Garmin nuvi 200 3 5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator
By truck gps guide | November 18, 2008
Navigate without breaking your budget with nüvi 200. This affordable entry-level personal travel assistant comes with preloaded maps for the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. For even more mapping options, nüvi 250 features preloaded maps for all of North America, while the transatlantic nüvi 270 includes preloaded maps for both continents. Like all nuvi 200-series members, the 200 features an easy-to-use colorful touchscreen and ultra-slim design–perfect for everyday navigation.
![]() The nüvi 200 comes preloaded with maps for U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and features an easy-to-use touchscreen and ultra-slim design. |
Smart, Powerful Design
The nüvi 200 is built with a high-sensitivity WAAS-enabled GPS receiver for extreme accuracy, as well as an SD card slot for storing your media and additional navigation tools, and a USB interface for loading data. All this is wrapped up in a package that measures 3.8 x 2.8 x .8 inches (W x H x D) and weighs just 5.2 ounces. The nüvi 200’s 3.5-inch (diagonal) display is touchscreen-enabled, making it a cinch to control the device with your fingertips. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to five hours of battery life depending on use.
Navigate with Ease
nüvi comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps for the continental United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, including a hefty database of more than 6 milliong points of interest (POIs), such as hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more, that are searchable by name or category. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. Garmin gets its map data from NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping. In addition, the nüvi accepts custom (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.
Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version. If you ever do need a map update, you can purchase one from Amazon.com at our Garmin Store.
Easy To Use Interface
Garmin’s interface is a key to their success and one of the things that makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip.
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Beyond Navigation
![]() Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer. | nüvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger. |
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi features travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and configurable vehicle icons that let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map.
This device is compatible with optional content plug-ins available via SD card, such as the Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nüvi for your travel needs.
Garmin has also added the ability for customers to add custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras.
Trick Your GPS Ride
Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS. See more icon option | All nüvis support configurable vehicle icons. These fun, customized car-shaped icons come in a variety of colors to add a personal touch to your vehicle’s position on the map. |
What’s in the Box
nüvi 200, preloaded City Navigator NT for the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico (no Alaska or Canada detail), vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, and set up and go guide
Note: Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nüvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.
| Screen Size inches (w x h) | Included Maps | Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names) | Traffic | Bluetooth | Media | FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system) | Multi- Point Routing | Battery life (hours) | |||
| Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico | AK and Canada | Europe | |||||||||
| nüvi 200 | 2.8 x 2.1 | ![]() | Photos | up to 5 | |||||||
| nüvi 200w | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | | Photos | up to 5 | ||||||
| nüvi 250 | 2.8 x 2.1 | ![]() | ![]() | Photos | up to 5 | ||||||
| nüvi 250w | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | Photos | up to 5 | ||||||
| nüvi 260 | 2.8 x 2.1 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Photos | up to 5 | |||||
| nüvi 260w | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Photos | up to 5 | |||||
| nüvi 270 | 2.8 x 2.1 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | Photos | up to 5 | |||||
| nüvi 350 | 2.8 x 2.1 | ![]() | ![]() | FM (with opt. receiver) | Photos, MP3s | up to 8 | |||||
| nüvi 360 | 2.8 x 2.1 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | FM (with opt. receiver) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | up to 8 | |||
| nüvi 370 | 2.8 x 2.1 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | FM (receiver included) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | up to 8 | ||
| nüvi 650 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | FM (with opt. receiver) | Photos, MP3s | up to 7 | |||||
| nüvi 660 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | FM (receiver included) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | up to 7 | ||
| nüvi 670 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | FM (receiver included) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | up to 7 | |
| nüvi 680 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | MSN (receiver included; 1-year free); FM (with opt. receiver) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | up to 7 | ||
| nüvi 750 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver) | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | ![]() | up to 5 | ||
| nüvi 760 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | ![]() | up to 5 | |
| nüvi 770 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | ![]() | up to 5 |
| nüvi 780 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | MSN-enhanced (receiver inc.; 3 months free) receiver); FM (with opt. receiver) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | ![]() | up to 5 | ||
| nüvi 850 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver) | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | ![]() | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 880 | 3.81 x 2.25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | MSN-enhanced (receiver inc.; 3 months free); FM (with opt. receiver) | ![]() | Photos, MP3s | ![]() | ![]() | up to 4 | |
| nüvi 5000 | 4.5 x 2.7 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver) | ![]() | ![]() | external battery only | |||
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Garmin has better options
I bought this unit and returned it after a week. My husband has an older model from Garmin and one of the features I love about it is that it tells me what street to turn on. Instead of saying “turn right in .5 miles” - it says “turn right in .5 miles on North Road”. This newer model however - does not give you the street names. You have to read the screen to see what the street is - and since this unit is so small - good for portability - I found myself squinting at the screen.
I have since purchased the Nuvi 350 instead.
Pros:
Tiny & Portable
Easy to Program
Cons:
No directions by street name
Recommendation:
Spend $30 more and get the 350 instead.
1 Star Illegal and terrible directions WARNING: Using this for navigation could be very dangerous!!! I just got this and after testing it to plan 2 routes over roads I know very well, I found I cannot trust the routes it chooses. The first one told me to make an illegal left turn in front of 3 lanes of traffic. The next one took me through terrible city traffic over a much longer distance, rather than use the Interstate. It also labeled an Interstate with the wrong number. Yes, I had it configured properly, and downloaded updated software as of Oct 16, 2008. So, the only use for this is as a tiny (possibly inaccurate) map or for GPS coordinates, speed, and elapsed time.
4 Stars Basic but invaluable
On the scale of available GPS navigation systems, the Garmin nüvi 200 is a relatively modest machine with a small price tag and not a lot of the fancy new bells and whistles. But for what you pay, you get a lot. The core functionality (which is all I was interested in) works extremely well and makes this an invaluable tool whenever I am driving to someplace new.
The touchscreen is perfectly adequate; it’s neither too sensitive nor difficult to use. Some of the menu navigation is a little non-intuitive (it is not always obvious which things on the map screen are “clickable”), but is reasonable once you get the hang of it. Again, the features are basic, but do everything one would feasibly expect.
This model does not speak the road names, so you’ll have to read them off the screen. Thankfully, I find the screen very easy to read in daylight and at night. The device automatically adjusts the brightness and the background colors depending on which side of sunrise and sunset you are. This may seems like a minor feature but is actually very helpful.
The speaking voice is very clear and distinct. Even with the radio on, it’s easy to make out the spoken directions.
I have found the maps to be complete and the directions it gives to be reasonable. There have been occasions when driving through an area which I already am familiar with when the device tells me to go a sub-optimal way. However, it has never steered me completely wrong. I find the directions to be completely comparable to the results I get from Google Maps, Yahoo Maps or MapQuest.
Similar to my reaction to cell-phones several years back, a car GPS was something that I hadn’t fully appreciated until I actually owned one. Before I bought mine, I figured that it would merely be a helpful and occasionally handy tool. Now I simply am unable to comprehend how I ever drove without one. I’ve been house shopping recently, and the ability to simply have a list of addresses in the car with me instead of pages and pages of map and direction printouts reduces my stress-levels considerably.
4 Stars Garmin Nuvi works well I have used it since taking it from the box for business and pleasure. No problems at all.
1 Star ok gps
The problem with this device is that it takes forever to find satellites…. up to 20 minutes….
this is just unacceptable!
and the other thing that drives me crazy is the touch screen, my fingers are small and often it clicks itself in a totally different region of the screen!!!
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nüvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.











