Garmin’s nüvi 200W combines the thinprofile and attractive price point of other nüvi 200-series GPS with and a beautiful 4.3-inch (diagonally) wide touchscreen that lets you see more of what’s around you as you drive. As with all nüvis, you get Garmin reliability, the fast satellite lock of a high-sensitivity integrated receiver, a slim, pocket-sized navigator with a gorgeous display, detailed NAVTEQ maps that lets you search by name for more than 6 million points of interest like stores, restaurants or hospitals, and an easy, intuitive interface.Which nüvi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators.Wider screen lets you see more of what’s around. C [Read More...]
Buy Garmin nüvi 200W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator at Amazon
I wont bore you with what everybody else says about the 200W. It’s a great unit and very easy to learn. I also own a Mio C220 GPS and as both GPS systems are similar, I would like to compare them.
Ease of use… Nuvi by far the best.
Picking up and holding satellites… Mio by far the best.
Sound volume… Nuvi by far the best.
Screen brightness… Nuvi by far the best.
Routing… Both get you there but the Nuvi has better routing (Navtec) versus Mio (TeleAtlas).
Although the Nuvi has a bigger screen it lacks two features the Mio has and I miss them very much. The Mio has an arrow that always points to North, the Nuvi does not. The Mio shows the next turn on the screen, the Nuvi does not, and you have to touch the bottom right part of the Nuvi screen to see the next turn in advance. You do see the turn coming as you get to that turn on the Nuvi but it’s nice to know more in advance then the Nuvi lets you know. With such a large screen it’s hard to justify not having these two items on screen as I find them important. The POI’s are much harder to program in on the Mio but the Mio lets you categorize your POI’s, the Nuvi lumps them all into one category. Via points are basically unlimited in the Mio but not easily programed in, the Nuvi allows only one via point but is easily programed into the trip. The Mio offers a “QWERTY” key board to input information while the Nuvi has an “ABC” keyboard. This isn’t a big deal but why not a QWERTY keyboard as everybody uses on on their own computers, and finding letters is much faster. Both are great GPS systems, the Mio is “meat and potatoes” while the Nuvi is “pheasant under glass”. My advice is that although the Nuvi 200W is about $100 more than the Mio C220, its the one to get due to the sound volume and screen brightness, routing and ease of use.
This is entry-level automotive GPS from Garmin. That means it lacks “advanced” functions as FM transmitter, bluetooth connectivity or MP3 player. However, in my opinion, a stand-alone GPS unit doesn’t need any of that, and certainly not at a $200+ cost.
Widescreen makes 200W/250W so much better than other 200 series models. Getting directions from the unit is the same, regardless of the screen size, but you will be able to see a lot more of what is around you as you drive with these units - places off a highway, gas stations, restaurants. It’s also easier to use the touch screen, as icons are quite larger.
Comparing 200W/250W with new the 700 series clearly shows these units as entry level, but again, the price gap is huge and I believe it’s simply not worth it. One might consider 770 which includes European maps over 200/250, as buying them separately is quite expensive.
This little guy has everything most more expensive Garmins do but for a lot, lot cheaper. The primary difference between this model and more expensive ones are that you don’t get Alaska, Hawaii, or Canada maps. If these are important, look elsewhere. The much more expensive ($500+) models say the street names, this one does not. However, if those features mean little to you, pick this one up. The list of locations is staggeringly large and current, the maps (on the one I purchased) were dated 2008… I couldn’t be happier.