Garmin StreetPilot 2720 Portable GPS Navigator

The Garmin StreetPilot is an excellent GPS navigation system. All the features you would expect and more. I especially like the text to speech capabilities in which the unit verbalizes the street names instead just saying "turn right in 500ft". The handy remote that comes with this as well as the previous versions is great. I have a Nissan Murano and the dash is a little farther from me than other cars, so the remote comes in handy. My father has a navigation system in his new Mercedes E320 and this little bundle of joy far out shines what's in his car. Anyway the remote was a big feature for me when choosing a navigation system. The screen size is a little small I wish it was bigger, and I wish the calculation of routes were a bit quicker and maybe I would rather have the speaking voice come from the unit instead of the 12v car adapter speaker. And I would definately like the number portion of the remote to light up at night. Still with that said this is an awesome GPS unit and suit all of your navigating needs. I hear this unit will be able to configure routes around heavy traffic with some special receiver. I would rather the start fee and subscription for this capability be free but hey it's not a perfect world. Have fun with your new Garmin StreetPilot 2720.

Just received my Garmin 2720 today - and this is a phenomenal little GPS. The screen is beautiful and very bright. Easily readable, even in full daylight. The interface is easy to use, and the spoken street names makes a big difference when driving. I only wish I could give it more than five stars in this review!

Received the unit yesterday and read the instruction book from cover to cover. I put it in the car and punched in a local mall for directions. It got us there fine. The problem?? With the unit comes a card that says "IMPORTANT! UNLOCK CODE ENCLOSED". I figure this must be important, but what is it unlocking? The unit worked. I decided it had something to do with registration, so I went online and did that.
Then I installed the CD drivers, plugged the USB into the unit and ...... Nothing happened!!!
I registered with the registration code which turns out to be the Customer Code and ..... Nothing happened!!
So now I think I am unlocked online but maybe the unit is not. It worked yesterday out of the box. So what the hell am I unlocking?? Nothing in the instructions tells me.
So my questions are: What is "unlock"?? Why install drivers??
Also, the speaker/lighter plug is so big it hits the console shift lever when it is in Park.
Also, there is no explanation of WAAS. Why is that important? Because in the GPS Settings the default is Off. No where in the manual does it even show this Setting let alone to explain what it is and why it's Off. For their 2620 unit Garmin makes a big deal that it has WAAS. No mention of it with the 2720. But this 2720 has it and it can be turned off?? Is there something better when it is off??
But internally it is an excellent unit. I guess. The touch screen worked perfectly. The voice is clear and pleasant. And it's fun to use.

Why I bought the system: I bought this GPS system because it has the entire 50 states pre loaded. The ability to download real time traffic information ( traffic jams, accidents, weather ect....). The best portable system from all the research and reviews I have read. Those are the main reasons that lead me to buying the product.

Experience using it: I have only had the system for about 2 weeks. I tested the system around my neighborhood and was amazed by the pin point accuracy of the GPS. The accuracy I noticed is that it showed every single street in my neighborhood without leaving anything out. The reason I was so impressed by that is because I live in a brand new development. Shocking that Garmin loaded my neighborhood into the system. The other cool thing I noticed is that the map has an option for you to view less then normal, normal, detailed, or very detailed map view. I put the option of detailed map view and it shows parks that are coming up, recreations centers, malls, stores, gas stations, ect... all the points of interest are on the map while you drive. THAT'S SWEET especially when your on the free way running out of gas.

Next step I tried a point of interest. I plugged in "UPS Store" because I needed to return my Tivo system back. I quickly went easily through the menus and selected the closest UPS store to where I was located. It took me to somebody's house. There was no UPS store in the vicinity. This was my first encounter where the GPS totally misled me to an area. I got a little frustrated but no big deal its just a bad POI.

Next experience my wife and I took a trip from Ohio to Pennsylvania. It was about a 6 hour drive. Anyways the GPS did an outstanding job of getting us to the destination of where we were staying. It tells you exactly how many hours, miles you have left before you arrive. If you decide to get a bite or fill up gas you will notice the arrival time increases. Of course the alternive when you speed you notice a minute here and there start to come off the arrival time. It also gauges avg miles per hour, time driving, time not driving, ect... show a lot of measurements. Another cool feature is the screen automatically goes into night mode when it gets dark. The back ground is all black and it draws red and purple lines that are easily visible at night. THAT'S COOL.

The one glitch I noticed in PA was that it would tell you that you have arrived at the destination but in reality the true destination was several miles up the street. It did this for almost every location. I think this might be because we were in a rural area and not a metropolitan city. The GPS was way off. It got us to the street but we had to search for the POI or address location. We never got lost and it really did a nice job. Be ware if you live in a rural area that the unit might not be pin point accurate. Once more thing to note is the system reroutes in seconds. When you turn the unit on for the first time it take some time to load the maps and get a signal (2 minutes). After the first initial load when you load the system it gets satellite reception in a few seconds. Don't worry about load times for satellite signal.

The next thing I want to test is the traffic receiver.
One more thing. I recommend you buy the unit with a warranty. I bought it from BEST BUY for $999.99. The warranty was another 100 bucks. It's a 4 year guaranteed warranty. Anything goes wrong you can bring it back.


PROS: Small and compact, easy to store away or hide in the vehicle
-receives satellite signal quickly
-pinpoint accurate
-turn by turn voice prompt (sounds out the street name)
-menus are easy to navigate
- traffic receiver compatiable
- 7 million POI's
-remote control
-night time vs. day light screen (automatically changes between night & day time)
-Good traveling metrics (time of arrival, speed, over all trip meter)
- You can download custom routes, POI's, Europe Maps, other World maps,ect...
- I am sure there are many more PROS's awesome system!!!!!!!!!

CONS: -pricey (you get a lot for the buck compared to in dash GPS systems)
-not really pin point accurate in non metropolitan cities.


I recommend this system to all bigger, intermediate, and advanced users. Good luck in your decision.


Have been using portable GPS and marine GPS for several years. Finally had to have one for my bride's car it was her birthday so I splurged and got her one. I have PC setup with GPS in my car so didn't need it for me (or so I thought)

Went to a big box retailer and purchased the Tom Tom go 700. Used it for about a week and returned it. It had a so so screen, decent voice instructions, and good reviews. Bluetooth was cool but phone book from my Nokia 6820 would not download to the unit, Their Go traffic info did not work so it was basically a hands free kit that we didn't need since I use a bluetooth headset. Since the spoken directions only tell you an exit number it was useless around LA with close together exits and no exit numbers on the signs.

Back to the Web for more research, saw the newest Garmin and decided to spend the extra dollars for the Garmin.

Garmin's experience with in car GPS really shows. Great software, best voice instructions, and a really superb screen.

The real beauty of this unit is being able to pretty much ignore it except to listen for the next turn. Just plug the address in and drive. I spend a lot of time on the phone while in the car, the Garmin allows me to focus on traffic instead of where I am going, that's a REALLY big deal in S. Cal traffic. Speaking of traffic the next thing I need to do is order the traffic receiver, based on what I have seen with this unit so far I'm looking forward to adding that on.

Bottom line, I am cancelling the GPS system on the Highlander hybrid I have on order. The Garmin is far superior and half the price of the built in Toyota system.

My only complaint so far is the way the cables attach to the unit instead of connecting through the base. It would be easier to hide the unit and quickly hook it back up if the cables attached to the base like the Tom Tom. I believe that Garmin cables it that way for water resistance so maybe its a good thing.

I now use this unit instead of the PC setup I have. It works better, it's safer, and my laptop was getting trashed by road vibration.

Now I gotta find my wife a new birthday gift. I'm keepin this puppy!



I have been playing around with GPS for 5 years. Until I got this Garmin 2720, it's all just been a waste of money.

The 2720 is a great practical tool. I travel all the time, and finally, I've been liberated from MapQuest, Yahoo Maps and Microsoft Streets & Maps. This is a practical tool that really works.

My last purchase was a Belkin Bluetooth GPS receiver to connect too my iPaq. A total waste of money, as were my previous GPS toys.

The 2720 is the first GPS product I've bought that really makes sense. It's simple, and easy to use, and it's ready to go right out of the box.

The screen is readable in all lighting conditions, and the 3D view is easy to read at a glance. The text-to-speech feature really makes it. You really don't have to look at the screen that often. It speaks the names of the streets and tells you where to turn exactly how to get to your destination.

You'll want to enable WAAS right away (It's disabled initially in the default settings) because it keeps the system from spontaneously recalculating your route and taking you on wild goose chases. After enabling WAAS, it has been very accurate.

The user interface is very intuitive and easy to use, and you really don't need a manual. I really love the ability to find nearby restaurants and shopping places.

The beanbag mount is great for all the cars I rent on business trips... Just slap it on the dashboard, plug it in and go. I was considering a Garmin C340 initially, but for the small difference in price, why buy a crippled low-end, hard-to-read-in-sunlight unit? You'll be sorry you didn't go for the 2720 if you buy a C330 or C340. The 2720 has the same easy-to-use interface as the C3xx with a much more readable screen, and far more features.

Honestly, I can't find anything wrong with this unit. Buy one. You'll be glad you did.










I purchased the Streetpilot 2720 several days ago after doing alot of online research about GPS units I could use in my car.

My selection process was as follows:

Pioneer AVIC-D1 in-dash combination car stereo/dvd navigation unit. This was the slickest solution available, but there were two major problems: 1) It requires a double-sized car stereo slot, but my car has a one and a half slot. This means they would have had to tear up my dashboard to install it, which I did not want. 2) The AVIC-D1 only allows you to enter navigation data while stopped with the parking brake on, which is a big problem for me. I want to be able to enter and search for destinations while driving if necessary. Result: PASS

Pioneer AVIC-N1 in-dash combination car stereo/dvd navigation unit: Has a foldout LCD screen, so it requires only a single-sized stereo slot as opposed to double, which means my dash wouldn't require refitting. Cool. Problem is, it has only 1 DVD slot instead of 2 like the AVIC-D1, which means you can't listen to music while navigating at the same time. Also has the crippling drawback of stopped-only input to the nav system just like the AVIC-D1. Result: PASS

Garmin C330, TomTom 700: Screens are unreadable in bright sunlight. Result: PASS

Lowrance iWay 500c: This was the close frontrunner. Passed on this one because the navigation apparently has issues and produces incorrect directions at times. Result: PASS


So I went with the Streetpilot 2720. Garmin is well-establish and appears to be the genre-leader most highly recommended by GPS types.

