GPS stands for "The Global Positioning System". It is a satellite controlled navigation system made up of a network of multiple satellites placed into orbit. Initially GPS was only for military applications but latter on the system was made available to general public as well. The Global Positioning System works un-intrupted in all weather conditions and it serves round the clock.
Working of GPS: GPS satellites are rotating the earth in a specified orbit and they transmit signal information to earth. Signals sent by GPS satellites are recieved by GPS reciever which calculate the difference of signal timing sent and recived. The precise calculation determines the distance of reciever from the satellite. The user's position is obtained by a comparison of distance measurment with few more satellite. Electronic mapping reflects the user position which is displayed at the GPS device.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Garmin nüvi 2460LMT 5-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates


Product Details
Garmin nüvi 2460LMT 5-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates
Price:$299.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
10 new or used available from $293.99
Average customer review: 
(51 customer reviews)

Product Description

The Garmin Nuvi 2460LMT Auto GPS is hands-free calling compatible and comes with FREE lifetime maps and traffic. A multi-point route planner automatically sorts multiple destinations into an efficient route. The Garmin Nuvi 2460LMT Auto GPS also includes lane assist with junction view, trafficTrends historical traffic, myTrends predictive routing, and speaks street names.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #242 in Consumer Electronics
  • Brand: Garmin
  • Model: 2460LMT with Lifetime Maps & Traffic
  • Dimensions: 2.60" h x 5.30" w x 5.30" l, 1.30 pounds
  • Display size: 5

Features

  • 5.0 inch diagonal WQVGA color TFT touchscreen with white backlight
  • nuRoute technology includes traffic Trends and my Trends (no subscriptions required)
  • Preloaded with City Navigator NT North America (U.S., Canada and Mexico)
  • Includes free lifetime maps and traffic updates
  • NOTE: Charger connects to the mount
  • 480 x 272 pixel display resolution

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Product Description
The voice-activated 5-inch large screen nüvi 2460LMT is so easy to use you just talk to it. It's hands-free calling compatible and comes with free lifetime maps and traffic. A multi-point route planner automatically sorts multiple destinations into an efficient route. Includes lane assist with junction view, trafficTrends historical traffic, myTrends predictive routing, and speaks street names.
Garmin nüvi 2460LMTWith free Lifetime Map and Traffic updates, you always have the most up-to-date maps, points of interest and navigation information available at your fingertips. Click to enlarge.
Includes Free Lifetime Map Updates
With free Lifetime Map and Traffic updates, you always have the most up-to-date maps, points of interest and navigation information available at your fingertips. Traffic information is updated constantly, and map updates are available for download up to 4 times a year. Both features are ready to go, right out of the box, with no subscription or update fees and no expiration dates.
Speak Commands
nüvi 2460LMT not only tells you where to turn but listens to your spoken commands. With its innovative speech recognition, you can control nüvi with your voice--allowing you to keep both hands on the wheel. Simply wake up nüvi with a customizable voice command and begin speaking menu options that are clearly displayed on the screen. Tell nüvi "Find Address" and speak an address to start navigating.
Experience nüRoute Technology with trafficTrends and myTrends
nüvi 2460LMT includes nüRoute technology with trafficTrends historical traffic and myTrends predictive routing. With trafficTrends, your nüvi 2460LMT automatically learns daytime trends for traffic flow to improve your routes and better predict your estimated time of arrival based on time of day and day of week. With myTrends, when you save your regular destinations in your "Favorites," your nüvi 2460LMT will, over time, begin to figure out where you're going even without your telling it! It provides time of arrival and relevant traffic information. So whether you're driving to and from work or a regularly scheduled weekly event, your nüvi 2460LMT will help you get there on time.
Receive Free Lifetime Traffic Updates
Steer clear of traffic with the integrated FM traffic receiver and free lifetime traffic updates. Receive alerts about traffic delays and road construction that lie ahead on your route. Next, simply touch the screen on nüvi to view traffic details or detour around the problem area.
Make Hands-free Calls
For hands-free calling, nüvi 2460LMT integrates Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker. Just pair it with your compatible Bluetooth phone and talk hands-free through the 2460LMT while staying focused on the road. Simply dial numbers with its touchscreen keypad to make a call. To answer calls, just tap the screen and speak into its built-in microphone. Enjoy convenient one-touch dialing for contacts and points of interest.
Garmin nüvi 2460LMT display5-inch touchscreen display for map detail, driving directions, photos, and more in bright, brilliant color.
Garmin nüvi 2460LMT voice controlWith its innovative speech recognition, you can control nüvi with your voice--allowing you to keep both hands on the wheel.
Know the Lane Before It's Too Late
No more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist with junction view guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation.
See Even More
It's easy to see where you're going on nüvi 2460LMT's 5-inch (12.7 cm) touchscreen display. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. With its big, bold display, you won't miss a thing.
Plan Ahead
nüvi 2460LMT includes advanced navigation features to take the worry out of traveling. With route planning you can save 100 routes, specify via points and preview simulated turns on the 2460LMT's large screen. In addition, nüvi 2460LMT automatically sorts multiple destinations to provide an efficient route for errands, deliveries or sales calls. A trip log provides an electronic bread crumb trail of up to 10,000 points, so you can see where you've been on the map.
Get Turn-by-Turn Directions
nüvi 2460LMT has an intuitive interface that greets you with two simple questions: "Where To?" and "View Map." Touch the color screen to easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with detailed City Navigator NT street maps for the U.S, Canada and Mexico with nearly 6 million points of interest (POIs) such as stores, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, gas stations, ATMs and more, and speed limits for most major roads in the U.S. and Europe.
Select Fuel-efficient Routes
nüvi 2460LMT saves you gas and money with ecoRoute--a green feature that calculates the most fuel-efficient route, tracks fuel usage and more. With ecoRoute, you have a "less fuel" option as a routing preference. When selected, nüvi will determine if a more fuel efficient route exists based upon road speed data and vehicle acceleration data for a given route.
Navigate City Transit
With its enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities, nüvi 2460LMT is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. Download optional cityXplorer content to help you navigate city public transit. Know where to walk, where to catch the bus, subway, tram or other transportation and how long it will take to get there. cityXplorer maps are available for select cities throughout North America and Europe. And with prices as low as $9.99, you'll have money left over to spend in the big city.
Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. "Where Am I?" emergency locator finds the closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersections. nüvi 2460LMT helps you remember where you parked by automatically marking your position when you remove it from your car. It's also compatible with lifetime traffic alerts (receiver purchase required) adnd includes travel tools, such as JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter and calculator. Photo navigation lets you download pictures from Garmin Connect Photos. The 2460LMT features Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and is compatible with Garmin Garage where you can download free vehicles and voices. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in microSD cards.
What's in the Box
Garmin nüvi 2460LMT (Preloaded City Navigator NT North America [U.S, Canada and Mexico], Lifetime Maps and Traffic), FM Traffic Receiver With Vehicle Power Cable, Vehicle Suction Cup Mount, USB Cable, Quick Start Manual
Compare the nüvi 2400 Series Features
nüvi 2400 Series Features


