GRM0119801 - GARMIN 010-01198-01 nuvi 55LM 5quot; GPS Travel Assistant (Free Lifetime Map Updates with No Ads or Subscription Fees; Without Traffic Avoidance)
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- Model_Number - 010-01198-01
- Depth - 6.20
- Height - 2.70
- Width - 4.30
Essential Series Navigation for Your Car Easy-to-use dedicated GPS navigator with 5.0” dual-orientation display Does not rely on cellular signals; unaffected by cellular dead zones Preloaded with detailed maps of the lower 49 states, plus free lifetime updates¹ Navigate complex interchanges with ease Easily search addresses and millions of points of interest Dedicated, Easy-to-use GPS Guidance For driving directions on the road, put away the smartphone and power on your nüvi. nüvi 55LM is an easy-to-use, dedicated GPS navigator that does not rely on cellular signals and is unaffected by cellular dead zones. nüvi provides easy-to-follow, spoken turn-by-turn directions with street names.
nüvi 55LM features a bright, 5.0” dual-orientation display, for use horizontally or vertically.
Detailed Maps nüvi 55LM arrives pre-loaded with detailed maps of the lower 49 states.
Free Lifetime Map Updates Roads change. Businesses open and close. nüvi 55LM enables you to keep your device up-to-date with the latest maps¹ that Garmin has to offer, with no fees. Map updates also contain fresher points of interest, so your nüvi can give results that are more relevant and have greater accuracy. With increased road detail and more points of interest, new maps could be larger in size; as a result, map updates may require a microSD™ card (sold separately).
Navigate Complex Interchanges with Ease nüvi 55LM has lane assist with junction view that displays upcoming junctions and uses brightly colored arrows to indicate your proper lane.
Easier to Search, Quicker to Find nüvi 55LM has a search field that makes it easy to find addresses and millions of points of interest, in a single place. Now, simply enter a category (like “pizza”), an entire address (“1234 Sycamore Lane, Anytown, USA”) or a proper name (“Starbucks”) and nüvi 55LM quickly returns your results.
More Information Right on Your Map No need to search for a hard-to-read or nonexistent sign; with a glance at nüvi 55LM, you’ll see your current street. nüvi also displays speed limit, current speed and estimated arrival time.
With the Up Ahead feature, you can easily find places you want – like restaurants, gas stations, ATMs and shops – without leaving the map. Best of all, Up Ahead is customizable, so you can always know the location of favorite destinations along your route.
You can access Up Ahead and other useful information from the map tools panel. Conveniently remain on your map screen and still find places Up Ahead, change the volume and more.
School Zone Warnings nüvi 55LM issues an audible alert and displays an onscreen warning whenever you approach a school zone.
One-stop Device Management Use Garmin Express to keep your nüvi up-to-date. Garmin Express makes it easy to update maps and software, transfer favorites to and from devices, and install free custom vehicles and voices.
¹Lifetime Maps Terms & Conditions
Product Reviews
Wow! Massive improvement over my 255W 4.5” Garmin GPS! I love it!
I have an older Garmin 255W 4.5” GPS that I’ve used for several years. I was torn between paying to update the maps on it or buying a new unit. I decided to purchase the Garmin 55LM and man am I glad that I did!Improvements over my older Garmin GPS- Much more sensitive touch screen (You don’t have to push it into oblivion, it responds at the slightest touch)- Bigger screen (5” from 4.5”) really does make a difference (much easier to read)- The speed sign glows light red if you go over the speed limit (cool!)- The lady’s voice is more pleasant- The speaker is MUCH better and gets MUCH louder (the older one sounded really “tinny” at high volumes)- The screen gets brighter than the old one- The keyboard is 10x easier to enter addresses & locations with- If you touch the speed indicator it pulls up the trip screen (cool!)- You can choose several options for the right indicator (elevation, arrival time, arrival time via point, time of day, miles to destination, etc)- You can pull up cool little “widgets” on the right hand side (trip computer, upcoming points of interest) and can customize them too!- It warns you if you go into a school zone- You can zoom in & out MUCH easier- If you touch the map while navigating it scrolls between total zoomed out view, 3D view, and detaiils about your trip- It will show restaurants, gas stations, and rest stops with blue icons as you travel. Some even have the logo of the place (ie. Some Wendy’s logo’s and Chevron logo’s come up–I’m guessing these businesses pay to have Garmin display that, but it’s still pretty cool)- It’s much stiffer in the mount preventing it from moving (of course I used the crap out of my old one, so it moved in the mount at the slightest touch)- It shows split views at complex off-ramps on the freeway (that was so cool to see!)