Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
Customer Review: A very good portable GPS
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used Garmin SPIII and Garmin SP2610 in over 7 years, and am very happy with their overall performance. I travel by cars frequently, and have been pleased for the most parts with these 2 units. However, they both share the same problem: "almost useless when I was driving in New York City", where tall buildings put both these models into a constant "lost of satellite signals" state.
After much research, I decided to give this model a trial run, based on this review from one user "...I can leave the unit in the storage compartment under the armrest in the car, and follow the audio directions..." I theorized that if this unit worked in a "storage compartment under the armrest in the car", it will work under my windshield though surrounded by tall buildings in NYC (!)
Here is my initial report after a 4-day trip in Orange County, CA, where I unfortunately did not have any chances to test the "tall buildings" syndrome, however there were many circumstances that it worked well where my previous 2 Garmin's didn't work. So here it goes:
1) Pricing: My previous SPIII and SP2610, each costs almost 3 times as much back then. Much lower price for many more features. 5-star
2) Form: Love the compact, thin size, and its light weight. The unit didn't come with a case. I have a case that came with my Bose in-ear headphones, and it fits perfectly into this otherwise wasted case :-) The glass suction cup works solidly. The unit can be adjusted smoothly once attached, yet is held firmly in place. The power cord also houses the traffic receiver and its length is generous. 5-star
3) Functions:
....a) Pluses: 3D-map; like it for the most part, but have found on very few occasions where multi-level highways are intersected, its 3D image was confused. I could have been taking the wrong highway. 4-star
....b) Text-to-voice: great in the city where street signs are readable, or on highways. 5-star
....c) GPS signals acquisition: Much faster and more effective than my previous 2 models. It showed more than 3 green signals bars even when I was in my hotel room, or in the ... bathroom (playing with the new gadget ;) I experimented with putting it off the windshield, out of line of sight of the sky, and it worked just as well. This is a good indication how it will perform on my next trip to New York City. I'll report back on the real experience then. 5-star
....d) Battery: It turns out that I love this feature, as I never had this on SPIII and SP2610. I realized that I had left the power cord when I returned my rental car in LAX (luckily, Hertz lost-and-found dept was able to ship UPS back to me in a few days.) I was able turn it on, and used the Garmin 265WT w/o this cord. The SPIII and SP2610 would be dead! 5-star
....e) Points-of-interest: By all indications, it's as good as I expected, though there were times that I could not locate some local restaurants. It's just a matter of how updated the information is. 4-star
....f) Favorites: Aka "waypoints" in older SPIII and SP2610 models. This is markedly improved. In the older models, it stored the coordinates and lost the original address that you entered. I love how to pull up a saved "favorite", not only being able to command it to route there, but also recognizing the address, and as a bonus, I can actually call an associated phone number directly from this favorite destination (imaging a situation like "let me call first to see if s/he is at home, then ... ;) A very practical and brilliant approach! Now that I'm used to this feature, I'm greedy to ask to have the ability to store more than one phone number ;) 5-star
....g) Lifetime free Live-Traffic: It appears to be a great feature, but at this point I haven't really had much exposure to report in a meaningful way. I saw the signs of green, yellow, etc... But those didn't turn into any real actions for my driving. Btw, the power cord is doubled as the traffic receiver, so don't lose it! 5-star
....h) Bluetooth: This is my first experience with bluetooth in a unit other than my bluetooth headset. Though I'm very pleased overall, this is the one area that has shown the most problems. I relied on this feature entirely since California requires its drivers to use hand-free equipments. Here is what I found with this feature:
.......70% chance of failing to make outgoing calls using my phone - So disappointed!
.......98% chance of success to make outgoing calls using the 265WT. I either dialed the numbers using the dial pad on the 265WT screen, or dial by pressing the phone number of saved favorites.
.......98% chance of success when receiving in coming calls. I used both methods: hit the "SEND" key from my phone, or press the "ANSWER" from the 265WT screen.
