Garmin nuvi 205 Review (GPSmagazine.com)

20. Pros

Easy to use, well designed, user interface
Bright screen
Speed limit information is displayed on the map screen (where available)
Supports use of optional traffic receivers
Good routing engine
Good customer support
Hotfix enabled nüvi 205 acquired GPS location within a few seconds. Older nüvi 200 took as much as 4 minutes from a cold start
Categories allow you to group saved addresses into categories
Automatic map zooming adjusts the map zoom level based on your speed and the current maneuver
Upcoming turn indicator displays direction of next turn
Well designed map screen is easy to understand
Large POI database of 6 million entries
Stores the last 50 recently found places in the Recently Found menu
Where Am I" feature provides one-touch access to your current location, as well as nearby hospitals, police, and gas stations
Map frame rate roughly twice that of older nüvi 3xx and 6xx models (though nowhere near the speed seen on the new nüvi 7x5 models)
Fast panning and zooming on the map
Photo Navigation lets you upload geo-coded photos from a phone, geo-coding camera or photo site and navigate to them
Automatic Time Zone Transition

21. Cons

No way to exclude a specific road from a planned route
Can't customize the information displayed on the map screen's information bar (the nüvi 7x5 models let you cycle between distance, remaining time, direction of travel, elevation, or time of day )
Limited Detour function
Cannot customize map colors
You have to choose the Country whenever entering an address in a different State
Windshield mount isn't powered
No QWERTY keyboard layout option
No text-to-speech (GPS doesn't speak actual street names, just generic instructions like "turn left in 1 mile")
Traffic receiver not included
USB cable not included

22. Conclusion

Portable and affordable, Garmin's nüvi 205 is the best GPS you can buy for under $150. Building on the popular nüvi 200, the nüvi 205 adds an upcoming turn arrow to the map screen, displays speed limit information, has a more sensitive GPS receiver, and improved routing logic.

The nüvi 205 does a good job choosing routes that make sense, and gracefully handles missed turns, automatically plotting a new course within a few seconds of missing a turn.

HotFix technology does indeed dramatically reduce the time it takes the nüvi 205 to determine its position after a cold start.

Unlike the more expensive nüvi 7x5 models, the 205 lacks lane assist, 3-D building view, text-to-speech, Bluetooth, and the 7x5's new speedy map frame rate. Also missing from the nüvi 205 is multi destination routing, an FM transmitter, multi-media features (no mp3 player), and Garmin Locate (a handy feature that automatically saves the location where the GPS was last undocked from the windshield cradle).

I did find myself wishing the nüvi 205 included the ability to avoid specific roads or highways, and I also lamented the lack of text-to-speech. But it's hard to find too much fault with the 205 given the budget-friendly price. The screen is nice and bright, and the hardware feels well made.

Garmin's nüvi 205 is an easy to use, capable GPS and a smart buy for those on a tight budget.