nüvi 2450
nüvi 2450LM
nüvi 2460LT
nüvi 2460LMT
Detailed Mapping Coverage:
U.S., Canada and Mexico
U.S., Canada and Mexico with lifetime map updates
U.S., Canada and Mexico
U.S., Canada and Mexico with lifetime map updates
Traffic:
Compatible
Compatible
Lifetime traffic included
Lifetime traffic included
Hands-Free Calling:
No
No
Yes
Yes
Voice Activated Navigation:
No
No
Yes
Yes























Compare all Garmin nüvis

Click the button below to compare by series, user type, and features.






Visit Garmin.com at https://www8.garmin.com/support/download.jsp to get the latest firmware updates for your nüvi to keep it current and performing at its best.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
95 of 95 people found the following review helpful.
5Garmin nüvi 2460LMT 5-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates
By Diane Erbland
We owned a Garmin Nuvi 760 for years and were very happy with the unit. Solid features and solid construction. Had no plans to upgrade till the unit was stolen from a rental car. I considered other manufacturers but kept coming back to Garmin. Reviewed their products, relative features, and written opinions, did my feature and cost comparisons and settled on the 2460LMT. Why?
1. I wanted the larger 5" screen. When you are driving your attention should be on the road. Larger features are easier to read and understand. Even the difference between a 4.3" and 5" unit is important and helps when you are driving in an unfamiliar city.
2. The voice command feature allows you to operate the unit hands free. The voice recognition performance of the unit is excellent and the menu structure is thoughtfully formulated. This is a great feature.
3. The routing/navigation feature-sets are the most current available since this is a new unit release. The auto zoom on the map is a nice addition. The lane assist feature that Garmin implemented is also very helpful when you are in heavy traffic in an unfamiliar city.
4. The construction of the unit seems solid. Having dropped my 760 onto the pavement on occassion I was very concerned with the vulnerability of the glass screens on the 3760 and 3790 units - an issue reported by some users. If you are going to own a GPS (or cell phone) you are going to drop it, so having a durable unit is important.
5. The Garmin touch screen has good sensitivity, good brightness and contrast, and limited glare (a bigger problem for capacitance type glass screens like the 3760 and 3790)
6. This unit has bluetooth for hands free calling - as did my 760. This is a nice feature that allows you to keep your hands on the wheel and attention on road - where they belong.
7. I chose the LMT variety because I travel often for work, and all over the country. The lifetime maps and traffic are a great deal compared to buying a unit and then paying for map updates and a travel subscription. Map updates do matter. If you are buying a GPS, buy one with the lifetime maps and save yourself some money.
8. My old unit had MSN direct for online traffic, weather and gas pricing and I had purchased the lifetime access. MSN Direct is ceasing operations on Jan 2012 and only two current production Garmin units have a comparable feature using a different service provider - called NuLink. If you buy the NuLink unit, after the first year you have to pay an annual subscription fee to continue your online access. I didnt want that hassle and so picked the LMT for the lifetime traffic. As noted elsewhere, this comes with pop-up adds that appear when the vehicle is stopped. These are small banner ads that appear at the top 20% or so of the screen. They are far less intrusive than I feared when I read the alarmist horror stories written in some reviews. I spent last weekend visiting/driving in Chicago and my travel was not impeeded by these adds. The traffic alerts are clearly presented and understandable - but note that they are limited to major Metro areas. So you should look at the coverage area map link from the Garmin web site to ensure your city is covered if this is important to you.

