Garmin nüvi 2557LMT 5-Inch Portable Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps and Traffic

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I purchased this to replace an older 5" garmin that did not have lifetime maps. I was getting tired of being nagged to pay for a map update on the older unit. Also I wanted to upgrade to a Bluetooth device.

I am impressed overall with the improved speed and sophistication of this device. Connecting to a satellite is improved considerably. Seriously it just takes seconds. My last unit kept searching for a satellite connection so long I was afraid I'd get lost in the process.

No more "recalculating" exclamations when you go off the suggested route. It quickly displays your new route with the suggested next turn.

There are many more split screen "junction view" occurrences. These rarely appeared on my last unit.

The user menu and graphical display has also been improved. The graphics appear cleaner and there is a menu tab on each screen.

Regarding Bluetooth, The ability to use as a speaker phone when connected to your mobile device is nice.

The Voice Command system is good but not great. it's fine when reciting pre-defined menu options but is hit or miss (mainly miss) when speaking addresses.

The build of the unit is solid. Slightly thinner and curvier than previous units.



I have not had any traffic alerts so really can't comment on that function yet.



I'm happy with the improved performance of this unit.



If Voice command and the speaker function are not important to you, you could save some cash buy getting the 2557 model.

Transcend Information USB 3.0 Card Reader (TS-RDF5K)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I have been using several USB 2.0 card readers in the past, including the Transcend M5 Multi-Card Reader and Sandisk Mobilemate SD Plus Memory Card Reader. With memory cards getting faster over the years, I started to get the feeling that my old card readers are limiting the Read/Write speed of my newer memory cards. That's why I purchased this Transcend Information USB 3.0 Card Reader (TS-RDF5K) just to try it out, even through all my computers only have USB 2.0 ports.



Upon arrival of the RD5F, I benchmarked over one dozen of my SDHC and microSDHC memory cards, with speed rating from class-4 to class-10 and UHS-1. The program I used is called "CrystalDiskMark v3.01 x64". It reports, among other things, sequential READ and WRITE speed of memory cards. To my surprise, several of my fastest cards showed about 50% improvement in Read/Write speed compared to when using the old M5 card reader.



As an example: for the HP CG790A-AZ 32 GB Flash Memory Card Class 10 SDHC I was previously getting 19.6MB/s in Write and 20.1MB/s in Read. But when used with the RDF5, its throughput jumped 50% to 29.7 and 34.8MB/s, respectively. The Transcend 32 GB Class 10 UHS Flash Memory Card TS32GSDHC10U1E also shows nearly identical improvement.



The above proves that using old card reader was the bottleneck for my fastest cards. On the other hand, improvements for my slower cards were less noticeable, typically around 5% or less. That include Kingston class-4 SD10G2/16GB, Transcend Class 6 TS16GSDHC6E, etc. See the summary of benchmark results I uploaded to 'Customer Images' section for details.



The only negative about this RDF5 card reader is that: it does not allow simultaneous usage of both SDHC and microSDHC slots. That is, you can only insert one card at a time, but never both.



Conclusion:

I am very happy with the dramatic improvement I can achieve with this card reader, even when it is connected to an USB 2.0 port. Once I upgrade to a new computer with USB 3.0 ports, I expect the benchmark results to be even better - at least for my fastest cards. In the mean time, I consider this card reader the cheapest computer upgrade I can recommend.



[Update on Dec 26, 2013]

I finally have a computer with USB 3.0 port, so I re-tested ~10 memory cards to see the difference.

- For any card marketed as 'UHS-1', I observed huge improvements in both Read and Write speeds.

- For any card marketed as 'class 10' but not UHS, I may see some increase in Read, but very little difference in Wrire.



Bottom Line: If you have an UHS-1 card, make sure to use the RDF5 card reader in conjunction with USB 3.0 port, in order to get the full benefit.

Garmin nüvi 2597LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps and Traffic

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I purchased this to replace an older 5" garmin that did not have lifetime maps. I was getting tired of being nagged to pay for a map update on the older unit. Also I wanted to upgrade to a Bluetooth device.

