Garmin nüvi 250 Review (GPS)

This year I bought a Garmin nüvi 250 as a gift for someone. I’m not going to say who because I don’t want the gift surprise to be spoiled.

This is the sixth Garmin GPS product I’ve used. I had to take it out of the box so I could update it properly, add some additional icons and get it ready for the recipient so that person can literally take it out of the box and “just go”, as they say.

As stated above this is the sixth Garmin GPS product I’ve used. Prior I’ve used the Rino 130, StreetPilot i3 (discontinued), StreetPilot c340 (discontinued), StreetPilot 2720 (discontinued) and StreetPilot c580, my current mainstay mobile unit.

The nüvi 250 is the first I’ve used that is a combination of mobile and pedestrian use. And yes there is a difference between trail and pedestrian. A trail-use unit is the Rino 130 and is the kind you can go tromping in the woods with. Ones specifically labeled as “pedestrian” are for use walking on city streets and not the great outdoors. The nüvi 250 does both pedestrian and mobile.

Why did I go with the 250?

As you may know there are quite a few nüvi’s to choose from. Why the 250?

First, I chose the 250 because of the recipient of the gift. The person has a small compact car and does not use any super-cool-awesome-advanced features some Garmin units have that have nothing to do with GPS (MP3 player, Bluetooth connectivity, etc.)

Second, I chose it second because of size. It has the same screen size as a StreetPilot c3xx/c5xx and that’s plenty large enough. Very legible. Some may think the widescreen version is better, but in all honesty a GPS unit that is pedestrian-friendly should be smaller so it can fit into the pocket or purse more easily.

Third, it’s 100% touchscreen based. The only tactile item is a sliding power button and that’s it. Although this sounds like a drawback, it’s not.

Fourth, it has complete preloaded maps. The nüvi 200, while cheaper, has regional maps. Nope. Uh-uh. I want the full maps in the 250.

Fifth, and the biggest reason, price. This is priced right and you get awesome bang for the buck with Garmin reliability included. Very cool.

The Bad

I always list the negative before the positive. With that in mind, here are the things I don’t like about the 250.

Chintzy monophonic speaker

When you go thin you have to sacrifice sound quality and the 250 is no exception. It’s thin, it’s light and it sounds tinny. You can hear it just fine and the volume isn’t a problem – the issue is that it doesn’t sound much better than a mobile phone’s speakerphone.

There’s only so much you can do for sound when you go this thin.

I am a bit spoiled because I have heard the speakers of the c580 and 2720 StreetPilots; they sound far superior. But then again the units are larger with bigger speakers. Again, it’s a physical limitation that causes the tinny sound; not a design flaw.

Yet another instance of a menu rename

StreetPilot c340:
Address / Food / Lodging / Fuel / Spell Name

StreetPilot c580:
Food, Hotels…

nüvi 250:
Points of Interest

Three different units. Three different ways of doing the exact same thing.

In the StreetPilot c3xx series, the on-screen buttons were separated from Where To? for different types of locations.

In the c5xx, these buttons were placed into a submenu accessible by Food, Hotels… from Where To?

In the nüvi 250 it’s Points of Interest from Where To?

Garmin really needs to outright decide WHAT to call this because they keep changing it. I have contacted Garmin personally via e-mail and noted they should simply call it “Places”; it should be universal across all nüvi and StreetPilot models so no matter which one you use they all have a good sense of familiarity to them.

At present this is not the case.

No USB cable provided to connect to your computer

In order to connect the nüvi to your computer you need a standard mini USB connector. If you have a digital camera you most likely already have one. The connector it uses is not proprietary (thank God), so if you don’t have one you can pick it up at Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, etc.

StreetPilots do come with USB cables. The nüvi 250 doesn’t.

Why is this important? How else are you going to update the unit?

Not obvious it needs updating right out of the box

Once you have your USB cable you can update the nüvi to the latest firmware, voices, etc.

