Garmin nüvi 270 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Reviews

• GPS With European Maps

  
  By A18BX7HMYDZ7IP on 2007-08-23
  The Garmin GPS was a godsend on our trip to Europe. If you have ever driven into cities or small towns in Europe you will know how difficult it is to navigate, while trying to read foreign street signs, dodging motor scooters and bicylists, finding the right exit out of a around-about all the while being pushed along by the very aggressive drivers behind you. But with the GPS most of that stress goes away as you know when and where to turn and you drive through towns like a native. I was very impressed that even going through the miles long tunnels of the alps the GPS must be programmed to keep the unit tracking without a satellite signal because several minutes later coming out of the tunnel it still provides instructions. I purchased the pricier model 270 because of the factory installed European maps. If you purchased a GPS with only North America maps and had to load the European maps the cost of those maps would be another $250. It's less money to get the 270 or 370 with maps already loaded. The windshield mounting is excellent and worked well in the rental car. The Nuvi series GPS is convenient enough in size to be carried in the pocket for walking around the cities. But it does not work as well for pedestrian purposes because it cannot keep bearings well as you tend to rotate the device and it looses it sense of direction. I read all the reviews on GPS's and chose the Garmin because of it's higher ratings for search engine, ease of use and maps. You will immediately become an expert user even without reading instructions with this device. It is literally that easy to use.
  
  

• Not for Pedestrians in France and Switzerland

  
  By A275EOYAIDKYAU on 2008-06-01
  I retired a couple years ago as a commercial pilot who dealt with GPS's on a daily basis and have a factory installed unit in my Acura TL.
  
  I bought this unit to use as a pedestrian sight-seeing in France and Switzerland. This review is only my experience trying to use the Garmin Nuvi 270 as a pedestrian in European cities. I make no supposition how it would work in a car in the USA nor in a car through the narrow streets of Europe or as a pedestrian in US cities..
  
  The Garmin Nuvi 270 has a pedestrian mode and is pre-loaded with maps of Europe. At slightly over $300 the unit was very appealing so I bought one for my trip in May 2008.
  
  The Good:
  
  1. The touch screen is very responsive
  2. The screen is very clear and bright.
  3. 3.5 inch screen, in my view, is the perfect pedestrian size.
  4. The database used is good by today's standards.
  5. Physically the 270, in my opinion, is the correct size for walking.
  
  The Bad:
  
  1. The first bad feature and by far the overriding issue is the Nuvi 270's inability to acquire satellites in European cities . (Without Satlilite communication the Nuvi 270 is not able to navigate.) I read all the reviews posted on Amazon and elsewhere, although many mentioned this issue, none seemed to adequately drive this point home enough for me not to buy it. On our day trip to Strasbourg, France, I held the unit out at ½ arms length for 1 1/2 hours while walking and saw only two screens, `Acquiring satellites' or `unable to acquire Satellites do you want to continue'. The unit never ever acquired enough Satellites in Strasburg to even show where we were, let alone navigate. I even stood on a round-about in the middle of a busy intersection for 20 minutes hoping it would acquire enough Satellites to be functional....it did not! I cannot over stress this enough....it was useless in Paris, where it would acquire for a short time and then lose them during the walk, in Geneva where it acquired them on the lake, but lost them in town. In Marseilles where it acquired them going to an island but quickly lost them in town.
  2. Once acquired, satellite retention is very poor. Sometimes aircraft GPS', as well as my Acura will take a couple minutes to acquire satellites, particularly if the unit has been moved while turned off, but once satellites are acquired they seldom lose reception, if ever unless you drive through a tunnel. The Garmin Nuvi 270, on the other hand, readily loses reception.
  3. There is no Operating manual available for the Garmin Nuvi 270 either in the box or on the web. Only 11 quick start booklets in 11 languages.
  4. Once you have looked for a destination it now resides in Recently found places, but cannot be deleted unless all destinations are deleted. If there is a way I couldn't figure it out as there is no manual.
  5. When charging, the unit says it is charging but never tells you when it is fully charged. I let it charge for over 24 hours and it continued to display, `charging'..
  6. The unit has a segmented bar that let's you know how much battery charge is left, but Garmin obviously hasn't figured out how to correlate that to time. A total of 5 bars, one would think 2 bars would indicate 40% left. WRONG, 2 bars generally meant less than 20 minutes left of usage.
  7. Does not use changeable batteries, so if you're away from your hotel, walking, you can't put fresh batteries in; coupled with not having any real clue how much charge you have left on the permanently installed battery, leads to a problem. (How much do I conserve, how much charge is left in real time, etc.)
  8. You can't plan your trip unless you are there. For example: If I'm in the USA and I want to see what attractions are located around the hotel I plan to stay in in Paris, the unit will not do it. It will only show me the attractions located close to where the unit physically is at that point. (Assuming you can get reception).
  9. The current satellite reception strength indicator is not visible on the map screen.
  10. When walking, in pedestrian mode, you have two choices for screen orientation. One allows the map to orient in the direction you are walking, the other North remains at the top of the screen. For the short time my 270 was able to retain satellites, I tried both. The unit's computing speed coupled with current satellite available accuracy makes the mode where the screen orients in the direction you are walking near useless. The screen near continually `hunts' for correct orientation. (Perhaps when the next generation satellites are all up and SA has been removed completely, this mode will work) Best to leave it on North at the top although I could not fully evaluate this in Paris because I never had constant satellite reception long enough.
  11. The screen is easily washed out by bright sunlight.
  12. No place exists on the unit to attach a lanyard; this is a problem in that the unit's case is very smooth and can slide out of your hand easily.
  