So to summarize, this is a well built and very functional unit that matched my needs and performs better than I'd hoped. Certainly 5 stars.

And my final thought. Be sure to register your GPS with your manufacturer and use the locking feature if available (e.g. Garmin-lock). This will prevent a thief from ever being able to use your unit if it is stolen.
47 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
5Love it. Few flaws I can live with
By Jay Diamond
I have owned many Garmin products from the old Street Pilots to this 2460LMT. I comes in a nice sturdy body and t won't fall apart if you drop it. The customizable Main Menu is great. Up to 15 icons if you wish. I put the Voice Command there as I think it is one of the greatest strengths of this unit. Only in certain circumstances do you have to type except for particular addresses.

One of the tings I really like is the lack of the word "re-calculating" if you decide to go a different route. That used to drive me nuts. Now the unit looks and quickly moves to change the route. If you dislike the route you are taking, just press the "Detour" icon and it will re-route the entire trip. However, it may take you a way, you would not want to go, just out-of-the-way roads.

Voice Command works perfectly and is very helpful very quickly.. Best feature.

I will keep this unit and highly recommend it.
42 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
5A true full featured GPS that works so well.
By P. Taylor
I loved my old Garmin Streetpilot 2720. It is old though and I wanted to upgrade to traffic and a battery. After about 2 years, and several GPS units later, including Garmin, TomTom and Megellan brands, all the units I tried drove me crazy with all having some of the features I wanted but none having all.

The Nuvi 2460LMT has pretty much ALL the features of the old Streetpilot plus more really cool stuff, like voice activation. Now I don't even have to touch it to make it work! OK you will spend $300.00 but you will be happy I think. I spent $250 and was very disappointed with all the GPS units at that price point from 3 different manufacturers. I think the extra few bucks gives you such a big upgrade, you get so much more value at $300 than you get at $250.

Be aware, if you look online at the Garmin manual, it covers the 22xx, 23xx and 24xx series. I initially ordered the 2360LMT and was very disappointed, and returned it instantly. The features that I needed and wanted are NOT in the 22xx and 23xx series yet the manual does not tell you specifically which are in and which are not in each series. Nether does the Garmin website provide enough detail.

What I like:

Voice operation works wonderfully.
Loud clear voice, Garmin excels here.
Wonderful screen, auto zooms with speed, the faster you go the more ahead it shows.
Touch screen is excellent.
Very fast in everything it does.
Customizable main menu screen.
Advanced Avoidance feature - lets you avoid a specific road or location on a route.
Loads of useful features.
Lifetime maps and traffic.

Cons
Lots on menus that can see you searching for a feature you want to change but once you get it set up you will be ok.
Traffic is free but uses ads to pay for the service. The ads are a little bigger than I would like to have seen but are done in such a way that they are not overly intrusive. They are not there when you are moving or using the menus, and well I'm not paying for the traffic service so I'm happy!

My recommendation is this - if you're a GPS junky, sales rep, professional driver, or like to speak to your GPS, spend the extra on the 2460LMT, it's a great upgrade over the units a few bucks less.

I just ordered a second unit. My wife insisted on the upgrade after playing with my 2460LMT when we went out to dinner tonight.

See all 51 customer reviews...

