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| Garmin nüvi 270 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with US, Canada & European Maps | 
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| Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $649.99
Buy New: $188.00
You Save: $461.99 (71%)
New (70) Used (1)
Avg. Customer Rating:  69 reviews
Sales Rank: 143
Platform: Not Machine Specific
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 320 x 240
Display Size: 3.5
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 3.8 x 0.8 x 2.8
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: Nuvi 270
Model: Nuvi 270
UPC: 753759068080
EAN: 0753759068080
ASIN: B000OH26OM
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not for Pedestrians in France and Switzerland June 1, 2008
64 out of 68 found this review helpful
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 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?
 Smoothly through Europe May 31, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am an Idiot.
1) I get lost going out of my bathroom
2 I only speak english
My brother and I decided to rent a car and tour Germany. The 270 took us on our trip without problems. It made it most enjoyable. We even drove at 131 MPH the the Autobahn.When we needed to eat we just let the GPS find a resturant for us
This GPS does US, Canada & Europe without having to buy extra maps.
Cheers!
 Don't count on it everywhere in Europe May 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I got this model because we were planning a trip to Greece and I wanted to be able to concentrate on my driving instead of navigating. As it turned out it was pretty much useless most of the places we went. It worked fine in Athens, but we didn't do any driving there. It did help us find the nearest metro station while in the maze of the Plaka, however. Once we got out on our own in the more rural areas with a rented car we found there was little detail, and what was there was often erroneous. According to the GPS we frequently drove in the Aegean or parallel to the road but some distance away. It had many of the cities and sites that we wanted to go to in its database, but it never provided useful information on how to get to them, which was on Chios Island and in the Peloponnese from Nafplio to Mycenae, Epidaurus, and Monemvasia. If it wasn't so helpful in the US I would be very disappointed and give it an even lower rating, but it has been great at finding a hotel booked online or the nearest restaurant of our choice. I would suspect that if you are planning on using it in major cities and/or in western Europe it would probably be fine, but if you plan on getting off the beaten track be sure to take a good map with you as well.
Quite Simply Put-It Works !!!!! May 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Used the Garmin 270 extensively in South of France and Spain. Got us to and from selected locations with no errors.
Don't forget to return Pedestrian setting to Auto otherwise when driving can give you wrong turns; like down one way streets!!
Did not find the Pedestrian setting very useful as it always seems to point you in the wrong direction.
Having a good GPS unit simply makes driving more pleasureable and relaxing.
Disappointed that AC adapter did not come with the 270; but it is included with the 370. Same for the more detailed manual.
Nuvi 270 US & Germany May 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased the Garmin 270 over Amazon Germany because it has maps of Europe and North America for a low price. Besides I just needed a GPS that works and not some High Tech stuff.
From day one it worked & I used it on my Vacation to the States (MA & GA) and I never had any problems.
In Germany it works just as well.
Can only recommend it
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