Garmin DriveSmart 55 & Traffic: GPS Navigator with a 5.5” Display, Hands-Free Calling, Included Traffic alerts and Information to enrich Road Trips (Renewed)

This product is just the right size and is easy to use. The vendor was quick to respond and ship another unit due to a damaged screen on the first one I received. All said, I'm very pleased with my purchase from them!

I've owned several Garmin throughout the years mostly nuvi and a couple other models. This is by far the best one I've ever owned on a budget. It is the thinnest and better resolution image quality I've had too. Lifetime maps and traffic and it will connect to your phone although you do not need that connection for the traffic. Has many features. Including Wi-Fi for updates which is handy. Really no need to hook it into the computer anymore. it even has a feature I never knew existed which is traffic cameras which is pretty cool. Very happy with this purchase even got it refurbished and it is flawless.

Pros: Screen sharp and clear even in sunny conditions. Navigation is easy and the voice is clear and easy to understand. The mount keeps the unit stable even on a bumpy road.Traffic alerts are good. Entering addresses by hand is fairly easy.Cons: I think the voice recognition is another language. It does not understand English except for choices on screen. An example is 'Find place' works fine but 'Wawa' it doesn't understand.

This is a refurbished GPS. Came in a plain brown box with all parts needed. But it looks brand new. Never touched by human hands. Updated the firmware and maps using the PC Garmin app and it seems to be working fine.

Got tired of having my killing my phone battery using it as a navigator. After two weeks using, can confirm I like this one better than using google maps. It provides clearer direction and visual when transitioning off multiple lane highways and immediate next steps when choosing from multiple directions. Suction cup holds very nicely. The one I bought is Amazon refurbished and haven't had any problems so far (fingers crossed).

Update: I replaced the refurb with a new model, and most of the problems disappeared. The voice still sounds like a mother in law, and is not very clear, but otherwise the unit is good. They did not do a good job on the refurb.As I set this up in my home, I liked what I was seeing. It's loaded with features and seems very comprehensive and well thought out.Then I actually tried to use it to navigate. My first attempt led to it constantly telling me to take left turns, as though I had missed my turn and was on the wrong road. I re-navigated the route and that stopped.But the turn cues were erratic. Sometimes it wouldn't warn me at all, other times it would repeatedly warn me. Then it gave the wrong destination title, though it was on the same campus so it didn't cause me a problem.On the way back, using Go Home, it kept directing me to take wrong turns. It would say up ahead turn left, and then after a while correct it with turn right. This happened several times.The voice quality was lacking. The voice is robotic and sounded muffled. Any kind of road noise made it hard to discern. My old Nuvi was crystal clear and sounded human.The bigger screen is nice. It may be a tad too big for my use, actually.I don't know if these problem are the refurb or inherent to the unit. I suspect the former. Probably my last electronic refurb.Unfortunately, after all my updates and setup, this unit is going back.

It certainly does his job and personally I always like to have a backup..."what if" sort of thing...what if you lose your phone, fails in water etc...I never like the idea of remaining stack in a place, that I don't really know to come out of...and this was the best for me...I actually had a older Garmin for years (that even if it had lifetime free updates, for some reasons it stopped charging the battery...even after I'd replaced it)...

If you are a Garmin GPS user then you already know that Garmin's method of navigation leaves a lot to be desired. This unit, as well as the other Garmin units I've used, will often route you in strange ways - often through neighborhood side streets - when there are other faster, more direct routes using major streets. Not sure why Garmin has such difficulty when the smart phone apps are so much better. That being said, Garmin will almost (and I mean ALMOST) get you to your final destination. I have had several occasions where Garmin has left me in the middle of a field instead of where I programed the unit to go. May be that the Garmin's downloaded maps were not accurate and it just got me as close it it could. However, I do suggest that you have an additional method of navigation as a backup.