  All in all the unit is the right size for a pedestrian with a nice touch screen, but falls unacceptably short in Satellite reception capabilities and battery longevity (3-4 hours) given the batteries can't be changed. Assuming it found a few satellites where are you going to charge it during a 10 hour walking tour, or a hike, or a bike ride?
  
  
  
  
  

• OK, but needs some tweaks

  
  By A7ZERJQ16UQR1 on 2007-09-06
  Used this on a trip to southern Ireland. Only Garmin seems to have current maps of Ireland so it was hobson's choice.
  
  Overall worked fine. Ireland is under major construction so it's helpful to have looked at a map before going someplace. Found several cases where the roads no longer existed or the new Nx freeway was formerly a field of stones on the map, but overall worked good.
  
  Major flaw was the system can't tell the Irish difference between an N road (freeway of sorts) an R road (probably means a real road) and everything else, (cow path with or without cows). It routes by what it thinks the shortest path is, which may be the longest time wise. In some GPS systems, there's a SELECT freeway option. In Ireland, it would have been wonderful if there was NEVER SELECT cow path option. It may be that competition like Tom Tom which doesn't have cow paths actually gets you there faster. I would gladly take an N road for 4 times the distance and arrive in half the time of an optimally routed cow path.
  
  There is a new slogan in ireland. Give the Gift of Life. Get a Doner Card. Then drive at the posted speed limit. Garmin calculates trip times at the posted speed limit. If you plan on donating body parts, you too will drive at the posted speed limit. Over two weeks the average trip time was what Garmin calculated plus 45 minutes, whether the distance was 10 kilometers or 200 kilometers. Just add 45.
  
  The more expensive Garmins will pronounce road names instead of turns. In Ireland, that's probably a very bad idea. Let's say you're on the N9 coming up to a round about. The 270 will say, "enter round about and take the 2nd exit". If you actually pronounced the roads it might have said "enter round about and take the o'Hagerty cow path on the left" Road names change every 50 meters or so. Plus, they're only identified on the map. Look for a street sign and you'll die of old age going round and round the roundabout.
  
  System never got lost. Always got us to our destination.
  
  Compared to U.S. destinations Ireland destinations were about 50% present by name, 25% findable under a different name, or otherwise findable by selecting a pub in a nearby town. For Galway, finding the nearest grocery store might take you to Dublin, so some of the features weren't real for Ireland.
  
  Half the time, I thought the unit was trying to get me to die in traffic. Half the time, I thought it was a life saver. Probably more about Irish roads than GPS features.
  
  Net net, study the map before you go so you know if you should be on an N or R road instead of the cow path. Otherwise, it will get you there, somehow.
  
  

• Good technologies with some mysteries

  
  By AQQO6A55RYI01 on 2007-06-30
  My Nuvi 270 arrived two days ago, and after a few minutes to locating satellites, the unit found my location and in all later driving followed my routes faithfully. The POIs are accurate, and reasonably up to date although resturants, gas stations, and hotels have changed names although not locations. The routing to destinations seems good with my limited experience although the estimated mileage to destinations I have visited often seems underestimated.
  
  I purchased the Nuvi 270 unit (my first GPS) for upcoming trips to Midwest USA, England, and Northern Europe. I anticipate that it will perform well with mapping and directing my movements in these regions.
  
  But I suspect that the unit has many additional capabilities that I have not been able to learn because the "manual" for the unit is a joke. Where is a full guide for users who want to fully use the Nuvi 270's features? This lack of documentation is the primary reason that I give the Nuvi 270 only three stars instead of 5.
  
  Presently I would like to learn how simulate directions from a location different from the present location of my unit. For example how can I sit in California and find the driving directions from Bloomsbury in London to Oxford. How can I display a map of my likely destinations? (I find that "sliding" the map with my finger, will bring me to London. But I can not then zoom in without the map display changing back to my home.) Without better information I guess I will have to wait until I arrive in England.
  
