March 15, 2007

Garmin Nuvi 200, 250, 270 at CeBit

Garmin officially announced the nüvi 200, nüvi 250 and nüvi 270 today at CeBit. This was leaked Wednesday, and the details look juicy. The features are sound, the product looks great and the price is sure to please. Garmin clearly saw the opportunity in the value end of the market, and had to have a smile on their face as that end of the market exploded over the holidays in 2006, knowing that they were sitting on these.

The Nuvi 200, Nuvi 250 and Nuvi 270 still offer the ease of use that Garmin is known for and the great flat form factor, as it's about 105 slimmer than the Nuvi 350, and these flat units are sweeping bulkier GPS units off the market.

Make sure you stop back to the GPS Lodge tonight for more news on the Nuvi 200.

Update: We have the Garmin Nuvi 250 in for review at the GPS Lodge.

More after the jump...

The nüvi family has taken the world by storm because of its extraordinary features and sleek look,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “The nüvi 200-series is destined to be another grand slam thanks to its ingenious design and low price point. This is the ideal out-of-the-box, entry-level car navigation system.”

Integrated Antenna
The ultra-slim nüvi 200-series makes using a GPS device easy for anyone. The nüvi’s new design incorporates an internal GPS antenna that makes it thinner and even easier to mount in a car. The intuitive “where to?” and “view map” welcome screen, allows users to quickly find a specific street address or establishment’s name, or search for a destination by category. Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions then guide the driver to their destination. If they miss a turn along the route, the nüvi automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track.

Those familiar with the “travel kit” feature available on premium nüvis will appreciate the nüvi 200-series’ built-in picture viewer, calculator, currency converter, unit converter and world clock. These new navigators are also compatible with Garmin’s line of rich content such as the Garmin Travel Guide™ and Garmin SaversGuide®. For additional security, Garmin has included the Garmin Lock™, an innovative patent pending theft prevention system that disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location.

Garmin has also added the ability for customers to augment the preloaded maps with custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras. The European versions of the nüvi 200-series come preloaded with speed camera information.

About the size of a deck of cards, the nüvi’s focal point is its bright 3.5-inch (diagonal) touchscreen. The unit’s only button is an on/off slider bar, which may be locked to avoid being turned on or off accidentally. The nüvi also has a convenient SD card slot for expandable memory.

Compare the Nuvi 200 vs. Nuvi 250 vs. Nuvi 270
The nüvi 200, nüvi 250 and nüvi 270 are expected to be available in April at an MSRP of $399.99, $499.99 and $599.99, respectively. The nüvi 200 includes preloaded detailed mapping of the contiguous United States (lower 48), Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The nüvi 250 has preloaded detailed mapping of the entire United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada and Puerto Rico. For the ultimate ease in traveling abroad, the nüvi 270 includes preloaded detailed maps of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and over 30 countries in Europe. All map data is provided by NAVTEQ™ – a world leader in premium-quality mapping – and includes approximately six million POI’s.

Garmin will also offer nüvi 200-series products with regional specific coverage for Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil. The regional coverage for Europe includes UK/Ireland, Nordics, Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg, France, Italy/Greece, Spain/Portugal, and Germany/Switzerland/Austria/Czech Republic.