This is the basic Garmin Automotive GPS and it works well. The preloaded map is the latest that Garmin has (2009). I discovered a disconcerting problem when I asked the GPS for the nearest hospital from my home. It came back with the correct hospital but calculated the distance as the crow flies (about 1.5 miles) rather the driving distance (about 8 miles).
Garmin is phasing out the 200 Nuvi. There is an updated version (205 Nuvi) that has more features and costs less than the 200 Nuvi unless you get a good deal as I did.
BTW, Garmin doesn't bother to tell you that a standard mini 5-pin USB cable (like the one that you use for a digital camera) will charge the battery when plugged into you computer. Since it comes with a cigarette-light adapter, you don't really need to buy a 110 volt charger.
January 04, 2009 followup: GPSMagazine recently published a comparison of Nuvi200 and the Nuvi205 WWW.gpsmagazine.com/2008/12/garmin_nuvi_200_vs_205.php . I bought my 200 Nuvi from WalMart.com less than a month ago (for less than $100). I apparently have some crossover model which has most but not all of the features of the 205 Nuvi. It has a microSD, not a regular SD slot which means that you may have to purchase another card to use the expanded memory. From the GPSMagazine article, I have found that all of the display features of my 200 Nuvi are the same as the 205 Nuvi (not the 200 Nuvi illustrated in the article) except for the address page which does not give route information as doe the 205 Nuvi. Apparently my 200 Nuvi does not have other enhancements of the 205 Nuvi such as FM Traffic Compatibility, Photo Navigation, Digital Elevation and a few others. I am still very satisfied with my Nuvi 200.
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Nuvi 200 is an solid GPS. However, as of summer 2008 there is a newer unit out there, nuvi 205, which often retails for same price, but will give you new features and less headaches.
First, the headache: Nuvi 200 come with different versions of maps. There are a number of nuvi customers that are now steadfast garmin haters due to map update policy. Apparently, Garmin is pitching buying new maps for 75 dollars. Registering your nuvi 200 for first time, in many cases, gives people free upgrade to most recent maps. Considering its half the price of your GPS unit, its quite a gamble. You avoid all this drama by buying nuvi 205 which come with 2009 maps right away.
On features. Core requirements for a successful GPS are present in Nuvi 200. Garmin did its research and chose a successful layout for options and functions. Directions from destinations to destinations are easy to set up and intuitive to follow. Look-up of points of interest (POI) is flexible, and allows you to do a word search, or category browse.
Nuvi 200 has very limited internal storage. It is just enough for the default map and a few modifications like vehicles and downloaded POIs. Nuvi 205 has a lot more and space shortage is not an issue anymore.
The only reason I can see buying a nuvi 200 is if its available considerably cheaper than nuvi 205, and if newest features are not an issue.
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