- It turns on the INSTANT you turn the key on (the old one would wait a few seconds and then give you the annoying WARNING screen). I’ve only had to “agree” to the warning screen once- It finds the satellites MUCH, MUCH, MUCH faster! (like 10X faster!) My old one was a DOG at finding the satellites, but admittedly everyone complained about that particular model being able to find satellites quickly.- It’s got a newer, modern look to it (kind of cool, but wouldn’t have been a deal breaker for me, but it is nice)- MASSIVELY improved on/off switch. Holy crap! You touch it, it comes on. You touch it, it turns off. The old one you had to push the switch over and hold it and HOPE that it’d engage. This thing is MILES faster at coming on and turning off. It’s INSTANT ON!Initial Install & Map Updates:- Using Windows 7 on an iMac under VM Ware, it worked flawlessly. I downloaded Garmin Express, connected the GPS, it found it, and showed me all the things it could update on it. A bunch of firmware updates and the latest maps. It took about 30 minutes to do the full update, but I liked that the software told me I could walk away and just let it work….which I did.- The maps installed perfectly. The first time you turn it on after installing the new maps & firmware updates it did take it about 30-45 seconds to boot up & import the new firmware and maps, but after that it was instant on- It easily recognized my device as having Unlimited Maps and I didn’t have to jump through any hoops to get it downloaded- For kicks I installed my old one, yep. It recognized it (and wanted to charge me if I wanted to update it’s maps…no thanks).Use On The Road:- What a dream over my old unit! Entering an address is sooooo much easier than my old Garmin. Having a QWERTY keyboard is sooo much easier! It also auto recognizes some of the addresses you put in which makes entering them a breeze.- We’re planning a trip to Disneyland & I’ve already programmed in our hotel, disneyland, and a few other places we’ll be stopping at along the way. It was easy to enter an address, save it, and then start the GPS navigating to it- Because the volume and brightness are so much better, it’s a much easier GPS to use- It finds the satellites fairly quickly too.Features:- Man, this thing totally shines in that area.- I know it sounds dumb, but I REALLY like seeing the speed indicator turn red if I’m speeding. It’s a very subtle red, but it’s enough that you notice it and it’s a visual reminder that I’m going faster than the speed limit on the road.- The new points of interest widget thing is sweet! You can actually modify which ones it displays first (gas stations, restaurants, or rest stops)- Changing the right bottom indicator is so cool (couldn’t do that on my old one). I messed around with it several times to see the different things I’d like. Being able to see “Time to destination”, “Time to via point”, and “Miles left” are going to be priceless on the “Are We There Yet?” questions we get from our 4 kids on trips.Mount:- I swung for the Garmin Dash Beanbag Mount and so far it’s doing well. I use it in a 2004 Toyota Sienna with the “not a single flat spot on the dashboard” The Bean bag contours well to my crazy non-flat dash & holds the GPS in place well. The GPS once mounted in the mount also stays put unless you give it a bit of force to move it (like it SHOULD be) I don’t want it moving just from me pushing on the screen and mine stays putEase of Use:- Granted, I’m already a Garmin user & know my way around the thing, but it’s still a breeze to use. There’s a few hidden menu’s that took some effort to find (to delete a saved location, click on the bars on the top left to bring up the delete saved places menu), but the basics are great- The lady’s voice is crisp, clear, and announces streets well enough in advance for it to be usefulOk, I’ve droned on long enough. Down to the real question. If I had to buy this again, would I? Oh yeah! In a heartbeat! It made my old GPS look so outdated it wasn’t even funny. The cool new features, the ease of use, the bigger screen, the staying put in it’s mount, the quick on & off, quick finding of satellites definitely made up for the additional dough I had to outlay to get a new GPS vs just updating the maps on my old unit. I’d buy one of these puppies again in a heartbeatThe “But is it better than a cellphone GPS?“Oh yeah! HECK YAH!!! Not even a comparison! Yes. Google maps is cool & all, but this thing blows it off the map.First off, it actually LOADS the GPS on startup. With a phone, you’ve gotta dig for the app, then kick it into GPS mode, hope you don’t lose the cell signal, and then hope you don’t eat through your data (GPS maps are pretty data hungry beasts), and hope your battery doesn’t die. Having a dedicated GPS over Google Maps is a no brainer for me. Sure, I could get a mount for the phone and could even get a charging cord (which I have), but the Garmin is soooo much easier to use, and does it’s job so much better that I prefer it over using the cell phone.So, yeah, I REALLY, REALLY like my Garmin 55LM and look forward to many more miles with it.If you’re debating upgrading from an older one (say 3-4 years old or older) it’s a no-brainer. Plus, the bigger screen size is awesome!Get one. You’ll love it!