Garmin Nuvi 57 5-Inch GPS Navigator

I got this to replace my nearly 10 year old Garmin StretPilot 2720 (which amazingly is still being sold used by some sellers). The Garmin StreetPilot 2720 was a top of the line unit back in 2006 and I was pleased to find that the "cutting edge" tech of 2006 is now in the "low end" Nuvi series of modern models. Amazing that a sub $200 GPS does way more than a $1000+ 9 year old GPS could do.For those wondering, YES there are still reasons to own a standalone, dedicated GPS in 2015. Those reasons include (1) Smartphone battery drainage. The GPS on a smartphone tends to drain it, then you have to have a cable running to your lap or a windshield mount and I find it a big pain in the you know what. (2) You don't need cellular coverage, or more importantly DATA coverage. This isn't a problem if you never leave New York City or San Francisco, but for those of us who live out in the country or do field service of some sort and travel all over (big cities and small towns), there are still places where my phone can't get 3G or can't find any data connection. You do not need data to use your "real" GPS. This is the biggest reason I have a real GPS in 2015. Nothing worse than not being able to use Google Maps because you have no data signal. (3) It more easily saves all of my favorites which is nice when I have over 100 customers I store in the unit.I went ahead with the 6" screen but a 5" model (57LMT) would be the same but smaller. I also went with the lifetime maps and traffic. The traffic feature runs off of the antenna which is the power cord itself (no external antenna used). It seems to work well but not as fast as crowd sourced traffic such as Waze.The directions are very accurate and if you hook it up to a PC and download Garmin Express you can get alternate voices and vehicles. If you don't mind dragging and dropping files directly into the file system of the unit there are sites with HUNDREDS of custom vehicles which is cool, but I won't go into that process here.I love the school zone warnings and the light shade of red the speed display shows if you are exceeding the posted speed limit. Like any other data there are rare times that the speed limit in the GPS doesn't match the actual speed limit if it has been adjusted in the past few years.The new turn by turn directions work well especially with the supported voices that do the "real speech" thing, it may say "turn left at traffic light" or "turn left before the CVS" which is nice. Of course the built in voices do Text To Speech and will say things like "In half a mile, turn left on Miller street". The volume adjusts to very loud, which is nice if you've got the radio cranked and the window down. The screen CAN be a tad bit hard to read compared to my old 3.7" Garmin StreetPilot 2720, but just a small turn to the left or right will fix it.I went ahead and sprung for the beanbag dash. I never liked windshield mounts and my old Garmin 2720 only had a beanbag which was nice to move car to car. The extra $15 or so dollars was worth it.The unit has tons of points of interest such as restaurants and gas stations. The "Where To" screen is also customization in terms of icon placement and the items on there! For example I added a shortcut to the "Fast Food" section in addition to the standard restaurant icon as I frequent those the most (hey, don't judge me).I was able to export my old 2720 favorites to a program call MapSource from Garmin, but that program couldn't see the new GPS, so I exported the MapSource database and installed a program called BaseCamp by Garmin. I was able to open the database file in BaseCamp and drag my favorites into the new GPS. THEN I installed Garmin Express which is the current software and from there you can backup your favorites to a single file.This thing acquires Satellites in a fraction of the time it took my old GPS. The only two things I found that I wish I could change would be (1) having a north indicator (red arrow or letter N with a pointer) on the screen at all times. My old GPS had this. There is a field in the bottom right that you can use it for, but that leads me to (2) only being able to display one extra data type. In the bottom right you can display arrival time, time left to destination, driving direction etc, but not more than one. I would gladly sacrifice a bit more screen space (of which there is plenty) to be able to display two fields. But overall its not a big issue.I would highly recommend this to anyone who still wants a "real" GPS.

I mulled over my options when it came to purchasing a GPS device for my truck. I drive an average of 150 to 200 miles in a day, and rarely the same place twice in a week, so I depend on navigation software pretty heavily. I had been using my 10" tablet and the Waze app for the longest time, but, I was really draining up my battery and wireless data in the process. I knew I was gonna have to take the plunge and purchase a dedicated GPS device. I knew I wanted a large screen. That was about it. I mean, what else would a GPS device be good for other than getting you from A to B? Wrong.The LM in LMT stands for Lifetime Maps. I had no idea that was even a thing. I used to be a route planner for a company that used Roadnet technology and all they ever did was lay new maps over old ones so you didn't lose custom data (i.e. alleys, loading docks, etc) and clean their hands of the situation. So, Lifetime Maps, and the reliability of the Garmin brand really made a difference to me.OK, so the T in LMT stands for Traffic. This is nothing new. Google does this, and if LG had their heads out of their asses and fixed the satellite bugs with the G5 I never would have had to purchase this device, but, I really have nothing to complain about now. I will say this for the traffic tech; it's spotty at best. I will be scooting along happy as a clam when a warning will pop up that I have a 32 minute delay to look forward to in 16 miles. This is helpful, but, then it doesn't go away. It just stays there on the screen. A constant reminder of your commuting doom. Sometimes, it's inaccurate. Shocking, I know, but, it does come in handy and will give me an opportunity to warn a customer or my wife that I'm running a little late and the arrival times are highly accurate.I don't know who uses Foursquare. Ever since Facebook and Instagram added the Check-In feature I thought Foursquare was pretty much an empty shell. I was wrong, and I'm thankful for those who use it because the 57LMT is loaded with landmarks and useful places around you. Restaurants, gas stations and even emergency services are pre loaded and the Foursquare tech let's you know what's close by.Lastly, the spoken directions are a refreshing touch. It's subtle differences, but, you notice them. It will say things like, "turn at the stop sign" rather than the generic, "turn on Douglas St" and it warns you of approaching school zones. I have only been using the device for a week, but, it has been worth every penny. There are cheaper models, so, if money is an issue go ahead and save some cash. However, after using this for a week, if I had known all of the features and ease of use the 57LMT carries, I'd save up enough to buy it.