Online Shopping: Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates


Product Details
Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates
List Price:$349.99
Price:$201.31 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
57 new or used available from $179.00
Average customer review: 
(872 customer reviews)

Product Description

nüvi 1490LMT features FREE lifetime map and traffic updates.One-year warranty

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #45 in Consumer Electronics
  • Brand: Garmin
  • Model: 1490LMT with Lifetime Maps & Traffic
  • Format: CD
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: 2.60" h x 5.30" w x 5.30" l, 1.00 pounds
  • Display size: 5

Features

  • Sunlight-readable, 5-inch backlit TFT color touchscreen display with 480 x 272 WQVGA pixel resolution
  • Preloaded with City Navigator NT data for the lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, with nearly six million points of interest
  • Free lifetime map and traffic updates for the most up-to-date maps, POIs, and navigation info, along with constantly updated traffic information
  • Advanced navigation features including voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, lane assist with junction view, fuel-saving ecoRoute
  • Integrated Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker for hands-free calling. Comes with One-year warranty.
  • 5 inch easy-to-use enhanced touchscreen interface
  • Bluetooth wireless technology? enabling hands-free connectivity
  • Comes with lifetime traffic and mapping updates
  • Multiple Point Routing; Lane Assist; Junction View; EcoRoute fuel efficient routing
  • Preloaded with City Navigator NT for North America

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Product Description
The large screen nüvi 1490LMT comes with free Lifetime Maps and Traffic and offers multiple-point routing and Lane Assist with junction view to help you manage busy highway interchanges. It announces streets by name, has hands-free calling compatibility and pedestrian navigation options. The ecoRoute feature calculates a more fuel-efficient route.
It's easy to see where you're going on nüvi 1490LMT's 5-inch touchscreen display.
Traffic information is updated constantly, and map updates are available up to 4 times a year, with no subscription, fees, or expiration dates.
Travel tools include JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more.
Lane assist with junction view guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit.

Extra-Wide, Feature-Rich GPS Navigator Lifetime Maps and Traffic


Includes Free Lifetime Map Updates
With free Lifetime Map and Traffic updates, you always have the most up-to-date maps, points of interest and navigation information available at your fingertips. Traffic information is updated constantly, and map updates are available for download up to 4 times a year. Both features are ready to go, right out of the box, with no subscription or update fees and no expiration dates.
See Even More
It's easy to see where you're going on nüvi 1490LMT's 5-inch (12.7 cm) touchscreen display. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. With its big, bold display, you won't miss a thing.
Know the Lane Before It's Too Late
No more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist with junction view guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation. Lane assist with junction view is available in select metropolitan cities.
Navigate City Transit
With its enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities, nüvi 1490LMT is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. Download optional cityXplorer content to help you navigate city public transit. Know where to walk, where to catch the bus, subway, tram or other transportation and how long it will take to get there. cityXplorer maps are available for select cities throughout North America and Europe. And with prices as low as $9.99, you'll have money left over to spend in the big city.
Plan Ahead
nüvi 1490LMT includes advanced navigation features to take the worry out of traveling. With route planning you can save 10 routes, specify via points and preview simulated turns on the 1490LMT's large screen. In addition, nüvi 1490LMT automatically sorts multiple destinations to provide an efficient route for errands, deliveries or sales calls. A trip log provides an electronic bread crumb trail of up to 10,000 points, so you can see where you've been on the map.
Get Turn-by-Turn Directions
nüvi 1490LMT's intuitive interface greets you with two simple questions: "Where To?" and "View Map." Touch the color screen to easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with detailed City Navigator NT street maps, nearly 6 million points of interest (POIs), 2-D or 3-D maps and the speed limit for most major roads in the U.S. and Europe. Its digital elevation maps show you shaded contours at higher zoom levels, giving you a big picture of the surrounding terrain. With the 1490LMT's enhanced user interface, you can slide your finger to conveniently scroll between screens. You also can upload custom points of interest (POIs). And with HotFix satellite prediction, nüvi calculates your position faster to get you there quicker.
Make Hands-free Calls
For hands-free calling, nüvi 1490LMT integrates Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker. Just pair it with your compatible Bluetooth phone and talk hands-free through the 1490LMT while staying focused on the road. Simply dial numbers with nüvi's touchscreen keypad to make a call. To answer calls, just tap the screen and speak into its built-in microphone. Enjoy convenient one-touch dialing for contacts and points of interest.
Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 1490LMT saves you gas and money with ecoRoute--a green feature that calculates the most fuel-efficient route, tracks fuel usage and more. The 1490LMT includes many travel tools, including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. With photo navigation, you can download pictures from Garmin Connect Photos and navigate to them. With its "Where Am I?" emergency locator, you always know your location. Simply tap the screen to get your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. The 1490LMT features Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and is compatible with our free Garmin Garage where you can download custom voices and vehicles. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in microSD cards.

What's in the Box

nüvi 1490; Preloaded City Navigator NT North America (U.S, Canada and Mexico); Lifetime Maps and Traffic; FM Traffic Receiver With Vehicle Power Cable; Vehicle Suction Cup Mount; USB Cable; Dashboard Disc; Quick Start Manual

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
297 of 300 people found the following review helpful.
4Great Screen - Great Fratures - Some Quirks
By C. James
Having been a Garmin owner for about 5 years I had no doubt what brand I was going to buy, my old Garmin served me well but it was time for a new one and the wide screen was a key feature I wanted in my new one.

