I bought this unit for my girlfriend as a present sometime back in the hope that it would help her find the exit out of that proverbial paper bag. At the time of purchase, I had narrowed my choice down to two satellite navigation systems that both fell well within my price range; the Tomtom One and the Garmin Nuvi 300, both of which contained GB maps only. Based on my previous experience in using handheld GPS units for hiking and general map work and the fact that Garmin are well represented within the GPS world, I chose the Nuvi over the Tomtom. I was made further confident of my choice when I found the unit for approx £30 less than the TomTom One.
Initial impressions....
On receipt of the unit I was impressed with just how small and neat it was - I was, after all, comparing this unit to the rather cumbersome TomTom 300, which I had been using for the past 2 years or so. In terms of aesthetics, the Garmin Nuvi couldn't be faulted. A sleak, silver, light design backed up by a clear display with a responsive touch screen and easily audible commands made the Nuvi a promising proposition. The reliable window mounted bracket held on by a "sucker" was also very pleasing. As far as features go, the Nuvi was also faultless containing many of the features associated with the more expensive high-endsat navs. Searching for restaurants within my area using the Nuvi revealed no less than 30-40 within a 10 mile radius - many I had never heard of. Other features included the much popular speed camera notifications (which came as a free download with the unit) and a rather nifty road speed indicator that lets the driver know when the maximum speed for that road changes. Starting the unit up for the first time at home, I was pleased to see that the unit acquire a full signal within seconds and was ready to use.
The road test.....
It wasnt until I took the Nuvi on a road test that I found some flaws with the unit. Firstly, on approaching a very large roundabout (that had been there for some 20 years) the on screen map failed to "see" it and instead told me to drive straight on. While I appreciate that satellite navigations systems often make errors, there were many other annoyances such us a "turn right" command on a road that merely bears right, the numerous trips taken up dead ends and the inability for the software to find certain destinations local to me. Perhaps using a TomTom for such a long time prior to buying the Nuvi meant that I was expecting too much from the system.
Conclusions.....
Although I am not on the road everyday and would say I am never reliant on a sat nav. the Nuvi failed for me just because of the sometimes confusing commands. However, it is possible that my experiences are a one-off and perhaps being spoiled by previously using a TomTom this review doesn't reflect exactly how good the Nuvi could be. However, just out of interest, I returned the Garmin Nuvi after its first test run for a full refund, and consequently spent a little bit more on the TomTom One, which my girlfriend has been using successfully ever since.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Great little Sat Nav unit, clear and fast Disadvantages: Traffic unit doesn't work, software updater doesn't work, hard to get out of windscreen mount!
fayperry 25.10.2007 (25.10.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Garmin NÜVI 300
Advantages: Great little Sat Nav unit, clear and fast Disadvantages: Traffic unit doesn't work, software updater doesn't work, hard to get out of windscreen mount!
fayperry 25.10.2007 (25.10.2007)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Garmin NÜVI 300
Sep 22nd, 2007
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