  Another issue where better documentation might help is in the use of the picture viewer. This is a rather nice feature, and a fairly large number of pictures on a SD card can be displayed in a slide show. The show can be stopped at a particular slide, and the image can be enlarged and "slided" to regions of interest. However with a large number of pictures (arranged in directories on the SD card), I can not figure out how to view efficiently a picture far down the list of files. The Nuvi 270 appears to not allow the user to use the directory structure for images, but rather just presents a long list of pictures that take a long time to sequentially display and provide only a slide show with all of the pictures. What is a user supposed to do: buy many SD cards with different sets of pictures?
  
  I am very happy with the unit, and in no way do I regret my purchase. However with more attention must be made to users who want to get maximum benefit from their investment.
  
  

• Nuvi 270 - Two Week Vacation in Europe

  
  By A6QWREFBOSTUB on 2007-09-05
  I bought the Nuvi 270 in anticipation of using it during a trip to Europe. I did extensive research comparing the major brands. I also considered TomTom, but their maps for Europe were less comprehensive than the Nuvi and the Nuvi had newer technology and maps. Reviews for the Nuvi were excellent at all tech sites, as well.
  
  I initially used it in the states and was impressed by its design, display and compact size. Excellent verbal directions, sound and visibility in the car. Good access to settings and easy to customize (would like more options for voice and icons, though). Good battery life. Easily obtained 6-8 hours of use with display set at 30%. There are a few quirks in the interface. For instance, I find it hard to browse a town when you are not in the town itself. POI database is nice but not comprehensive. Sometimes difficult to find historical landmarks. Very impressed with accuracy and ease of use in the car. Had some "drift" initially when stationary but this was improved by downloading latest software upgrade. Overall, I was not pleased with difficulty determining which way I was facing when at stand still. Sometimes the database amazed me with the obscure places it could find. Other times I was amazed at points not available in the database.
  
  First tested the unit on the airplane over the atlantic. It showed position and speed if I held the unit against the window. Arrived in Barcelona and had significant difficulties obtaining good satellite signal, even when near a large window. This problem was especially pronounced during start up, requiring me to leave the unit on a lot to maintain contact with satellites. Signal reception was also poor when walking the streets. Streets and alleys in Europe are much more narrow than US. This problem plagued me from Spain to Italy, France, Greece, Croatia. Accuracy especially erratic in Greece.
  
  Overall, I was disappointed in the unit while in Europe. Poor reception (extremely frustrating), difficulty determining heading while walking slowly or standing, difficulty with searches and POI.
  
  I will still keep the unit because it is great in the states and it is a quality product. Hand-held GPS still has a long way to go before they are practical for use outside US and for walking tours. Garmin is the industry leader as far as I am concerned. They market this as a "personal travel assistant". I think it fell short in Europe.
  
  The reception seemed to suffer after I downloaded the software upgrade. Maybe I just got a weak unit. Having a harder time obtaining signal at start up. Signal seems to be stronger in US in general. Quality hardware, though. You really don't need a higher end Garmin unit for use in the states. The 200 series is great and should be enough for most users.
  
  
• Nuvi 270 used in Italy
  By AM0DN71W9BERX on 2007-10-19
  I bought the Nuvi 270 for my 24 day trip to Italy. The unit is very user friendly for menus and visibilty. We used our Garmin in coordination with a TomTom 910 and our unit out mapped the TomTom every time. The mapping is great and points of interest are good, but rememeber that Italian locations are not always translated the same IE; "leaning tower of Pisa" is actually "tower pendentta. The other thing you never want to do is hit "shortest route" when in Italy!!! You will end up driving curvy mountain roads and maybe end up on a goat trail. We almost trippled our trip time by doing this one evening. So to end this, I highly recommend this unit if you are going to Europe and keep it when you come home, cause it has even better use on the US roads.
  
  
• Great experience with Garmin 270 in Europe
  By A2XS3BA8840YVM on 2007-09-01
  I purchased the Garmin 270 because it included European and US GPS. When the unit arrived, I took it outside in the front yard of my house in Seattle and powered it up. It took a few minutes to acquire the sattelite, and then picked up my location immediately. I purchased the gravity mount device (didn't want the sticky mess), which worked very well. I punched in a few local locations and listened to the directions to guide me in, which worked fine. When I got to Paris, I attempted to use it for walking from my Metro stop to the apartment we rented in the Marais. My daughter was quite annoyed with me, as the GPS took us on a very circuitous route, due to the many one-way, winding streets in this section of Paris. Not a good start. So I packed it away, until we were picking up the rental car, for the drive to Brugge. It was raining that day, so it took a while for the satellite to pick up. Once we acquired the satellite, flawless directions to our hotel in Brugge, and flawless performance on the drive to Brusells and Cologne. Back in Seattle, I used it to navigate to my daughters' friends located in the backroads of Sammamish and Issaquah -- highly recommended for road navigation here and in Europe. Not so good for walking. Also, if there is an electrical storm or bad weather, you will need to fall back on Le Michelin, we discovered this in Reims, when a storm blew in quickly.
  