Here's my review

Plusses:
1) Text-to-speech spoken directions. It actually reads the streetnames as you approach them, and it is very accurate with the pronunciation. This is amazing and nice. It means you can ignore the screen and just listen to the voice for directions.
2) Accuracy. The directions are ridiculously accurate. Every single route I've tried it tells you to turn exactly, I mean EXACTLY, where the turn occurs. I don't know how they pulled this off, but it's nice. I haven't managed to throw it off yet. It recalculates routes in seconds if you stray off course.
3) Point of interest database: Seems comparable to Yahoo Yellow Pages, at least, and very complete. Every place I've tried to lookup has been there and has been accurate. It has everything from jazz clubs, to restaurants, to electronics stores like Fry's or Best Buy.
4) Location lookup. Looking up street names and names of businesses or locations in the Points-of-Interest database is done intelligently. The system will halt your typing and show you a list of all relevant matches once it has enough to narrow your search, so that you don't have to know the exact name of what you're looking for, or even type in the entire name. For example, if I type in "San J" for the city, it will automatically bring up a selection screen with the choices "San Jose" and "San Juan Batista". With businesses, all I have to do is type in part of the name it will find everything and list all matches in order of proximity.
5) Operating speed. The unit performs operations quickly. Looking up locations, switching between screens, and calculating direction routes are all fast.
6) Sharp, bright, high-resolution screen. Readable in sunlight (although not as easily as if shaded), and the screen automatically adjusts brightness based on ambient light, as well as changes the color scheme for night driving.
7) The interface is visually slick. Well-designed layout of buttons, and menu navigation is mostly intuitive and fast.
8) Remote control. At first I was like "I don't need a remote". Then I started playing around with it and it's a HUGE plus. Being able to navigate screens without leaning forward and touching the unit is a big advantage. I can zoom in, zoom out, hit the main menu, search, and much more, just with the remote, all while leaned back. Very nice.

Minuses:
1) At times it can take more than 10 minutes to acquire a satellite signal. While leaving San Francisco last weekend, it was not able to acquire a signal the entire time I was driving out of the city. It did not get a signal until I left the area. So I was without nagivation for about 30 minutes. This was a gigantic problem. Also, once when driving home from the grocery store, it was not able to acquire a satellite signal for the entire way home, about 12 minutes. Yet despite these two cases, most of the time it seems to acquire a signal within seconds. So the bug is inconsistent signal acquisition perfomance. I don't know if all GPS units have this flaw or not.
2) Price, price, price. This baby is expensive. You can probably go with the iWay for $400 cheaper and still be happy. Or you can wait 6 months for the price to drop on the 2720.
3) Included mount. The beanbag mount is barely adequate. It works, but it slides around quite a bit and seems like a second rate fix. They should have included a suction mount or a heavy duty mount like the Lowrance iWay used to come packaged with.
4) Instruction manual. Many parts of the user interface, especially the options screens, are not touched at all in the included manual. They should have put more care into making the manual thorough.
5) Power connection to the unit is flimsy and comes out easily when handling the unit. It should lock in place more securely.

Overall:
Recommended if the price doesn't rack you with guilt. The thing is slick and if you need directions often, or simply are in the mood for a cool new technology toy (*ahem*), you'll be awed by this technology. But you might want to buy from a place with a good return policy in the event that the satellite acquisition times prove too much to bear.

The Mechanics appear to be good go far if you don't mind doing a little reading of instructions. The problem is an important one. The MAPS. It comes with an old one. They will update with a free one, one time but still out of date and about six months later you can buy for $150 another update an old map. This is too expensive, unfair and deceptive. Garmin can do better and should.

I'm a traveling salesperson, I've owned the 2720 for less than a week, and already it has helped me out of two traffic jams, saving me several hours of down time. I hooked up the 2720 before I breezed through the manual. This unit is extremely intitutive. Stuck in a traffic jam, press the detour key and you are rerouted around the jam. I've used other complicated GPS systems, that cost less, but this unit is worth every penny of its price.

This is a great unit, and my 3rd Garmin.

My advice... pass up those bluetooth and MP3 features that some of the "other" GPSs offer.

If you want to hear mp3s on the road, bring your ipod with a dock and if ytou nee dbluetooth pick up a good bluetooth speaker device.

Those other brands have bad directions, washedout screens, and every annoyance you can think of.

Garmin has been doing GPS and doing it right for years.

One of the complaints I have had in the past, not for me as much as in general, is that setup and interface was just too damn complicated.

They put out the other line of "simple" GPS units which are TOO simple.

This lets you have all the advanced features, but it is set up in an easy 2 step menu so anyone can use it.

I love this unit and it is accurate and works great.

However, I could not give it 5 stars because the beanbag mount which people complain is not sturdy ISN'T as sturday as it used to be. I have an old one, and this has bendable metal inserts in the beanbag 4 legs which makes it so it will NOT move off the dash (however the TSA can't see through this metal and if this is in my carry on, it always invites a hand search).

I wish they would have gone back to that.... instead of skimping here. Also the carry case which is optional is cheesier than the previous one. Not different, just not as good material. Again cost cutting but quality cutting as well.

The last thing is that this GPS is loaded with everything, so no need for Mapping programs like Mapsource. However it IS COMPATIBLE with Mapsource whih makes it EASTER to share data and save data. BUT Mapsource City Navigator is NOT INCLUDED. Even though there is no reason to select areas and load maps like before, this program is a tool and should still be included.

Hope you enjoy.. Great job again Garmin!

I was contemplating buying one of these. However, when traveling from King of Prussia, PA to Oaks, PA.. two sizeable towns outside Philadelphia. It could not find OAKS, PA. If the Garmin or any other GPS is supposed to save time and money, for the amount of money they're asking for... it should be complete!! I would hold off buying a GPS until they get better.

First off, I'm not one of those reviewers who's tried several GPS systems, or one who will nitpick every little glitch..

I'm just a regular guy, a heavy road-travelling service engineer
who lives in New Jersey, and travels every day into upstate New York, Connecticut, Massachussets, and other Terra Non-Firma..

I bought the Garmin 2720 on looks and features alone. I've never used a GPS before, but boy, I'm sure glad I bought one now! What a lifesaver. Plugged it in, read the manual for a few seconds, and off I go! Granted, no product is perfect ( I've noticed several little directional glitches, nothing worth whining about), but in my opinion, worth every penny.

I feel the text-to-speech feature is about perfect. Just the right amount of audible information at the appropriate intervals. Automotive-grade monitor is excellent, also.

Bottom line: If you're thinking about buying the Garmin 2720 and
are holding off, go for it! If you're looking for an incredibly useful tool to reduce stress in your daily commute to unknown places, and are looking for an easy-to-use GPS to help you accomplish that, you could do way worse than this unit.


[...] Either that, or people never came back to comment after problems arose. Before I begin, let me say that after my problems with the 2720, I looked on the net to found out that the issues people are having are HUGE and plentiful.

Things were OK when I brought it home. I took it out and fell in love with it; it's ease of use, the display and all its features. That is until the next day, when I tried acquiring satellites after it sat overnight. I had to reboot it for a good 20 minutes before it started to work. Then, when it DID finally work, it kept locking up.

I called Garmin and they said that this was a first. Oh really? Three days later they came out with a firmware update (2.60) that was to address this problem they "NEVER" heard of. I upgraded and things got worse! Still no sats, still locked up and now new bugs were introduced.

I returned it to where I purchased it and got a new one, figuring that this problem might affect only certain units. Wrong! Same problems as the first.

I went online and read hundreds of horror stories, all the same as mine. Don't believe me? Go to this popular GPS forum and see for yourself. Here's the 2720 link: [...]

Look around at user reviews from all over. Same problems, bad fix, more problems. This problem is also affecting their new c340. Take a look at that forum and other sites and see. Garmin, their programmers and QA are facing serious problems and their customers are not very happy.

I will be looking around for another GPS, though none really thrill me feature-wise. But, at least they'll work.

After about a year of research on various GPS units, I bought the Garmin StreetPilot 2720. I used it around town for a few weeks just to get the feel of it and see how accurrate it was. This past weekend I used it for a 400 mile trip to visit an old friend. It worked great and even plotted a faster, better course than I would have taken and saved me a few $$ on tolls as well. Where it really came in handy was on the trip home where some accidents caused detours. This unit had me back on my route again in no time.

Plusses:
1. Easy to learn and use.
2. Very accurate. Even the estimated time of arrival has been within a minute or two.
3. The voice actually saying the name of the road instead of just turn left or turn right.
4. Fast recalculations if you take a wrong turn.

Minuses:
1. If there is a N, S, E, or W in a route NAME, it assumes North, South, East or West. I was on Route 9W which is the name of the route and it told me 9 West.
2. Some items in the database are not completely accurrate. When I was going to my hotel that was very close to an intersection of two main roads, it told me to turn Left when the hotel was clearly on the Right. Also when I go HOME and turn into my street, it says my house is on the Left when it's actually on the Right. Fortunately these type mistakes don't happen often and if you do make a wrong turn it recalculates quickly.
3. When recalculating because you took a wrong turn or different route, the female voice sounds like it's annoyed when it says "Recalculating". :-)

Overall this is a great gadget. Do your shopping homework for the best price. I have seen as much as a $300 difference in price depending on who is selling the unit.

All those good rating 5 stars reviews are from retailers, and Garmin employees. They exaggerated so we would buy their products. This GPS does not even have the right to have a 1 out of 10. It's just a waste of money. Trust the people who bought it before not the people who hype everything about this product. Here are the problems that I experienced with Garmin 2720.

1. Keep left, then turn right in 500 meters. (Why would you keep left and turn right. It should be keep right and turn right).

2. Arriving at Mount royal on left. (The building was on right)

3. Remote control was extremely hard to use. Even if I tried to play around with it the whole month. Still crazy difficult. Joystick was stiff. Crazy controller.

4. Import POI. (This thing is no where near my destinations I wanted to put for speed camera sensor). Extremely hard to program the software. They asked you to put in long/lat for program. Wouldn't it be easier to just enter the address?

5. No Zip code/ Postal Code (Stupid for not having that)

6. 6 millions of POI is like nothing. There are sooooooooooo many POI that was not near my locations. Trust me, it's nothing.

7. More than $1000 dollars for a product that has million of bugs

8. Redrawing map takes more than 10 seconds. (If you're driving, and it still is redrawing. That is scary).

9. Lost of signal so frequent. (Downtown is a guarentee of no signal).

10. Keep right but doesn't tell you to turn right. (They should tell you to turn right not just keep right).

11. Updated firmware made everything even worst.

12. They need to fire those Garmin programmers for doing such a horrible job.

13. I exchanged a new one, the same problems occurs

14. Garbage GPS

Lots of you seem to have complaints about the signal on bootup. I bought mine just recently it seems to work ok. This is my first so I don't have any pre-set expectations.

(...)

I have to agree with Pao Tong and Dave Consteines 100%. What they are saying is accurate.

I bought this gps after reading about it before it came out. I liked what Garmin promised it would do and it seemed to fit my needs perfectly. Before I give the bad news, let me say that the user interface is terrific and the display is outstanding even in sunlight.

Now the bad news and why I would never recommend this to my worst enemy:

1. I own the 2720 for a month now and from the very beginning it would take a long time to get a satellite fix. I had to keep turning it on and off, sometimes for 30-45 minutes before I saw the satellite bars.

2. When you finally get a fix, while you drive the map redraws constantly and you are left in limbo even near your turn. You are never sure if the unit is actually working.

3. Like other owners, I updated the firmware that Garmin immediately put out because most 2720 weren't working correctly. This made things even worse! Still hard to get a fix after the 2720 has been shut off and you still have constant map redraws.

