Garmin Nuvi 200 Series

The Garmin Nuvi 200 series
is designed for the entry level Nuvi series. Here is what I think of the Nuvi 200,
If you use any links for extra information and get lost, just click your back button
(top left of the screen)!!!

The Nuvi 200 is almost the exact same size as the Nuvi 300 series, very small and compact, fantastic for putting in a pocket to avoid theft, but is just a sliver thinner than the 300 models.

There is a power slider button across the top, but the operation of this power button has changed. Rather than a push style button it is a slider. You slide the button to the left and release to turn the power on or off. also you can reset the system, by sliding the power button across to the left for 10 seconds, your rebooting it, You can also move the slider to the right that locks input to the device.

The SD card slot has moved from the right side to the left side. The right side and bottom have no buttons or connectors. The only other item is the USB/power connector that has been moved from the right side to the back of the Nuvi 200. There is no headphone jack on this model.

The only other difference is that Garmin has changed from the “flip up” GPS antenna. being able to disable the GPS did have some advantages, although the Flip Antenna does lose satellite too, connection sometimes goes on the Antenna, so try not to move it so much, The other Nuvi devices can only calculate routes starting at your current location, setting a new location, and then calculating a route. Without a way to disable the GPS on the Nuvi 200 series.

The mount is a ball and socket joint, a simple design, although sometimes it has it's little falling off problem, sucker not so fantastic. The power cord connects to the mount and then the mount feeds power to the Nuvi. That is gone in the 200 series and instead the power cord connects directly to the device. So now when you take the GPS off the mount you also need to disconnect the power cable, this also has it's little problem of over use, so nice and gentle use of the socket, they do go from over use.

A 3.5″ Capacitive touch screen display powers the Nuvi 200. This screen is bright and is visible from a wider viewing angle. bright sunlight never made the Nuvi screen difficult to read. This is one of the best 3.5″ screens I’ve seen so far on the lower end Nuvi's.

The Nuvi has a very powerful chipset which had no trouble acquiring a signal, kept a strong signal.

A few of the menu items have been rearranged a little bit if you are used to other Nuvi designs, but not so much that they make an important difference in function. The “Where to” menu has been changed to include a separate button for (POIs) Points of Interest rather than them all in the parent menu. This makes it easier to access the buttons, locate cities, browsing the map, and all internal menu's.

Setting up Navigation to an address has changed very little. The buttons have a more modern look. The rest of the process is the same as it asks you next for the city, then house number, and finally the street name. After finding the address you click the ‘Go’ button.

There is now a dedicated menu button for POIs. There are fourteen categories to choose from. Many of the categories do include sub menus. IE: food you can select from about 20 different categories.

The display has also changed on the Nuvi 200 series. The Nuvi 200 series only displays four results per page, but includes the street address (but not town) in smaller print below the title. more detail is shown at the sacrifice of one fewer results per page. Clicking on one of the results will display the phone number as well as town of that particular POI, along with a Go button to route to that location or a save button to save it to your Favorites / My Data folder.

While navigating, the next turn information is displayed in text across the top of the display. At the bottom left is a field showing you your E.T.A. estimated time of arrival. At the bottom right you are shown the distance to the next turn. Clicking on this button will show you a text display of your next instruction, a zoomed in view of the intersection, a voice prompt will read the distance to turn and the direction of the next turn and the estimated time to that intersection. but you only have the option of seeing distance. There is also no way to see the amount of time you have left to your destination.

The speaker is very loud and you can clearly hear instructions at high speed with the radio on and the windows open. There is no text-to-speech option on the Nuvi 200 series, but the voice prompting was timely and of very good audibal quality.

There is no ability to specify a group of destinations or multiple way points and build them into one route. You can specify one way point per route, but no more than one.

The Nuvi 200 series is a great device. It has an amazing screen, the voice prompts are easy to interpret, and the map is very easy to follow. If your navigation needs are simple and you just want to get a device that will remind you of turns and take you to new destinations, the Nuvi 200 would be a great choice.

There is no multiple destination routing, you get a calculator, currency converter, picture viewer, unit converter, and a world clock.

Compared to the 350, They both have the same screen size, similar physical size, similar weight, nearly the same interface, similar battery life, and most of the same navigation functions. But the Nuvi 350 offers maps of all of North America (the 200 only has the US 48, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico), the ability to connect to a traffic receiver, an MP3 player, text-to-speech, and case included.

The 200 Model...

The 200 model
is the most basic of the Garmin flavor's, it is relativly cheap, but pretty popular still, and they never seem to loose their Satellite pickup, so they are good in this sense, affordable, but quality goods for a standard lower end Garmin. Checkout the Comparison's lists for thier specific features to compare Model's.

GARMIN NUVI 200 Series