  
• Ideal Navigator
  By A3Q6H0XQRM8X1Y on 2007-06-26
  I own a Magellan Meridian Color GPS. I wrote a very negative review for this unit. It was a poor unit in its use of technology that existed at the time I bought it . Maps were inaccurate, incomplete and very restricted. Loading them to the GPS was a nightmare. Garmin Nuvi 270 is like a night and day different. It is very intuitive and in every respect near perfect. I travel a lot in Europe. I have been looking for a GPS I could buy here with European maps as well as US/Canada maps installed. I considered Tom Tom 910, but reviews I read discouraged me from buying one. G 270 is a basic unit that seems to do everything it is supposed to do well. It has a bright screen and sensitive reception. I love this unit. Having said all those nice things, I am disappointed that only charging capability that came with it is a car charger. I use my GPS in Europe for days without getting into my car. I quickly rectified this problem by ordering an AC charger at about $30 including shipping. If you need a GPS only for Europe, Garmin Nuvi 250 can be purchased in EU for 299 Euro. When you get your VAT back, it would be about $350. I opted to get 270 for another $110 to cover both sides of the pond. I have no regrets.
  
  
• Another fantastic GPS
  By A28HUBMSCXVQW0 on 2007-08-11
  This is my third Garmin GPS. The other unit I use is the Streetpilot 2610. Compared to the 2610, the Nuvi is more simple but it does the job quite well. The display is a little small but definitely readable. The unit is a little more primitive than the more costly Streetpilot (has less software features and programmability) but, I didn't want to pay for the extra MP3, bluetooth stuff that is in the 300 series. The navigation engine in the Nuvi is as good or slightly improved from the Streetpilot. When I have both GPS's side by side and select a waypoint 30 or 40 miles away, the Nuvi picks a better route most of the time. I also liked the window suction cup adapter for the Nuvi. It is well designed and does a good job holding the Nuvi steady.
  
  I have a few complaints that are small but noticeable. First, there was almost NO documentation with the unit. There were little pamphlets for about 10 different languages with very minimal info but it left a lot of questions unanswered. I suppose Garmin decided that the "hunt and peck" method of figuring out the Nuvi would suffice :( I can't seem to find in the Nuvi 270 menus how to disable rerouting. I also would like some more info on the 3D map page such as total distance to go. That information is available but you have to go to another page. And, the voice prompts on the Nuvi are surprisingly poor in quality. It sounds like the voice is talking out of a 10 cent can.
  
  Other than those issues, I am very happy with the features and compact size of the Nuvi. It should make our trip to Germany and France much easier to navigate. One last comment. I give Garmin 5+ stars for keeping the data formats from all of their products compatible. I downloaded my waypoints from my Streetpilot to my Nuvi without any problems and the Garmin Web updater saw the Nuvi and quickly brought it up to current revisions.
  
  
  
• Nuvi 270 in Nantucket and Provence
  By A2SNBOBAJ5W6XW on 2007-10-08
  I used the Nuvi 270 in Nantucket in August and September and in Provence and Paris in October. It guided us to addresses and to "points of interest" in both places with visual and oral directions. In France, passengers in our rental car were impressed and plan to buy one. It guided us on one-lane roads in Provence and got us to our destination every time. It's database was great offering phone numbers for golf courses, restaurants, etc.
  
  The system for attaching and detaching it from a rental car windshield is terrific. The cigarette lighter plug set up is great. When you turn off the engine (and thereby power down the plug), the Nuvi 270 turns off and when you start up again it comes on. No human intervention needed.
  
  Having a voice that told us in English to take the "2nd exit at the roundabout" and displayed the same info at the top of the screen, also in English, as we were driving through France, made our trip much pleasanter.
  
  A winner from Garmin.
  
  
• Don't buy a Nuvi
  By A3CX9FEYETG621 on 2007-07-07
  I bought a Nuvi 270 for a trip to Italy and brought my 4 year old Magellan Roadmate 700 as a backup. The Magellan took 1 -3 minutes to find satellites. The Nuvi 3 -15 minutes. Accuracy and ease of input was far better with the Magellan.
  
  The Nuvi got lost easily, has no manual to speak of, and is way too expensive for what you get. Garmin a great company, but don't buy this model until at least 3 more software revisions and a $[...] drop in price. There is no AC adaptor or download cable included.
  