4. The firmware update made things even buggier. Now I can't even type in intersections. Getting a fix even seems to take longer now.

5. The pronunciation and the voice are very difficult to understand. All the words are mumbled together quickly. "Turn right on Smith Street" will sound something like, "Tuh ight on SitStreet." NO exaggeration.

6. Garmin support leaves a lot to be desired. Every time I call I get different answers. Some technicians say this is the first they're hearing the problem, the next time someone else says, "Yes, we are aware and working on it" and yet another call and the technician will make it seem like it's my fault - that I'm doing something wrong! What could I possibly have done wrong? You either turn it on or shut it off!

The local distributor I bought it form has been fair. They say that they are very well aware of the problem and are getting many returns and complaints. Maybe it's because I took out the extended warranty, but they told me to take my time until I decide what other unit I wanted. They made a couple of suggestions so I'll be doing more research.

I hope that by somebody else reading this that I can save them some time, energy and aggravation that I went through. Obviously, I'm not alone with these problems. Other user reviews on other sites are saying the same thing. Don't only go by the 5 stars you are seeing here. Do some research.

There is no way I can recommend this product.

That's all I can say. I recently evacuated because of a Hurricane and this little gadget has made it possible for me to get everywhere I need to go. I was going to get the Tom Tom, but after reading the reviews, I got this one. I'm glad I did. Now everyone I know wants one.

I am another owner who is experiencing problems with the 2720. The map redraw and GPS hang and it has loads of trouble finding satellites.

You would think that a company like Garmin, who only make GPS units would make a product that wouldn't have problems with such basic functions. What good is a GPS that always hangs up or can't locate satellites? I've owned 2 other GPS models and this is by far the worst.

To the last reviewer who seems so happy and calls everyone who has the same problems "biased" just what are your biases? Why are you so troubled that so many people are having the same problems? Do some research throughout the entire internet on various sites and you'll see that this is a major problem.

If it weren't a problem, why has Garmin already released 3 updates in a month trying to address this issue? Go on their Garmin's own website and you'll see all the updates. Even GARMIN knows there are problems that are being expressed here! Unfortunately, each update only brings on new and even more problems.

If anybody is happy with it, fine, I'm happy for you. But don't trash the LARGE amount of owners having legitimate problems, unless these bad reviews affect your livelihood/positions at Garmin. wink wink.

I had a megallan GPS couple months ago,but it sucks,one time I drive in Boston,I'm search for the Washington St.There are a lot Washington St in Boston area,but it only has one show up,so finally it guide me to the wrong place.
The Garmin one is great,it show up couple Washington St in Boston area with different zip code,it gives me more information so I don't have to worry take me to wrong place.

We bought this to help our house hunting on the eastern shore of Maryland. This unit finds every address we are looking for even taking us on dirt roads through cornfields. I recommend this unit to everyone looking to get away from street maps.

I purchsed this one after reading the good reviews in Amazon. This is the first GPS I have had..So do not have anything else to compare with. Also I have had this only for 2 weeks. So my experience and expertise is limited.

I must say that I have had no problem setting it up, downloaded the patches, and the satellite was able to locate easily. I have travelled locally in the suburbs of Boston without problems.

I have read some of the other expert reviews here, clearly suggesting that there are bugs and potential problems with the unit, which has not become obvious to me yet. From the reviews, I gather the system is not perfect yet.

But my personal experience in these 2 weeks is definitely 5 stars!



The problem with being an early-adopter with technology is that you have to suffer through some growing pains. Now that the 2720 is out of that stage, it is a very nice and powerful unit.
I've owned 5 different hand-held GPS units, and 3 automobile ones. So I've had exposure to different brands and interfaces.
I really like the interface on the 2720, it is very easy to understand. Which is a good thing since the manual is seriously lacking in information.
If you decide to get this unit, I would suggest 3 things:
1 - Turn on WAAS. It will improve the accuracy when a WAAS station is available.
2 - Go to the Garmin site and download the latest patches (currently version 2.90). This will eliminate the satellite lock issues, and correct some other small bugs.
3 - E-mail Garmin and ask them to send you the Navigator DVD. It doesn't come in the box, but you get if free if you ask them. It allows you to plan routes and upload waypoints using your computer.

I am very happy with this unit.

Count me in as another 2720 owner who had problems getting a satellite fix. As a matter of fact my arms and hands are tired from all the rebooting I've done over the past 2 months, not to mention all the frustration.

Garmin has put out yet another update at this writing - 2.90 which seems to help a little with acquiring a satellite but it's still poor in comparison to all the other GPS I've seen from friends and co-workers. Even they can't believe how long it takes mine.

I hope this will improve but there is another bug that remains. When you are trying to locate your current position and touch the screen, the map automatically becomes north up. This is a severe problem because 99.9% of GPS users are tracking in the direction they are actually traveling. So, say you are going south, west or east, when you touch the screen it jumps to north up and you are totally lost. I can't understand how Garmin released the 2720 with this major problem.

I've written and called Garmin and they seem to be treating this issue like it's no big deal; that I should be happy with whatever they give me after I spent close to $1,000 dollars on it. Well, if that's what they think of their customers, then I'll let the public know how I feel about their product and support. It seems like I'm not alone. Perhaps they should recall the 2720, which in many ways is either unusable or shoddy at least.

Oh, and when it is working, the poor routing and re-routing will astound you, especially if traveling to cities like NY and Boston. I did a test route on the TomTom and Magellan and both knew the "best route" to both cities (of which I'm familiar). The 2720 took me on many strange roads, and after I had to tweak the options a few times, it finally took a normal route. With the Magellan and TomTom I tested, no tweaking was necessary.

The 2720 is a very poor GPS, indeed. I'm not understanding the "5" rating I'm seeing here, especially since these problems are known issues to Garmin.

I really have no idea what the complaints are all about. I bought the Garmin 2720 few days ago and took it for a test drive on trips in Boston, New York and in between and this product is the BEST. Absolutely perfect. I think the bad reviews above are either from biased individuals or from some refurbished defective products. I bought mine online from Amazon. It arrived in 2 days. I set it up and starting using it in less than 30 minutes (yes this is how easy it is). in 1-2 hours I knew almost all the options. I took for multiple drives around the HARD-TO-GET-AROUND areas in boston and it performed marvelously. The screen is amazing, the remote control is fantastic. the voice is AMAZING and VERY clear. This is the BEST GPS for autos out there (I say this after trying magellan 760, Tom$tom, and lawrence). The maps are fantastic, the product is 100% great.
I am 10000% satisfied.

Picture and ease of use is excellent. The find feature is great as it will give several choices for partial spelled locations ( cities streets point locations. The map can be seen in full sun. I find it easier to pan and zoom using the reomte than the touch screen as the touch screen throws in bogus spot points. I have found that the maps have excellent detail but may be 2 years out of date. Mapquest maps on the internet are more updated. I have not exercised the traffic feature as it appears to be costly and I have it on my car radio and have never received a message. The beanbag mount stays on the dash without suction cups - great feature. The cigarette lighter cord could be a couple of inches longer to fit better in a van when the outlet is at floor level. Also the lack of battery in the unit to set up away fron the car is somewhat inconvienet as a 110 volt plug is needed. The voice driving instructions are loud and clear although the accent of the voice on rare occasions is difficult to understand (adds humor to the trip).

I just drove from Philadelphia to Seattle. It took me three and a half days to do it. I bought the 2720 just for this trip. I love it. Now, I'm going to keep it. I set the target address and it takes you there. Once it is set, DON'T try to change the view. Let it take you there and it will dynamically adjust the map and give you the BEST view. Most of the people that gave a bad rating don't know how to use it or didn't read the manual.

This is my third Garmin GPS (the other two are still used) and I am most impressed by the very bright screen with automatic brightness levels which are photocell controlled. Don't overlook this bright screen as you would be surprised how many other GPS units do not display an easy to read screen under the conditions you find on an automobile dash or if mounting on a motorcycle. I especially like the ability to customize the screen display to show more information of interest to me. For example I like to have the time to destination showing which I find very accurate. I like the ability to change the screen map information based upon my personal preferences. The ability to plan and change routing information is much improved over my Street Pilot III. The detour feature is nice as I can easily ask the unit to reroute if I encounter an accident. There is no hard disk drive on this unit to fail under vibration like most competitor units. The 2720 comes preloaded with solid state memory with all North American detail maps so it works right out of the box. It includes about 6 million points of interest and contains an additional 750 MB of memory reserved for special use like the coming special use points of interest (POI). All this makes it easy to find just about any restraunt, hotel, gas station, museum or attraction. Later you can download special POI software which will allow you to create or edit POI databases you may need for your special needs. The 2720 has a great automatic zoom map feature which will provide greater map detail bases upon your speed or how close you are to a turn or destination, then it automatically zooms back out for routine navigation. Of course you can also simply touch the screen to zoom in or out as you wish. In fact the touch screen is very easy to use and especially nice is the ability to touch and move the screen! This allows you to "look around" a map to better give you a situational picture. The 2720 is waterproof which mean you can use it on a motorcycle as I do. There are special mounting kits which make it easy to use on a motorcycle including harness kits so you can listen to the voice guides using your helmet speakers. The 2720 is so good that while riding my motorcycle in heavy traffic I do not need to look at the unit because the voice navigation is that good. If I miss a voice instruction I can push one button to repeat it and perhaps glace down to see the accompanying detailed next turn map. In motorcycle use you can simply lock the unit down and unlock it for saddlebag storage when not in use. I also like the standard beanbag mount which makes it very easy to move to another car. The whole unit with beanbag mount is light enough to pack for business travel. On last feature is the included remote control which the driver will not use, but allow passengers to have fun using the GPS like finding places to stop down the road.

I have had the 2720 for about two months and, all I can say is that it works very well for me. I have never had to reboot and I have never had to wait an unreasonablke period for a satellite signal. No one should be paying over $1000 for this GPS, which is available for $7XX here on Amazon.

I drive around the New York City suburbs mainly and it has always taken me where I needed to go. I can be someplace I am unfamiliar with and get turn by turn spoken directions to another place I am equally unfamiliar with. In my opinion, it does not get better than that.

That does not mean that this unit is flawless. It does make mistakes, such as saying an address is on the left when it's on the right. It told me once to turn right to go on a Patkway South when it was actually the Parkway North. The map showed the turn correctly. And sometimes I do not know why it takes me on a road when I think another road is better. But I have never been taken to the wrong place. The unit quickly recalculates a route if I mistakenly go off course, or if I just want to go my way for a while.

The voice directions are very clear, although speech synthesis is not perfect and the instruction "Turn right on Route 505" sounded very odd at first. But I quickly leaned to dicipher the little linguistic quirks.

If you have had problems with your unit, I'm sorry. But I have not had a single problem -- not one. And I would not want someone to be unreasonably concerned about getting something this "neat." If you get it and you don't like it just return it and get your money back. Amazon seems to be good about that.

Yes, it is just amazing. I'm driving along, and it tells me when to turn and how far to drive before the next turn. It warns me in advance of any turn and again when its time to turn. It tells me when to keep left or keep right if a road divides. And it almost unerringly tells me what time I'll get to my destination.

