Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Garmin’s nüvi 260W combines the thin profile and attractive price point of other nüvi 200-series GPS with directions in real street names and a wide screen that lets you see more of what’s around you as you drive. Garmin’s line on the device is that, “the nüvi 260W gives consumers the most sought-after navigation features, while eliminating many of the premium add-ons. The result is a PND that simply gets you from point A to point B – reliably, efficiently, and with style.” As with all nüvis, you get Garmin reliability, the fast satellite lock of a high-sensitivity integrated receiver, a slim, pocket-sized navigator with a gorgeous display, detailed NAVTEQ maps that lets you search by name for more than 6 million points of interest like stores, restaurants or hospitals, and an easy, intuitive interface.

Which nüvi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators.

Wider screen lets you see more of what’s around. Compare these actual size views of a 3-inch (diagonal) screen and a 4.3-inch diagonal widescreen

The nüvi 260W comes preloaded with maps for U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and features an ultra-slim design.

Text-To-Speech
The text-to-speech feature of the nüvi 260W means that device automatically calls out street names (saying “turn right on Main Street” instead of “turn right in 200 feet.”). This feature lets drivers keep their eyes on the road while navigating through busy traffic and tricky roadways.

See More of What’s Around
The 4.3-inch backlit widescreen touchscreen on the nüvi 260W gives you 70% more actual screen area than a 3.5-inch screen. Primarily this translates into a better view of the area through which you are driving. This is especially useful in showing you what parks, restaurants, ATM, gas stations, etc. are nearby, or in letting you know whether a detour is a good idea. Also, the device itself is larger, meaning controls on the screen are more widely spaced and somewhat easier to push.

Smart, Powerful Design
The nüvi 260W is built with a high-sensitivity GPS receiver for extreme accuracy, as well as an SD card slot for storing your media and additional navigation tools, and a USB interface for loading data. All this is wrapped up in a package that measures 4.8 x 2.9 x 0.8 inches (W x H x D) and weighs just 6.6 ounces. The nüvi display is touchscreen-enabled, making it a cinch to control the device with your fingertips. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to five hours of battery life depending on use.

Garmin Lock
Garmin’s patent pending theft prevention system that disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location

First Rate Map Data
The nüvi 260W comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, including a hefty POI database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. Garmin gets its map data from NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping.

In addition, the nüvi 260W accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs

Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version. If you ever do need a map update, you can purchase one from Amazon.com at our Garmin Store.

Easy To Use Interface
Garmin’s interface is a key to their success and one of the things that makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip.

Beyond Navigation

Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer.

nüvi 260W accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.

Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 260W features travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and configurable vehicle icons that let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map.

This device is compatible with optional content plug-ins available via SD card, such as the Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nüvi for your travel needs.

Garmin has also added the ability for customers to add custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras.

Trick Your GPS Ride

Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS. See more icon option

Like all nüvis, the 260W supports configurable vehicle icons. These fun, customized car-shaped icons come in a variety of colors to add a personal touch to your vehicle’s position on the map.

What’s in the Box
nüvi 260W, preloaded City Navigator NT for the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Canada, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, and set up and go guide.

Note: Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nüvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.

Which nüvi is Best for You?

Note: All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.

	Screen Size inches (w x h)	Included Maps			Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)	Multi- Point Routing	Battery life (hours)
		Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico	AK and Canada	Europe
nüvi 200	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 200w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 250	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 250w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 260	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 260w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 270	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 350	2.8 x 2.1					FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 8
nüvi 360	2.8 x 2.1					FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 8
nüvi 370	2.8 x 2.1					FM (receiver included)		Photos, MP3s			up to 8
nüvi 650	3.81 x 2.25					FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nüvi 660	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nüvi 670	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nüvi 680	3.81 x 2.25					MSN (receiver included; 1-year free); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nüvi 750	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 760	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 770	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 780	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver inc.; 3 months free) receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 850	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 880	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver inc.; 3 months free); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 5000	4.5 x 2.7					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)					external battery only

Customer Review: Garmin Nuvi 260W
Having seen the nuvi in action on a 500+ mile trip with a friend this summer, I wanted to get one but my friend’s unit was selling in the low $400’s, which was above my price point. I settled on a refurbished nuvi 260W for about half the price. It doesn’t display photos or play tunes but I didn’t need those features. As far as I can tell, there is no functional or physical differences between the higher end unit and the 260W in terms of map display and route finding. Also, no evidence of wear or anything that would set this apart from a brand new unit. Also, the unit was eligible for a free update over the Internet to the 2009 map program, worth about $50. To do so, you must register the unit promptly and then you have about 30 days to take advantage of the free update. I ran into problems attempting to register the unit via the Internet but Garmin support people handled that for me very soon after I contacted them by email. Also had a glitch in the download of the map update but once again the Garmin support people came through almost immediately. Refurbished does not mean second rate either in terms or performance or customer support.
Customer Review: Good Almost Great GPS
This GPS is one of the best I have ever used, in many ways. I say this knowing that it is missing a few things that other units I have used have had, and it probably could have included at a slight price increase. But still, I would recommend this unit for anyone looking for a basic GPS.

Let’s look at the pro’s and con’s.

Pro’s:

1)++++ Good satellite location. This baby always finds the satellites, and usually does it pretty quickly. There have been occassions where it took approximately 3 minutes time when the sky was clear, and I don’t know why, but I have yet to be in a location (skyscrapers, wooded, etc) where it would not pick up the satellites.

2)+++++ Great routing. This GPS will route you very accurately in regards to time. Not only that, but it will reroute you very quickly, and it does not just try to get you back to the original route. It will recalculate the whole route again. There have been occasional glitches here, but overall, due to the speed, I would rate it excellent.

3)++++ Good visuals. Never have I been able to see more side roads and details at any zoom level. Never have the maps been more updated and accurate. Never have I been able to download a 3D model of a WWII Spitfire to be the icon representing my car! And, you can download other cars and wacky vehicles, etc, so this greatly improves the cool factor! The absense of a compass (or direction indicator) to tell you the direction you are traveling subtracts one star.

4)++++ Good text to speech. Directions are enunciated with clear terms as to which way to drive, which is the most important detail. The built in voices aren’t very good, though. And the downloadable ones aren’t really much better. They sound a bit outdated.

5)+++++ Great vehicle mount. This may seem like a silly thing to review, but my old suction cup mount by that ‘other company’ kept coming unstuck. This one is great and is perfect for this light little GPS.

6)+++++ Clever power input. This one is powered by a mini-USB plug, which is great for hooking up to a computer, and you can use the car adaptor to plug into anything else you might have that charges this way, like a cell phone, etc.

Con’s

1)—– Lack of customization. This GPS really has almost nothing you can customize regarding the appearance of the screen. Other programs let you put POI’s (points-of-interest) on the screen as icons, and pick the types that show up. This can slow down the screen rate, so this might be why this is not available. Other GPS’s allow you to customize the information presented on the screen, such as including direction, etc. This one automatically changes the information, depending on whether or not you are routing, but basically, the information is configured like they wanted it, not the way you might want it.

2)– Funny programs. This is really not a con, but I guess I don’t like paying for stuff I don’t use. Who needs a calculator on a GPS? Who looks at photos while you are driving down the road?

3)— No traffic updates. For this price, including traffic updates is probably not going to happen, but it would have been nice to have an antenna mount for an additional cost which could have made traffic updates something of a possibility. This is why it is only — because of the price factor.

Overall, this is a great basic GPS which is easy on the eyes, if not so much on the ears. Recommended.

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