  To top it off, the slide switch broke after 2 weeks of use.
  
  
  
• No More Maps of Europe for Me! Nuvi 270 Gets 5 Stars!
  By A2G1SSRX2H2YSX on 2007-11-01
  I recently went to Scotland, Ireland and England for 2 weeks. Normally, I would have gone through the trouble of printing maps off of Google however, I decided to purchase a 270 instead. Amazingly Amazon was the best deal out there. I orderered the GPS, a charging cable and a bean bag type mounting kit. If you are planning on using this in rental cars, the garmin bean bag mount is the way to go. It packs flat when you remove the stand and never slid from its spot on my dash!
  
  So, how were the maps? To tell you the truth, I was a little apprehensive to buy a Nuvi because I had such a good experience on my last trip to the UK when my rental car came equipped with a TomTom. The nuvi 270 work like a charm and also has maps of the USA to boot!
  
  I highly recommend this unit, it's not much larger than a deck of cards and I pack it in my laptop case when I travel so I always have it handy!
  
  
• Garmin Nuvi 270
  By A3BT1QZ5YBHYRC on 2007-06-27
  A fantastic unit - the size of a deck of cards, with both North America and Europe loaded and ready to go. You'll wonder how they got all the info into one small package! And it's fast, responding and answering questions quickly. Best of all it's got a setting for "car" or "walking" so you can use it for city walking tours as we did on vacation. The beanbag car mount lets us move it from car to car (even a rental car) and then slip it into your shirt pocket when checking out a new city. Really an amazing unit for the price.
  
  
• Got us around Europe (more or less)
  By AVKGEP4OIFYDJ on 2007-10-05
  I bought the 270 before going to Europe on our honeymoon, figuring as long as I was buying a GPS, I should get one that would be useful at home too. We drove from Venice to Sermione (Lake Garda) to Monterosso (Cinque Terra) to Nice, and the 270 did a good job of getting us to the towns/cities themselves. Getting to our final destination in each was a little harder, but since this was my first time driving in Europe, that's understandable. And we has some backup printed maps, but mainly used them in the hotels just to see where we were.
  
  Sometimes the "turn" prompts can be a little confusing, since you don't always know exactly when to turn. In Italy, I thought I was turning at the right place, but ended up down a progressively narrower road where the rental car would no longer fit. Turns out I was supposed to take the next "real" right.
  
  This is my first GPS, so I have nothing to compare it with, but sat acquisition times seem pretty long with the 270 (especially in a new city). It will take a good 5-10 minutes to figure out where I am at times. Also, I've had lots of trouble getting the unit to mount on my Mac to update firmware and maps. It finally worked yesterday on my Mac at work (after trying it on three at home), but as someone else mentioned the documentation is almost nonexistant and the Garmin site doesn't have any FAQs for the problem I was having (only for units that fail to mount on PCs).
  
  All in all, it's a nice unit in a tiny package that will get you where you're going. Amazon now sells it for around $400 (I paid $475), which is a good price for something that includes Europe and North America maps. Probably deserves 3.5 stars instead of 3, but there's nothing in between and it doesn't quite make it to 4.
  
  
• Garmin Nuvi 270
  By A17RKSTX2TUVCQ on 2008-01-20
  The Nuvi270 is a small bit of a disappointment. In a recent trip to Europe, the only reason I pruchased the 270, it was able to find all addresses but did not know about more recent changes to the street map. In Prague, it kept insisting on bringing me to the same left turn that was no longer allowed since an ad hoc square was put in that place for the last 6 months. It could not find another way of getting me to my hotel. I was able to get to within 1 block of my destination and had to park and find out how to enter the street. It also had a tendency in Innsbruck to take me down remarkably narrow streets when I missed a turn, one of which dead ended requiring some backing up in very narrow quarters. Finally as mentioned in other reviews, it takes a long time to acquire satellites. IN europe, it may take 5-10 minutes to get acquisition which in some cases means you may already be going the wrong way. I now pre-program the address while in the airport and let the acquisition program run.
  
  UPDATE:
  I have been using the 270 for the last 5 weeks and am starting to understand its quirks. I have found that in Europe, while it continues to take a fair amount of time for sat. acquisition, this only occurs when it is not under the car's battery power. I find that acquisition time is about 2-4 minutes when plugged in and on the car's windshield. On a trip from Munich to Milan, I was able to have dueling GPS in that the car I rented had a DVD system and I was able to compare the two units. The Garmin faired well. It was able to take me to the hotel and then office address number where the car's GPS only take me to the street. The Garmin wanted me to do an illegal left turn in Milan, but quickly recalculated the route as I kept going straight. It continues to occasionaly take me down a route that puzzles me in that while it is shorter in distance, takes longer than if I stayed on the Autobahn. I confirmed my settings are for fastest route. I would say that I would probably opt for the Nuvi 370 if I were to do it again. Primarily for the satellite acquisition time. I have an 360 and noticed that it conistently finds satellites faster than the 270 when I am in the states.
  
