Amazon.com Product Description: Garmin's nüvi 200W combines the thin profile and attractive price point of other nüvi 200-series GPS with and a beautiful 4.3-inch (diagonally) wide touchscreen that lets you see more of what's around you as you drive. 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.
See More of What's Around The 4.3-inch backlit widescreen touchscreen 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 nüvi 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 nüvi comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps for the continental United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, including a hefty database of more than 6 milliong points of interest (POIs), such as hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more, that are searchable by name or category. 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 accepts custom (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. The nüvi 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
All nüvis support 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 200W, preloaded City Navigator NT for the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico (no Alaska or Canada detail), 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.
Aside from satellite connection problems, I am pleased I have been very pleased with this product, which the exception of satellite linkage. I have found that to make it work, I have to sit it on the dashboard before I leave my parking spot for a good 2-3 minutes (in addition to the time it takes for the start-up process) before it will acquire a satellite link. This means I have to account for an extra five minutes every time I am leaving to go somewhere that I need directions. If you leave before the satellites are acquired, forget about getting a signal for a good 20 min., if at all, at least in the greater DC area.
Once the satellites are acquired, it is rare that I have problems with it. Yes, my grocery store is not where it's supposed to be in the shopping center on the map and my home street is not on the maps yet, even though it is like three years old, but that's a software problem and I don't blame it on this particular model.
Other comments: Unless you drive like 10 miles over the speed limit, your arrival time is probably going to be a lot later than your estimate. I can leave my house with an estimate of arrival of say, 7:21 and going 10 miles over the speed limit, I usually end up arriving on or a few minutes after the estimate due to traffic lights. So, imagine how far off you'd be of you drove slower than me.
To the other reviewers, a lot of the problems I have seen mentioned may be due to your avoidances settings. You may get taken well out of your way if you are set to avoid traffic (took my parents on a bunch of backroads with this setting), avoid major highways, etc. Check your avoidance settings and your problems may be solved.
Garmin Nuvi 200w Thought it would be a nice product since I had garmin street pilot before. When it arrived, the outlook is nice but when u talk about Satellite, it's terrible. It takes forever to get the signal.....was not like that with Garmin Street Pilot.
Suction cup doesn't hold up well The product is a little gem. Allows you to navigate with no problem. However, when I am getting closer to the intersections, the 3D picture might be a little off scale. Should have more types of voice available to choose from.
One thing I am experiencing is that I have just bought this GPS three months ago and use it three times a week on average. However, the suction cup would not hold onto the front window for more than 20 minutes. It would fall off when I am driving on a highway, on a local road, or when I have stopped the car. It used to hold tight till 2-3 hours (I tried). I am sure that there is a design flaw in the suction cup and I am contacting the service department for repair. So please be aware that the suction cup is its achilles heel.
ok device but map software not accurate Pros: good looking design, thin and wide. GPS voices are nice-sounding and calculations as well as navigation menus are intuitively designed. My husband has an Infiniti w/ built in GPS and this system is hands down much faster in calculating and re-calculating routes (I won't even use the in-dash system as it takes too long) Cons: I recently tried GPS-ing a restaurant that has two different town locales. The GPS brought up one, but not the other(the one I intended to go to) and yet that restaurant has been around for at least 5 years. Also, when leaving my home, it always wants me to route through a service driveway of a local hospital instead of taking a public road-is this even legal? Needless to say, I go the public route and it re-calculates.
Nuvi is a winner My Nuvi 200W (which I have named Shirley) is perfect. I have GPS built into one of my cars, so nuvi is largely for travel, and for use in the other car. I usually go for the high end products, but I already had one GPS, so I was looking for a basic unit that was reasonably priced. The Nuvi was the answer. Nuvi is intuitive, easy to use, does what you want it to do, compact, and good for travel. Shirley has a pleasant voice and never gets flustered if I deviate from the route. It is easy to move the mount from car to car, or to put it away to prevent it from being stolen. Dollar for dollar, Nuvi is a winner.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
nüvi 260W accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.
