Product Description: Go wide with the ultra-cool nuvi 260W that speaks street names. This widescreen navigator is simple to use. nuvi 260W comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nuvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. nuvi 260W sports a sleek, slim design and fits comfortably in your pocket or purse. Its rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot. Navigation is just the beginning. nuvi 260W includes many 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. The optional SD cards slot lets you add additional features. High-sensitivity receiver RoHS version available Built-in memory - Internal solid state with SD Card slot Waypoints/favorites/locations - 500 Voice prompts Speaks street names 3D map view Auto re-route (fast off-route and detour recalculation) Choice of route setup (faster time, shorter distance, off road) Route avoidance (avoid highways, tolls etc.) Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest) Configurable vehicle icons (select car-shaped icons for map navigation) World travel clock, currency & measurement converter, and calculator Unit Dimensions - Width 4.8 x Height 2.9 x Depth 0.8 (12.2x7.4x2.0cm) Weight - 6.1 ounces (172.93 grams)
Amazon.com Product Description: 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.
Garmin nuvie 260W 4.3-inch Unit works well right out of the box. The included documentation is nearly non-existent. Fortunately, there are several blogs that are quite good at explaining the various features of the unit. The unit will sometimes direct you off main drags through residential side streets.
Very good product, with a few shortcomings We purchased a new Garmin Nuvi 260W when moving to Chicago from Los Angeles. All in all, this is a very good product and very user friendly. Very easy to mount to the windshield and dismount. We purchased separately a case, as none is provided in the original box.
We use our unit only in the car (i.e. not for walking) and in general, it works very well. The accuracy is generally very good, though not always. In general, I strongly recommend always looking at a map at your route before hand, to get a general idea.
When around tall buildings, like downtown Chicago, the system tends to go crazy, which is annoying. I understand it sometimes loses the satellite signal, but how come it doesn't have some sort of a memory for the route as it was before?
Also, at times it takes it VERY long to acquire a signal. And finally, having only an ABC keyboard take a lot of times getting used to, if like me, you're used to working only with qwerty.
Bottom line, I think that for the price we paid for it (around $240), it's a great value and while not perfect (what is...?) it is definitely worth considering, at least.
A Very Good Product Have never used a navigation device before, but this device is very good! While it may not select the exact route you wish to start out with, it will definitely get you to where you want to go. If you do not follow their original directions, the device quickly recalculates and sets you back on course to your destination. This particular model states all the street names and is well worth the extra few dollars above its lower models. I recommend this device highly!
Good overall, but some annoying niggles PROS: So far it does a good job of giving directions, acceptably accurate. Thus far there is no drop of signals after 3 inter-city tips. Nice compact size.
CONS: 1) The input alphabet is in alphabetical order. That is very annoying! Set it up like the computer keyboard!--something virtually every input alphabet keyboard out there emulates (eg, palms, treos, cell phones, etc). Now, if you don't know how to find alphabets on such a keyboard--learn!--because it's much better than going back to the stone age. 2) Time it takes to start up the unit is TOO LONG--up to 5 minutes. The unit goes through this process every single time upon start-up. Very annoying and time consuming. My car's GPS unit is almost instantly on when the car is started. 3) No dedicated button for volume and screen brightness. 4) There is function for static maps, like, say google maps. 5) Garmin's website is poorly organized. For instant, you can't find additional voices for your unit on the website via their search engine; you can download them using only their webupdater program.
Overall, this unit does it's job. You won't likely be disappointed. However, the rooms for improvement are obvious. I will update my review as I have more use time with this device.
What an amazing device! It is very accurate. Got me to every destination perfectly It really makes a difference in knowing where to turn when it says the street name. This is alot better then just saying to turn at the next turn. Nice to know how far it is to the next Rest Area on the freeway. Everyone should have one of these.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
nüvi 260W accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.