.......The speaker quality though is very clear for GPS text-to-voice operation, sounded as it came from an old and cheap speaker when used with the cell phone. However, not once, anyone on the other end of the phone complains of sound quality, even on long conversations. No one asked if I used speaker phone! Apparently the microphone works well, but the speaker works badly for the phone. Nevertheless the speaker works well for GPS text-to-voice operation. 3-star
4) Wishes: a case included in the package would be nice. 4-star
I rated it overall a 4-star, despite of the bluetooth issue.
pdn
Customer Review: Feature-packed entry-level GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first GPS I've owned so I can't easily compare it to other models. I can tell you, though, that the Nuvi 265 has surpassed my expectations for a GPS of this price.
In terms of ease of use, I have no complaints. You turn it on, skip through a screen telling you not be stupid with programming it while driving, input a state, then city, then street address and you're good to go. You can have it give you the fastest route or shortest time as well.
The 4.3-inch screen is great. The display shows your route in purple, the names of cross streets, the speed limit of the road your on (along with your current speed, which is great for avoiding tickets), and the estimated time of arrival which updates in real time (which is much better than converting miles to go in your head). It shows the street name of the next maneuver you're going to make, but not the name of the street you're currently on, like in some other models I've seen. Hitting the car icon on the map will tell you your exact location with your coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and show you where nearby hospitals, police stations and gas stations are. You can also customize the view so you can either look down on the map at an angle (as if you were in flight), or you can view the map from straight above as if it were a paper map.
One of my favorite features is the FM traffic receiver, which is integrated with the power cord. This receives FM traffic signals and posts a green, yellow or red icon on the left side of the screen which alerts you to any traffic delays along your route. You can touch the icon and have it tell you where the traffic is on the route and how long it should delay your trip. Then, if you want, you can have it reroute your trip around the delay. This is all seamlessly integrated with the normal functions of the GPS and you can choose how much you make use of it, but I think it's pretty amazing.
Another great feature is the Bluetooth capability, which allows you to make cell phone calls through the GPS device rather than holding onto the phone or using a Bluetooth headset. It lets you access your contacts list, recent calls and other basic call functions through the screen of the GPS without having to touch your phone. You can even use the devices Points of Interest library to make a call to one of your POIs. Pairing with the Bluetooth requires a read of the instructions, but after the initial pairing everything works quickly.
For those who are eco-minded, it has a feature that lets you input your car's fuel efficiency profile and then gives you fuel cost of your trip, a report on your fuel economy, and has a "challenge" that rates you out of a 100 on your ability to maintain a constant speed and by accelerating/decelerating smoothly. I don't think I'll ever use this, but others might find it interesting.
When I plugged the device into my computer, the integration with Windows 7 was very solid. Everything's automated so there's no leafing through a manual to figure out how to get the computer to recognize it. To interact with the Garmin website for map downloads, all you have to do is download a small program and a Firefox plugin. The website then uses these to read your device for software and map versions and it tells you automatically whether updates are available. The initial map update, which was free, took about an hour and a half so I just let it sit and it pretty much did everything without any user input. The website lets you download free car icons (you can change the car icon on the screen to a bald eagle, airplane, or walking person, if that kind of stuff interests you) and download additional voices at no charge.
Cons of the 265 are: it takes around 30 seconds to a minute to acquire satellites after turning it on and punching in an address. It's never taken longer than that for me after the initial satellite-pairing during the first time use (which took about 10 minutes), but I imagine this might be an issue if you were doing some city-driving or something where you needed to make a decision about where to turn quickly after entering the destination address. Another con is the volume, which as others have said is a little bit low, especially when you have the radio on at a reasonable volume or the AC blowing hard. One last minor issue is that when you type in a new address, it assumes the address is in the same state as the previous one, so if you are changing states you will have to go through a few extra screens to get there. In addition (not on my device but on a friend's 265), I have seen it take us in circles in a complicated area with lots of turns. But since I've been using mine I have not had it get me lost yet.
I've had the 265 for a month now and love it, and I can't imagine going on long or new trips without it now. Considering the price, it is quite feature-packed and powerful and should satisfy both entry-level users and those who have owned other devices. I would recommend buying the Garmin Portable Friction Mount which allows you to place the device anywhere on the dash (without suction cups), move it around at will and quickly take the unit and mount off the dash and hide it in your glove box so thieves can't see you have a GPS in your car. I've been very happy with this GPS and think others will enjoy it as well.