So I have come to trust my talkative little friend and its almost humanlike qualities. It's the best back seat driver I've ever had. Just remember that you're not going to find perfection in a human or a robotic companion.

I recently purchased the 2720 when my Magellan Rodadmate 700 went on the fritz. (Turns out it was not really broken afterall, I had just stored it with something on top of the screen and it needed a day to recover). After a week of comparing the two, I returned the 2720.

I am generally a big fan of Garmin products. Their handhelds and aviation units are world class. The main reason I bought the 700 two years ago was that at the time it was the only unit with a built in HDD. I was surprisingly pleased with it but now thought I would give the latest Garmin StreetPilot a shot. I find it to be a good unit with some innovative features such as the real time traffic update option. Still, it has some surprising shortcomings in the software realm.

Lets start with the screen. The good news is that the resolution and readability in all conditions is outstanding. Definitely best in class. COmpletely visible in sunlight while the night mode is nice and easy on the eyes. The bad news is that it is physically a bit smaller than the Magellan. This would not be a big deal were it not for the fact that 1/4 of that smaller screen is taken up by a speed indicator and estimated time of arrival on the right side. This results in a map view that is MUCH smaller than that of the Roadmate. Look at the screenshots of the two units, you will see that the Rodamate displays its information using a semi-transparent overlay at top or bottom of the screen and then switches to a split screen as you approach a turn. Why Garmin wastes a
quarter of the screen space is beyond me. Maybe if they had a BIG screen like the Lowrance units but they do not. This leads me to the next point, configurability.

One of the strenghts of older Garmin units was that you could configure them in many different ways to your liking. This is not really the case with the StreetPilot. For example, on that right side of the screen it displays vehicle speed. Unless my speedometer is broken this is useless information and I would prefer to replace it with something like distance to destination. No such flexibility exists. FYI, the Magellan displays BOTH estimated time to destination and distance simultaneously.

I will say that the spoken street names work well. Pronunciation is good, and prompts usually make sense. The Magellan 700 does not offer this and just tells you things like, "Right turn in .2 miles". The choice of routes and quality of maps is essentially equal. The 2720 does show more detail on the maps. Generally you will get routes that make sense although both units will sometimes send you on a less than optimal or logical course. In most cases they will both
get you there.

The Magellan wins over the 2720 is in terms of the navigation menus itself. For example, the 2720 gives you a choice of fastest time or shortest time. Magellan offers these as well as "Least Use of Highways", "Most Use of Highways". You can configure the 2720 with similar preferences but you need to navigate through many menus to change these, and can not easily do so on a per trip basis. Even with the existing choices, on the Magellan I can select a destination with say "Fastest Time". If I do not like that route I hit "Back" and then can
pick "shortest distance", two clicks total. On the 2720 I must go all the way back to reselecting my destination, then routing choice, a process of navigating multiple menus. On both units I can quickly switch screens from map to route listing (you will need to updgrade to the latest version of software on the Garmin to do this). But even here, the Garmin initially shows me ony the next 2-3 upcoming turns, I have to push another button to see the complete list, an extra and unnecessary step. The only interface plus for the Garmin is the inclusion of the remote.

As mentioned, The 2720 is innovative in including the ability to add on real time traffic. This does requires purchase of an additional $200 module and a subscription fee after the first 15 months. It is a nice feature which Magellan should offer and which Garmin should build into the unit itself.. Do note that service only covers major roads in certain areas so value may vary.

You will not be unhappy with the Garmin, I just happen to believe that the Roadmate is a better choice in terms of both simplicity out of the box and advanced features and configuration when you need them. As the top of the line unit, it really needs to offer much more than their less pricey units. It almost seems that Garmin decided to save money by using a common interface software on all their units. That is OK for someone who owns multiple Garmins. However, the buyer of their premium unit expects lots of bells, whistles, and configuration options not found on the lesser units. If you want a Garmin, you can get most of the features of the 2720 on their other models for less money.

In my case I have returned the 2720. It is good but underwhelming. It just does not seem to offer enough over my 2 year old Magellan 700 let alone the newer 760 and 800 series. This conclusion having been reached after using them side by side for the past week.


I really like this unit, it works very well, holds the antenna signal very well, I don't even use an external antenna and it works fabulously. Only complaint is it's not quite as customizeable as I'd like and the POI's are a little lacking in some areas. Also, when you search for things to do, it gives you too narrow of a list, the reason I say this is, if you are searching for food in an area, if you are in a city then within .1 miles there will be 50 places and then you're out of luck and have to select a different part of the city to search when it should just give you everything it has and let you decide how many places to search for. Other than that you can't say a bad word about this unit. I would have given it 5 stars, but there is some room for improvement so it can't have a perfect score, sorry garmin.

This unit was purchased as a replacement for my older StreetPilot III from a few years ago. I was happy with my previous purchase, so basically bought the 2720 out of brand loyalty and the number of features. I really liked the idea of being able to hook up the optional receiver for real time traffic updates. Garmin leads the competition when it comes to features, yet the unit is still very easy to use. I really like the route detour options, which I have already used on multiple occasions. I have had the unit now for about 3 weeks, and it has for the most part performed flawlessly. It has locked up a few times randomly when I was entering address information. This is annoying, but is quickly resolved by turning power off/on again. Hopefully will be resolved by a software update in the future. The 2720 acquires satellites very quickly - always within just a few seconds. Some reviews I read claimed that the voice prompts were hard to understand, especially street names, but this is not the case. The road names spoken so far in my travels in suburban philly and NJ are very clear and accurate. One dissapointment was the lack of map compatability with the older units. The 2720 uses a new compressed map format. The map data is identical, but the way they are stored makes them not compatible with my older SP III. This means if I update the maps on both my units, I will have to buy them twice. This is the reason Garmin doesn't get 5 stars.
The Good: High quality, easy to read screen Very fast route calculation Maps are all fully loaded
The Bad: Maps are not compatible with older street pilots, Unit occasionally locks up, Not as solidly built as older SP III
The Bottom Line: Amazing list of features and fast routing. Garmin may have skimped a bit on quality as compared to their older units, but its still on par with the other consumer quality units and fairly priced.

It seems that this unit is either loved or hated by people. I found it to be a very good product (and no, I don't sell Garmin GPS units and I'm not an employee). This is my first car navigation GPS, but I've used several handheld units in conjunction with maps.

One has to wonder if maybe Garmin is making this unit in two different factories, one with its act together and one... not so much, to have this disparity in reviews. I will relate to you my experiences with it, which were generally positive.

First, it has never locked up on me, and the longest I've waited for a signal on startup has been maybe 45 seconds to 1 minute. That was in the middle of downtown Seattle.

The spoken directions were very nice, though the voice is a bit mechanical. The voice gives you street names and distances, which is almost as good as a good navigator riding shotgun. If you happen to be in the thick of traffic and didn't hear the announcement, just press the "SPEAK" button and the message will repeat.

I was visiting Seattle for a few days. I've never been there prior to my trip. All in all it got me around very well as far as I can tell. The route feature was fairly nice, but I had a couple quibbles with it. First, there was no easy way to tell it that I've reached the next destination on the route, so the only way to get it to take me to the next stop was to drive past my destination a bit sometimes. Secondly, I was on an 11 stop route, starting at my hotel and ending there again. It worked beautifully for the first four stops, but decided to give up and return me to my hotel. I deleted the first four stops in the route and then restarted it. After that, it worked like a charm.

In familiar territory (Phoenix, AZ) it picks very sensible routes and the route exclusion feature is very powerful, able to rule out types of roads, specific roads, and even draw a rectangular avoid area on the map. By default, the route finder will find a least time route, but that can be configured to find shortest distance, or off-road (straight line). The 2720 can also be set to prompt you for the method it should use.

The remote, as far as I'm concerned, is not terribly useful. It's just another item to get lost in your car.

The number of locations programmed into the unit is amazing. In addition to the obvious food, lodging, and gas locations it has banks and ATMs, retail shopping, entertainment venues, and even veterinarians. You can search by name or by category, so if you're jonesing for Italian, it will find it for you.

Overall, I would recommend this unit if you can get one that works properly. I've not had the problems that have vexed others, luckily. I am still running the 2.50 version of the software.

We did a lot of research before purchasing the StreetPilot 2720. We travel on road trips a great deal and have been looking forward to having a tool that would make the trips more enjoyable. Relying on MapQwest, maps or an atlas is sometimes less than reliable. Based on reviews, we thought the StreetPilot 2720 was the best model available for the price.
Two days after it arrived we took a trip from Omaha, NE to Chicago, IL for a wedding. This trip also involved a lot of driving in and around Chicago for the prenuptial dinner, wedding and reception. The StreetPilot 2720 never once let us down.

We are very impressed with the StreetPilot 2720 and believe it was worth every dime we paid for it (much less on Amazon than at local stores or other online sites).
We will list the Pros and Cons that we have discovered (Cons first).

CONS

Occasionally the computer-voice will mangle the name of a street or exit. For example sometimes "50th" will sound like "15th".

Once outside of Council Bluffs, IA on the way home we lost the satellite signal going through some hills at about 2 AM. This was the only time we had to `reboot' the machine and it acquired a new satellite signal immediately. Other times when the satellite signal was lost included driving into a garage or under a car port (duh).

PROS

* The STREET NAME is provided by the computer voice and the screen. This is EXTREMELY helpful when driving through an unfamiliar city.
* The street pilot is able to locate the nearest gas station while driving on the interstate.
* The street pilot also will tell you the actual street name to turn on and not just "turn left in 500 feet."
* The Garmin can detect all restaurants in the vicinity.
* Screen color adjusts to day or night time conditions automatically
* Satellite view allows you to view signal strength from the satellites tracking you (this is really cool but not necessarily functional)
* Remote control allows for easy input of data without having to touch or smear the screen
* Programming allow you to specify avoidance of toll roads in your route (particularly helpful in the trip to Chicago)
* Bean Bag base is quite SOLID, flat, heavy, balanced and possesses a slip-resistant base (other reviews commented that the Bean Bag was unstable---we do not think this is the case and were actually expecting the worst before we received the StreetPilot)
* Recalculates if off course very quickly.
* Capable of detecting virtually any deviation off course...we were only a few yards from the main road---on a parallel access road---and it recognized this and calibrated to get us back on the main road.


or you will lose satellite connectivity or won't establish connectivity. One thing that is not known unless you really do a lot of research on this product prior to purchasing it, is that if your car as any type of coating on the windshield, such as the coating that our mini-van has on the windshield, the Garmin will not work as we found out quickly. After doing research we found a website with more info. on it that speaks of the problem with connecting to satellites if you have a coating on your windshield. Now that we have the antenna, the product works well. Garmin should state this in their basic item description so that buyers will know to purchase the antenna up front.

I bought this for big vacation around the West. I picked it up and had it running within 5 minutes, without reading the manual. I got in the rental car and it directed me around traffic jam from San Francisco. I used the Points Of Interest feature to get me to REI to buy some camping gear and then on to walmarts. It allows you to find the shortest route (for when gas is high) or fastest time. It tells you how far to your destination which was very accurate. It took me around road works easily. I used it to get to Yosemite - just typed in Yosemite - and immediately brought up location. It was very accurate in Yosemite valley even with the mountains and trees. It never lost connection. I then used it to get from Yosemite to Las Vegas and then on to the Grand Canyon and back.

