How to know the Garmin Nuvi 255w battery charging has completed

If you are charging the battery of Garmin Nuvi 255w using a USB cable connected to your computer, there is a way to know the charging has completed, although not so straightforward.

You need to firstly unmount the USB storage(s) in your Garmin Nuvi 255w detected by your computer.

If you are using Windows, right click on the Safely Remove USB Device icon in the taskbar and select "Safely Remove Hardware". Then click the Stop button follow by OK button. Your Garmin GPS will reboot by itself and go into normal operating mode which you can use it and navigate as usual.

Now, slide the Power key on top of the GPS to the left to switch it off. If the battery is still charging, it will show the message "Charging Battery. Slide the Power key to turn on." before the screen turn off. If the battery is fully charged, it will show "Charging Battery completely. Slide the Power key to turn on." instead.

In fact, the GPS is not off when it is still connected to the USB, only the screen is turned off. You can always slide the Power key again to turn on the screen, and slide again to check for the charging status.

From the message, you'll be able to know if the battery charging has completed or not.

Garmin ecoRoute currently not available for Asian version of Nuvi 255w

Garmin ecoRoute is a new feature for their GPS navigators which is made freely available to compatible units via the WebUpdater service.

This feature allows users to find more fuel efficient routes when navigating and even track their fuel usage. With ecoRoute, you may be able to save petrol and money by adopting smarter driving habits and finding more fuel-efficient routes.

After ecoRoute is successfully installed, a new Route Preference called "Less Fuel" will be added to the GPS unit. There will also be Fuel Report which tracks fuel usage over time, and Mileage Report which monitors mileage and fuel usage on a per-trip basis.




ecoRoute is available for US version of nuvi 255w. However, an email from Garmin Support confirmed that it is currently not available for Asian version of nuvi 255w, which includes the Sing/Mal version, Taiwan version, India version, etc.

For Asian version of Garmin GPS, currently only Nuvi 765 and Nuvi 1460 are ecoRoute supported.

Let's hope that it will eventually be made available to our Nuvi 255w in the near future.

Do not keep your money in your bank savings account

Do you know how much interest you will get if you keep your money in your bank savings account today?

Here are some of the interest information obtained from the banks' website as of September 2009:

• Public Bank Savelink - 0% for balance <= RM10,000
• Maybank Kawanku - 0% for balance <= RM10,000
• CIMB Regular Savings - 0.05% for balance <= RM25,000
• Hong Leong Savings - 0.10% for balance <= RM10,000
• RHB Passbook - 0% for balance <= RM10,000
• EON Bank Savings - 0.10% for balance <= RM5,000
• Alliance Bank Savings - 0.10% for balance <= RM5,000
• HSBC Premier or PowerVantage - 0% for balance <= RM10,000
• OCBC Premier - 0% for balance <= RM10,000
  

This indicates that you will get 0% interest or very close to that by keeping your money in your bank savings account.

Most banks also have Basic Savings Account which provides a better 0.25% interest for balance <= RM50,000. However, most of them also charge RM8 to the basic savings account annually.

If you still insist to keep your money in a savings account, perhaps you should keep in this Basic Savings Account.

So, it is wiser to keep a minimal amount of money in your savings account, just good enough for day-to-day regular spending. You should have your credit card, short term (<= 3 months) fixed deposit or volatile investment ready for emergency spending.

Then what to do with your money if not keeping in the savings account? Here are some of the better places to park your money:

• Clearing debts
• Flexible Homeloan account
• Investment
• Business
  
• Fixed deposit
• Insurance
• Precious metals/stones
• Valuable collectibles
• etc.