The screen is impressive, while going from 4.3" to 5" does not sound like much it is really amazing how much more map and information that fits well on the screen. The screen itself is anti-glare that works, and very bright if you want it, I have the brightness at 60% and that is fine even in bright sunlight. The images are very crisp and clear, street names and such are auto-sized to not obstruct the map but big enough to read easily. The volume when it is reading out direction is also outstanding, so loud I have it also on 60%. So a solid 5 Stars on the screen and voice volume, as well as the pronunciation of the street names!

Quirk: When I first got it I was in my office and opened it, plugged it in to just power and fired it up, it kept asking for me to agree to the license terms and no matter how I answered it rebooted itself, did this like 4 times and then was ok. This would happen each time I turned it on. Not a big issue really, as soon as it "sees" the sats it stops doing it and is fine. Little off for the scare factor, it has never done it again.

The update process is very easy but long, likely very long on a slower PC and/or slow internet connection, the map data is huge. That said it is the nature of the beast and Garmin makes it as painless as possible, the registration and update process was very slick.

Once all updated and ready to go it is time to go through the options, you don't have to, out of the box it picks everything, but I think most will find it worth it, there are a lot of options on how you want it to find routes, deal with traffic (comes with lifetime traffic info), how you want the maps to look in many aspects, 2D, 3D, Track top to your direction or top to always north, and all kinds of additional information that can optionally be on the map screen. Out of the box Garmin has every bell and whistle turned on which I guess I understand but this is why I say it is worth getting it where you like. From the factory you will only see 4.3" of map on route as it has 4 tabs of optional information along the right side. I wanted 5" of map so I disabled the side tabs in settings, very nice option, you can also pick what tab is showing what information from a good selection of options.

Quirk: If you are using the traffic information and have the traffic avoidance enabled you can get some really odd routes, since I was just trying mine out around town and to work and back I knew it was telling me wrong turns, a little time in the manual and I found out why, it was automatically altering the route around traffic alerts, while this may sound like a good thing and would be if it told you it was doing that, in my case it was not, no other route is going to help and I did not know what in the heck it was doing :) I found you can have the best of both worlds, keep trafic information turned on but disable traffic in the avoidances setting tab. Then it warns you of traffic on your route, lets you see where, and gives you a detour option at that point you can take or ignore. It would be better during the route calc process if it said it had added detours, and when it does it on the fly it should also, minor quirk once you know. This is a 3 star feature in the auto mode. 5 star would be to tell you and offer y/n detour options for each point.

Junction View to me was one of the most impressive features, I go through one very complex set of interchanges for 3 freeways with express lanes to bybass interchanges and local lane to pick up any direction to or from any free way, many a folks have left on the wrong path... When I was aproaching it the garmin flipped to junction view and wow, it had a clearly marked path through the maze, and nailed every lane on the money, and the optimum lane for the follwing turn if there was more than one lane leading into it. Very nice! Another 5 star feature, this would have made my first time through that a lost safer than the old garmin with just a yellow line through it.

The routes it comes up with are 4.5 star, it hits most very very well but will toss a few more odd ones out than my old Garmin did, they all do some, I think this could do better, the good news is these are not horrible routes, just not the better or best always.

The next 4 star item is the power cord/FM Traffic radio, it is like having jumper cables going up your dash, why it is not in the unit is beyond me, I am stumped so far as to how to route the cables a lot more cleaner than this and have traffic info.

Another option is to skip the traffic radio and run on battery, with the right settings you can get 3 hours, but with my settings I can get just over 2 hours on battery before the warning. The final power option is just power, that is an optional cord you have to buy that is a lot less bulky than the powered traffic cord. So battery life and traffic radio/power cord is 3 star.

Bluetooth phone paring was very easy and works great, the noise cancelling is pretty good also on its mic, so your caller can hear you and not road noise. 5 Star

Another nice feature is the speed limit that shows up in a little speed limit sign icon by your actual speed, if you are going over the limit for the road, the actual speed turns red in the display. (I will not say how I know but it is a relaible source!) 5 Star, speed limit signs on a lot of our local town roads is a problem.

I was also impressed that I could pick maximum map detail and it keeps up even in the city, during fast turns in very high street density it will occaisionally repaint the screen instead of smooth scrolling with your motion but it does it so fast, unlike my prior Garmin, they it is not distracting or leave you hanging with a partial map. This is 5 star all the way.

Overall I have to say I am very happy with the Garmin 1490LMT, I could not give it a full 5 for the things it fell just a little short on to me, but if I was to make the decision on a model again with what I know, I would buy it again, I think it would be hard to beat.Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map Updates and Traffic

399 of 407 people found the following review helpful.
4Garmin's nuvi 1450LMT is Outstanding
By J.B.
Researching GPS devices was and is worse than buying a car with all the different product offerings and features plus none of the model numbering seems to make sense which was even more frustrating. You can't tell a low end unit from a high end unit. Garmin is no different either.

