Sanyo Easy Street NVM-4370 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Buyer Beware: Know what you are getting into:
I wish it was possible to give a producet a 0 rating
Cons:
FM transmitter is terrible
Speaker is terrible
There is absolutely no support on the web for this product. You cannot download drivers, software, or manuals .
You have to exit navigation mode to do anything else, like listen to music, view pictures, or change any settings such as adjusting the brightness.
The maps are on the CD ROM, my CD ROM was defective, and kept receiving data read errors on every PC in my house when I tried to read from the CD ROM.
MUSIC: There is not playlist or auto add. You can only play the files in one folder, if you have multiple folders you cannot go to the top level folder and play all of the files in the sub folders...so using it as a music player is not really a viable option, unless you have all of your music in one single folder and almost no desktop music player (i.e. windows media player, itunes) arranges music files into a single folder
Video Player: is ok if you can figure which mp4 video files it will play, because it won't play most of them...don't bother looking in the instructions for details because you won't find them. Just like the music player you will have to have all of your videos in a single folder if you want to be able to have anything similar to a playlist. This doesn't represent as big a problem as the audio player as long as you are watching TV shows or movies because they are longer so you are trying to find a new track every 3 or 4 minutes.
Navigation Screen: The maps are little plain, pretty plain, there isn't a lot of difference between the 2D maps and the 3D maps. You won't find anything for trips like you find on the manufacture's devices like GARMIN, so there is no Odometer, Tripometer, or Speedometer. That is a pretty depressing point for me
Bluetooth connected pretty easy on my AT&T Tilt phone, but was unable to use the contacts function via bluetooth; also the SMS messages function does not work either.
Pros:
It has video
It has audio
Navigation works pretty well. It is pretty easy to use, but you need to spend some time getting to know the setup.
Voice is clear and pronounces most street names pretty well, although the speaker is so poor it is hard to hear a highway speeds.
Overall:
I would not recommend this product, it's a shame because it has a lot of features but none of them work well enough to be a selling point. Really disappointing is the fact the speaker is so poor and that the FM transmitter is pretty much worthless because that is something that should have been pretty obvious during product testing.
If Sanyo comes out with a firmware/software update, I might change my recommendation; until then I would navigate away from this GPS.
Reviewer Background:
*34 year old male
*Masters Degree
*10 + years in computer electronics industry
*Previous GPS owner
UPDATE:
After 3 days the unit suddenly stopped working. It will power on with a "SANYO" logo and that is it, did all of the resets that the manual called for. Nothing.
Tried calling customer support----unable to get through. Sanyo has a very simple phone tree that gives you two options. 1 for if you purchased walmart cameras and 2. for all other Sanyo products, when you press 2, it starts the phone tree all over again.
Update 2: Finally got in touch with the Sanyo Helpless Desk, told the them all of the troubleshooting I did and the pretty much told me to take it back where i got it.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT !!!!


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4.3" touch screen display with stylish thin bezel designPre-loaded 50 U.S. Puerto Rico and Canada mapsBluetoothenabled (built-in microphone) SMS and data transfer video input for back up camera SDcard slotText-to-specch (TTS)Built-in 4.0GB internal memory 7 million points of interest (POI) and JPEG photo viewingVoice guidance turn-by-turn navigation and Li-Ion battery that last up to 4 hoursOptional TMC antenna kit English/Spanish/FrenchWorks as a rearview camera display (camera not included)Includes AC adaptor DC car charger car mounting kit USB cable DVD storing US and Canada map and video cable

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Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)I actually could not decide between the Garmin Nuvi 255w or the 750 model, so I decided to buy them both for comparison. I mounted them both to my car windshield and gave them various addresses to find together. I found that both models took the same routes and announced upcoming turns and street names at practically the same time. One thing I noticed about the 255w was that it was updating my position on the road more often, I'd say about 3 times as often as the 750. This made for smoother graphics on the 255w of the vehicle moving along displayed roads, where the 750's display was more of a "jerky" movement. I also found that the display on the 255w was a bit brighter, clearer, and more vivid than on the 750 in both daylight and at night. Another feature I like on the 255w is the graphic turn indicator in the upper left corner, which the 750 lacks. This is a small arrow which shows upcoming turns and the distance to that turn. It also show things like a fork in the road, (ie: a Y intersection), and which fork you will be taking. The 750 just displays text on the top line for upcoming turns without the arrow. It's just a little extra feature on the 255w which I happened to really like. The 255 also automatically adjusts the font size of displayed text so that even lengthy text will fit.
Another feature on the 255w is a display of the posted speed limit on the road which you are currently on right above your current displayed speed. I found myself not even looking at my car speedometer as I could easily see my current speed and the speed limit of my route at a glance. The 750 doesn't have this feature. I also like how they moved the zoom in (+) and zoom out (-) buttons on the 255w to the same side of the screen which makes it a bit easier. On the 750 the zoom buttons are on opposite sides of the screen.
Now there are some features on the 750 that the 255w does not have. The 750 can broadcast it's sound over your FM radio with the supplied cigarette lighter cable, and it has a headphone jack, which I found to be nice features. The 750 also has an MP3 player and an Audio-book player, which the 255w does not. Another really nice feature of the 750 is the car locater. This is a great feature if you are parking in a really big lot, such as at an amusement park or a fair. The 750 marks your location when you remove it from the car, then you take it with you and it remembers where you parked and takes you right back to your car. The 255w doesn't have the car locater.
I also thought the the voice prompts of the 750 where more pleasant sounding than the 255w's. The 750 sounds more like a real female voice, where the 255w sounds more robotic.
Another thing to consider was that I paid $50 less for the 750 and it came with the FM transmitter cable and a USB cord to connect it to your computer for updates and downloads.
My final decision was to keep the 255w and return the 750 because I really liked the graphic turn indicator and the posted speed limit and current speed indicators. I didn't find a need for the 750's MP3 player and Audio book player, but that is up to personal preference. Since the USB cable was not included with the 255w, I purchased it on this site for $10. I also intend to purchase the MSN direct cable when it is available in August 2008.

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Go wide and get peace of mind with nuvi 255W. This affordable, widescreen navigator leads the way with voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions that speak street names and optional MSN Direct® services to get you there on time and keep you informed. It's packed with millions of destinations and maps for North America or Europe. Like the rest of the sleek nuvi 2x5-series, this portable navigator is priced right and ultra-easy to use. See More With nuvi 255W's widescreen display, you'll always get the big picture. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 4.3" (10.9 cm) display is easy to read, from any direction.
With the nuvi 255W's widescreen display, you'll alwasys get the big picture

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