Customer Review: Some nice features, but POI's SPELL NAME search database not good!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my second auto GPS, having purchased a Mio Moov 200 from Radio Shack in Sept 2008. I've used the Moov extensively, and as a pure navigator, at less cost, I'd rank it higher (re POI name search) than the Garmin 265WT for the simple reason that its database for POI's appear more complete and recent than Garmin's, which I spent hours downloading yesterday (one-time free update-Thanks, Garmin-but you must do so within 60 days of GPS navigation!).
Mio Moov 200 will also instruct you to turn-around via a U-turn if you've missed your turn rather than take you 'around the block' to get back on course as with the Garmin. Even when I unchecked 'U-turn' to be avoided it (Garmin) still would not give me instruction to do one in my local area.
I was told by a very reliable source this is inherent in the database unless there is no other alternative, but it will take you on an alternative route in which you will indeed lose some time and mileage. I would speculate this is safer and may be a motivating reason for its inclusion but, again, this is speculation on my part. Update: It will indeed suggest you make a U-turn in accordance with the above, if it appears there is no alternative. The cool thing about it is that it tells you how far up to make the turn, avoiding midpoint islands or intersections where it is not possible.
Here's the problem in re the POI NAME SEARCH database - I entered a SPELL NAME SEARCH for 'Smart & Final' and for 'Bed Bath & Beyond' in my local area of San Marcos and environ and the Moov had no problem pulling them up (purchased in 2008 with no update!) whereas the 265WT posted nearest of each MANY miles away and by-passed my local area!. This is NOT GOOD.
And also it's not much fun having the hourglass rotating around for an inordinate period of time (sometimes five minutes or more) in order to find your spelled POI only to find, on many occasions, NO MATCH, and when it does, many times a distant one. Yeeeccchhh..VERY frustrating.
I purchased the Garmin from Amazon because it had the Free Traffic Reporting, larger screen, a good price, and a high rating from a well-known consumer reporting organization. In my view, they OVERRATED it, and did not even bother to test the Mio Moov 200.
So, a bit of advice, if you KNOW THE ADDRESS or can obtain it in advance just enter it and make your own FAVORITE out of it, and stop wasting time using this POI database for purposes of the Search Spell Name function-it is too much 'hit n miss'. I hate to say this but it's true, at least for this poster.
This is not to confuse with having the unit display local and not so-local POI's according to Category selection-that is nearly instantaneous and quite impressive!
If you have the address that you want to navigate to, that's fine, and, in other respects, I certainly like the unit. It seems to operate well in the short time I've had it but I'm not going to sell my used Moov 200 at this time and will not be returning this Garmin 265WT due to its other fine features, including the free Liftetime Traffic Reporting (a major reason for buying), display, Bluetooth, and customer support.
Yet I have this sensation (after only a day or two of use with the 265WT) that the Moov 200, which indeed has text-to-speech and quite accurate ETA's (unlike the Garmin which bears little resemblance to reality re ETA's, IMHO) may be my preferred unit, excepting the Traffic and Bluetooth functions, nicer display and more user-friendly Garmin attributes. It's really a toss-up for me and if you want to save some money and traffic reporting is not important go with the Mio Moov 200.
Update 5/22/09: I've now used the unit for a few days. Haven't tried the Bluetooth function yet. This is a very user-friendly unit. In this update I tried to UPGRADE my rating to 4 STARS but for some reason unable to do so. If the spell name search had a better and quicker database, if the ETA's were accurate and reliable and if distance to go were easily displayed at all times, as with the Moov 200, I'd probably give the unit 5 STARS. But for now, I'd give it 4 STARS. I'd give the Mio Moov 4 STARS also.
Update 6/7/09: I've now had the unit for a few weeks and there is a not-too-difficult learning curve. Going to various forum sites has helped me to exploit the unit's attributes.
I've posted four (4) videos on YouTube concerning operation of the unit. In my view, it's a very good navigator with a big bang for the buck due to the Free Traffic Reporting which I show how to use in two of the videos. And the traffic reporting works well in my area.
