Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
Navigate both North America and Europe without loading more maps with the affordable nvi 270. This entry-level Personal Travel Assistant makes traveling so simple. For even more mapping options, nvi 250 and nvi 200 offer less map coverage at a lower price. Like all nvi 200-series members, the 270 features an easy-to-use colorful touchscreen and ultra-slim design--perfect for everyday navigation. 
The nvi 270 comes preloaded with maps for North America and Europe, and features an easy-to-use touchscreen and ultra-slim design. | 
Configurable vehicle icons let you select car-shaped graphics. | 
nvi 270 accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger. | Smart, Powerful Design
The nvi 270 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 nvi 270'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
nvi 270 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. In addition, nvi 270 accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs. Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nvi 270 features many 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. Optional plug-in SD cards for our line of Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nvi for your travel needs. Note: Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.
What's in the Box
nvi 270, preloaded City Navigator NT for North America and Europe (full coverage), vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, and set up and go guide.
| Customer Reviews: Read 101 more reviews...
 GPS With European Maps August 23, 2007
162 out of 162 found this review helpful
The Garmin GPS was a godsend on our trip to Europe. If you have ever driven into cities or small towns in Europe you will know how difficult it is to navigate, while trying to read foreign street signs, dodging motor scooters and bicylists, finding the right exit out of a around-about all the while being pushed along by the very aggressive drivers behind you. But with the GPS most of that stress goes away as you know when and where to turn and you drive through towns like a native. I was very impressed that even going through the miles long tunnels of the alps the GPS must be programmed to keep the unit tracking without a satellite signal because several minutes later coming out of the tunnel it still provides instructions. I purchased the pricier model 270 because of the factory installed European maps. If you purchased a GPS with only North America maps and had to load the European maps the cost of those maps would be another $250. It's less money to get the 270 or 370 with maps already loaded. The windshield mounting is excellent and worked well in the rental car. The Nuvi series GPS is convenient enough in size to be carried in the pocket for walking around the cities. But it does not work as well for pedestrian purposes because it cannot keep bearings well as you tend to rotate the device and it looses it sense of direction. I read all the reviews on GPS's and chose the Garmin because of it's higher ratings for search engine, ease of use and maps. You will immediately become an expert user even without reading instructions with this device. It is literally that easy to use.
Nuvi 270 used in Italy October 19, 2007
30 out of 30 found this review helpful
I bought the Nuvi 270 for my 24 day trip to Italy. The unit is very user friendly for menus and visibilty. We used our Garmin in coordination with a TomTom 910 and our unit out mapped the TomTom every time. The mapping is great and points of interest are good, but rememeber that Italian locations are not always translated the same IE; "leaning tower of Pisa" is actually "tower pendentta. The other thing you never want to do is hit "shortest route" when in Italy!!! You will end up driving curvy mountain roads and maybe end up on a goat trail. We almost trippled our trip time by doing this one evening. So to end this, I highly recommend this unit if you are going to Europe and keep it when you come home, cause it has even better use on the US roads.
Great experience with Garmin 270 in Europe September 1, 2007
28 out of 28 found this review helpful
I purchased the Garmin 270 because it included European and US GPS. When the unit arrived, I took it outside in the front yard of my house in Seattle and powered it up. It took a few minutes to acquire the sattelite, and then picked up my location immediately. I purchased the gravity mount device (didn't want the sticky mess), which worked very well. I punched in a few local locations and listened to the directions to guide me in, which worked fine. When I got to Paris, I attempted to use it for walking from my Metro stop to the apartment we rented in the Marais. My daughter was quite annoyed with me, as the GPS took us on a very circuitous route, due to the many one-way, winding streets in this section of Paris. Not a good start. So I packed it away, until we were picking up the rental car, for the drive to Brugge. It was raining that day, so it took a while for the satellite to pick up. Once we acquired the satellite, flawless directions to our hotel in Brugge, and flawless performance on the drive to Brusells and Cologne. Back in Seattle, I used it to navigate to my daughters' friends located in the backroads of Sammamish and Issaquah -- highly recommended for road navigation here and in Europe. Not so good for walking. Also, if there is an electrical storm or bad weather, you will need to fall back on Le Michelin, we discovered this in Reims, when a storm blew in quickly.
Ideal Navigator June 26, 2007
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
I own a Magellan Meridian Color GPS. I wrote a very negative review for this unit. It was a poor unit in its use of technology that existed at the time I bought it . Maps were inaccurate, incomplete and very restricted. Loading them to the GPS was a nightmare. Garmin Nuvi 270 is like a night and day different. It is very intuitive and in every respect near perfect. I travel a lot in Europe. I have been looking for a GPS I could buy here with European maps as well as US/Canada maps installed. I considered Tom Tom 910, but reviews I read discouraged me from buying one. G 270 is a basic unit that seems to do everything it is supposed to do well. It has a bright screen and sensitive reception. I love this unit. Having said all those nice things, I am disappointed that only charging capability that came with it is a car charger. I use my GPS in Europe for days without getting into my car. I quickly rectified this problem by ordering an AC charger at about $30 including shipping. If you need a GPS only for Europe, Garmin Nuvi 250 can be purchased in EU for 299 Euro. When you get your VAT back, it would be about $350. I opted to get 270 for another $110 to cover both sides of the pond. I have no regrets.
No More Maps of Europe for Me! Nuvi 270 Gets 5 Stars! November 1, 2007
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
I recently went to Scotland, Ireland and England for 2 weeks. Normally, I would have gone through the trouble of printing maps off of Google however, I decided to purchase a 270 instead. Amazingly Amazon was the best deal out there. I orderered the GPS, a charging cable and a bean bag type mounting kit. If you are planning on using this in rental cars, the garmin bean bag mount is the way to go. It packs flat when you remove the stand and never slid from its spot on my dash!
So, how were the maps? To tell you the truth, I was a little apprehensive to buy a Nuvi because I had such a good experience on my last trip to the UK when my rental car came equipped with a TomTom. The nuvi 270 work like a charm and also has maps of the USA to boot!
I highly recommend this unit, it's not much larger than a deck of cards and I pack it in my laptop case when I travel so I always have it handy!
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