Garmin 215T

[sgreenbank]

Hi,

My mobile phone running TomTom has just died and I am thinking of getting the Nuvu 215T because:

1) It's not widescreen - this to me seems to serve no purpose other than make it look bigger for sales purposes. If it was widescreen but vertical then yes I could see more of where I was going (my phone was always used portrait) but no manufacturer does it this way probably because it could not easily fit in the car.

2) Bluetooth (to replacement phone)

3) Traffic news - is it any good in the UK?

I was also interested if there are any restrictions with the POI. On the TomTom on the phone I could use speed zoned cameras but only when I disabled all but a few other POI. Is the Garmin similarly or worse constricted?

[PaulB2005]

With the Garmin units you should have no problems unless you load over 256 categories in one go. Personally i would use the Consolidated database on the Nuvi.

With regards to the Widescreen i think it does make a difference as you can see side road names much easier.

Traffic - Hmmm. Well I haven't used it that much in anger as it where. However it has saved me on at least one occasion but i wouldn't rely on it. The signal is weak in the UK and can be lost at in-opportune moments (usually just as you need it). It's implementation into Garmin units isn't all that good compared to TomToms system. All you get is a symbol telling you the total time of the delays on your route. You have to go through a few screens to get any information about the delays like how many, what type of delay and how far away they are. Did a 300 mile journey once and all the way it showed 40-50 minutes delay but every time i checked the delay was in the last 20 miles of the journey. OK so i needed to know but not until was say 10 miles away from it. Every time the situation changes you have to go through the same screens again to find out if it's another delay that has been added closer to you or if they have adjusted the delay for the original problem.

[sgreenbank]

Thanks for the info Paul.

The Speed Cameras sounds possibly better but I definitely prefer the speed zones becuase

1) its a comforting reference to what I thought the curent speed limit to be .

2) In areas I know well my navigation is still better than TomToms and I often drive with the map for reference with no route entered. In this situaution you can get proximity alerts which are off your route which particularly if you are on a motorway can easily be identified as irrelevant as the speed does not match.

Which leads to the obvious question of can you set the Nuvi to alert based on distance regardless of whether it is on route and can you change the distance for each type of alert ?

Still not convinced on Widescreen although I do acknowledge that it can be slightly confusing at times when there are a lot of side roads when you need to make a turn.

Traffic does indeed sound less than great. My experience of RDS TA and road matrix signs is that they are often of limited accuracy or just plain wrong. Most RDS TA are not available on Sunday Evening - a particular bug-bear as I am quite often heading towards London on the M1 and it is frequently stuffed.

[Darren]

[PaulB2005]

[sgreenbank]

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