It was the greatest gift I ever bought for myself. I never once got lost, it connected to sat very fast when I turned it on. It allowed me to select restaurants, hotels and to customize points of interests.

I love how it speaks the name of the street to turn on to rather than just say "turn right" It says "Turn right on next light on Main Street" There is a button for "speak" that you can press to quickly get the machine to speak the next direction. You can also get it to display all your next turns, or to show you all the turns you have taken. WIth one button you can set current location as home for when you want to return. I give it 5/5 for ease of use. The screen is bright and the sound is loud to hear over engine and traffic.

I have had this device for about 2 months now, have used it for an extensive trip to the east coast and absolutely love it. Terrific screen, very bright and always visible in direct sunlight. Text to voice feature is priceless. Guidance is as good as can be expected from any of these devices (this is my third).

Downside....Beanbag mount is unsatisfactory if you care to use any amount of acceleration in your car. My unit has flown off the dash several times onto the center console. Good news is the unit is built like a brick and hasn't been damaged. I could use the adhesive dash mount, but really don't want to deal with the residue when I eventually move on...either the car or the 2720. Wish there was a windshield suction mount available.

Got my Garmin from Amazon with the free shipping, and recieved it on the first day of the estimated arrival dates (Thanks Amazon, you've yet to let me down). It started snowing here and I thought that the weather makes for a perfect time to see if it is a help or hindrance to those in unfamiliar areas (known for bad traffic by the way) in some of the worst conditions.

I pulled it out of the box, and in less than 10 minutes, it was mounted properly in my car, turned on with a great satellite reception, ready to be used (and I hadn't even cracked open the manual).

I searched for some restaraunts in the area and found an unfamiliar one in a place I haven't driven before (I'm new to the area). The Streetpilot guided me turn by turn. The screen and turn-by-turn directions were extremely accurate (even with my apartment complex roads!). I had no problem focusing on the road and the traffic tonight in the snow while listening to the directions and occasionally glancing at the screen to see where I was on the map.

She led me safely there to the pizzeria I'd entered and back home again. And trust me, in the past week, I have gotten lost THREE times, so this is no easy task.

I've read the other reviews on this site and would recommend anyone in the market for a machine like this to do the same. And again, I've just moved here and this is NOT an easy place to get to know immediately. So the Streetpilot 2720 has made quite the first impression on me. If little bumps and annoyances come up, I'll be in touch. Until then, 5 stars, no question.

NOTE 12/2/05--Still keeping at at 5 stars, because it has brought me safely home without getting lost through two road trips since I got it. One hiccup was that it had an incorrect address for a Denny's. It turned out to be the same road, but Denny's was NOT where it said it was...no real biggie. I found the Denny's pretty easily.

after a lot of reseach and compair with Street Pilot 760, i bought 2720 2 wks ago. After couple times testing, I feel POI is not accurate, some add. didn't list and even gave me a wrong direct one time.
price is fair, cheaper than tomtom and 760
doesn't look very nice, speaker is extenal, remote control no useful


I have been using this GPS for the last couple of months. It does a good job in navigating you. Features I like most

1. Display is good

2. Re-routing , detour options are good if you want to make on the road changes

3. Audio directions helps you to focus on th road

I am completely satisfied with this one

What in the world are the people giving one star ratings reviewing?

Surely they don't have the same GPS I recieved a few days ago. I'm sure they think their complaints are valid -- I just don't see it.

I've been using m[ine for four days and love. RIght out of the box and on my dash in forty minutes. Would have been even quicker but I took time t read the reviews and update the firmware to the latest version as well as the new voice (JILL) from Garmin's site. Perhaps that's what made the difference.

No freezes. No unexpected reboots. Been smooth sailing all the way.

A few things that weren't documented.

The GPS can be tiled forward and backward as well as rotated on it's mount. I was a bit concerned when I first put the unit on my dash because my dash angles back. I was afraid I would be able to get a good angle in sunlight to see the screen. Garmin's mount design is brilliant but I discoverd the tilt feature quite by accident when I grapsed the unit to push down on the self-adhesive gasket.

I live near Chicago -- very congested area constantly changing. I was pleasantly surprised the mapset has a lot of recent developments.

One thing I thought I would hate is the speaker on the power cable. But it angles back to lie flush with the dash and I LOVE the sound. My old TOM TOM could barely be heard over road noise once I got over 55 mph. The GARMIN speaker is high quality and the female voice isn't drowned out. Very responsive as far as routing and prompting turns. Much faster than my old GPS 60CS in fact.

I have a route to a local beach on Lake Michigan which features a series of rapid turns in succession. The 2720 keeps up with amazing speed. And if I miss a turn it seems to detect it much quicker than my 60CS and reroutes almost immediately.

I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase. I toyed with the idea of getting the 2730 but XM Radio/XM Traffic just wasn't something I was interested in at this point in time.

I highly recommend this device.

If you buy it UPDATE the firmware immediately and update the voice. The new firmware features a new interface/map layout than what's shown in the promo pics on Amazon and Garmin. The Turn Arrow icon has been moved of the sidebar and now overlays the map. And the Direction Text is no longer across the top in a greenbar but on the sidebar in a box. Much more pleasing to the eye in my opinon.

It's also a much more stable device than it apparently was several months ago. WHich is typical of GPS units. THe bugs get worked out slowly in a series of firmware updates.

I can't compare this GPS device to any other since it is the first that I have used. Even a prude who uses it will say "damn". This unit is amazing. The touch screen provides a constantly changing map--a blue arrow indicating where you are and are headed, major points of reference (a park, cementery), your speed, and the time that will take you to arrive at your destination. I live in the middle of a development and to get to my home from a main street, one has to make 5 quick turns. The 2720 got them all, announcing the direction of the turn and the name of the street in each case. In going to a nearby store, the device had three choices: two parellel streets (the farthest being the one with the destination address), and a freeway in the middle, but whose on-ramp was some 2 miles away. Correctly, it had me take the first left and go to the freeway. On the return trip, I made a u-turn into a fast-food restaurant. Twice the device had to re-calculate, which it did. It got me back on track and home. I haven't tried the other features (restuarants, etc.), but so far I am extremely impressed. While I haven't had the 2720 long enough to discover problems, if there are any, based on my experiments today, this one is a real winner.

UPDATE:
I am still enthusiastic about this device, but pray that you don't have to contact Tech Support. The 800 number is always busy (tried four times over a 3-day period). I have called four times on my own dime, and despite waits of up to 30 minutes, have still not been able to talk to anyone except the operator who answers. The last time, I was urged to leave a message for the person in charge of customer service, and assured that she would be interested in hearing about my frustration and would return my call. That was two days ago. No call yet.

If you are a Mac user and want to buy/use the 2720, you'll need to have a friend with a PC, too. The only way to upgrade firmware or do anything that requires connecting the 2720 to a computer is via an actual PC. If you have Virtual PC, good for you. But it won't connect to the 2720. Technical Support at Garmin cannot help you, either; they are completely Mac/VPC oblivious at this point. You can scour the 'net in search of workarounds, and you will find many. But they are for older Garmin products and with Pre OS X Macs running older versions of VPC. You will find nothing that will cure the inability for a modern Mac with or without Virtual PC to connect to the 2720 via the USB connection. I hope Garmin gets Mac compatible in the near future (or even VPC compatible). But for now, 2 stars.

I purchased my 2720, about 2 weeks ago right b4 going on a road trip & all I gotta say is, I love it, minus a couple of things. This thing took me through towns & cities I've never been through & got me whateva I needed (ie. gas, food, friends addresses & entertainment). My only beef with the 2720 is that the maps are updated as it should be. I live in a semi-new developement (2-3 yrs) & the street pilot was totally clueless of my location. Some of the entertainment venues aren't around anymore. It had the wrong name for some gas stations (ie. Amoco was actually a Shell gas station). Also it locates some places on the wrong side of the street.

In all, I'm pretty happy with it. I hope they come out with some sort of fix soon though. And yes, I did updated the firmwares & maps.

I could not have been happier with this purchase. This GPS has gone heads above what I expected. I live in Alaska and it has many, many POIs here as well as Portland North Dakota (town of 600) where I plan to move to this coming Summer. Would you believe it is 2946 miles from here to there? It took only seconds to compute this as well as determine the best route to take! One reason that I chose this was I could not imagine a GPS Navigation system hard disk lasting long bouncing around on my dash... When I realized that the 2720 had RAM memory instead of a hard drive I was sold. Now I am looking forward to my trip down the Alcan highway this Summer. Having the phone numbers of motels up the road will be a big help... Buy it!

My wife travels to the homes of several new clients every week, so a GPS was the perfect gift for her. After much research, I chose the Garmin 2720 over the Magellan 760. But I didn't know about Garmin Nuvi until after I bought the 2720. I was torn after reading favorable reviews of the Nuvi, so I bought a Nuvi as well, with the understanding that we would test both and return one to the store.

First of all, it is hard to go wrong with either, both are great products, and I got them both for about the same price.

2720 Advantages:

--Heavy duty construction. Waterproof.

--Very sharp, bright screen that is more like a mini computer monitor.

--Advanced GPS features.

Nuvi Advantages:

--Ultra compact, light, and portable. A brilliant design.

--Reports of better receiver sensitivity.

--Reports that it draws better routes.

--extra non-GPS features: MP3, picture viewer, audio books, language translater.

--can run on batteries and has a built in speaker


2720 best suited for:

--A motorcycle (it's waterproof)

--Traveling salesmen that would enter many destinations and have the GPS choose the best route between all of them. The Nuvi can handle only 1 via point.

--Mounted in a mini van/SUV for family vacations in rural areas. The 2720 gives you more control to plan your whole route. But the Nuvi would not be bad either.

--The Techie who will use the advanced GPS features.

Nuvi best suited for:

--Your wife. I'm sorry, but a woman will choose the Nuvi over the 2720 almost every time. It fits easily in their purse.

--Traveling by plane and using in a rental car. The Nuvi's ultra compact design makes this the obvious choice.

--People who would use the MP3 player, picture viewer, other Non-GPS features.

--People who travel in downtown areas, it will have fewer dropouts than the 2720.

We chose the Nuvi. The 2720 was nice, but when my wife took one look at the Nuvi her mind was made up. She wouldn't use the advanced GPS features on the 2720, but she liked the MP3 player, etc. on the Nuvi. She loved the compact size, and the ability to run it on batteries in her car without the power cable. The screen is not as bright as the 2720, but it's still very readable.

To see very detailed and technical reviews of all GPS receivers, see gpsinformation.net

This is awsome GPS. Quick rerounting,Clear voice turns and Compact size. I dont know how to drive without it.

We bought this just before Christmas, but will be taking it back. Overall, it is a pretty good unit, we like the interface and display particularly, but the problems that we've seen with it are enough to make us send it back.

