Garmin nüvi 1250 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
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3.5″ Diagonal Color Display, 320 X 240 Pixels Ultra-slim Design?approximately 25% Thinner Than Previous Models Msn(r) Direct Compatible Easy-to-use Touchscreen Interface Text-to-speech Feature Preloaded With City Navigator(r) Nt Detailed Mapping Coverage Of North America Or Europe Ecoroute(tm)?suggests Fuel-efficient Routes To Save Drivers Money & Fuel Public Transit Mode?allows User To Navigate Using Buses, Tramway, Metro & Suburban Rail Systems Offers Pedestrian Navigation Capability Enabled Through Optional Cityxplorer(tm) Maps, Which Are Available For Select Tourist Destinations In North America & Europe & Can Easily Be Downloaded Directly To The NA1/4vi(r) Micro Secure Digital Card(tm) Slot Includes Garmin Lock(tm) Anti-theft Feature Built-in Li-ion Battery Includes Vehicle Suction Cup Mount, Vehicle Power Cable & Dashboard Disc
Features
- High-sensitivity GPS receiver for fast satellite lock; sleek, ultra-slim design fits in a pocket
- Pre-loaded with City Navigtor NT maps for North America, including more than 6 million name-searchable points of interest
- Pedestrian navigation capability enabled through optional CityXplorer maps; ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient routes to save drivers money and fuel
- Public transit mode allows you to navigate using buses, tramway, metro, and suburban rail systems
- Turn-by-turn directions with spoken street names (text-to-speech)
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 1 x 3 x 4 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
Long distance travel and alternate routes
When I encountered a closed bridge in Portsmouth NH, I attempted to access Alternate Route on the nuvi 1250 and was redirected to the same closed bridge, through back streets. There was no way to enter an Interstate number which I knew would take me over that body of water and get me on my way to my destination in Delaware, so I had to stop and ask directions several times. Traveling onto NYC and Boston, Garmin seems to have made a deal with the George Washington Bridge Authority – could not get it to avoid the bridge and its insane traffic, even when traveling back from Boston to Long Island. Ended up using Google maps and just turning on the Garmin to access local addresses. I would think that you should be able to detour when encountering traffic, a closed bridge or planning a long distance route.
Good Stuff
Nice and good looking GPS. It’s different and special gadget, because the Garmin dedicates your product to navigation only. I totaly recomend all Garmin GPSs.
Garmin nüvi 1250
Got this to replace an old nüvi 260 after its power switch broke (looks like the sliding power switch has been replaced by a push button, hope it’s less fragile). The new model feels much snappier than the old model (e.g. less lag after tapping buttons on the screen, and more frequent screen updates while navigating). The old model would sometimes take ages to find satellites; hasn’t happened with the new model, so far.
My favorite two new features are tracklogs (which can be copied and uploaded), and the indication of the current speed limit. I also like the topographic information that is shown on maps, but it’s only visible when zoomed out far. First thing I did was update the software and maps. Took a while, but worked without a glitch (on Windows). Note that a cable is not included, but the device has a standard mini-USB port.
One of the things I liked least with the old model was scrolling around the map with the touch screen. Somehow they managed to make it even worse with the new model; the map jumps all over the place. On the other hand the touch screen works fine for typing and selecting options. Zooming in and out now uses an animation, but the device isn’t really powerful enough to do that smoothly (and there doesn’t appear to be a way to disable that).
There is also still no easy way to select from multiple routes; if you don’t like the proposed route, you can either go into the settings and change from e.g. “fastest route” to “most fuel efficient” and see what that does (tedious), or you can create a waypoint to force an alternate route (only one is allowed, so that won’t work in all cases).
The area were the name of the street or intersection at the next turn is shown has shrunk a bit, and when your next turn is “Exit 127: Yadda-Yadda Street to Hwy 66″, the text (including the exit number) is too small to read while driving. Might not be an issue on models with a larger screen (and of course you can use the text to speech function to avoid having to read anything off the device).
