Automotive > GPS > Garmin nüvi 295W

Garmin nüvi 295W 3.5-Inch Widescreen Wi-Fi Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin 

Get Turn-By-Turn Directions
With an intuitive interface that greets you with simple icons and a scrollable menu, nuvi 295W is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. With a quick tap on an icon or flick of the menu, you can easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with detailed City Navigator NT street maps for the US and Canada with nearly 6 million points of interest (POIs) such as stores, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, gas stations, ATMs and more, and speed limits for the most major roads. cityXplorer maps are also available for your nuvi 295W. cityXplorer maps provide the latest detailed roads and points of interest for metropolitan areas.  

Product Features: 

*Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

*Spoken street names (e.g. "Turn right on Elm street in 500 ft.")

*Dual-orientation automatically switches between portrait and landscape view

*3 MP camera with auto-focus

*Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity

*MP3 player with 2.5mm headphone jack/audio line-out

*1-step navigation from contacts, e-mail, and local search results

Technical Details:  

Brand Name: Garmin 

Model: 010-00916-00 

Connectivity Technology: Wi-Fi, USB 

Display Size: 3.550 inches 

Battery Average Life: 4 Hours

Amazon Verified Purchase
Reviewed by: Northern Traveler (Michigan)
Replaced my 755T, May 20, 2010
This review is from: Garmin nüvi 295W 3.5-Inch Widescreen Wi-Fi Portable GPS Navigator
Just finished my first few hours with the 295W.
Just received the 295W today to replace the 755T that was unfortunately stolen. I was thinking about waiting for the 3790T or 3760T, but needed something before that becomes available.
** UNIT DIMENSIONS / FEEL / RESPONSE **
First impressions of the 295W are pretty good. Good fit and finish, has the right heft to it to where it does not have a "toy" feel. Fit and finish is nicer than the 755T I had. All functions process more quickly than the 755T did, and the touch screen is much more responsive. On my old unit, either the processor bogged down a bit, or the screen sensitivity was not quite there, but it did not respond like the 295W does. Scrolling with the touch screen is nice both in the menus, and in map view mode.
** ROUTING / DIRECTIONS **
The routing seemed faster than the 755T. I will miss the lane assist when I travel to larger cities like L.A. and Atlanta, but for the vast amount of time, it won't be a big deal. I did purposely take some wrong turns to check the rerouting capabilities, and found that to be very quick.
That said, it did have one hiccup already. ( i.e.- when chose Lowe's from the POI list, it showed it in two different directions, same address, 5 miles apart. There is only one Lowe's in my town, and it is not a divided highway or anything).
** UPLOADS **
I have not yet updated the map. It seems strange to have JUST released the unit, and the website suggests there is an updated map set available? I am going to see if I can figure out the version, and when the last one was released. Since I can upload over 60 days from initial use, I may wait a bit.
That said, I did upload some of the extra voices and vehicles that you can get from the Garmin site. It was quick, and seems to be just fine. ( By the way, I did have the problem upload with my prior 755T that made it a brick, and I had to send back and forth with Garmin.)
** WEB / WIRELESS **
Set up with my wireless network. Security settings were easy. The auto download weather is a neat feature, but I don't see myself carrying this around every day in and out of the house the way I probably would with GarminPhone. The Google Local Search worked well though. The pre-loaded POIs were very good I thought, but there were a couple places I figured it wouldn't know, and it didn't. Connected through the web though, it found them in 5 seconds, and then they were added to the unit saved places.
** OVERALL FIRST IMPRESSION **
After being used to the larger 755T screen, this seems a little bit small. Seems like I can't just glance as quickly at it as the prior unit, but maybe that will change with some time. The spoken directions seem a little bit clearer than the 755 was The response of the unit is very good in my opinion. Not sure how much I will really use the wireless, but I can see it handy traveling when I head to the hotel and might be looking for all the food options locally that the bas POI may not have, etc....
I am headed on a couple hundred mile drive over the next weekend and will see what other opinions arise. I know it's an initial review, but at least I don't have any buyer's remorse at this point. I may still wind up with a 7300 series after those arrive, and put this in the other vehicle, but we'll see.
**As for the packaging issues mentioned by the first poster, (who may just have wanted to be the first poster, since it certainly was not a PRODUCT review), I can say that while everything did arrive in fine shape, the stuff did just kind of seem tossed in the box. I felt it actually cheapened the Garmin brand to send it this way.