  
• Pleased, but not delighted
  By A9KUV0FEOQ2I4 on 2007-08-11
  This is the fourth Garmin GPS receiver I've owned. Overall, I'm pleased, but there are a few areas I'd preferred to have better performance. 1. On my previous units (Garmin) you can move the cursor over to another location and have it search for lodging, food, gas, etc. all centered on that location. That is not possible with this model. You have to enter in the city or tell it to look at the destination or along the route. This does work, but it's more work than simply moving the cursor. 2. I found it too often routed me on slower roads even though I had chosen faster route. It was disturbing to be directed off the main route when it was obvious that it was going to take longer. This could have been operator error on my part, but I'm pretty familiar with GPS units and this is the first time I've seen this to this degree. 3. I never could have it search on the database and find a hotel in Europe. Because I was in the US, I was not able to make it shift over to Europe even though I could move the cursor over there and zoom in. I do have to give credit however, it's a very compact and low mass unit that fits real nicely on the windshield with the suction cup. The computer is very fast and responsive so operatins are quick. I liked it , but it's not perfect.
  
  
• Amazing
  By A2TCTM3N2YMEXG on 2007-07-17
  I just returned from Europe. The Nuvi 270 was amazing. Not only did it have all the major highways but the most insignificant of roads (some a little too small of our vehicle). I highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a GPS that will be traveling to Europe.
  
  
• Don't Leave Home Without it!
  By A2XT24492JWQN4 on 2007-10-09
  With a two week drive adventure across Italy and with somewhat limited language skills, we realized we needed help. The Garmin Nuvi 270 saved my trip, my sanity, and my marriage. Some of our destinations were well off the tourist maps and the Nuvi 270 performed almost flawlessly. Almost, since somewhere south of Ravenna, it put us on a dirt road that was just the width of our car and 30' above the surrounding farm land! We drove 8KM praying we didn't meet another car coming in the other direction. We didn't ...I think the locals know better.
  The battery power and portability made it handy for the walking parts of our tour also, but because of walking speed it didn't perform as well as it did in the car. It was also tremendously helpful in planning itinerary as it calculated time between points.
  If you're traveling in unknown territory, especially in Europe, this unit is a must have.
  
  
• HIGHLY RECOMMEND
  By AHPHTI23176IG on 2007-11-22
  I was looking for a GPS navigator for an up and coming trip to Europe when my brother-in-law recommended the 270. Whether driving to Normandy from Paris or walking through the streets of Prague; this was my constant, reliable companion..I love the currency conversion,world clock,weight conversion,POIs and ability to save favorites..all helpful features. I have since used it whenever traveling at home and am always impressed by the reliability. I am sure if more people realized the advantage of North American and European maps packaged in one small device..this would be THE pocket navigator on everyones wish list. So glad I have mine!
  
  
• garmin 270, used in New York State
  By A3ONKH30JOFSBT on 2007-07-16
  We used the system for the first time this weekend and had two different experiences--one in which we were completely satisfied, and one where we were a bit amused, but disappointed. The latter involved veering off the course proscribed by the GPS, because we actually knew a shorter, easier route for the initial part of the journey. After we made our detour, and were back on the recommended route, the GPS seemed a bit undone--it recommended getting off at every single exit on the Thruway!!!
  
  But when we followed its directions exactly, it was great.
  
  
• Garmin 270
  By AZJR9UPEDTPDC on 2007-07-27
  This is my second Garmin unit, first was the 330c. Both are great units and user freindly and accurate. Niether has ever steered me wrong yet. In the past year, I have turned on 5 people to this product who purchased them and love them too. The 270 is smaller and easier to transport and the reception seems a bit better than the 330c. I also travel to Europe and use this unit which also performs perfectly there as well.
  Minus': Battery life is as advertised 5 hours or so, could be a little better. Doesnt come with a wall charger, only PC or Auto.
  Plus': Everything else about the unit. Interface, accuracy, size, speed, mounting...
  
  
  
• Easy navigation
  By A30VOE6FWP92IP on 2007-06-26
  This product is very easy to use and set up. Typing in an address (whether it's in Italy, Denmark or Washington D.C.) is fast and accurate. It's preloaded with a suitable amount of points of interest.
  The screen is incredibly clear and the instructions are easy to follow. The relatively small size of the screen is no problem at all.
  The navigation worked very well, no serious problems have been found. I've tested it in the US (east coast) and in Denmark (Europe) no problems anywhere, only a slight dificulty in accepting a high occupancy vehicle lane in the middle of the road (the computer figured I was going in the wrong direction!) but that was no problem in pratice.
  It's a simple, foolproof navigator that works well; not many fancy extras but who needs that? Definitely recommended.
  
