Bought this unit after a friend recommended the Garmin Nuvi series, and selected this particular model because of the included European database.
User Interface
The screen is easy to read under most conditions, and large enough for normal use. The touch screen works well. The on-screen menus and buttons are fairly intuitive. Zooming and panning of maps is adequately fast, though not snappy.
There are some quirks. It is tricky to set the default location, in case you want to explore maps or points of interest elsewhere. To do this you must close the GPS antenna, locate the desired point on the map, and select the "set location" on-screen button.
GPS Performance and Navigation
On initial power-up after moving the unit, it can take several minutes for an initial position fix. If it has not been moved, it typically takes less than 30 seconds for a fix. Stated accuracy varied from 2 meters to 30 meters. I have never had a problem with insufficient accuracy to accurately identify the correct road.
Navigation has been error-free so far. We have used the unit for a trip to the Berkshires in Western, MA on which we visited several Audubon reservations and state park sites, some of which were on small single-lane dirt roads. All the roads we encountered were in the database and correct. We also took the unit on a two-week driving trip in Finland and Switzerland, and it worked flawlessly. The only real complaint I have about the navigation is that it has a very strong tendency to avoid unpaved roads, so it will send you on a long detour to avoid them.
The database is surprisingly complete. It included almost every tourist or other site we visited on our trip to Europe. The fuel, ATM and parking lot locations were particularly useful.
The unit can be set to pedestrian mode, but we did not find this feature to be particularly useful. With the GPS antenna extended the unit doesn't fit in a pocket, and it tends to route to main streets which aren't very pedestrian-friendly in many cities. No hiking trails or footpaths are included in the database.
Voice Directions
The spoken voice directions are pretty good. Occasionally the unit fails to give adequate warning for upcoming turns, but it always displays the distance to the next turn and if you tap that spot on the screen it will speak the directions for the upcoming turn. The TTS (text-to-speech) for street names is a great feature, but if the unit is set to American English it pronounces foreign names horribly! You can set it to the local language, which results in proper pronunciation, but then the directions are given in that language as well.
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