Basically, the Point of Interest (POI) database is very suspect. If you have no interest in using it, that probably won't matter to you, but if you do, good luck. It's not so much that the database is out of date, it is also wildly inaccurate.

We found that if you entered an address as a Go To, the GPS worked wonderful 100% of the time. However, if you used the POI (eg: "find me the nearest McDonalds") it worked maybe 20% of the time.

Some examples:

1) According to the 2720, our local Super Target is to be found about ten blocks east of where it actually is. There is also apparently a church directly across the street from it (church is actually about a mile northwest of there)

2) In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, when we asked for "Food", and picked the nearest McDonalds from the resulting list, we were taken to the McDonalds regional headquarters, past an actual restaurant, which had not appeared on the list

3) South of Indianapolis, we searched for the nearest Waffle House, and, following the 2720 directions, ended up in a part of town with no Waffle House, nothing even resembling one that had recently gone out of business

4) In Gatlinburg, TN, it told us that the Park Grill was on the left side of the street when it was, in fact, on the right. No big deal, except that the street was packed, and we were unable to switch lanes

5) Also in Tennessee, we were told that the nearest "Texas Roadhouse" was about forty miles away. We were in the parking lot of a "Texas Roadhouse" at the time

6) In Bloomington, Illinois, we asked to be routed to the Ramada Inn and Suites. The 2720 took us right past the hotel and, when the "Ramada Inn and Suites, on the right" message came on, we were in a residential neighbourhood about two blocks away

The list goes on and on. If Garmin replaces the current POI database with something more accurate (and at no cost!) this will be the unit to own. Until that happens, you're far better off with something else.

I've owned the 2720 for about 6 months. Used for one cross country trip and lots of local navigation. Basically it's just fantastic. I take it whenever going to a new location. I occasionally override it's route but not often - and that's easy to do when needed.

It doesn't always pick the fastest route even though I request that. This happens when a high speed limit road has lots of stop lights compared to a slower or longer route with no stop lights. I don't downgrade it much for that - it's never failed to get me there. I don't think any other navigation aid would have maps with lights and programming to know how much time that would add.

It has found new routes to places I've gone to frequently that were better than what I'd chosen using MapQuest or poring over a printed map. And, I'm pretty handy with maps. That really impresses me. That offsets the occasional routes over roads with stop lights.

I was very reluctant to get one initially. Now that I've had it for awhile I can't imagine not having one. Perhaps other models would be OK, but, certainly this 2720 is fantastic.

After much research I decided to purchse this model GPS. I have used it for a couple of weeks and find it to be excellent. With the exception of some real local road anomoles it is very, very accurate. I would highly suggest this unit for all.

After much research I narrowed down my search between the Garmin 2720 and the Roadmate 760. I had used the Roadmate many times in Hertz car rentals. No problems, but I did have a concern about unit failure problems. After lots of reading and using the two side by side I opted for the Garmin 2720. While having the speaker in the lighter plug assembly is not my cup of tea, I was surprised at how well it worked. ALso, Garmin is right on top of providing downloads for updating both software and firmware. I recently downloaded the most recent update and it was a piece of cake. Opted to purchase the external antenna. While this does not make a great deal of difference, it does appear to shorten the time required to acquire the satalites.

I bought this item for my mom who is seventy years old and is afraid of getting lost. This prevented her from venturing out past familiar surroundings. The Garmin 2720 is easy to use. When you can't program a VCR, electronics can be frustrating. I walked my mom through it a number of times and took her out for a spin. We drove about ten miles away to a place that she had never been. She took the wheel, turned the unit on, hit home and instant turn by turn directions. She loves it. The rerouting feature works great, but can be a little slow. I can't imagine why anyone would need the remote included with the unit. I did experience one problem with the unit. After calling Garmin's tech support and waiting 30 minutes just to talk to a human being, it was determined that there was a problem with the software that was preloaded on the unit. Quick download from Garmin's website and it was perfect. The preloaded software was also outdated. I would buy another one of these units, but men don't need directions.

I've had 4 other GPS, including a very early military model in the Navy. This is by far the best I've used. Really loved being able to throw out all the maps in the car.

On the negative side - Magellan went cheap on the map data. There are very good map databases out there, complete and frequently updated. This is not one of them. It tries to route me through streets that were dead-ended years ago.

But my real issue is with the Points of Interest. Businesses come and go over the years. Magellan doesn't seem to really care. And the custom POIs that are supposedly available online? Traffic cameras, school zones etc are very well mapped IN EUROPE. I've found no downloadable data sets for the US besides zip codes.

Routing is quirky. It rarely sends me out and back on the same streets. It always tries to get me onto a major highway as soon as possible. This results in me going to a destination on one highway, then on minor streets. On the return trip it puts me on a different highway, then on minor streets. Neither of which were the fastest route. Minor streets straight through would have been much quicker.

The ability to create detours is very strange. You select a rectangular area encompassing multiple roads, rather than picking sections of a road.

It works well for most part. However I tried it in NYC and it was a disaster. The route was circuitous and missed obvious straight connections. It had two options - faster and shorter but it should have had a third option - simpler. For someone who is new to NYC (or any big city for that matter), you need simpler routes (with minimal road changes) that will allow easy and stress-free driving. In one route, we went through small roads (on the way, we avoided smaller roads but it was not a great help either) in downtown - it will say left when we had hundreds of maniac cabs on our left. before we could move left, the exit was gone and it had to recalculate. since roads were dense, by the time we heard about the new route, that road was also behind us. In the end, we used our simple GPS (our brains) to drive west till we hit the West Side Hwy. That took us straight to GW bridge where we wanted to go. In a nutshell, it is good but beware that common sense is not its virtue.

The 2720 is even better than anticipated. It will always get you where you are going although sometimes it picks strange ways(directions)in doing so. If you go astray, it quickly corrects your course (within three seconds or so). The maps are accurate and features like distance "countdowns" along with verbal prompts help avoid wrong moves.

You take it out of the box, you plug it in and sit it somewhere outside for 10 mintues while it gets itself oriented (a one-time deal). Then you put it in your car and you go.

The search is good for addresses, and for special Points of Interest (stores, schools, restaurants, gas stations ...) If you ask it where Starbucks is, "close to here" it will provide you with a list and keep updating that list as you move. At any time you can hit "Go to" and it will calculate directions.

It works well in bright sunlight and at night; it knows when dawn and dusk are on any particular day and acts accordingly.

Only two annoyances. First, the trip computer is always running, although you can reset it at any time. This means that your top speed is always being recorded. When I look at this, I wonder "when did I go *that* fast" and reset quickly ... Second, there is NO WAY you can update this thing from a Mac. You need your own PC or access to one. The good news: Garmin are starting to build support for Mac OS X and will have various updaters and other stuff out over the course of 2006. Since it's preloaded, you can probably wait ...

A great travel tool. I recommend it.

The Garmin StreetPilot does everything it's supposed to. It comes loaded and ready to go. Easy to set up. Easy to operate. If one makes a wrong turn by mistake the StreetPilot recalculates and puts the user on the corrected path in no time. The StreetPilot also comes with a mappng CD that is really awesome. I'm happy I invested the money for my RV.

I live in Indaina, the first trip I took with the 2720 was a 2 week trip that started in Southern Arizona and ended in Northern California. The 2720 worked flawlessly!!! Using different route options I was able to explore different routes that I would've never done before. I always got to where I was going. It's all there, restaurants, hotels, laundry mats, gas stations..... it's amazing!!!

Truly worth the price I paid!!

Awesome GPS, the best for the money. The only drawback that I have been able to find is the power cord will not lock into place. This can be a pain because it will work loose.

I've owned many different GPS units for my car, I've had experience with different brands and interfaces.
I really like the interface on the 2720, it is very easy to use. Didn't spend much time reading the manual.
If you decide to get this unit, I would suggest you turn on WAAS and go to the Garmin site to download the latest patches to eliminate some small bugs in the system.
You can also E-mail Garmin and ask them to send you the Navigator DVD for free, to plan routes and upload waypoints using your computer.

To clarify things first, i am in no way affiliated with Garmin or retailer.

I tend to travel quite a lot for work and have used the 2720 all over florida, california AND Toronto, canada. after reading reviews with 1 star i was reluctant to put $1000 on something that might fail me. How wrong i was!!!.

I downloaded the hardware and started using the 2720. Settaelite is found within 10-15 seconds. if you complain about this, i pity people who have to bare you on a daily basis.

The 2720 is very accurate with directions and if you ever need to find a gas station, post office, atm, restaurant( sub-divided into fast food, french, steak, seafood etc)., shopping(sub-divided too) you can just tap the options and tap "go to". Then just relax and it'll get u there.........very accuratly. you can actually tap in the name of the place and it'll show up too.

I can keep on passing compliments for the 2720 endlessly. In short, don't worry too much about the 1 star reviews; see the whole picture ( ie, overall customer review average- an amazing 4.5) and happy driving.

NOTE: I HAVE OWNED THE 2720 FOR OVER A YEAR NOW.

really hard to set up and the company is no help at all!

First GPS i have owned Very nice unit, works flawlessly and also simple to operate.Would recommend to anyone who would like to own one. A winner from GARMIN!

I purchased a Tomtom Go 300 earlier today and had it lead me home. It tried to take me on a "shorter" path home but by avoiding I-5 it added 15 minutes to the trip. 20 seconds after starting my journey it asked me to turn left on to a non-existant street. There was no street anywhere near here either so it wasn't a case of just being off a little. I drove straight and finally ran into a road it recognized and it got me home from there. Overall I was unhappy with the lack of accuracy and choice to avoid the freeway when I was looking for the fastest route.

I returned it an hour later and bought the Garmin 2720. Not only did it take me right back on the freeway and get me home in a hurry I decided to use it to find my girlfriends house. She happens to live in an extremely difficult area to get to. Her address starts with 010 and if you use Mapquest it forces you to truncate the leading 0 which puts you on the right street but on the wrong side of a major parkway which is very time consuming to get around. It gave me the perfect route to get to her taking the exact set of turns INCLUDING a quick right then left that had me get back onto the same street I was on but turning left to cross it and head the opposite direction - the only possible way to reach her. I was ecstatic it didn't try to lead me downtown to make some convoluted turn around. It used my own exact set of turns.

When it indicates your current speed I've found this accurate to less than 1mph of what my speedometer indicates. This makes the estimated time of arrival indicator very accurate.

The POI's are robust and being new to the area I enjoy being able to search for things like restaurants by cuisine and when looking up movie theaters it gives a phone number so I can check the listings on the go.

I found the software on the unit was a little dated however Garmin had a web updater I downloaded that brought me up to the current version with no prompts except a license agreement. The windows software is easy to plot waypoints & routes from home and upload via the USB cable.

It comes with a heavy fabric paperweight I guess you'd call it with a rubberized bottom for setting it on the dash. This made me nervous at first but it actually weighs a couple pounds and is a tacky rubber that should keep it in place during anything but an accident or a U-turn that qualifies as a felony.

