Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Review. Garmin's nüvi 260W combines the thinprofile 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. Wider screen lets you see more of what's around. Compare these actual size views: 3-inch (diagonal) screen 4.3-inch (diagonal) widescreen The nüvi 260W comes...
"Amazingly Accurate" 2008-02-25
By Auto Buff Guy 2008 (Overland Park, Kansas)
I bought the GARMIN nüvi 260W to help with work and family travels. After extensive research with Magellan, Mio and Tom-Tom, I bought the Garmin for three reasons. 1) Ease of use. 2) Screen clarity. 3) Amazing accuracy. And no, despite where I live, I have no affiliation with Garmin. I don't even know anyone that works for them. I am in the architectural business.
I have tried several GPSs while traveling with business associates, friends or in rental cars. As such, I have seen them in real world action. All of the devices saved me time and most found the place I needed to be. I could used any of them and been somewhat satisfied.The problem: I am a perfectionist. As such, I want the unit to be the best. So, after using a text-to-speech Garmin GPS unit earlier this year, I knew that was one feature I could not live without when I pulled the trigger on a purchase. Text-to-speech is a must have on GPS. A MUST. If you have never used a GPS, trust me, you have to have text-to-speech. It eliminates the frustration of urban driving and having the non text-to-speech units tell you to turn right in 200 feet, only to find two roads that are 200 feet away and have to pick one and hope it is right.
I decided to wait until a wide screen GPS came out that didn't have so many bells and whistles and was priced fairly. The GARMIN nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch fit the bill. Pulled the trigger still knowing that GPS units drop in price every month it seems and I would knowingly be mad in 90 days when the unit was 20% cheaper (oh well).
Back to the GARMIN nüvi 260W...I am amazed how it can find the driveway of my house at the end of a cul-de-sac directly adjacent to a road that is named the same. It is so accurate that it lets me know if I pulled into the wrong driveway 15 feet away from mine (I know, I tried it). It is so easy to use; I didn't even use the manual - once. It is that user friendly. I even downloaded new voices via the Garmin site without a manual. I like the fact the screen is very clear and refreshes quickly. I can even use my polarized sunglasses with the Garmin 260W screen and it does not distort the screen colors or have numerous horizontal lines (if you use polarized glasses, make sure to try out any GPS screen before you buy. Many look blank when using polarized glasses).
The POI seem to be pretty good, but I really haven't used it long enough to evaluate POI depth. I do know that the maps seem to be fairly accurate in terms of new roads since I have yet to find a road that does not exist on the map.
Not everything is perfect with the Garmin 260W. The downside is the time to acquire a satellite. The 260W takes longer than I like...sometimes up to one minute. However, once it gets a hold of the satellites, it never looses them. Plus it gets such a strong signal (with no external antenna); I can use the device on my lap in the passenger seat (when I am not driving and after it finds a satellite). Another couple of downers are it has very few voices that work with the text-to-speech feature. I hope Garmin increases the choices via a web download in the future (I want celebrity voices...please). Plus, I would have liked a case, any case to be included for the price I paid.
Overall, the unit is amazing and the larger screen size of 4.3 inches really helps those with fat fingers and those that don't want to squint to read a map. I am just sorry I had to wait this long to own one. It is a must have for those that travel to unfamiliar areas.
"Love the Screen Size" 2008-03-29
By WBS77 (Great Lakes)
Over the years, I have gone through all the major providers of GPS-enabled mapping software. Eventually settled on Garmin maps as the most up-to-date, most frequently updated. Hating to carry lots of gadgets, though, I have for several years been using Garmin maps on my PDA (Treo 700w).
Worked OK, getting GPS coordinates from a Garmin 10 via blue tooth. But, often required resting reading glasses on the end of my nose so I could make sense of the information and imagines on the small screen. Not particularly safe way to drive, of course.
No need for glasses with the large display on the 260W. I am very glad I went with the wider screen. It's not so much that there is more to see on the map as it is the case that the device takes full advantage of the wider screen's capabilities for messages on what's coming up, icons and boxes that may need to be touched to move among screens, make adjustments. Easier to operate while driving (which, of course, none of us do).
I am also glad that I went for the model that includes vocalizing street names. Does really improve confidence in following the Garmin's guidance when in unfamiliar areas and makes for safer driving.