Does your Garmin mobile GPS work out of the box? Yes, it will work. No question.

Are most people aware that you should update the unit first? No.

Why update? Because it improves navigation ability, applies fixes here and there and makes it operate better.

Updating any StreetPilot or nüvi is stupidly easy.

1. Download the WebUpdater and install it (Mac and Windows versions available)
2. Plug in to the GPS to your computer via USB.
3. Download any updates necessary (the software will get them).
4. Disconnect the nüvi from the computer.
5. Boot it.
6. Let it update itself (which it will).

Done. It doesn’t get much easier.

Even though the unit I bought was brand new, it was a few software revisions behind. This is nothing an update can’t attend to – but the fact of the matter is that I knew how to do it whereas most people wouldn’t.

The Good

I’ve got lots of good things to say about this little mobile GPS.

High-sensitivity receiver works very well

One gripe from StreetPilot c3xx owners is that GPS signal acquisition was a bit difficult at times. This was cured with SiRF tech included in the c5xx StreetPilots and the nüvi series.

You want signal? We got signal. Works great.

Put it this way: It took usually 2 to 3 minutes to get good signal acquisition after boot with the c340 from a “cold start”. The c580 takes less than 15 seconds once booted. The nüvi has the same ability.

Stays on the glass better

Anyone who has ever used the suction mount on a GPS has experienced at least a few times where it falls off the glass, hits the dashboard and takes a dive for the floor.

The nüvi is very unlikely to do that due to the fact it’s so light. Less weight = less chance of it “taking a dive”.

Great mounting bracket

In addition to the suction mount staying put better, the mounting bracket holds the nüvi snug and tight. And because the unit is near-flat, there is a lot less shake.

Powered by USB! Yes!

The nüvi is powered only by USB (and comes provided with cigarette lighter adapter cable). This means it’s EASY to buy a backup power cable instead of hunting on eBay for a proprietary Garmin power connector. THANK YOU, GARMIN. This was very necessary. Universal is good.

Ability to enter longitude/latitude coordinates directly

On no StreetPilot model save for the higher-end 2720/2730/2820 models do you have the ability to enter in coordinates directly.

On the nüvi you can and it’s easy.

I wish I had this feature on my c580.

Better menu layout

With each successive model that Garmin releases the menus get better. The nüvi is, in all honesty, stupidly easy to use. Even easier than the c580.

You could place this unit in someone’s hand with absolutely no instructions or manual and they would be able to figure it out. That I’m sure of.

Does exactly what it’s designed to do and does it well

There are GPS units that are chock full of useless crap and then there are those that are designed proper, skip the crap and do the job right.

The nüvi definitely counts as one that does it’s job the way it’s supposed to.

You don’t have to fight with menus or figure out complicated features. Chances are you probably won’t even have to read the manual. The best part is there’s no useless crap. Everything in the unit has a usable purpose. You may not use all the features, but it is at its core a GPS first and that is what you will enjoy most about it.

Conclusion

Even though the nüvi is considered to be “basic” GPS, it doesn’t look or act basic and certainly doesn’t perform basic. This unit is anything but basic in the way it works. It’s a nifty little stylish unit has outstanding navigation capability, stays out of your way easily and does what it’s supposed to do.

GPS-geeky guys like myself will point out the flaws because we have larger, more expensive units with more whiz-bang features. But I can honestly say I could use this for day-to-day driving easily because it has the same performance level as the c580 – and that’s saying a lot.

If you were looking to jump into the world of mobile GPS, you can’t do much better than the nüvi 250 considering it’s price point.

And remember, dedicated GPS is always better than using your mobile phone because it’s a one-time-cost. There are no fees for using GPS standalone units. GPS service is provided by Uncle Sam for free as a common good. You can thank President Reagan for that one. So if you ever thought your government never did anything for you, GPS is one you can use right now at no cost (other than buying a receiver like the nüvi).

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