All in all I'm very happy with the unit and returning the Tomtom was a good move for me. This thing isn't cheap but Amazon has a great price on it as usual.

really want to give this guy high marks. i did alot of research before i bought it for my husband for christmas, and the reviews looked very good. my experience has not been so good. when it works, it works great. has easy to read screen, clear voice commands, simple navigaion features... unfortunatly, it has failed to work often, and trying to get garmin customer service help is next to impossible.

1st problem. it would not accept personal POI's. when i tried to get technical support via internet, they never answered my email (21 days and still no response), when i tried to phone i was on hold 24 minutes and was then disconnected when i got a human (yep, some cussing going on then). still can not add POI's.

2nd problem. the 12 volt cord does not seat well into the unit, so if there is a bump in the road... the unit disconnects and has to be turned on manually again, and find satellite reception again. an ongoing annoying problem. i am not sure if this is a problem common to this unit, or if my unit is defective. i intend to ask garmin when i eventaully get customer service.

3rd problem. the unit stopped working totally. well, i should say, it no longer gets satellite reception. i have tried to get ahold of garmin. sent them another 3 emails... still no reply. called their customer support number (toll free number rings busy over and over) so called their non-toll free number. on hold 36 minutes. was told it was a busy day and could they call me back. left message (5 days agao) no call back. called back again 3 days ago. on hold 30 minutes. finally got ahold of a human (not in the customer service department so she could not help me) she transfered me to the supervisor... who allowed me to leave a voice mail. still nothing to date....


so the moral to this review: garmin customer service is NOT GOOD. when the unit works, it seems to be great, but it only really worked 2 months. since garmin requires a return authorization number to get warranty, and the only way to get that number is to get it from customer support, i guess i have a fight ahead of me.





Since my 2720 met with a slight mishap, I'm getting another. It's almost impossible to drive without it now.

Other reviews have talked about all the reasons this unit is wonderful. I agree with all. I do have one wish item, though. When I'm travelling, I use only a few "find" menu items frequently: Fast Food, Rest Stops, Gas and Hotels. It is annoying beyond belief to go through the menu items over and over. I wish there was something like "favorite items". This would be a huge convenience, and allow everyone to build their own. Or maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, and the new model will be better in this regard.

I spent months researching portable GPS units. Nearly all report this unit is the absolute best in its price range. After owning it for a month, I couldn't agree more. Very user freindly, extremely bright screen (auto dimable at night), very accurate, and plenty of flexibility.

Just got the 2720 a month ago. We recently completed a trip from MA to FL with stops in D.C. and NC to visit our sons. The DC location in particular is very tricky even with "written" directions. Not now! The 2720 talked us in beautifully. And even when I didn,t trust it, it was forgiving and "recalculated" us back on track. We will never go anywhere now without it. Also, the portability gives me great peace of mind to be able to transfer it to my wife's car when she is traveling. The features are plentiful and easy to understand. The touch response is the best i've seen for touch screen with a nice audio feedback of the touch. If you have waited or have been undecided, wait no more...this is the one to buy!

I read several reviews before purchasing my Garmin StreetPilot 2720 - most of which convinced me to buy it. I have not ever regretted this purchase nor do I think I ever will. It is simply amazing. The best part is, it talks you through every part of your trip so you never have to think about it or take your attention off the road in front of you. The fact that it says street names is truly an asset. Shortly after buying it, I also decided to invest in the optional FM receiver so that the StreetPilot would be totally empowered and able to suggest detours based on traffic conditions in my path. To me, this made my whole purchase pay for itself. That should mean something coming from a technology pessimist such as myself.

I work in downtown Los Angeles and live in the Valley. For you locals reading this, you know what a nightmare that can be. Each day I leave for work, the traffic conditions are different. The StreetPilot automatically suggests a new route to steer me around heavy traffic. It guides me off the freeway onto surface streets so I get to my job on-time. Sometimes it guides me off the freeway and onto surface streets to get me past the problem that caused the jam. Then it puts me back onto the freeway for a smooth ride the rest of the way.

Recently, I took the StreetPilot 2720 with me on vacation to Las Vegas. It made navigating through the area very easy. It even helped me find ATM machines of my choice very easily (so I didn't have to pay those fees for using a third-party ATM.)

I salute Garmin for the StreetPilot! I look forward to seeing what else they come out with in the future.


I recently purchased a 2720 after my wife appropriated my 2620 on a full time basis. So I am an experienced Garmin mobile GPS user.

I had the 2620 for about 18 months and did a fair amount of research into competing products (Tom-Tom, Magellan, etc.) before deciding to go with the 2720.

I like my 2620 a lot, but I like the 2720 even more.

The 2720 acquires a satellite signal very quickly - substantially more quickly than the 2620. Two days ago I turned my 2720 off at the Avis return center at LaGuardia Airport in NY and flew home to Chicago. When I turned the unit on in the parking lot at O'Hare it took less than 10 seconds to acquire the satellites and display my location.

I've read about the problems others have reported in their reviews. And to be honest, I've never experienced any of them. I have never had trouble acquiring satellites quickly; the connectors don't come undone; the voice quality is fine, and I've NEVER had a problem with the beanbag mount sliding off (or even moving around on) the dashboard. And I use this unit almost every week in a different rental car in a different city.

Maybe I don't go too far off the beaten path, but I am seldom unable to find a location with my Garmin. In fact, the 2720 is superior at finding locations by name - type the word "Marriott" in for hotels and it will (unlike the 2620) display all flavors of Marriott properties - Residence Inn, Fairfield, Marriott Hotels, Marriott Resorts, etc. - far less frustrating than the old technology.

Menu choices in the 2720 are simple, straightforward and intuitive - far easier to find categories quickly than in the 2620. Plus, the 2720 allows one to save favorite locations by user-defined categories. I have set up categories for the states I travel to most frequently and save restaurant, hotel and client locations by state.

The 2720 voice guidance feature that now speaks the name of the street, highway exit number, destination name or destination address, is a significant improvement over the 2620's generic "in 400 feet exit right" or "in point-five miles arrive at destination on right". It is much easier to just listen to the 2720 say "in point-five miles take exit 11A on right to I-294 Tri-State Tollroad north". I don't have to look at the screen nearly as much because the voice commands are so concise.

And finally, although I've only scratched the surface of why I love this thing, I've never had a problem with getting turn or exit cues too late. Anyone who has ever used a Hertz Neverlost system will know what I'm talking about - it seemed like the turn/exit cues always came right after I passed the street or exit I was supposed to take. The 2720 announces these cues as much as 2 miles in advance (depending in part on your speed), and gives continuous cues at about 1 mile, half-mile, .2 miles, 400 feet, etc. I've never missed a turn because of a late cue - only because I was in the wrong lane.

In short, I'd recommend the 2720 to anyone. I can't imagine how even a very demanding user would be disappointed.

I loved the ease of using this device. When I first took it out for a test drive I delibertaley ignored directions to see how the recalculating route function worked and it performed flawlessly!

I just returned from a 2600-mile trip from North Carolina to Northern Maine and back, using my new 2720. I was generally very pleased. The database does have a few glitches. For example, coming into New York City from the north it had me crossing the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey en route to Columbia University in Manhattan, and before I realized what was happening I missed the last exit before the bridge, so I had to loop back and pay the $6 bridge toll to get back to Manhattan.

On the other hand it saved my potatoes a few times around Boston and in New Jersey.

Like all GPS systems, it falls down in areas where there are new roads, new exits and other new developments.

But overall I'm quite pleased with this product.

--Lan Sluder

Before purchasing a GPS navigation assistant, I read a great many user reviews on a great many models. I felt the Garmin 2720 earned the best feedback and let that decide my purchase. I wasn't disappointed.

The unit is easy to program and user-friendly. The screen automatically adjusts for evening and daytime use, and the display (a convenient touch-screen for entering data) is crisp and clean...and so far hasn't washed out even in direct sunlight. The instruction booklets (one detailed and one quick reference) are simple to follow and well-organized.

There are only a couple of negatives to mention, and neither are deal-killers. There is a new toll road (open two months) that's not on the updated software, and it was mildly amusing to see my vehicle traveling over rolling green cow pastures on the Garmin display. I'm sure FL SR 429 will be added shortly. Second, and more importantly, the unit will often not permit me to enter rural addresses I know to be valid. Either the street name doesn't match the unit's list (and then you are on your own) or the unit will not allow me to enter the numeric portion of the address, defaulting instead to a different number. The latter case is not so bad, since there's a good chance you're on the right road.

I dare say that no civilian GPS system is perfect. But for the money, ease of use and awesome display, the Garmin 2720 is a solid performer and a good value.


Generally, the unit itself works well and is reasonably intuitive to use. I have the traffic unit and it was easy to integrate.

If the Navteq maps for my area were not so bad, I would give this unit 4 or 5 stars. However, the maps for my area (San Diego) are dated and, more importantly, of poor quality. For example, new developments for which the streets have been in the Thomas Guide for two years are missing from the maps in this unit. The unit also frequently gives bad directions because of poor quality maps that do not properly distinguish side streets from collectors and arterial streets. For example, major east/west arterial streets in downtown San Diego that have synchronized traffic lights are not distinguished from side streets that have stop signs every 50 yards. Multilane suburban collector streets are frequently not distinguished from single lane side streets. The poor directions in areas I know lead me to not trust the unit elsewhere.

I have the Garmin StreetPilot 2720 this is the first time to use any type GPS system or purchase. Since 2 1/2 months I must say I love this unit, I will not leave home without the GPS. I travel all day or night throughout the Tri state in the North East and have found that this unit is very well made. Simple to use, easy to understand. Keying in the addresses are also easy, the sand bag mount that comes with the unit is well made and the unit never slid or fell off the dash board while driving. The graphics and the speech are very well clear and understandable. Driving out of the Holland tunnel for instance into NYC of course it lost reception but as soon as I exited the tunnel it recalculated very quickly before I need to continue without missing a beat. I do not have the external traffic receiver because I dont think I need it because my travels are at different times of the morning and evening commute. I have no other knowledge of any other GPS on the market I can say that I feel I have made a excellent purchase without feeling that I have made a mistake or choosing the right or wrong one, I have made the right choice by sticking with consumer reports and reading other peoples reviews along with the Garmin name of GPS. By using the location of hotels. PD, Fast foods Deli's, gas stations, etc It tells you the phone number and address of the stores direction and I must say I wished I had made this purchase a long time ago. I have turned on friends and family to this particular unit and they have purchase the same unit as well. I have not seen any problems with this unit and I use it everyday at 10 hours a day. I am sure I would of found something wrong by now and I have not. I hope this review will ease some consumers decision to purchase one.



Got it yesterday. Easy to use, just plug it into the cigarette lighter and turn it on. No problems. Need to enter street names that are numbers as numbers, "4" St. not "Fourth", etc. Manual included. A lot of erroneous negatibe info in some of these reviews. Unlikely the power cord will slip ff, nicely inset into unit. Love the voice directions. Should have come with a case for the money. Can't wait to go on a trip this week-end. Spent last evening entering family addresses, etc.

Update 3 weeks later: still no problems, updated software using the Garmin Webupdater without incident. Used customer support via email to see if the map software on included CD was already loaded on the unit; it was. Took 3-4 days for a reply. No problem with response time. Remote control only marginally useful but does allow you to zoom in on maps.

