Readmore! Garmin nüvi 275/275T 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
Technical Details
- Bright, 3.5-inch diagonal color QVGA TFT touchscreen with 320 x 240 pixels and white backlight- Sleek, ultra-thin design fits easily in pocket
- Preloaded with City Navigator North America NT and Europe NT
- Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling
- NOTE: Model number on the box is 275T because the traffic receiver is included; however, the model number on the device itself is 275 as the "T" in 275T refers to the additional component
See more: technical details
By Last Row
Just used my Nuvi 275 in London and I must say that I was very disappointed with it operating in pedestrian mode. First it takes a very long time( >5min) to lock when you come out of the tube ( subway ) even in an open area. Secondly in pedestrian mode it would not route you down a one-way street (sidewalks are not one-way). So you have the large loops which work fine in a car but way too long for walking in circles. I could not find a way to drop a via to make it re-calcuate the route.
The speed camera was another pain. In pedestrian mode the speed camera would go off repeatedly ie you could not see the map for the warnings that occurred every time you moved.
To figure out how long a route was you had to go to the direction list and add up the distances (it does have a pop up that gives distance but its very quick to see).
Battery life was maybe 2-3 hours. Not good for a trip to the museums and dinner.
Finally, I noticed that it had a uSD card and could display pictures. Wow! I put my pictures in folders neatly organized only to discover that the Nuvi does not understand a folder! It just had one very large clump of pictures that in thumbnail mode move very slow.
I wonder if anyone at Garmin has used this product in Europe. The pre-loaded Europe map was a reason that I purchased this GPS.
One good item was that it charges with any USB charger which may be a PC, Apple iPod Charger, Motorola Cell Phone Charger, or BB. So you don't have to carry a specific charger for this GPS.
So buyer beware!
By R. R. Allen (Evergreen, CO USA)
Bought this item specifically for a road trip to Europe. Worked great until one day I decided to use it in Pedestrian mode in Florence. After that day the unit would not boot up. It would cycle through the loading maps screen and continually restart until maybe in 20-40 minutes it would finally load the maps. Major pain in the rear!
Not sure what caused this problem. The battery did run out of juice in pedestrian mode, but hopefully that's not the issue. When I got back to the US, I hooked it up to my computer, fixed some disk problems and downloaded new maps. This seems to have fixed the problem, but I doubt I'll ever use pedestrian mode ever again.
By Gauteng (VA, United States)
I recently took my Nuvi 275T to England and Poland on travel. Thanks to its compact dimensions, the Nuvi 275T and accessories pack very easily in a carry on bag. Initial satellite acquisition takes a minute or less. I used the optional Garmin friction mount which I found really convenient since you basically throw it up on the dash. While some may wish for a larger screen, I found the 3.5" screen perfect in about 1000 miles of driving. The contrast and legibility of the images and text are superb. I downloaded a few POI files before I left for my trip. Transferring files on both a PC and a Mac is uncomplicated and I was able to use the files to find some locations in the UK.
The 275T had no problem navigating the streets of small towns on the south coast of England and most importantly it got me to the rental car return location at Heathrow airport the first time which many probably know can be a real chore. I can't comment too much on the overall POI database but it was able to find the important stuff such as banks, gas stations etc. easily. The speed camera warning feature was also very effective in the UK, using an icon on the screen and an alert sound.The small size of the unit and the ease with which it can be disassembled from the friction mount meant that parking and stowing the GPS out of sight was a simple process. In Poland, I switched the spoken language to Polish and the unit announced the directions in clear and excellent Polish (according to my companion). We drove to a mountain ski resort and the Nuvi had no problem finding it. At those times when I left the unit unplugged from power, I found the batttery life to be excellent. This proved to be handy for pedestrian use or playing with routes in the hotel room. It can however be plugged into the USB port of a laptop or desktop for charging if necessary.
For travellers who need a GPS with US and Europe maps included, I think the 275T is an excellent value proposition.
By M. A. Arshad (Pittsburgh, PA)
It works perfectly with the given features - which is not exactly what I was looking for - but for the given price, it is fabulous deal. I am missing the MP3 player feature, but I really needed to ave Europe maps and it is great. Good deal.
One good feature difference that I found is that in the tunnels in Boston it worked for 2-3 mins while I was underground; and then finally it lost signal but somehow the software recognized the tunnels and didn't bug me for lost satellite reception every 5 secs.
By Bryan E. Szabo (Los Angeles, CA)
I'm giving this Garmin five stars, not because it's perfect, but because it's perfect in what it does. And also to partially compensate for the ones and twos which tend to throw people off track. While there can be no pleasing everyone in matters of personal taste, this GPS deserves all the accolades I can provide.