Through all of that I am very pleased that I settled on the Garmin 1450. IMO Garmin has made a wonderful device. The UI is very intuitive and very easy to operate even with my big hands. The touch screen is very accurate and responsive. From power up to satelite acquisiiton takes seconds. The turn by turn instructions are very clear but a bit too chatty. We have found the street name pronunciations fairly entertaining. The points of interest have been pretty accurate as has the gas station mapping and the hospitals and such. The bread and butter of a GPS is really whether it can get you where you need to go especially if you as the operator have no idea. I have travelled outside my area of familiarity a few times now and this GPS receiver has been flawless. The screen size is very nice and easy to read while driving.

This unit I purchased has liftime maps and traffic. So the first thing I did was register the unit and update the maps. The web site is pretty easy to navigate on. The map update was simple but just expect it to take awhile. The traffic portion seems to work however to date it has not offered any alternate routes so I can't judge its effectiveness. Nor have I tried the blutooth functionality.

This unit comes with everything you need so unless you want extra power cords or something there is no need for anything extra. The window suction cup works well. The unit fell once but I found I did not seat the suction cup very well. They do have a weighted mount that sits on the dashboard which would be better if you have a co-pilot and you need to look for alternate addresses or something. I found putting the unit in the middle of the window creates an annoyingly large blind spot. So I now put it to the left of the steering wheel.

222 of 227 people found the following review helpful.
4Nice upgrade
By C. Pak
Update: August 15:
- My con I listed below about the buggy firmware (2.7)... it's VERY buggy. The nuvi "forgets" my settings such as vehicle icon, map detail display level, time format whenever I plug my nuvi into my PC (to transfer waypoints and such). Still keeping the unit but looking forward to an update REAL SOON...hopefully.

I've owned many Garmin units over the years (GPS V, eMap, nuvi 350, 265W, 750, 755, tried 1260T, 1350). I decided to upgrade to the 1490T because of the larger screen and thinner form factor.

Just some observations:

Pros:
- The display is 5 in diagonal, that may not seem much bigger than the 4.3 but it is. The resolution is the same as the 4.3 wide-screens units but the extra space is well worth it and noticeable! It also makes it easy to hit the right button on the touch screen.
- User interface has received some minor updates, mostly in the cosmetic department. The font is new and contributes to a refined feel, everything is "smoothed" and looks very good. It's also VERY responsive and doesn't feel like it's lagging.
- I like the new menu organization, they didn't bury as many of the options and settings in sub-folders.
- You can change the map display so that the data fields are stacked along the right side as opposed to being in the corners. I like this view a lot. With this stacked view, you can see 4 data fields (3 are customizable) versus the two in the normal corner view.
- The unit is about half an inch thick, it's very easy to carry around, even pocket-able in a pinch.
- (updated) The speaker on this unit is MUCH better than on my 755, 1260, 1350; perhaps they had room to add a larger speaker. The spoken directions sound not only louder but fuller and do not distort at high volume.

Cons:
- The mounting cradle is a two-step/two-handed affair, unplug the mini-USB then unmount from the two point cradle. The older, better quality cradle is literally one click grab and go from a nice powered cradle. Don't know why they removed that (cost savings?).
- A common complaint: less detail shown on maps. The newer nuvi's show fewer street names at the same zoom level as the older units. The argument being this reduces clutter. I'm not happy with it, but it's not a deal breaker. Garmin has added alot of other information to the map display and I can understand they don't want to overwhelm the user with text.
- The latest firmware is 2.7 and it seems to be quite buggy. Issues with Bluetooth, saving favorites, thats all I've experienced.
- Note, this comes with version 2010.10 maps. Garmin just released version 2010.20 maps. You only get one free upgrade.
- Very expensive...

I am planning on replacing my 755T with the 1490T. The larger screen size is just so overwhelmingly impressive it outweighs the cons in my book. If you're not into that type of stuff then the 1490T is probably not for you.

See all 872 customer reviews...


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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Portable GPS: Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Integrated Traffic Receiver (Factory Refurbished)


Product Details
Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Integrated Traffic Receiver (Factory Refurbished)
List Price:$219.99
Price:$79.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
9 new or used available from $79.99
Average customer review: 
(1638 customer reviews)

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #41 in Consumer Electronics
  • Brand: Garmin
  • Model: NUVI 265WT
  • Dimensions: 2.90" h x .80" w x 4.80" l, .38 pounds

Features

  • Factory refurbished
  • Sleek, ultra-thin design fits easily in pocket
  • Preloaded with City Navigator North America NT
  • Supports Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling when paired with Bluetooth-enabled cell phones
  • NOTE: Model number is 265WT; however, the model number on the product itself is 265W

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description This is a refurbished GPS. Refurbished generally means that the unit has been returned to the manufacturer, who brings the navigator back to like new conditions. Some GPS may contain cosmetic blemishes.