I’ve been happy with the maps and directions on the old device (only ever encountered two missing roads and a few impossible turns while driving around in Washington State, British Columbia and Hawaii), and expect similar from the latest maps. Suggested routes were sometimes less optimal than those given by Google Maps, but (with the exception of a few routes that required navigating Forest Service roads to remote trailheads), reasonable.
Pickup the signal quickly and never lost the signal
This is my first GPS and I like it.
I used it for the first time for my trip to DC. It got me where I want to go but there’s a time the GPS asked me to go through local line while I could just stay in express line.
At first, I thought maybe my exit was close and that’s why GPS asked me to go through local line, but that wasn’t the case, … just weird. On the way back from DC, i just ignore when it asked me to use local line again and made my way home faster through express line.
It also mistakenly mentioned that my destination is in the left while it’s in the right,..twice. But that all happened to be only in big shopping center…
I bought this GPS because the review said that it picks up satellite signal pretty quick and it is. Also, I can use it from inside the house. Never lost signal so far.
Got problem when first time try to download update map, but customer service/help was very helpful and solved my problem quickly.
Average, it’s a reliable GPS.
lose connection, lose direction, wrong route
Problem 1: lose connection
I live in SF bay area where cloudy weather is not unusual. On these days, the GPS loses connection easily. It had happened several times and made the GPS useless.
Problem 2: lose direction
When my car stops in heavy traffic, quite normal in bay area, the GPS loses its direction and forces a recalculate sometimes.
Problem 3: wrong route
The GPS stubbornly insists zigzag routes instead the much easier and straighter one sometimes. I don’t know if it can learn new routes.
I deducted one star for each of the problems. Please post the fix if you know. I will adjust the rating if they are fixed. Thanks.
Used While Walking
I bought the Garmin Nuvi 1250 for my daughter, who uses it walking in Brooklyn and Manhattan for such purposes as locating intersections on non-numbered streets. She says it works very well and she likes it.
It will not, of course, work in the subway (underground)!
Fabulous
Was a great christmas gift for both myself and my husband. It is very accurate and is very sleek looking. The price was also wonderful. Hooray for Amazon.
Call it “unreliable”
I purchased this unit, serial number 1N3004101, at Best Buy six months ago. Many times the screen would spontaneously go to 1% brightness (which is a real pain trying to see the screen buttons to remedy this). Last month before trying to find a home in the winding hills of the San Francisco Bay Area the screen died. Very poor timing. Started up again the next day. Now, three weeks later, it died again. Very unreliable. I hate to think that these things are throw-away units with a shorter life than my windshield wiper blades. I have put a complaint in to Garmin. We’ll see how that goes.
Added material…After three sessions with Garmin tech support, including downloading software upgrades, the unit slowed down to a crawl, sometimes requiring over a minute to plot the directions to a nearby location that, when I first purchased it, would require less than five seconds to find. I will say that Garmin answers the phone in less than five minutes with a helpful support person, and I have received a return authorization number. I was using the unit last night and it froze with the screen on. Can’t even turn it off, even by disconnecting the power. So I will mail it back and report back.
The “refurbished” unit arrived in 2/10, worked fine for 4 months, and now won’t turn on. I am writiing Garmin. Will update.
Humorous
I researched GPS units for a couple of weeks before deciding to buy this one. It had good reviews and after studying Tom Tom and Magellan’s GPS reviews bought a Garmin. Oh my what a joke! The unit itself is okay but the maps and guide/directions are awful. I have to laugh otherwise I’ll cry! We live near Victoria Texas a town of 60,000 + people and had some major highways built 5 yrs ago. The highways are not on the updated Garmin maps. I was told anything built 2 yrs or newer would not be on the maps but these highways are 5 yrs old and they are not there. I feel for the people who are not from this area because they will be lost. The highways are incorrectly named and if they didn’t know the highways in this area they’d be lost and totally confused.