As with all such products, local knowledge will sometimes beat the route-finding software. But, it gets you there.
Mine came loaded with City Navigator 2008. As I write this, it's late March 2008, and the Garmin web site projects that City Navigator 2009 will be out in April. Should determine what your unit comes with and, if it's 2008, will you get a free upgrade to 2009. Updates are essential in my opinion and a significant annual cost of owning such devices.
I also bought the weighted dashboard mount. It sits unopened as the window mount that comes with the unit works great on my car and the numerous rentals I end up in.
SD card reader slot is interesting. Works fine but what's it's purpose? I did put hundreds of photos on it and the Garmin will display them. Picture software is very basic though (e.g., even though related photos are organized by folder on the SD card, slide show program throws everything it can find into one hodgepodge show). Plugged into an USB port (cable not included but you may well have the required one that came with some other device - I did), the Garmin becomes an SD card reader. Maybe that has some value to someone. And, maybe there is just something I am missing here.
Other products provide endless possibilities for customizing screens. This device does not and that took some getting used to. Makes it much simpler to operate though and, after some adjustment, I am generally comfortable with the choices that Garmin decided to make for me.
But 5 stars because just cannot beat the big, wide, bright screen.
"Great GPS after trying many others" 2008-09-20
By Dragon Speak (USA)
The Garmin Nuvi 260W is a great little GPS:
The text to speech is clear, the screen is more than bright enough, the maps are large on the 4.3 inch screen. Route calculation is fast.
I regularly use it on battery power which is long, 4 or 5 hours, even more if you turn down the screen brightness.
However, it seemed at first that satellite acquisition was very slow, sometimes as long as 12 minutes.
I think I found a way around that.
If I turned the GPS off at home, it located satellites within 30 seconds of being turned on again at the same location; if turned off before arriving home, which I was in the habit of doing, it took about 12 minutes to acquire the present location.
It seems it did not know where to look for the satellites, and took a lot of time finding them. A software fault probably, but workable.
After I discovered this, I left the unit on up to my destination and the problem was solved.
Something nobody seems to have mentioned; when a store or restaurant is located by this unit, it gives the address AND the phone number of the intended location, and I can call ahead and make sure they are open and have what I want. This has saved so much time.
Also, touching the car icon on the map gives you a workable "Where am I?" which can be saved to favorites.
The 260W does not have all the features of a higher end Garmin GPS, like routing, blue tooth, traffic, etc, but Garmin has deliberately omitted these from the (slightly) lower end products.
The documentation is very limited, but reading a downloaded pdf for the Garmin 350 helps with the 260W.
Garmin seems to believe that no one wants to read a manual.
All in all, a very good GPS, very easy to use. Garmin may have proved that no manual is needed.
"Garmin nuvi 260W Review" 2008-02-18
By K. Neville (Beaumont, Texas United States)
Beacause I do so much traveling this GPS offered ezactly what I was looking for. Portable GPS with voice directions and an easy to read screen. These feature work very well and it is very customizable.
PROS
Small device with Wide easy to see display
Voice directions are clear
Device automatically readjust directions if wrong turn is taken
Easy to use device no instructions needed
CONS
No travel case included
Extra parts will need to be purchased if you want system professionaly installed
Not much documentation
Device always poers on when car starts, this should be my decision but i can turn it off.
Maintains travel averages (speed with min. max.)
All in all I am very satisfied with my purchase. I would advise to shop for the best price before ourchasing.
"Pleased Customer" 2008-06-06
By The Wolf (Southern California)
I did my homework before buying my first GPS unit. I did not want nor need the top of line units with all the bells and whistles. I had rented a couple of cars with GPS units and found out what I liked and what I didn't like. First off, do not but any unit without the text to speech feature. Without this feature the unit will tell you that your turn is approaching but not the name of the street. The text to speech feature will speak the name of the street that you need to turn on. This feature is a must have. Without it you will staring at the screen waiting for the update to see if you are nearing your turn. With this feature you can listen without the need to be looking at the screen. The wide face is very easy to see. I knew that it did not come with a carrying case but since it never leaves my car that was no big deal. I also bought the bean bag holder and I have not even used the suction cup. I was warned that thieves may target cars with a suction cup ring on the windshield as they assume that the unit is in the car. I stow the unit in my center console when not in use and put the bean bag under the seat. This unit starts up in about 30 seconds and I have not opened the user manual once. It is so easy to use right out of the box. If you are looking for an easy, accurate GPS this is a very good pick.