Garmin's nüvi 265WT improves upon its 200-series predecessors by adding free real-time traffic updates from Navteq (for the life of the device) as well as Bluetooth connectivity to your cell phone. Other significant improvements in the 2x5 series include a predictive technology that provides faster satellite lock, a redesigned screen with more information, terrain maps, and an exciting new photo navigation feature. The 265WT provides complete maps for North America and the handy Text-to-Speech feature, so you get turn-by-turn spoken directions with the real names of streets (e.g. "turn left in 50 feet at Nebraska Way", rather than merely "turn left in 50 feet").
The nüvi 2x5 models all sport the slim design that Garmin introduced with the 200-series last year, so they all fit comfortably in your pocket or purse, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that makes them convenient for navigation by car or foot. All of the models include useful travel tools like a JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. The 265WT also offers a wide 4.3-inch (diagonal) screen that displays 70% more of the road around you.

Integrated Traffic Receiver

Steer clear of traffic with an integrated GTM 20 FM traffic receiver designed to receive alerts about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. No subscriptions or additional hardware needed. Just open the box, turn it on, and get instant access to traffic information--the traffic updates are free for the life of the device.All you have to do is simply touch the screen to view traffic details and you'll be ready to detour around any problem area. And if you end up missing a turn, or you're forced into a detour that is not relayed through the traffic receiver, the nüvi's sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time.
In most areas, the traffic broadcasts are continuous--there's no waiting for scheduled traffic news updates or random alerts. Because traffic broadcasts are received via a "silent" FM data channel, you can still listen to music or news programming on your car radio without interference from incoming FM traffic data transmissions.

Hands-Free Calling

In more and more places, it is becoming illegal to use cell phones while driving without a hands-free kit. WIth Bluetooth capability, microphone and speaker, you can match your nüvi to any Bluetooth-capable phone to make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial the phone number with the nüvi's touch screen keypad to make a call on a compatible phone. To answer an incoming call, just tap the screen and speak into the built-in microphone. Making and taking calls on the road has never been easier, or safer. In addition, Garmin makes it a breeze to look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or even tap into your cell phone's call history log.

Key Features/Benefits for all 2x5 Series Navigators

  • New -- HotFix (Long Term Ephemeris Prediction) finds satellites faster (Learn more)
  • New -- Digital Elevation Model (DEM) Basemap shows 3D shaded terrain features (Learn more)
  • New -- Faster 333 Mhz processor offers faster, smoother map drawing and vehicle icon motion through turns 
  • New -- Redesigned user interface offers more information (Learn more)
  • New -- Photo Navigation lets you upload geo-coded photos from a phone, geo-coding camera or photo site and navigate to them. (Learn more)
  • New -- Add Enhanced MSN Traffic and Content with the optional GDB 55 antenna and charger (Learn more)
  • New -- Send addresses directly to your Garmin from Google Maps orMapquest (Learn more)
  • New -- Automatic Time Zone Transition
  • Text-to-Speech gives directions with real street names
  • 4.3-inch Widescreen shows you more of what's around you as you drive (Learn more)
  • Memory Card Slots so you can add maps and travel guides, or store photos (MicroSD card slot on 3.5-inch units; SD card slot on 4.3-inch units)
  • Preloaded Maps with Navteq data of North America + Hawaii + Puerto Rico, including 6.5 million searchable points of interest (Learn more)
  • Rechargeable lithium-ion battery for easy portability (up to 4 hours per charge)
  • Custom Vehicle Icons let you personalize your navigator (Learn more)
  • Integrated Antenna for a slim form factor
  • Where Am I? -- instantly shows you all of the emergency services nearby (Learn More)
Which nüvi is Best for You?:
Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators

Learn More


Scroll below horizontally to view it properly or click here

New -- Improved Interface

One of Garmin's key product philosophies is to make extremely complex technology easy to use for anyone right out of the box, and perhaps nowhere is that better exemplified than in the user interface for Garmin's portable navigation devices.

Garmin's interface is a key to their success part of what 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. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with turn-by-turn voice directions, 2-D or 3-D maps and smooth map updates as you navigate.

This year, Garmin has redesigned its interface to include much more useful information.

Old Interface

200 series ui

New Interface

2x5 Series UI


New -- HotFix™ – aka: Satellite Ephemeris Data Prediction

hotfixYour GPS device locks onto transmissions from a dedicated network of Satellites in order to determine its position. Until the device gets a "lock" on three satellites, it can't effectively navigate, so decreasing the time it takes for your device to get "satellite lock" is always a goal of GPS manufacturers. With Garmin's new HotFix technology, your Garmin GPS remembers the position of all satellites it is tracking when you turn it off, and calculates their movements in order to predict where they should be the next time you turn it on. This gives the device an idea of where it should look for satellites, and dramatically decreases the time it takes for your Garmin to get its position and start navigating. HotFix can predict satellite positions for up to 3 days after the device was last turned off.

