Is there such thing as a Garmin that is fast in searching POI and recalculating routes?

If your last Nuvi was a 205 as shown in your profile then any of the newer Nuvi models will calculate or recalculate a route much faster than your current device. Personally I'd look at the newer 2xxx or 3xxx models. The older 1xxx models may still be around and work well but don't have the internal storage size or processing power of the new units. Note that some of the new models will recalculate your route quickly but don't announce that they have done it. This is a negative for some folks, personally I have the sound muted all the time so it isn't an issue for me

As far as finding POI's are concerned, again the newer models will be a lot faster than your 205 but depending on what your looking for, how you entered the name to search for, or how far away the first selection is from your current location, you may still see the "hourglass" but probably for a shorter period of time.

Agrees with t923347.

I have Garmin 200/1370(TW)/2495. The speed of acquiring signal and recalculating improves with newer units. 24x5 series has a sleep mode and wakes up and acquires satellite signals and is ready to navigate almost instantaneously when wakes up .

The 24x5/25x5 and the 34xx/35xx series have a vary different and much intuitive and easier to use interface compared to the earlier versions.

Costco used to have a good deal on 2495/2595LMTHD with HD traffic. I prefer that over the non HD version too.

The 2013 series look pretty slick too. Don't know how they perform in real life though.

My experience with the less expensive Garmins is that the search function for POIs is so painfully slow that I use my smartphone to find what I am looking for and type the address into the Garmin.

It also depends if you are searching the built-in POI or Custom POI. The built-ins will almost always take longer because you are searching several million entries across the entire country and the unit calculates the straight line distance, sorts the matches by distance, then displays the 50 closest. I doubt there are any that load anywhere near that amount of locations into a single folder and then tell the unit to find the 50 closest gas stations out of the entire database.

The 60CSx consistently returns search results in a couple seconds, certainly not objectionable.

The Montana returns search results in a couple seconds.

Be careful about what you load onto the device, for it can adversely affect the overall device performance.

If I load the 60CSx with tons of POI files, it will slow down a bit.

I recently went through a learning experience with the Montana. Older maps, specifically the 2008 TOPO product, was not perfectly compatible with the Montana and it slowed the Montana to a crawl, even worse. It would take around 4-5 MINUTES to return search results. I have since deleted the 2008 TOPO product for newer TOPO maps and the Montana consistently returns search results in a couple seconds if not nearly instantly. Interestingly, with the correct mapping installed on the Montana, the Montana is not affected that I can see by the quantity of POI files. It just hums along.

Be careful what you put on the device, for it affects the performance.

Just wondering - were you searching built-in POIs or any custom POIs you might have just loaded.

I see you are a new member, so welcome to the factory.

Since you are new, you may want to go through a couple of the Beginner Education FAQs - these will help you set up your unit for best results and especially help you do a backup.

To make it easy, when you click on the first link below, hold down the "Cntl" key as you left-click. That will open a new "Tab" in your browser in the "Tab" bar. Click on that 'Tab" to go through the first FAQ - leaving the "Tab" you are now reading open and available to click on and return here.

The first link makes sure settings on your computer are such that you can do more advanced POI loading.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30393

This next link helps you get a backup by attaching your GPS to your computer. (NEVER do anything to your GPS until you have a backup)
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30394

My old 885 does it fast for me.

Thanks, jgermann, for the Welcome and the advice.

On a previous Garmin (255 if I remember correctly) and on my current Nuvi 40LM, the search was/is slow before I added anything. For example, if I searched for Costco, I'd get the hour glass and it would spin and spin and maybe 30 seconds later find the nearest Costco. Then it would search and search some more and eventually find another Costco further away. It seems as if it isn't doing an alphabetical search, but searching data in every single POI by distance, looking for the word Costco. If I typed in McDonalds, it would come up quicker, since there is a McDonalds about a mile from my home.
I will check the FAQ and see if something is wrong in the settings. Most likely, they are the factory presets.

I think there are a lot of factors involved. First, whenever we test things like this, we should make sure that we have full satellite coverage.

You said it took you 30 seconds or so to get the first Costco. For me it took over 3 minutes (checked this several times). While there really is a Costco within 5 miles from me, the nearest my 765 thinks is around is 86 miles away. This search was done from Where to? >Points of Interest > spell name.

If I do this search from Where to? >Points of Interest > Shopping > spell name the time drops to 35 seconds.

If I look for something that is ubiquitous (like Bank of America), that appears immediately.

So one takeaway is that the time it takes to find a POI depends of how close the first searched-for POI is to you.

Bear in mind that the unit will only show you the closest 50 - unless there is less that 50 of the POI, in which case it searches till it finds all of them. I tried "Sticky Fingers" and it took maybe 10 minutes.

Somehow, I do not think there are any settings that would help.

What does help is if you first try to narrow down the search by categories - like
Food
Fuel
Transit
Lodging
Shopping
Bank
Parking
Entertainment
Recreation
Attractions,
etc

Ditto, searching built-in POI's from Where To > POI > name search. Painfully slow.

but the one thing I don't get is when you're up-to-date on firmware and maps (LMT) and for some reason, with a destination, it never calculates the route in certain instances, until you start a new route. One would think that glitches could get solved with updates and new generations of the product, but that's Garmin. Maybe there is some base load that has stayed the same through the last decade, so isolated bugs persist.

Just yesterday, with updated firmware and maps, I was following the route my Garmin prescribed. Suddenly, it showed recalculating and then changed the route. It had nothing to do with traffic. Odd.

I've had mine recalculate after being stopped in a parking lot for about ten minutes. It has done it at least 3 times with the latest firmware and maps. I had not ever seen it do it until maybe 3 or 4 months ago.

My 2450LM seems to do a quick search. Haven't noticed any prolonged searches or calculations.

The search speed and method is much improved, in my opinion, on the 2495 and, I assume, the 34xx/35xx and the new year-2013 series.

One my 2495, there is a universal search bar on the top of the main search screen. The entry format is more less free form, similar to Google, e.g., You enter the name of POI (Costo, for example) or and address: Street #, street name, city, etc. Quite intuitive. I can enter the names of entries saved in my favorites too.

I type in Cosco and it comes back in about 5 sec, with a list of about 4-5 pages of Costco's in order of distance from where I am, all the way up to a Costco about 90 miles away.

I've moved on from an older Garmin to a newer one and I've found that along with tech, everything is better, bigger screen, more functions, faster processor inside. Perhaps it's time for an upgrade for the OP, and not just to the current lowest priced model.