I am impressed overall with the improved speed and sophistication of this device. Connecting to a satellite is improved considerably. Seriously it just takes seconds. My last unit kept searching for a satellite connection so long I was afraid I'd get lost in the process.

No more "recalculating" exclamations when you go off the suggested route. It quickly displays your new route with the suggested next turn.

There are many more split screen "junction view" occurrences. These rarely appeared on my last unit.

The user menu and graphical display has also been improved. The graphics appear cleaner and there is a menu tab on each screen.

Regarding Bluetooth, The ability to use as a speaker phone when connected to your mobile device is nice.

The Voice Command system is good but not great. it's fine when reciting pre-defined menu options but is hit or miss (mainly miss) when speaking addresses.

The build of the unit is solid. Slightly thinner and curvier than previous units.



I have not had any traffic alerts so really can't comment on that function yet.



I'm happy with the improved performance of this unit.



If Voice command and the speaker function are not important to you, you could save some cash buy getting the 2557 model.

Garmin nüvi 2555LMT 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Maps and Traffic

CUSTOMER REVIEW



This is my 3rd Garmin GPS. I have become accustomed to their user interface and performance, so I can't compare to other makes. I wanted to talk about the new features that attracted me to this unit and how I evaluated their usefulness on my first 3 hour road trip to a location I know by heart.



Feature 1 - 5 inch screen. I am older and am having to use reading glasses to see the GPS mounted to the dash. My earlier unit was a 4 inch. I considered a 7 inch Magellan, but when I found out you couldn't install custom POIs on the Magellan, it ruled that one out for me. We go camping frequently and I have all the state parks as custom POIs. I also have truck stops I like to use. The 5 inch display was definately an improvement for me.



Feature 2 - Automated voice recognition. I definately don't like being distracted by touching the screen to see how far the next roadside rest is (see custom POIs above). So I thought telling the GPS what I wanted made a lot of sense. When it comes to "commands" this feature works OK, but I have discovered I have to turn the radio volume down or talk VERY LOUDLY. The latter disturbs my wife :-) However, when you want to provide an address to locate, the unit performed badly. I couldn't get it to correctly locate any of 3 addresses correctly... i.e. "4810 Whitewood Court" ended up with something very strange.



Feature 3 - Turn lanes. Knowing which lane you need to be in to correctly exit the highway and be ready for the next turn. There are two distinctly different features on this unit for knowing the turn lanes. One is "Viewing Junctions" which displays a picture of the upcoming junction, complete with signage. This takes up about the right half of the screen. The other turn lane feature is a small area in the upper left corner that shows , by using arrows, the number of lanes. The lane(s) you are to be in are bright white, while the others are grey. I found the arrows to be VERY useful and quick to absorb at a glance. I found the "Viewing Junctions" not very useful, as you had to look over a much larger area of the screen to absorb the information in a glance. I found I had to glance at the "Viewing Junctions" image several times before I understood which lane it wanted me to be in. For me at least, the "Viewing Junction" feature was of no use to me.



Feature 4 - Traffic. On my trip there were no traffic problems, so I didn't get to experience any rerouting due to traffic conditions. This feature appears to only work when you are in or around larger cities. Between cities, pressing the traffic button indicated that there was no or weak signal.



Feature 5 - Posted speed limits - As you are navigating a small sign appears on the display showing the posted limit and your actual speed. If your actual speed exceeds the posted limit, it turns red. Nice little feature to keep honest people honest.



Other Notes:

I found the estimated time of arrival to be more accurate than my previous GPSs. Perhaps because it knows the posted limits as they change along the route??? The menu system is different from my prior GPSs.



There is an icon composed of 3 horizontal white bars that, when pressed, bring up other options. Sometimes this icon is in the lower right of the display, sometimes it is located elsewhere depending on where you are in the menus. Since this was a little different than prior units, I am having to get adjusted to this.