Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: GarminBrand: Garmin
Edition: Electronics
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: CD
Model: Nuvi 260w
Publisher: Garmin
Studio: Garmin
Music Label: Garmin
Product features:
- GPS system preloaded with City Navigator North America NT
- 4.3-inch touchscreen display with 2D/3D mapping perspective
- Turn-by-turn directions with voice guidance and text to speech
- Rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot
- Includes JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more
- Case Logic GPSS-2 Neoprene sport GPS Case (Dark Blue)
- Case Logic GPSP-4 Professional GPS Case for 3.5- and 4.3-Inch GPS Navigators
- Case Logic GPSP-2 Professional GPS Case for 4.3-Inch Flatscreen GPS Navigators
- Case Logic GPSS-2 Neoprene sport GPS Case (Red)
- Case Logic GPSS-4 Professional GPS Travel Kit (Dark Blue)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Core function is very good, but some tweaks would be nice
Summary: 4 Stars
After researching the myriad choices of portable GPS units, I chose the Garmin nuvi 260W. From everything I read, Garmins were the best regarded, so that narrowed down the choice to a single manufacturer. There are over a dozen Garmin's to choose from, so that was only the first step in the process!
A friend of mine had used a narrow-screen model that did not announce street names, and he was of the opinion that speaking the street names was of utmost importance and the widescreen display would probably be useful in seeing more of the map at once. He ended up purchasing the nuvi 650 for a great price, and he's very happy with it.
After seeing his 650 in action, I agreed about the Text to Speech (TTS) function. Having the unit tell you to "turn left on Maple Street in 1 mile" instead of just "turn left in 1 mile" is very helpful when you're driving. You don't have to look at the display to know what the street is, and that can be very helpful.
The widescreen display is less must-have than TTS, but I would still recommend getting it over the narrow screen. If you have points of interest loaded, being able to see a little more of the area in front of you could be especially helpful, and I like to see where the GPS is going to be taking me to get a better idea of how things will be happening as I progress down the road.
More than once, I've been able to take the right turn because even though the spoken instruction was unclear (this is a problem when there are multiple lanes on a freeway, with exits on both sides, and the GPS tells you to keep left, but it doesn't mean to take the left-hand exit, just to keep left of the right hand exit ramp), I was able to see where I should be going to take the proper route.
The 650 has a flip-up antenna, which I didn't want to have, because I intended to use it in pedestrian mode, and I didn't want to look any more geeky than I already would. Plus, I didn't want to have a flip-up appendage that could get caught on something, etc. The 650 has a longer battery life than the 260W, which may have something to do with that external antenna, I don't know. I have found that my friend's 650 is just a hair slower at recalculating than the 260W, but the difference isn't significant.
The Send to GPS feature of the software plug-in that you install on your PC is a very handy feature, indeed! It allows you to go to Google Maps and find a location, and then choose "Send to" and select your Garmin as the destination. I did this before our trip to Minneapolis, and it was very handy to have our hotel, my brother-in-law's house, the zoos, and a park that we wanted to visit in our favorites for easy selection in one place. Since the favorites list is sorted by distance from your current location, all the Minneapolis sites in our favorites were listed first when we got into the area. Very cool feature!
Overall, the 260W performs better than I expected it to. I've never had a GPS before, so I don't have any comparisons to other manufacturers and I primarily wanted it to help me get around unfamiliar cities on some summer trips. It never got us lost in Boston, Cape Cod, or Minneapolis/St. Paul, and it actually helped us on several occasions find gas stations and restaurants where we would never have found them as easily on our own. It handles roundabouts, freeways, and city streets with ease and I find it to be a valuable asset that I'm now recommending to others when before I was somewhat ambivalent about their usefulness.
