Garmin International on March 15 announced the nuvi 200, nuvi 250 and nuvi 270. This new family of entry-level GPS devices offers budget savvy consumers the benefit of a premium in-dash system at a fraction of the cost, according to Garmin.
The nuvi 200-series incorporates an internal GPS antenna that makes it thinner and even easier to mount in a car, claims the company. The intuitive "where to?" and "view map" welcome screen allows users to quickly find a specific street address or establishment's name, or search for a destination by category, stated Garmin.
Those familiar with the "travel kit" feature available on premium nuvis will appreciate the nuvi 200-series' built-in picture viewer, calculator, currency converter, unit converter and world clock. For additional security, Garmin has included the Garmin Lock, a patent pending theft prevention system that disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location.
Garmin has also added the ability for customers to augment the preloaded maps with custom points of interest (POI's) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras. The European versions of the nuvi 200-series come preloaded with speed camera information.
About the size of a deck of cards, the nuvi's features a 3.5-inch (diagonal) touchscreen. The unit's only button is an on/off slider bar, which may be locked to avoid being turned on or off accidentally. The nuvi also has a convenient SD card slot for expandable memory, stated Garmin.
The nuvi 200, nuvi 250 and nuvi 270 are expected to be available in April at an manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$399.99, US$499.99 and US$599.99, respectively. The nuvi 200 includes preloaded detailed mapping of the contiguous United States (lower 48), Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The nuvi 250 has preloaded detailed mapping of the entire United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada and Puerto Rico. For the ultimate ease in traveling abroad, the nuvi 270 includes preloaded detailed maps of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and over 30 countries in Europe. All map data is provided by Navteq and includes approximately six million POI's.
Garmin will also offer nuvi 200-series products with regional specific coverage for Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil. The regional coverage for Europe includes UK/Ireland, Nordics, Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg, France, Italy/Greece, Spain/Portugal, and Germany/Switzerland/Austria/Czech Republic.
The Garmin nuvi 200 GPS navigation device
Photo: Company
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