==== 8/26/2015 Review Update====I’m still loving my GPS. In fact, Garmin emailed me that an update was available. I downloaded the Garmin Express software (running Windows 7), attached the GPS through the included cable, and performed the update. It installed some new firmware and updated all the maps with the latest versions. Went really smooth. Maybe 20-25 minutes tops? No extra charge either. Completely free.I also noticed some extra software packs I could have installed (cool looking cars, neat sign pack, etc). I didn’t download those but they looked cool. GPS did a full reboot after the update and is still running great. Man I love this thing! Glad I bought the lifetime updates too!Note: The update does now show the “WARNING Don’t use this while driving” screen every time you start it up, but if you start driving it goes away and goes to the map. But that’s about the only “software update” change I could tell occurred. Glad to have the updated maps too. I also added some pictures of what it looks like on the bean bag stand in my van as well as a few screen shots.======= 6/17/2016 Update =======Took it on a trip to Arches National Park & Canyonlands with us last week. Man I love this thing! We used it SEVERAL times to answer the kids “are we there yet? When will we get there” questions. Also, while in Arches, it recognized all of the major stops along the way and showed them on the road. ie. Devils Garden, North & South Windows, etc. It did the same in Canyonlands as well.Earlier this year I did a map update on it too. Worked flawlessly. My wife and I still comment nearly every road trip how much we love having this thing. Down in Arches where there’s VERY little cell service a Google or Apple iPhone would’ve been useless with maps. But this shined bright the whole time. Just a great GPS. Still using it, still loving it, still glad I bought it.
Good basic GPS unit
I purchased this unit as a replacement for another Garmin I had purchased 5 years ago. It needed updates and they were going to cost nearly $100 so I decided to buy a new unit with lifetime maps.I am happy with the 55LM to this point but just be aware, this is a basic model without a lot of fancy gadgets. It is fairly easy to use and gives me what I want, directions to where I am going. The one feature that’s missing, which I’m not sure I’m happy about, is the “recalculating ” notification when you go off route. It just quietly recalculates the route and you continue on. While that feature could be annoying, it did let you know you messed up.If you’re looking for a good basic GPS with lifetime maps, this is good choice.
They made the Where-to/Address interface idiotic
I bought a Garmin GPS about 7 years ago and it’s served us well, but ultimately died. I bought this one as a replacement. When we got it, I did a simple test to verify it was functioning. I think I searched for pizza near me. Since nothing seemed to be broken, I put it in the glove compartment and forgot about it. Yesterday I needed to get to a specific address. This is now just over a month after purchasing, so I can’t return it.With the old unit, if you wanted to enter an address, it would first ask you for the town and assumed that you’re looking in the state where you were at the time (which you could change). After entering a few letters, it would present the only towns in your state that matched this so that you didn’t have to type out the entire thing. Then the street number, and finally the street name, again giving options once you narrowed the selection down to just a few streets in that specific town. It was all very intuitive.The Nuvi 55 does things differently. It first asks for the number and name of the street, having absolutely no idea where in America you want to go. After entering that, it goes into this endless search as it compiles a list of every “1294 Main Street” in the country. But while it’s doing this, there is a button that allows you to limit the search to nearby states. Once you click it, it allows you to enter a town. Once you’ve done that, it gives you a list of every town of that name in the country.So I’m going to check out Tom-Tom and see what their interface is like, then throw this into the trash.
I should update this thing. I deliver pizza and …
I should update this thing. I deliver pizza and it doesn’t know where a lot of addresses are as well as it gives me not the most optimal routes.
garmin is junk
my Garmin Nuvi 55 lm. In November of 2015. And touch screen has quit working. I would have thought it would last longer… My last was arounveryd for almost 5 years, Not happy.
Five Stars
So far so good
Two Stars
not very accurate even after updated software.
Three Stars
The screen sucks to use just like any other GPS. Stopped working after a year or so.
Three Stars
ok but turns backward
Crap product
Bought it as a Christmas present and it doesn’t even turn on anymore.
Five Stars
works well
Good product, but mom doesn’t use it.
Works well. Bought it for mom, but she hardly uses it.
A lot like asking your drunk friend for directions
comments powered by DisqusThis GPS gets you to where you’re going. Well, kind of. Or mostly. In the nine months I’ve owned it, I’ve yet to have it direct me to a location 100% correctly from start to…