I call it a traveling companion and judge it accordingly. In fact, I waited until completing an arduous East coast leg of the recent U2360 tour to base my review on. We bought this bad boy specifically for that occasion. From Cape Cod to Washington DC, I'd be putting over 1500 miles on our rental cars within the span of twelve days over roads I had never driven before. We agreed before hand that we'd either love it or hate it by the time we returned home. And by then we should know it for all its strengths and faults.
What I LOVED about it was the ability to take it with me into our hotel room each night so I could plot and plan the next day's journey.
Portability is a key feature for me, though some people may wonder if the screen size is big enough in this age of bigger is better. Depends what your primary concerns are, I guess. This fella you can carry around with you like a cell phone! In fact, I often ended up taking it with me into concerts, just so I could play with it in the long lines before shows.
I like it that much. In fact, I call it my GameBoy, in part because I'm addicted to maps. And Garmin, for those of you who love maps too, is map-centric, which not all GPS units are. What I mean is that you can zoom in and zoom out like you can with Google from a distance that includes the entire United States down to a street corner. I LOVE creating a route and then focusing in on the destination so I can see what's around it. This can be a handy research tool for writers. I'm amazed at all the uses I keep coming up with.
Which reminds me, the bluetooth feature is NOT some frivolous add-on you might need on occasion. I use it ALL the time. It's one of those whizbang features you'll wonder how you ever got along without. The darn unit becomes a living-breathing phone book with call-through ability. Think about that. You can look up Costco or a pizza place in some faraway land and the number will pop up with it. With your cell phone nearby, you just touch the Garmin and you're connectetd! That's way, way cool. A lifesaver.
I could go on and on. But what you really want to know is, tell me more about the specific features with this unit. How well do they work? What about satellite aquisition? What DIDN'T you like about it on your trip?
Let's see:
Satellite aquisition was marvelous everywhere but Boston. Don't ask me why. It may have been the tall buildings. It may have been because I was curious and turned the unit on when we were still in the plane over Massachusetts. I wanted to see if it could track us in the air... For those scoring at home, it could not. :(
Since our trip started in Boston, I was paranoid the maps would be locked on LAX for the duration. Not cool considering I had preprogrammed all our hotels and concert venues into the unit ahead of time. (This Garmin allows for Google map integration, but I haven't needed to do this so far.) If I had to resort to AAA maps, I would have been one unhappy camper! But when we picked up our rental car in Saugus, the maps popped up and we were saved.
I have two issues with this Garmin that may be addressed with other models:
1) Exiting malls, minimalls and stripmalls, I can never get a bearing on which way to head out. "Please drive to highlighted route" sounds great, until I try and figure out which way is intended. I've learned to strike out in any ol' direction and wait for "Recalcuating" to kick in.
2) Highway Lane Splits. We bought my wife model 765t because everyone in our family now owns a Garmin and I got to try out my aunt's side-by-side with mine. Lane assist appears to be a godsend -- because there were a few hairy moments on our trip when highways would split and I assumed I was okay and then ended up heading for New Jersey. (Always New Jersey). That's because you'll get directions such as, "Take exit, on right, then bear left" which sounds simple but turns out not precisely true. A time or two the arrow pointed one way and the voice told me something different. I'm assuming lane assist would resolve these issues. (I'll write a review for that once I've convinced my wife I won't hijack hers.)
So why five stars? Well, I wasn't expecting perfection in the first place. I'm accustomed to driving in hairy places without any assistance at all. And time after time, Garmin did utterly fantastic. We even had a refrain in our car that went, "Garmin saves the day again."
Oh, and the traffic function for me worked amazingly well. I'd be driving along and up would pop the signal that there was a delay ahead. Even once, after returning home, when we were in line for yet another U2 show in Las Vegas, the line snaking into Sam Boyd went on forever. I dared to hit "detour" to see what would happen. Aside from giving my wife a near heart attack, it sent us down some backroads which cut the time at least in half.
I've had a blast with this thing. I use it all the time now, even around home because a) I love maps no matter where I am 2) I've come to depend on the speed limit indicators that have kept me from getting tickets 3)It's the best bluetooth device I've ever used! My phone calls are crystal clear and the range is terrific. My phone lies sequestered in a case in my pocket, yet the whole phone directory pops up with the simple touch of a button. Brilliant!
Pedestrian mode has worked just fine for me as well. The issue with addresses in malls (see above) can come into play at times, when you want to find a specific storefront. But it works fantastic if you want to locate your car in a parking lot. Just set it to "offroad" mode and hit the icon on your current map and say "save setting". It will then bring you back to the exact location, even someplace like Soldier Field (I love you, Chicago) or Fenway Park (go Sox!).
So while it isn't faultless, it has become irreplaceable, and thus the five stars. As to the European maps, I can only dream for now, virtually paying visits to Paris. When you think about it, that's kinda cool too though. Pull up Berlin or Dublin, drop in on Windmill Lane or Zoo Station!
Lookout, baby -- grab the Garmin. There's another U2 tour a-comin...
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