Just do a YouTube search for the unit 'Garmin Nuvi 265WT'. (my user name is 'brentfoto'). Wish this had the Voice Recognition, but that's a premium function not available in this less expensive model.
Update 5/18/10 I've had the unit for a year and still like it a lot. It's been reliable and dependable, and the free traffic has been a bargain.
Customer Review: Not As Impressed As Others With the Garmin nüvi 265WT
Summary: 3 Stars
When doing one of these ratings I'm never sure whether I'm rating against other similar items or against an imaginary ideal. In this case it's a little of both.
I've used a TomTom almost constantly for four years. When you've done that you expect a new thing to do everything the old one does and do it just as well, plus do a few (or a lot of) things better, so disappointment is almost certain.
I've only used the Nuvi for a couple of weeks, so I'll try to remember to come back and update this when I've had more experience.
So far, overall, it's my opinion the TomTom is smarter, but the Nuvi operation is more user friendly - particularly the layout of controls and menuing.
The Nuvi gets a GPS signal under less ideal conditions that the older TomTom. Announcing the street where you will turn is a plus. The Nuvi screen seems more readable than the TomTom, but I've mounted the Nuvi in a different way that makes it easier to read so it's hard to separate these. Frequently used features are more readily accessible on the Nuvi, but what shows on the main screen is not configurable, and the TomTom has limited ability to choose what's on the main screen.
The TomTom had real voice recordings making the audible prompts. The lady I used had a pleasant, very realistic, easy to understand voice. The Nuvi uses a computer generated voice that's unpleasant and much harder to understand. The default is an almost unintelligible attempt at a female voice. You can choose a male counterpart and though still unpleasant and poor quality is more understandable. The TomTom did not announce street names and so could use a fixed set of stored words and phrases. In order to announce street names they must use the commuter generated voice. Even though marginally understandable it's better to have the street names - I'm sure TomTom does that now.
The TomTom did a better job of figuring out the best route. I'm unable to imagine why the Nuvi chooses some of the routes it chooses. For example, in one situation it's about a mile to our house on major streets. The Nuvi wants me to go 3 miles out of the way -- going to a major highway down one major highway to another major highway and then return on a tiny narrow street to almost where I was originally. The TomTom takes the direct, shorter, better, faster route - things like this are why I say it's smarter. You have no way to know this if you're in an unknown area where you really need it and it will get you to the destination. The Nuvi often tells you to turn onto the street you are currently on - what's up with that?
The Points of Interest on the Nuvi are WAY out of date. Restaurants that closed years ago are included and ones from the past year or two are often missing.
My unit has the traffic warning feature that's free with popup advertising. So far, the advertising has not been obtrusive. But, I've not had occasion for it to warn me of anything, so I don't know how useful it is.
I gave it three stars because I expected by now these things would nail the best route, have more current data, while being crystal clear to understand. Other than the street prompts and more current maps it seems do the basic job no better and in some ways not as well as my four year old TomTom. If I were rating it versus having no navigator I would have given it 5 stars.
Note: Take a look at my review of the Arkon GN047 Removable Vent Mount here http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A2H7878HZGMKEJ/ref=ya__26?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview Arkon GN047 Removable Vent Mount for Nuvi & StreetPilot
Edited on 7-6-09 to add:
I've been using the Nuvi for about three months now and in looking over my review I still agree with it and have little to add except to emphasize that the Nuvi sometimes chooses strange and out of the way routes. For example, you'll be traveling down a nice street directly toward your destination and it will have you go off onto a crossing street, go around the block and come back to the same street you were on -- very strange.
The traffic warning feature is some good some bad. As I mentioned before I don't find the advertising obtrusive. The feature works, but as others have mentioned it often warns you of traffic problems ahead that are either false or have been cleared by the time it warns you. Sometimes it warns you of a real problem and if you believe it you can save yourself grief. Once, the major highway I was on narrowed from 6 lanes to 1. The gadget warned me of stopped traffic ahead, and if I had gone onto the feeder to get around the bottleneck I would have saved about 20 minutes. But, it had given so many false alarms I didn't trust it until it was too late to exit.
