Whats the difference

fergiesfolly

More or less decided to get a Garnin Nuvi 250w but then saw a 255w version. Is there any real difference between the two. Just need basic satnav, which is why I chose the 250 in the first place.

coylemj

The 255 speaks the street name i.e. it will say 'turn left on Pearse St' instead of 'turn left in 50 metres'.

There are a few other subtle differences but that's the main usability difference, for more go to the Garmin website, tick on up to 5 models at a time and compare them...

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/category/automotive

Patrickof

I have a 255w and it doesn't speak the street names, I believe this feature is only with US maps for now.

I imagine the 255 is the replacement for the 250 so in the long run the 255 is (maybe) likely to have firmware updates for a few more years.

It also has slightly better battery life.

coylemj

According to the Garmin website (address posted above), the 250 and 250W have 5 hours battery life while the 255 and 255W have 4 hours.

When I switched to the Garmin UK website the 'speaks street names' feature is now 'no' so you are correct on that one. Another difference I can see is that the Nuvi 250 supports 500 waypoints (favourites) while the 255 can handle 1,000.

The 255 weighs slightly less (5.2 ozs vs. 6.2) and is 'FM Traffic Compatible' which presumably means you can but the FM receiver kit to pick up the TMC data.

coward

The 255(w) displays the next move as an arrow and also the distance to the next move in the top left. I've only seen pictures of the 250 and it does not appear to have this on the main map page. Yep, a tiny feature but I really like it.

fergiesfolly

thanks for the feedback lads. patrickof and Coward, would you recommend the garmin from your own experience or go for something else.

Patrickof

I only have the 255w for about three weeks and haven't had a chance to use it on a long run yet. But from playing with it, it seems quite good and slightly better than the previous Route 66 on a PDA (same s/w as a Chicago).

Coylemj, so if I buy the FM antenna for the 255w it'll become a 255wt? i.e. is the software for the traffic already on the 255w.

Biro

coward wrote: »

The 255(w) displays the next move as an arrow and also the distance to the next move in the top left. I've only seen pictures of the 250 and it does not appear to have this on the main map page. Yep, a tiny feature but I really like it.

That's on the 250 too, and you can tap the arrow and she'll call out the instruction.

Patrickof

Just rang Garmin support, I can add a GTM 25 traffic receiver to a 255w and it will have the traffic functionality (not in Ireland though).

Only thing is the antenna is a ridiculous price on its own, the GTM 12 is €237 from mysatnav.ie - on UK web sites, a more reasonable £35 - £40 plus p+p. Not sure if the gtm 12 will work though.

coward

I too only got the 255w recently and don't have any previous gps device to compare it with. I picked the garmin (rather than tomtom) so it would have the latest navteq maps. Very happy with it so far.