By Auto Buff Guy 2008 (Overland Park, Kansas)
I bought the GARMIN nüvi 260W to help with work and family travels. After extensive research with Magellan, Mio and Tom-Tom, I bought the Garmin for three reasons. 1) Ease of use. 2) Screen clarity. 3) Amazing accuracy. And no, despite where I live, I have no affiliation with Garmin. I don't even know anyone that works for them. I am in the architectural business.
I have tried several GPSs while traveling with business associates, friends or in rental cars. As such, I have seen them in real world action. All of the devices saved me time and most found the place I needed to be. I could used any of them and been somewhat satisfied.The problem: I am a perfectionist. As such, I want the unit to be the best. So, after using a text-to-speech Garmin GPS unit earlier this year, I knew that was one feature I could not live without when I pulled the trigger on a purchase. Text-to-speech is a must have on GPS. A MUST. If you have never used a GPS, trust me, you have to have text-to-speech. It eliminates the frustration of urban driving and having the non text-to-speech units tell you to turn right in 200 feet, only to find two roads that are 200 feet away and have to pick one and hope it is right.
I decided to wait until a wide screen GPS came out that didn't have so many bells and whistles and was priced fairly. The GARMIN nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch fit the bill. Pulled the trigger still knowing that GPS units drop in price every month it seems and I would knowingly be mad in 90 days when the unit was 20% cheaper (oh well).
Back to the GARMIN nüvi 260W...I am amazed how it can find the driveway of my house at the end of a cul-de-sac directly adjacent to a road that is named the same. It is so accurate that it lets me know if I pulled into the wrong driveway 15 feet away from mine (I know, I tried it). It is so easy to use; I didn't even use the manual - once. It is that user friendly. I even downloaded new voices via the Garmin site without a manual. I like the fact the screen is very clear and refreshes quickly. I can even use my polarized sunglasses with the Garmin 260W screen and it does not distort the screen colors or have numerous horizontal lines (if you use polarized glasses, make sure to try out any GPS screen before you buy. Many look blank when using polarized glasses).
The POI seem to be pretty good, but I really haven't used it long enough to evaluate POI depth. I do know that the maps seem to be fairly accurate in terms of new roads since I have yet to find a road that does not exist on the map.
Not everything is perfect with the Garmin 260W. The downside is the time to acquire a satellite. The 260W takes longer than I like...sometimes up to one minute. However, once it gets a hold of the satellites, it never looses them. Plus it gets such a strong signal (with no external antenna); I can use the device on my lap in the passenger seat (when I am not driving and after it finds a satellite). Another couple of downers are it has very few voices that work with the text-to-speech feature. I hope Garmin increases the choices via a web download in the future (I want celebrity voices...please). Plus, I would have liked a case, any case to be included for the price I paid.
Overall, the unit is amazing and the larger screen size of 4.3 inches really helps those with fat fingers and those that don't want to squint to read a map. I am just sorry I had to wait this long to own one. It is a must have for those that travel to unfamiliar areas.
By WBS77 (Great Lakes)
Over the years, I have gone through all the major providers of GPS-enabled mapping software. Eventually settled on Garmin maps as the most up-to-date, most frequently updated. Hating to carry lots of gadgets, though, I have for several years been using Garmin maps on my PDA (Treo 700w).
Worked OK, getting GPS coordinates from a Garmin 10 via blue tooth. But, often required resting reading glasses on the end of my nose so I could make sense of the information and imagines on the small screen. Not particularly safe way to drive, of course.
No need for glasses with the large display on the 260W. I am very glad I went with the wider screen. It's not so much that there is more to see on the map as it is the case that the device takes full advantage of the wider screen's capabilities for messages on what's coming up, icons and boxes that may need to be touched to move among screens, make adjustments. Easier to operate while driving (which, of course, none of us do).
I am also glad that I went for the model that includes vocalizing street names. Does really improve confidence in following the Garmin's guidance when in unfamiliar areas and makes for safer driving.
As with all such products, local knowledge will sometimes beat the route-finding software. But, it gets you there.
