I bought the refurbished model and it arrived as new !!
Garmin Nuvi 2597LMT features 5 inch screen , if you want bigger screen you may want to go with 2797 model.
(The LMT = Life time Map and Traffic )
I love my Nuvi 2597 !! It has the best functions for the price! I can fully focus on the road + hands free while using the voice commend feature to make chsnges to my original route.
The voice commend feature allow me to change the brightness , volume, stop route, find places, find category , find saved address, find address... Etc

The lane assistant feature is SUPER!
I never missed an exit or HWY junctions after using this GPS.

The Garmon nuvi 2597 is very easy to use and map is accurate . I would highly recommend to anyone.

After several months of use, we have had excellent performance both for directions and traffic information. All needed equipment was included, though the mounting included did not satisfy us. There is no way to tell that the unit or other equipment was refurbished since it was unwrapped. Lifetime map updating is slow because of the large file size but easy with the provided software. Brightness and sound volume are fully adequate. The on-line manual has all the needed information, and a lot more not likely to be needed. Voice commands are very effective so typing is not usually necessary, though it is pretty easy, and the only problem was learning to specify the correct state when putting in an address far from the current location. The weighted four-corner holder which I bought separately stays securely where it's placed on the dash of either of our vehicles, and I have no hesitation in recommending this unit.

Extremely happy with this. Clear directions, got to choose a nice Australian voice ... no screechy women yelling 'recalculate'! I took it on a road trip, out-of-state and was able to use it in the car I was loaned. My husband, who drives the same semi-truck route for 10 hours each day, uses his similar Garmin to keep track of his truck speed and the ever-changing speeds of various roads and highways he has to drive. I use this a lot when I drive 2 hours to my daughters ... same route each time ... but speed zones change constantly. I just turn the sound off and just use the visual. Works great! I appreciated the 'reminder ding' of where school zones were, plus it cautioned me a couple of times when there was going to be a 5 minute + delay due to traffic issues ahead. I REALLY loved that I was able to use it at night, in unfamiliar city streets and city interstate highways, as it also indicated which lanes turned, how many miles or feet before I had to turn, etc. Of course, I've only had this about a month ... and it was reconditioned, so I am aware that things might change as the year progresses, but I am thoroughly happy with it now. It did come with the plug and holder to attach to the window, but I bought the Garmin Portable Friction Mount (which my husband also has on his truck) and that worked GREAT since it truly made it a portable GPS. I also bought the AmazonBasics Hard Carrying Case for 5-inch GPS, since I would be carting the Garmin around in my suitcase, various other cars, etc.

This is the second portable Garmin Nuvi 2597LMT I have bought, it provides you with free lifetime updates, free lifetime live traffic and I integrated this GPS with a backup camera, you can even add a baby cam!

I have a built in GPS from a sedan model year 2010 that doesn't perform half as well as this portable Garmin. I am really impressed with this unit. The free updates, which are very easy to do, simply plug into the computer and hit update on the provided software. The voice command features are also quite nice because I can change the settings or set a destination while driving and talking, which is much more safe than trying to press buttons.

I can't believe you can buy this unit for $150 or less, this is the same software installed on the new RAM trucks for $2000+ and every update is $600, yeah the screen in the ram is bigger and nobody could steal it, but hey buy another if that happens they are so cheap and so good!

Does a good job. There are a couple of issues.
1. Even though you tell it to avoid HOV lanes, it will still tell you to use them. Even when the HOV lanes are available to all traffic, they aren't the best bet. Why would you take an HOV lane and then have to immediately fight your way across 5 lanes of traffic to exit?
2. You are better off looking at the map on the screen than listening to the voice prompts. The voice prompts can be confusing - such as using any of all 4 lanes to stay on the freeway you are on, but you can physically see in real life and on the map that the one lane is the exit only onto another freeway.

This is more an issue for the cartographers than the GPS which 99% of the time is helpful.