Do I want a Garmin Nuvi 2545LMT?

P. Breathnach

Hi Folks.

Most of my driving is done in Ireland, but I also take the car to France every year for a week or two, and very occasionally I might take it to Britain. I currently have a Garmin Nuvi 200 with maps that I have not updated since I bought it 3 years ago.

Rather than pay to update my maps (and still have only a little bit of France covered) I am thinking of getting the Nuvi 2545 which promises cover of all of Western Europe and offers free lifetime map updates. I am not very interested in speed camera alerts or such bells and whistles, but I would like to be able to find nearby hotels, especially in France (Herself could tell stories about trying to locate various hotels we booked on our recent French trip using "how to find us" pages from websites).

I don't want to become a "GPS techie". I want a simple life: GPS that works fairly well, and updating that is relatively straightforward; a reasonable product life - say 4 years or better. Within reason, price is not the most important consideration.

Does it look to you as if the Nuvi 2545 might meet my requirements?

[I would like to share a little GPS anecdote from our recent trip to France. Herself is well used to navigating with maps in France, and she double-checks the GPS routes. We came to an intersection, and the GPS recommended that we turn left; Herself said that she thought straight ahead looked to be a better route; I turned right. "Why did you do that?" she asked. "Because that is what the signpost said." Really.]

P. Breathnach

Okay, nobody said that the Nuvi 2545LMT was a good choice for me, but neither did anybody say that it was a bad one. So I have ordered one from Amazon. As sure as eggs is eggs, somebody who didn't notice my post will now come along and make a good case for not buying it.

I'll let you know how I get on.

joolsveer

Have you received your GPS yet? I am in the market for a new satnav as my old Garmin packed up yesterday. I had the map for Ireland, UK and western Europe and want the new one to have the same.

P. Breathnach

Not yet. I took the free carriage option, which is slower: "Your satnav is in the post".

If it arrives in the next couple of days, I'll give you my first impression fairly fast. If it's later in the week, my report will have to wait because I will be away for a few days.

P. Breathnach

As promised, my first impressions (after only an hour, and without a roadtest).

1. The user interface is different from my old nuvi200. Some extra options, and I am not tuned in on it yet. I think I will like it better.
2. Better satellite detection: it works indoors, which the last one could not do.
3. I asked it for a route that the 200 did not manage too well. It chose what I would consider the best route.
4. Different voice. That's a pity, because I had fallen in love with Liza (I call her Liza because she Liza'nd lies).
5. More local information (shopping, etc.) but not 100% accurate. I wouldn't expect anything different: I know the nearest pub to me does not serve food, but Garmin don't.
6. The USB lead supplied for updating is extremely short. I needed to use an extension because my main PC is a desktop model.
7. Linking with the Garmin website for registration is easy provided you don't use one of the less popular browsers (I use SRWare Iron, and had to switch to IE to communicate with Garmin). I'm not yet sure about updating maps: the routine seems to be handled by Garmin's site, allowing me to be fairly passive. But I have slowish broadband, and don't want to tie my connection up for hours; I'll wait until I can use a high-speed connection somewhere.
8. Battery life seems very short.

First impression summary: I think I will be satisfied with this device.

[Or maybe I will be back in a couple of weeks telling you what is wrong with it.]