They wanted $4,000 when I bought my Lexus LS430 four years ago and I said, 'thanks, but no thanks.' Since then more and more of my friends have bought portable units or cars with GPS included and they all liked them.

After some serious mis-directions from Google and Mapquest maps during a trip to New England, my wife said, "Maybe it's time for us to get a GPS!" I talked with an old college roommate to told me what to look for. Then after a couple of hours searching discussions and comments on the Internet, I settled on the StreetPilot 2720. Price shopping locally here in the Bay area and on the Web brought me to Amazon where I saved $200 from where I started.

Now I've had the unit for almost a month and have constantly used it and put it through the paces. It's flawless. Great design. So easy to use, etc. Specifics are mentioned in reviews above so I won't detail them except to tell you that three friends I showed the unit to during a drive said it was better than the unit in their brand new cars: Audi, Mercedes and Land Rover.

Don't hesitate to buy this one! I couldn't be happier.

The 2720 is amazing! We were in Santa Barbara yesterday and I have never had a easier drive in S.B. Found a furniture store we had had trouble finding in the past and looked up restaurants with ease! I have no complaints, this system is very easy to use.

My primary demand was for the unit to allow me to configure my own route, taking the roads I want, instead of it doing it for me. The software provided allows me to do that exact thing on my computer, to be uploaded to the unit for use.

I bighly recommend this unit to others.

I've had this thing for about a month now and really love it. I have tested it against several known routes, and though it sometimes gives a different route than I would use, it adapts quickly to my choices. The thing is really inuitive and most basic functions can be used successfully without prior reference to the manual. The companion computer software that comes with it is not as intuitive as the unit itself, but once learned gives some powerful tools for route-planning. Downloading to the unit from the computer is simple.

When you vary from the route planned, a soft female voice simply says, "Recalculating" and quickly gives directions to get back on route. My wife's comment was, "That's one patient woman!" Uh huh!

I am a real estate appraiser by profession and bought my first GPS system, the StreetPilot 2610, 2-1/2 years ago. I had reached the age where the cones in my eyes were disappearing faster than an Artic glacier. (heheh) Reading my street map books, even with a magnifying glass besides the the time trying to determine plotting routes to snap my comparable photos everyday, was becoming more frustating and time consuming. I couldn't even begin to tell you the time my 2610 has saved me. I plug in all my addresses for my assignments the night before and it has made my driving schedule a lot easier and pleasureable- even in Los Angeles traffic.

As with others, I have found the Garmin support staff to be lacking in response and solutions. I have been unable to reach anyone on the 800 lime. The only response I appear to receive is by a 3-4 day e-mail. My 2610 system is loaded with City Navigator 5, which works fine in older established neighborhood areas. As my coverage area for appraisals has expanded this year and involves newer neighborhood tracts, my 2610's data has shown its age. The newer street names and/or neighborhoods aree not available to me. After a couple of attempts the past three months, I have been unable to order and/or receive the updated CN 7 disc for my 2610 StreetPilot. Very frustrating!

I finally gave up in frustration a couple of weeks ago and purchased a 2720. There are some things about each StreetPilot I like better.

Navigation: the 2720 is faster than the 2610. It notifies and modifies my route more quickly if I get off track, especially with WAAS on. I like having the voice announce the upcoming street names, but it wasn't a chore or distraction to quickly glance at the street name on the 2610's screen. The 2610's screen gives more street names than the 2720, which is important to me when trying to familarizing myself with neighborhoods. The 2610's screen is a bit more simpified, but highlights your "from-to" route and the arrow seems to following more consistently and smoother that the 2720's cursor. My 2610 prompted my at approximately one mile, approximately 1/2 mile, and again at 400'-200' feet, which was a nice option. My 2720 only informs at one mile, 1/2 mile, and when you get right to the street. I like the additional 200'-400' feet warning on my 2610. Having the entire U.S. coverage pre-loaded on my 2720 is a major plus instead of having several memory cards for various sections of the country I travel to with my 2610.

Screen: I'm still trying to get used to the 3D screen on the 2720. I'm finding it distracting and doesn't give me an overview of the progression my route. The large white destination arrow actually blocks the map, which makes looking for and comprehending my destination route/point harder to view on screen. While it's a nice added feature, I'm using the 2D screen on my 2720 more than the 3D option.

Volume: 2720's voices are softer and not as loud as my 2610's voice. If I turn the volume up on the 2720, the voices distort. Sometimes I feel my 2610's voice was too loud, but I could always hear it over the radio. I'm not finding that to be the case with the 2720.

Setup: the 2720's screen is more responsive to imput with my fingers than the 2610. The setup screen is easier having both letter and numbers on one page than having to flip pages for numbers and letters on the 2610. It is easier to save and store routes and jump between modes on the 2720 than my 2610.

At this point I heve decided to use both my 2610 and 2720 despending on my assignment area. Each seems to have advantages/disadvantages that I like/dislike. I'll update everyone at a future point as to how well this method is working and/or if I'm ever able to receive an updated City Navigaotor 7 for my 2610 from Garmin. I'm also curious to find out if each model plots a same route. As the 2610 has come down significantly in price from a couple of years ago, I think most people would find it will satisfy their needs- if it comes with City Navigator 7.

It is probably on of the neatest tools (toys) I have ever gotten. Really saves on travel time.


I bought the 2720 for use on a motorcycle. It has performed flawlessly, and is very easy to learn and use. It is also extremely accurate, and never let me get lost. Mounted on my BMW R1200 GS, it doesn't vibrate, isn't harmed by the heat (I rode from Phoenix through Vegas and up past Death Valley in July) and is bright enough to see in bright sunlight. It is also extremely easy to unhook and re-attach in my car, pickup, or in one case, a moving truck. The non-slip base they send along with it was an added bonus that I was unaware of when I made the purchase. This makes it really easy to place the system on any dashboard where it remains stable. My son (who has a 2-year old Magellan GPS) was really jealous of the non-slip base. I highly recommend this system, especially for motorcycle use where an occasional rain storm might come along.

I bought this unit after purchasing an auto with a built in GPS, and wanted one for my other car. This product is terrific. Take it out of the box, plug it in and it works. Entering addresses on the touch screen couldn't be easier. Maps are easy to follow, instructions are clear. Much better than my built in unit.
Data base with hotels and restaurants is also terrific.
I recommend to anyone who wants an auto GPS. Portability is an added plus.

I decided on StreetPilot 2720 after some research. It has since been used on 2 long distance trips, very useful product.

Pros:
very easy to use GUI
feature rich
bright screen (important when driving in sunny day)
two different mounting choices, I like the bean bag one, easy to move around between my minivan and camry

Cons:
I wish it comes with a battery, it restarts everytime car engine starts, even if it was on while parked
Satellite locking is slow when coming out of a garage in highrise city center

Last Thursday I bought the Garmin 2720 refurbished so basically new. It came with the upgraded Dvd that allows you to create your own waypoints and basically anything else you want and then upload it to the unit.

I just wanted to share some early thoughts about it for those of you who were in my position a little while ago and are considering purchasing this particular gps.

I live in Toronto (canada) and this is primarily where I am using the system and in the surrounding cities. When I first bought the unit it took about 10 minutes for it to initially acquire a satelite signal. The salesman at the store warned me that it could take up to a few hours the first time turning it on... so i was pretty happy to be using it on my drive home.

The unit is fairly easy to figure out how to use. I've never owned a gps system before but I've seen my friend's Magellan 700 and 800...(by the way always make sure you store it some where safe when you leave the car (even on your driveway)...don't leave your system visable in your parked car on at a crowded intersection because someone may throw a rock through your car window and steal it)...i know it's happened.

It's really easy to figure out how to use as I said but somethings in the settings menu take a little time to find. It took me a few days to try and find how to change it to metric (km) since we're not using mph here for distances. I finally asked my computer knowledgable brother who figured it out in 3 seconds...so i wasn't too upset but it was nice to know that i didn't have to download any software to use that function.

The first thing that upset me with the unit was that my street wasn't on the maps when I tried searching the directory. I had to add it with the computer software for one of my favourite locations...not a big deal again..i'm pretty easy going. some people might be frustrated with that though.

Another thing that I still don't like which is why I gave it 4/5 stars it that you can't use it on it's own with just batteries. It has to be plugged in to a power soure. In the car, the 12V and in a house with the AC cords (both provided). I was a little surprised that it had to be plugged into the wall (and usb) in order for the computer to recognize it. That's a bit annoying if you don't have an free outlet near your computer.

I drove to cottage country this weekend and I did know the route. I took the gps with me to see how accurate the maps/directions were. Folks, don't worry here...for me it was right on the money. It didn't necessarily give me the fastest route, but it did give the most direct. I went the wrong way on purpose well a way that I knew was better and it always recalulated the route in about 7 seconds..(it's always very fast recalculating!!. We were driving about 110km (70-80mph) and it didn't delay us at all if let's say we were lost.

The maps are very accurate when we went over this little stream in the middle of nowhere...the gps had the road/bridge there and as we went over the stream... it had our little triangle over the stream to the exact second.

This is a funny little complaint as well...I could be wrong, but I noticed there were no male voices giving out instructions... I know guys like to listen to female voices but instead I would like to have a guy tell me where to go when i'm driving :). I've found them all very clear and easy to hear... the volume is not fuzzy and it's so good in terms of volume levels that I get yelled at to turn it down because it drowns out the songs playing on radio.

In terms of turns...I find that it usually tells you when you're turns approaching with about 0.9-0.7m to go. that's on side roads and roads about 80km speed limit.

For it's components, the plug seems fine to me...hasn't fallen out or had the system restart...it goes right in like it should (i've tried on cr-vs and mini vans.) I really like the beanbag mount...it allows for the freedom to move it around during your trip and it doesn't slide when you speed up or break quickly..it's very secure on many types of dashboards.

The ETA is really accurate and today i even got there 2 minutes before it thought i would. it also adjusts the ETA according to how long you stop for or are stuck at trafic lights.

The screen is really great at night and during the day and I find you can see it well from the driver and passenger seats no matter where it's placed.

also ... when the system loses satelite signal (never happened to me) i don't think it's the gps's fault i think it has to do with the actual satelites...that's just my opinion.

Well that's about all I can think of now...I'm looking forward to taking it with me on a drive to PA coming up and I'll update after that to let you konw how the dircetions worked out...let's see if it calculates border delays ;).

Anyway great job Garmin so far on this unit!

I bought this GPS a month ago before we had family vacation. This is my first GPS. I love it!

Some GPS will crash during use but this one has never happened to me. It's stand is very solid. The instruction voice is very clear. You can adjust volume anytime. Whenever you like to hear instruction, you just touch bottom of "Speak". I think that the remote control is helpful. When you have 4-5 people in the car, some body can remotely control the GPS so the driver can just focus his driving. The instruction voice will tell you the street names and tell you keep on the left or right before you have a turn. I can just follow the voice instruction to drive.

I was very bad for direction whereever I go so this GPS is very helpfu