I’ve been testing a Garmin nuvi 205W recently and have been surprised to find a couple of advanced features in this entry-level product that I wasn’t anticipating:
- Speed limit icons display the speed limit for many roads
- Tracklog display can show where you’ve been and can be downloaded to your computer (tracklogs can be cleared and the feature can be disabled for those of you with something to hide!)
You can see both these features in the screen shot above. The tracklog is the thin blue line trailing behind the current position icon. The speed limit being shown is for a two-lane road, albeit a relatively busy one.
These are in addition to features we already knew about including:
- Display of shaded elevation models for a more realistic view of the surrounding terrain
- Navigation by photos (using Garmin Connect Photos which draws from Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community)
- A faster 333 Mhz microprocessor for speedier map redraws and route calculation
- Faster satellite acquisition via a new Garmin HotFix(TM) feature that calculates and stores critical satellite information
- The "Where am I?" feature that allows drivers to display their exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations
- Optional TMC traffic or enhanced MSN Direct services
These are some very nice features that we haven’t seen before in an entry level line from Garmin. I expect these models will be very popular over the holiday season, and that we will see steep discounts on the older 200 series units. I’ve already heard of the nuvi 200 being found on sale for $99 and I expect it to be that price or lower come Black Friday.
I’ll have a full review of the nuvi 205W posted in the next couple of weeks.
Get the Garmin nuvi 2×5 series from Amazon:
- Garmin nuvi 205
– 3.5" screen
- Garmin nuvi 205W
- Garmin nuvi 255
- Garmin nuvi 255W
Related post:
About Rich Owings