  
  
• Excellent choice
  By A1A1SHHXC4XR5K on 2007-07-07
  I bought the Nuvi 270 just before visiting France and the UK. It comes loaded with maps for North America & Europe and works great. It made my trip in Europe so much better! It is very easy to use and the interface is very intuitive.
  I highly recommend the Nuvi! It works great in the US and Europe and is small enough to fit in a pocket.
  I even tried it on the plane on the way back from Europe and was able to follow the route and speed of the plane.
  
  
  
  
• Strong performer
  By A3VF9PIL49DMPQ on 2007-12-02
  I purchased the nuvi 270 for the help navigating around the English countryside. The European maps are a great value compared to a nuvi 250 and add-on maps.
  The unit performed very well here in the states and then made driving in the English countryside possible. I don't know what we would have done without it. I suppose only tour buses and easy to get to tourist sites.
  Only gripes are it can send you to very small or restricted roads. Also the pedestrian mode was spotty in London.
  
  
• Great Unit with US & Euro Maps
  By A2KL733AJ4Z5YM on 2008-06-17
  Advantages are relatively cheap, has all US and most European maps built in, Also has an SD card slot for other optional area maps.
  
  It does NOT have all the fancy features which for me are fairly useless except to make you pay a lot of money, such as MP3 payers, bluetooth phone speakers, traffic reports for cities, etc. It also does NOT say which road to turn on. For example, much more expensive units might say "Turn right on Main Street", where this GPS only says "Turn right", and you have to read on the top of the display which street to turn on (but it's the one you are at!). This is not a big deal to me.
  
  It is fairly small, which is good and not so good. It is not "wide screen" so it shows less information. However, I think has very acceptable readability, and does not obscure the road while hanging on the suction cup mount. On the other hand, the small size it is easy to pack and take overseas traveling. It is even small enough to carry with you walking around a foreign city so you can get back to the hotel if you get lost. You can walk to restaurants you pick from the unit, and you can even set it to "walk mode" instead of "drive mode" so it ignores one-way streets, etc. when you are walking or bicycling around. Of course, it only has roads programmed in, and not park paths, etc.
  
  It has a built in battery that is charged through the included cigarette lighter plug. It lasts at least 8-10 hours I think? It has a USB charge connection on the GPS, but I think the voltage requirement is higher (1V?) than most laptop computers put out (0.5V), so it may not charge by plugging into a laptop?? I don't know yet.....
  
  It has lots of "Points of Interest" such as restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc, although some of the POI's in Europe are sometimes sparse. For example I was looking for a ATM cash machine in a little town in Germany, and it said the closest one was 12 miles away. However, there were a few actually in the small town I was in, just not listed.
  
  Also, it has many languages built in for the voice commands. German, Spanish, English, French, Chinese, and many other obscure languages are included. The "British" vs. "American" english accents are entertaining.
  
  Out of the box, it is set up to NOT allow you to program it while moving (Safe Mode). However, this CAN BE SWITCHED OFF to allow a passenger (or a danger seeking driver) to fully program addresses or find Points of Interest when the vehicle is moving.
  
  In short, I would definitely buy it again.
  
  
• Be forewarned.
  By A2M0SD9PLQA7PB on 2007-12-23
  If your marriage is less than 100% secure, be careful of this product! My lovely wife Stacy is often skeptical of gadgets and has a very good sense of direction. She usually navigates as I drive. The first time I used my Nuvi 270 with Stacy in the car, she became very quiet and even sullen in the passenger seat. Seems there was a "another woman" in the car who was providing direction instead of her. I think she was jealous! Now I use it seldom when Stacy is on board, and Stacy has adopted the other woman's voice when she says, "In point one mile, turn left." or "You have arrived at destination on right." So, be forewarned. Otherwise, the Nuvi 270 works fine and gets me where I need to go almost as efficiently as Stacy does.
  
  
• Garmin nüvi 270 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
  By A3KB7N4TXPHJ3N on 2008-02-08
  This was an excellent choice and what you see and read is exactly what you get. The price of the item is only $310 and I feel after 310 days, I got an excellent product for free. It shows all the local service stations, multiple languages, easy to navigate and it touch screen. The voice on the navigator is clear and it recalculates as soon as you need to take an alternate route to get to your destination. You couldn't ask for a better deal and I know that I am very satisfied with this purchase. All thumbs up on this one. The rate indicator should have more than just 5 stars on it.
  