Mine came loaded with City Navigator 2008. As I write this, it's late March 2008, and the Garmin web site projects that City Navigator 2009 will be out in April. Should determine what your unit comes with and, if it's 2008, will you get a free upgrade to 2009. Updates are essential in my opinion and a significant annual cost of owning such devices.
I also bought the weighted dashboard mount. It sits unopened as the window mount that comes with the unit works great on my car and the numerous rentals I end up in.
SD card reader slot is interesting. Works fine but what's it's purpose? I did put hundreds of photos on it and the Garmin will display them. Picture software is very basic though (e.g., even though related photos are organized by folder on the SD card, slide show program throws everything it can find into one hodgepodge show). Plugged into an USB port (cable not included but you may well have the required one that came with some other device - I did), the Garmin becomes an SD card reader. Maybe that has some value to someone. And, maybe there is just something I am missing here.
Other products provide endless possibilities for customizing screens. This device does not and that took some getting used to. Makes it much simpler to operate though and, after some adjustment, I am generally comfortable with the choices that Garmin decided to make for me.
But 5 stars because just cannot beat the big, wide, bright screen.
By Dragon Speak (USA)
The Garmin Nuvi 260W is a great little GPS:
The text to speech is clear, the screen is more than bright enough, the maps are large on the 4.3 inch screen. Route calculation is fast.
I regularly use it on battery power which is long, 4 or 5 hours, even more if you turn down the screen brightness.
However, it seemed at first that satellite acquisition was very slow, sometimes as long as 12 minutes.
I think I found a way around that.
If I turned the GPS off at home, it located satellites within 30 seconds of being turned on again at the same location; if turned off before arriving home, which I was in the habit of doing, it took about 12 minutes to acquire the present location.
It seems it did not know where to look for the satellites, and took a lot of time finding them. A software fault probably, but workable.
After I discovered this, I left the unit on up to my destination and the problem was solved.
Something nobody seems to have mentioned; when a store or restaurant is located by this unit, it gives the address AND the phone number of the intended location, and I can call ahead and make sure they are open and have what I want. This has saved so much time.
Also, touching the car icon on the map gives you a workable "Where am I?" which can be saved to favorites.
The 260W does not have all the features of a higher end Garmin GPS, like routing, blue tooth, traffic, etc, but Garmin has deliberately omitted these from the (slightly) lower end products.
The documentation is very limited, but reading a downloaded pdf for the Garmin 350 helps with the 260W.
Garmin seems to believe that no one wants to read a manual.
All in all, a very good GPS, very easy to use. Garmin may have proved that no manual is needed.
By K. Neville (Beaumont, Texas United States)
Beacause I do so much traveling this GPS offered ezactly what I was looking for. Portable GPS with voice directions and an easy to read screen. These feature work very well and it is very customizable.
PROS
Small device with Wide easy to see display
Voice directions are clear
Device automatically readjust directions if wrong turn is taken
Easy to use device no instructions needed
CONS
No travel case included
Extra parts will need to be purchased if you want system professionaly installed
Not much documentation
Device always poers on when car starts, this should be my decision but i can turn it off.
Maintains travel averages (speed with min. max.)
All in all I am very satisfied with my purchase. I would advise to shop for the best price before ourchasing.
By The Wolf (Southern California)
I did my homework before buying my first GPS unit. I did not want nor need the top of line units with all the bells and whistles. I had rented a couple of cars with GPS units and found out what I liked and what I didn't like. First off, do not but any unit without the text to speech feature. Without this feature the unit will tell you that your turn is approaching but not the name of the street. The text to speech feature will speak the name of the street that you need to turn on. This feature is a must have. Without it you will staring at the screen waiting for the update to see if you are nearing your turn. With this feature you can listen without the need to be looking at the screen. The wide face is very easy to see. I knew that it did not come with a carrying case but since it never leaves my car that was no big deal. I also bought the bean bag holder and I have not even used the suction cup. I was warned that thieves may target cars with a suction cup ring on the windshield as they assume that the unit is in the car. I stow the unit in my center console when not in use and put the bean bag under the seat. This unit starts up in about 30 seconds and I have not opened the user manual once. It is so easy to use right out of the box. If you are looking for an easy, accurate GPS this is a very good pick.