So on to what could be better:
The speed at which the GPS acquires satellite lock when first turned on is slower than I would like. It sounds as though they have improved this on the next generation (255W) series. The wait seems very long when using it in pedestrian mode, and you're looking at it, waiting for a signal lock. However, if I turn it on, mount it on the friction mount in the car, and then get buckled in and the car turned on, it's waiting and ready by the time I'd be ready to choose a destination.
Pedestrian mode is frustrating at best. I tried to use it walking around Boston and in Minneapolis and it was very disorienting as the display kept panning left and right as it was trying to get a lock on the direction I was walking. Perhaps with time, I'll get more used to using it in pedestrian mode, and I do want to try switching it into 2D mode to see if that would be better.
Battery life is very short. The specs say to expect up to five hours, but I would say that 2.5 hours is more accurate in regular use. I fully charge the battery and let it get as low as possible before I recharge it, so as to maximize battery life, and I would say that 3 hours is the most that you should expect from it.
Having the included car charger is a necessity on a long trip. Even though it interfaces with a PC and gets recharged with a USB mini connection, you will need to use the Garmin-branded charger if you want to use the GPS at the same time it is charging. Otherwise, it goes into "PC sync" mode and the display is unusable. The charger cable has a right angle connector on the GPS side, so that makes it easy to have the cable connected while it's sitting in the friction mount.
The information that the GPS displays while in guided driving mode is useful, but considering that we have lots of screen real estate with the widescreen model, not much information is available without having to go into other screens.
It displays the time of arrival and the distance to next turn, which are helpful stats, but I found myself wishing that I could see my current direction, speed, trip mileage, or miles left on my trip as well. The center "menu" button is quite large, so there's definitely room for a little display that could be pressed to switch between those other data points.
The 3D display mode is the best for city driving and when you're having to make turns, etc., but it's pretty much useless when you're on the freeway and your next turn is dozens or hundreds of miles away. In those cases, I think the overhead 2D view would be more useful, as it would be able to show you your relative position to nearby towns on the map. Switching from 3D to 2D modes is not easy, as it takes several button presses to get there. I would like to see this be possible with a single button press.
I would also like a simpler way of seeing the stats of where I am at any given time. You can press the arrival time display to see your current direction, speed, and other data, but you can't see your current GPS coordinates or altitude unless you press the car icon and it shows your coordinates and asks you if you want to save it as a favorite.
The "where am I" feature in the 255W appears to address this need as well as making it easy to know your approximate address (in front of 307 Maple Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin), which would be very helpful when calling 911, and find urgent points of interest, such as gas stations and hospitals. This is a feature that Garmin should bring to all possible existing models, due to its usefulness and safety benefits.
Based on the fact that the 255W appears to address many of the shortcomings of the 260W, I recommend purchasing the 255W instead. If really long battery life is your concern, check out the 650.
If you are interested in playing music from a single unit, check out the models that have that feature. My friend's 650 handles music really well, pausing the music to give instructions and then automatically resuming playback, with good volume balance between them. While the music player isn't on par with an iPod, it's certainly useable and it saves on the number of devices you're carrying around and having to plug into an accessory outlet, etc. I was more impressed with the music features of the 650 than I expected to be.
The core functions of the 260W are spot-on, and from my understanding, all the nuvi GPS units use the same mapping information. It then comes down to which features you are interested in. I really like the 260W, and now I wouldn't want to travel without it!
Description of Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Go wide with the ultra-cool nüvi 260W that speaks street names. This widescreen navigator is attractively-priced and simple to use. Like the rest of the nüvi 200-series, you?re just a few screen taps away from anywhere. |
nüvi 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 nüvi takes you there with 2-D or 3-D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. In addition, 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.
Take It With You
Like the rest of the nüvi 200-series, nüvi 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.
Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 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 is compatible with our free Garmin Garage where you can download custom vehicles that show your location on the map. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in SD cards such as Garmin Travel Guides for detailed data on attractions.
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What's in the Box
nüvi 260W, preloaded City Navigator NT for North America, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, and quick start manual.
All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.
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