  
• Great Size But No Way to Plot Before You Go!
  By A27S3W3FJHRLG8 on 2008-04-05
  I just bought my 270 for a planned European excursion this summer and next. While it has no documentation, it seems fairly easy to use. Since I haven't gone yet, I'm unclear how it will perform in Europe BUT I already have a major gripe that it has no way (as far as I can tell, and the enclosed documentation gave no help) to plan routes before you arrive in Europe. I was trying to plan distances from hotels and restaurants, to museums and cities, and while you can see a detailed map of these foreign locales, there is no way of plotting a route!!! I cannot find a way of entering a starting point!!! This is pathetic!!! Even Yahoo Maps on my Blackberry World can do this. This is a major need to travelers that has been missed by Garmin on this device.
  
  
• Review updated 7/14/2008, after Italy trip.
  By AEO637OEC31SO on 2008-06-12
  It's small, fits in a breast pocket. It's light weight, It doesn't have much of an instruction manual because if you work with it for a while, you learn all the things it can do. Sure, it might be nice to have the GPS say: "Turn right on Vine Street in .2 miles" instead of "turn right in .2 miles"... but the display shows the name of the street anyway. It does more than I thought it could because the Garmin site really doesn't elaborate on it's functions, such as multiple languages. It's fun just learning how to use it and I'm looking forward to using it in Italy soon. It comes with a suction cup mount and 12V car charger. I have purchased the leather case, a wall charger (for use in 110/220 volt) and a (off brand) 512mb memory chip. We already had two Garmin devices for sports, so the Garmin/USB cable we owned was compatible for downloading software updates and photo transfers on the Nuvi 270. I've already found and memorized my hotels in Italy on the map, but of course, it will not be able to plot out the driving routes until over there.
  
  I will add to this review after the trip.
  
  So far, I highly recommend the Nuvi 270 GPS. Seems like a good product and worth the money.
  
  7/14/2008
  Back from Italy safe and sound... What a great trip and it was made easier and safer by using the Garmin Nuvi 270. This thing worked great in Italy, with only a few hitches. 1. We learned quickly the "AVOIDANCES" needs to be disabled, otherwise it will not go on toll roads, make U-turns, things like that. We turned them all off and it worked better for us. 2. Remember to check your Pedestrian or Automobile modes. 3. Take the first several round-abouts carefully and listen to the Garmin lady say: "...then to round-about, turn right on 2nd exit..." 4. Be mindful of your battery supply. 5. Consider the satellite signal problems in very narrow city streets. 6. Because there is no detailed user manual, it will take time and practice to learn all the things the Garmin Nuvi 270 can do.
  
  The Garmin in Pedestrian mode took us to our hotel in Venice. In the car, it found our way in and out of Florence. Got us to the Rome Airport and helped us day trip around Tuscany. The most impressive thing was going to a friend's house in Northern Italy. The Garmin navigated us from Venice to Valdagno, up hills above the town, rural roads got narrower, then one lane, then onto a gravel path, right to the front door of their home. They couldn't believe it when we drove up to the house. In Siena, we found our way back to the car by GPS. In Rome we really needed it with Pedestrian mode. This little machine made a huge difference in vacation navigating. It reduced travel stress,( very important factor on a vacation). As we used it each day of the trip, we learn another thing it does, then another thing, then another method of searching... you get a feel for the machine and learn to use it better as time goes on.
  
  The Garmin Nuvi 270 perhaps is not the fanciest of the GPS units, but it worked great for us on vacation and now we use it for day trips or even finding places in our own city. Great product, very reasonable price.
  
  
• Great GPS
  By A2MH7SYYO0TG3Q on 2008-02-28
  My husband and I bought the Garmin nuvi 270 for our honeymoon in Italy since it included maps of Europe. It worked great out there and also here in the states. It's small and light and fits easily in a purse or bag. We did try to use the Garmin while walking on foot in Rome. I would not suggest this... it had us walking in circles! Vehicle use only.
  
  

• Garmin eTrex Legend CX Color Mapping Handheld GPS
• Transcend 1Gb Mini Sd Card 80X Ts1Gsdm80
• Kingston 2 GB Elite Pro Secure Digital Memory Card ( SD/2GB-S )
• Uniden GMR1048-2CK 22-Channel 10-Mile Two-Way Radios (Pair)
• Uniden GMR1595-2CK 22-Channel 15-Mile Two-Way Radios (Pair)

• Garmin A/C Power Cable for nüvi Portable GPS Navigators (010-10723-00)
• GARMIN 010-10723-02 Carrying Case For Nuvi Series Travel Assistant
• Garmin Portable Friction Dashboard Mount for nüvi Series and StreetPilot C5XX Series GPS Navigators (C530, C550, and C580)
• Garmin Vehicle Power Cable for nüvi Portable GPS Navigators (010-10723-06)
• Case Logic AGPS-2 EVA Slimline GPS Screen Case