Customer Review: Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen
Summary: 3 Stars
First update: After months of being irritated and frustrated by the Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT's small quirks and failings, I put the Nuvi and the five-year-old TomTom Go700 to a parallel test. The test involved two trips from my home to destinations I regularly visit. Both tests began with my car being parked in my driveway, perpendicular to the street. Regrettably, the Nuvi came in second, both times. The first test was from home to a point on the southbound side of a major north/south highway less than 25 miles from my home. The Nuvi told me to drive to the route indicated on the screen; the old TomTom told me to turn right. Both devices accurately guided me to the northbound lanes of the major highway to be traveled, although the Nuvi's distance judgement was not as sharply accurate as the TomTom's. Very close to my destination, the Nuvi told me that I had arrived at (destination),"on left." And (destination) was indeed on the left -- ACROSS SIX LANES OF HEAVY NORTH- AND SOUTH-BOUND TRAFFIC, A CONCRETE MEDIAN BARRIER, AND A SERVICE ROAD ! The five-year-old TomTom correctly guided me into the right-hand lane as we were approaching (destination), onto an off-ramp, and through a series of turns and merges that put me onto the correct side of the highway and took me to the entrance of the (destination) parking lot before announcing that I had arrived at my destination. The Nuvi continues to have problems judging distances to intersections and street addresses. For example, an eighth of a mile from my house it informs me that I've arrived home. Which I haven't ! The second, similar test, was from my driveway to another frequently-visited commercial destination. Driving at the speed limit in a 25mph-zone, the TomTom gave me plenty of notice to make a left turn into a small side street; the Nuvi alerted me that I would need to make the left turn in a decimal of a mile but by the time it finished saying that I was already abreast of the small street I should have been turning into.
Nuvi's speed-limit alert on screen, its "where am I" screen, its fresher road maps, and its occasional "traffic ahead" warnings are wonderful advances in navigation device function. But the Nuvi still doesn't beat a five-year-old, moribund, TomTom at guiding me correctly and safely to a destination. I haven't had the opportunity yet to use the Nuvi as a walking guidance device in a big city but already, on the basis of several months' experience with the Nuvi, I'm shopping for a new TomTom as my primary GPS device with the Nuvi as a backup.
With apologies to those folks who are really impressed with the Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch widescreen and rave about it, I have to say I consider it highly overrated.
The unit's voice/speaker is tinny, muddy, and too low in volume, even with the unit's volume control cranked up to 100%. The street address input is not intuitive: the thing asks for a house number before it requests a street name.
Unlike my five-year-old TomTom GO700, the Garmin doesn't give immediate voice instruction when you first input a new destination. As soon as I turn on the TomTom [still working after five years, mind you !], while the car is still sitting in my driveway, and punch in a destination, the TomTom gives a correct and authoritative command ['"Turn right !"] to get me onto the street in front of my house. The Garmin only displays a bit of screen text that tells me to drive to a screen-indicated street map position. That's fine in my driveway, but when I'm at a five-points intersection in heavy traffic and punch in a new destination while waiting for the traffic lights to change, I don't want to have to take my eyes off the road long enough to figure out exactly where the Garmin wants me to drive. There's no excuse for not having timely vocal turn-by-turn instructions.
The road distance-to-target estimates are frequently off -- in more than one case, by a tenth of a mile.
The route recalculation is slow and labored. By the time the recalculation has been done, I'm usually already past the turnoff for the alternative route. Just this week, I had to pull over for nearly half a minute to give the Garmin time to recalculate my route after roadwork forced me to miss a turn.
These are small criticisms, I know, but important. If TomTom didn't have these problems five years ago, why does Garmin have them in 2009/2010 ?
On the basis of its performance since early December, 2009, I'm going to continue using the old TomTom for most purposes, with the Garmin as a backup for use in unfamiliar areas, where its maps are probably more up to date. Either that or I'll just give this to one of the kids and buy myself a more-recent-vintage TomTom.
I'll update this when I give the Garmin its trial-by-fire as a walkabout device in a large city.