Garmin Nuvi 275T GPS

I was planning a trip to Italy and that's why I got a Garmin Nuvi 275T GPS. The 275T is the least expensive Garmin that comes with maps of Europe pre-loaded. As of this writing, the Garmins that come with maps of Europe installed are the 275T, the 775T, and the 1370T. I read a bunch of GPS reviews, and unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of useful information. I think people who are really into GPS get super-technical about it and talk about stuff I don't care about. It also seems like there are a lot of GPS reviews by people who have never had one, which makes me scratch my head. If you want to know the difference between the 275T and the 775T, it looks like it's the screen. The 275T has a 3.5 inch screen. The 775T has a 4.3 inch screen in widescreen aspect.

If you're looking for a review of a Garmin Nuvi 275T GPS that somebody actually bought, took to Europe, and used every day, then read on.

What You Get

Here's what comes in the box: Your Nuvi 275T, a car charger, a windshield mount, a USB cable, and a quick-start manual. The battery in the Nuvi lasts up to 4 hours.

Features: Obviously, the Nuvi 275T is a GPS so it stands to reason that it does that. It can figure out where you're at within a couple of feet. As mentioned above, the 275T comes pre-loaded with maps of North America and Europe. The Garmin gives turn by turn directions on the display and also by voice.

It comes with "lifetime traffic" which I think means that it can tell you when you're headed into traffic congestion, and that when you buy the GPS, you get that service for the life of the device. I would guess that if you're somewhere that you know how to get around, then knowing that the traffic ahead is congested can help. It doesn't really help when you're in another country and you're trying to find your hotel.

One thing that is really nice is that this model comes with Point of Interest (POI) look-up. So wherever you are, you can look for restaurants, hotels, and museums. Whatever you look up is sorted by the distance you are from it. In other words, if your search comes up with two restaurants, the closer of the two will be at the top. We used the POI function in Italy several times, and the Garmin was able to supply good search results every time.

The Garmin can also pair with your Bluetooth enabled phone. Once you have the Garmin paired with your phone, you can use it two separate ways. One, you can use the Garmin like a speakerphone in the car (which doesn't really sound very awesome to me). Two, you can use it to call any POI that comes up in a search. So let's say you've done your search for a restaurant and you want to call one. All you do is click and the Garmin tells your phone to call the restaurant. That's kind of cool.

There are a bunch of other features. It has a picture viewer, a world clock, calculator, currency converter, unit converter, and more. Most of these are nice to have here and there, but really, the important thing is that it can tell you how to get from point A to point B.

Quick Piece of Advice

Some people will tell you to purchase a charger that you can plug into a normal electrical socket, and I'm going to tell you to save your money. The only reason you would want to do something like that is if you were using your GPS for walking around somewhere. and you were staying somewhere for a long time and weren't planning on using a car. However, GPS isn't really as handy for walking as it is for driving around. And if you do, you'll usually find that you use it long enough to get your bearings and then turn it back off again. If you really think that you'll need to charge your GPS then you can use the USB cable that comes in the box. You can use that cable to plug the Garmin into your computer, or a standard USB charger (if you have one) or even the charger that currently comes with iPhones. As long as it follows the USB standard, you can use it to charge your Garmin Nuvi 275T (of course, you do so at your own risk, but it worked for me!) I love it when companies follow standards.

How the Garmin Nuvi 275T Works

Basically, you put in the city, the address, and the street, and hit Go. The GPS will figure out how to get you there. You can tell it to find the most direct route or the fastest. There are several display options, but the best is the default 3D. It's fun to be able to see other streets around you. The Garmin 275T has a voice that gives you turn-by-turn instructions. It will do its best to pronounce the street names, which can get a little humorous with the super-long Italian street names. They've got it worked out so that it's very helpful. The GPS will tell you ahead of time what street is your next turn, how far away the street is, and what direction you need to turn. Then when you reach the turn, it will tell you to turn and then you're ready for it. If the turn is far away, you can look at the screen and see how far away it is.

What's Good

It Gets You There: Since you're seeing a graphical representation of what is coming up, you can anticipate turns and curves. If you miss a turn, the Garmin does a good job of getting you back on track. It makes navigation care-free. Instead of spending all your time wrestling with maps and worrying if you're going the right way, you can enjoy the trip.

It's Pocket-Sized: When you get to your destination, you just pop the GPS out of the mount and put it in your bag or pocket.

The Technology has Limitations

The Maps Get Out of Date: In places where the terrain or roads have changed recently, the maps will be out of date. We saw a few examples of this in Italy with newly built roundabouts. Luckily you get one free map upgrade. After that you can purchase updates.

Getting a signal: If you're in a building or a long tunnel, you won't get a signal. If you're in a place where the buildings are tall, and the streets are narrow, it will be hard to get a signal on the street. In Venice we couldn't get a signal. There were places in Paris that we had some trouble too. It also seems like it's hard to get a signal in any city when you're close to a wall. The GPS seems to be able to get a signal better if you're moving. So sometimes in Venice, we would go find a public square and then walk back and forth in it.

No Compass: My number one complaint with the GPS is that if you're not moving, the Garmin has no idea what direction you are facing. Very often you have to just start in one direction and the adjust when the GPS figures out what direction you're going. That can be frustrating.

Wrap-Up

If you're going to Europe and you plan to rent a car, you should totally get a GPS. I really like the Garmin Nuvi 275T. It's affordable, and works really well. One last thing.