I’m worried about future trips we take and how this GPS unit is going to have us lost in the major cities. I was hoping on a recent trip to the San Antonio airport this unit would do well. It did NOT do well. It was trying to tell us to turn down roads that were 20 to 30 miles out of our way. I’ve played with the different settings of which type of directions you would like, faster, economical, etc… and it did not make a difference. I finally turned the sound off and pretty much ignored the GPS unit all together. My 6 yr old son has fun watching the screen but kind of an expensive toy for a 6 yr old. Thank goodness I have my maps and Texas county map book as I can see I will need them. To bad Garmin didn’t use the mapbooks to update their maps. I’m really sorry I bought this. I’m thinking about returning the unit but I’m one of those people that doesn’t want to give up hope. If anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear it. I like the unit just not the maps or directions. I would NOT recommend buying this or any other Garmin unit. Maybe Tom Tom or Magellan’s maps are better?
Great unit!
My first GPS after seeing my other friends with Garmin GPSs. The smaller size of the 1250 model makes it very portable especially if you travel 15 days a month like I do. Screen is very sharp and easy to see attached to the windshield. The touch screen sometimes needs 2-3 taps to enter info, this is the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars all around. Maybe you have to touch the exact center of the touch button. I bought the GPS unit only with no accessories to see what was in the box. To update the software which mine needed, you need a UBS/mini USB cable which is NOT included. Buy one at Best Buy, etc. Does not come with a protective travel pouch. No AC charger. I use the IGO system so I just had to buy the charging tip. I did a software update and it worked flawlessly. Just a quick start manual is included, to get the full manual you need to go the Garmin web site. There is also a slot for a micro SD card.
All in all, very happy with the unit.
enjoy my Garmin nuvi
Easy to use, and accurate in travel the times I have used so far. Rated 4 is mostly Amazon issue, the listing was not clear if it included a base and re-charge cord so I ordered as accessories. In opening the box, I found them included and had to go thru the hassle of returning what I didn’t need.
I like it, BUT WONDER ABOUT RELIABILITY
Bought the 1250 in September for the Traffic Feature. Traffic Feature works GREAT! Compact size is good for travelling. HOWEVER, Over the last 7 days, I have had to return my 1250 to retail store FOUR TIMES, while on Business Trips. In each case, the GPS would not switch on after a routine shutdown, and storage (in my briefcase, cushioned). The first time, I though it was a fluke, the second time, I was worried, the THIRD time I was nervous. Today, the FOURTH failure, I turned it in for a Nuvi 1300 model. I suspect it has something to do with the shutdown screen when car power goes off..when I push “Shutdown” I get trouble…suggest you consider turning it off by the power switch instead. My original Nuvi 350 is still working well, and appears to be much more rugged than the new thin design. Hope the new one works as well as my 350….
I absolutely LOVE it!
I bought my Garmin Nuvi 1250 a few days ago. I have never owned a GPS, but used a few from friends in the past. I wanted one that had free traffic updates and was easy to use AND inexpensive. With this Garmin, I got it all. I have not even opened the manual yet and I’ve already traveled the back roads of Wisconsin that would have had me lost in the woods! This morning it saved me from being late to work by giving me last minute traffic updates. I can’t believe what a great little GPS I got for under $200 bucks. If you are thinking about buying one, seriously, just do it. I waited for a few years and I’m so happy with my purchase. It may be the best money I ever spent!
The best thing ever got
This is the best thing I ever got. Nuvi 1250 catches satellites within 10 seconds. Also it has a fast recalculating speed and clear voice. A great GPS compares with the other Garmins I used.
Pros:
- easy to use
- catch satellites quickly
- speed limit
- fast recalculating speed
- text to speech
- clear voice
- 1 free map updating within 60 days purchasing
- Canada map included
Cons:
- no QWERT key board
- short battery life
Overall, it is a great GPS for 200 dollar range
A fine upgrade…
I used to own the Garmin Nuvi 265T with Bluetooth. Did not use the Bluetooth feature at all. So, I decided to sell it and get this one. Love it, love it, love it. It is easy to use. The voice for directions is much clear. It also says the name of your arrival destination. Up to date maps and many other functions. Go for it!