mispronunciations during the trip today.
What it sounds like to me is that the audio files themselves on the 255W have a very high degree of lossy compression applied to them. The 250W or 750 vs. the 255W is like listening to the uncompressed wav audio from a CD vs. very low bitrate MP3s or something to that effect. Even at 100% volume it was almost impossible to hear on the freeway.
I have to think this is due to Garmin putting less storage space in this unit or something. Wonder if it's possible to use the voices from the other units with an SD card or something... Extremely disappointed overall on the sound front.
2. The green bar at the top of the screen when not navigating an active route now simply says "Driving (direction) on (Road Name)" - it does not show you the names of the upcoming next street the way I've seen other Nuvis do. I have no clue why they would have taken this out, that was a great feature.
. The power switch feels quite flimsy and prone to breakage, just sitting here comparing it to the 250W's, it's definitely looser and feels solid.
So, it really does seem like its one step forward and two steps back with Garmin and new products. They add great things like the new fast UI and fast satellite acquisition, but then go and put in crap sound, take away features like the upcoming cross street names etc.
by a forummer called Ryan "THE END"
Without further ado, here's the Specifications.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Physical & Performance:
Unit dimensions, WxHxD: 4.8"W x 2.9"H x .8"D (12.2 x 7.4 x 2.0 cm)
Display size, WxH: 3.81"W x 2.25"H (9.7 x 5.7 cm); 4.3" diag (10.9 cm)
Display resolution, WxH: 480 x 272 pixels
Display type: WQVGA color TFT with white backlight
Weight: 6.1 ounces (172.93 g)
Battery: rechargeable lithium-ion
Battery life: up to 4 hours
Waterproof: no
High-sensitivity receiver: yes
RoHS version available: yes
Maps & Memory:
Basemap: yes
Preloaded maps: yes
Ability to add maps: yes
Built-in memory: internal solid state
Accepts data cards: SD™ card (not included)
Waypoints/favorites/locations: 1000
Routes: 0
Features:
Voice prompts (e.g. "Turn right in 500 ft."): yes (internal speaker)
Speaks street names (e.g. "Turn right ON ELM STREET in 500 ft."): yes
Voice-activated navigation (operate device with spoken commands): no
Lane assist (guides you to the proper lane for navigation): no
3-D building view (displays buildings in 3-D): no
Auto sort multiple destinations (provides most direct route): no
Auto re-route (fast off-route and detour recalculation): yes
Choice of route setup (faster time, shorter distance, off road): yes
Route avoidance (avoid highways, tolls etc.): yes
Bluetooth® wireless technology (connect to your phone for hands-free calling): no
MSN® Direct compatible: yes
FM traffic compatible: yes
XM® Navtraffic & Radio for U.S. compatible: no
Speed limit indicator (displays speed limit for most major roads): yes
Where Am I? (find closest hospitals, police & gas stations, nearest address & intersection): yes
Garmin Locate™ (marks position when removed from windshield mount): no
ecoRoute™ (calculates a more fuel-efficient route) : yes
Qwerty or ABC keyboard (choose keyboard layout): yes
Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest): yes
Garmin Garage™ vehicles compatible (download car-shaped icons to your device): yes
Garmin Garage™ voices compatible (download custom voices to your device): yes
Photo navigation (navigate to geotagged photos): yes
World travel clock, currency & unit converter, calculator: yes
Picture viewer: yes
MP3 player: no
Audio book player: no
FM transmitter: no
Headphone jack/audio line-out: no
Remote control: no
Garmin Lock™ (anti-theft feature): yes
Touchscreen: yes
Dead reckoning: no
Motorcycle-friendly: no
Trucking-friendly: no
Geocaching-friendly: no
Marine-friendly: no
Additional: This USB mass storage device is compatible with Windows® 2000 or later and Mac® OS X 10.4 or later.
That's all folks, thanks for having the patience to read this...
REFERENCES:
1) Official Garmin website. - for specifications.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=13431#featureTab
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