Quit debating and upgrade now! Worth the upgrade!

This is my third Garmin product. I upgraded to the larger screen after seeing my brother’s 5” screen. One would not think 4.3” to 5.0” makes a difference; but it does. I spent a week comparing the various models, reading reviews at various sites, and shopping for the best price. I finally narrowed my decision down to the 2595 LMT.

Not only does the 5” screen make a difference some of the other features make using the 2595 a little more fun. One of the cool features is that you can now record and upload your own voice so that you are telling yourself where to go. I had a lot of fun with the “recalculating” part.

I upgraded all of my Garmin products to Lifetime Maps, so I knew I had to have that on my new product. What I was not 100% sure that I would ever use is the traffic feature. Since it was included with the LMT package, I have grown to like it. It is not always spot-on with the traffic flow, but it is close. I wanted to know how that feature worked, and after a little research, the answer was quite simple. Have you seen those signs that say tune to an FM or AM station for traffic updates? That is the primary method the GPS unit gathers traffic information.

I also like the customizable dashboard on the 2595. You choose what you want displayed as you drive down the road. If you pair your smartphone with the Garmin unit via Bluetooth, you can display the temperature as reported by the National Weather Service for the area you are driving. If paired with your smartphone, you can overlay a weather map on the GPS unit. THAT is very handy! You can also display the current time, which is something that I have wished for since my first Garmin device. My current dashboard displays the current time, arrival time, miles to destination, current speed/posted speed limit. Note that the posted speed limit display is not 100% reliable, as the device has no idea if you are in a construction zone, or if the speed limit changed yesterday.

An improved feature is that when the Lane Assist display pops up, it only takes up half the screen leaving the route map displayed on the other half of the screen. I would like to see Garmin add an audible alarm that you are in the wrong lane to maintain your route, especially at some of the confusing interchanges in places like Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, etc. Naturally, I have uploaded many custom Points of Interest (POI) and a ton of custom vehicles. Since I use the device while driving a bus, I would like to find a POI list of all active railroad crossings, and have the device give an audible alarm ½ mile from the crossing.

I am still experimenting with the many other features included with the 2595. Some I may never use and others I am sure that I will wonder how I ever managed without them. The only partially negative remark about the new unit is that the user interface for navigating through the screens changed and I am still not completely used to it. Again, this is just a matter of being accustomed to the new method of navigating through the different screens.

It will get you there, unless it's not on the map

Used this weekend to go to a soccer field that is at least 5 years old, probably 10 or more. The street did not exist in the map database (Updated the maps about a month ago). Google maps on line as well as on my iphone had no trouble finding the field. So I found a landmark nearby (not sure how to do intersections yet, much easier on the old software) and told it to go there.
Easy to use, easier than the one built into my car. The Voice Commands are fun, but make sure you have the whole address ready to say. I have Bluetooth in the car, so I'm not using that feature. My phone sees it though.

Great product and fun to use

I really like this GPS. I originally bought the TomTom 1535LMT because it had the same features for a lot lower price. I returned it and bought this one. Takes a little time to adjust but then it's great to use. The voice command feature is wonderful and fun to use. Don't pay attention to CNET review - the system totally synched with my phone address book. My only criticism is that the bluetooth speaker is too low.

Perfect no but a very easy to use would I buy it again a big yes

This has been a great tool for me. I work in the delivery industry for the last 28 years. Every so often they change our delivery areas well they just changed in January. I was not looking forward to have to learn all the street names and company's of my area this time so I decided to buy a garmin to help until I could remember where they all were. It is easy to use and does a good job of locating streets for me. It isn't perfect but it does do a good job. The traffic on this device worked great I was headed for a stop of a company I knew where they were but used it anyway the garmin told me to get off the freeway and to take a street with lots of lights I thought it was crazy but I followed it just to see. I was surprised to see a accident on the freeway that would have taken me over an our longer to get through. It saved me the time of sitting on the closed freeway. Thanks garmin for making a great tool for me.

Great units - no hesitation in recommending it.

I have been using GPS units since 1994. New Garmins are a bit pricey but I just can't get the range of features and control that Garmins offer - they let me easily scroll the maps 100's of miles away and mark a point there or get a satellite coverage map so I can move just a bit to get better reception or set up the onscreen display to show just what I want. Buying slightly older (and much less costly) units from eBay is about as close to perfect as it gets. I've bought five of this model of Nuvi for family so we have common power supplies, mounts and map loads. Knowing how to use a very capable unit in everyone of our cars is a HUGE benefit. We are 'happy campers.'