Using Garmin’s unique Web site — Garmin Connect Photos — users can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community and download them to the nüvi for a richer navigation experience using pictures as a guide.


New -- Navigate by Photo

Using Garmin’s unique Web site — Garmin Connect Photos — users can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community and download them to the nüvi for a richer navigation experience using pictures as a guide.
  • Choose from Panoramio's collection of photos from around the world.
  • Easy to use interface displays photos on Google Maps.
  • Search for photos by location name or map area boundary.
  • Transfer photos directly from Garmin Connect to device with the Garmin Communicator.
  • View photos in Google Earth.
  • Supports Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ on Windows and Mac.



New -- 3D Terrain Maps

Shaded relief terrain maps show you when to expect hills, mountains, forests and other natural features. Topographic terrain maps are viewable when using the 2D "birds-eye" view.


New -- Send Addresses Directly from Google Maps or Mapquest

tching to try out a new restaurant, or setting off on a road trip to locate the best toffee apples on the east coast? Now, it's easy to search for locations on Google Maps or Mapquest, then transfer the addresses directly to your Garmin GPS navigator.
  1. Hook up your Garmin to the computer via it's USB port
  2. Search for the location you want
  3. Click the Send link in the info window for the address. That will bring up a popup "Send to" form. 
  4. Pick GPS, then pick Garmin and hit the "Send" button.
The address will instantly transfer to your Garmin device, The point will be saved as one of your favorites, and you can navigate to it or view it on a map just like with any other favorite.The process does require a small plugin, which you can get at Garmin's website at http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3739. You can send business addresses to your Garmin device from these countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Search for the location you want.
Pick "Send to GPS".
Go!


Traffic-Capable for Either FM Traffic or Enhanced MSN Direct Content

traffic reportsWith an optional receiver, you can access enhanced dynamic content from the MSN Direct service. Check the weather, avoid traffic backups, compare local gas prices, get enhanced movie listings, stock information, news and local events when you travel with your unit. Even plan trips from the convenience of your computer, via Windows Live Local, and wirelessly send custom to your nüvi.

Check out a full description of MSN Direct content features, or a coverage map for MSN Direct services.

A 3-month subscription to MSN Direct is included with the receiver. After that, subscription fees are $49.95 per year, or $129.95 for a lifetime subscription.

FM Traffic
TMC traffic service coverage mapWith an optional receiver, you can get alerts from TMC Clear Channel about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. All you have to do is simply touch the screen to view traffic details and you'll be ready to detour around any problem area. And if you end up missing a turn, or you're forced into a detour that is not relayed through the traffic receiver, the nüvi's sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time.
In most areas, TMC Clear Channel traffic broadcasts are continuous — there's no waiting for scheduled traffic news updates or random alerts. Because traffic broadcasts are received via a "silent" FM data channel, you can still listen to music or news programming on your car radio without interference from incoming FM traffic data transmissions.
A 3-month subscription to TMC Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network is included with the receiver. For more information on subscription fees, coverage in individual cities, and traffic data networks in the United Kingdom and Europe, check the Garmin website.


Widescreen -- See More of What's Around

The super-bright, 4.3-inch (diagonal) touchscreen display gives is anti-glare for ease of viewing during the day and automatically changes its color profile for easy viewing at night or in dim light. It offers 2d or 3D perspective views.

The widescreen format 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.
Wider screen lets you see more of what's around. Compare these actual size views of a 3-inch (diagonal) screen

3-inch screen


and a 4.3-inch diagonal widescreen

4.3-inch screen



Where Am I?

On any nüvi (including this one), you can just tap "Where Am I?" to find the closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection. Also see your exact latitude and longitude coordinates.


First-Rate Map Data


nüvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.
The nüvi comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps for all of North America, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, 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, nüvi 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.



Garmin Lock


Beyond Navigation

Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer.

Navigation is just the beginning. The nüvi 2x5 models features travel tools including a JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more.
This device is compatible with optional content plug-ins available via microSD 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. For Accessory Map Cards and Travel Guides the Units Feature: a MicroSD Card Slot on the 3.5 inch Units, and an SD Card Slot on the 4.3 inch Units.
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
Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS.See more icon option
All Garmin 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 265WT, Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America (full coverage), Lifetime traffic, FM traffic receiver with vehicle power cable, Vehicle suction cup mount, USB cable, Dashboard disc, Quick start manualNotes
  • Optional software for language translation, detailed travel guides, and savings programs allow you to customize your nüvi to fit your travel needs
  • Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nüvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.

Which nüvi is Best for You?


Screen
Size
inches
(w x h)
Included MapsText-to-Speech
(Directions in
Real Street
Names)
TrafficBluetoothMedia
3D Terrain
Maps
Photo
Navigation
FM Transmitter 
(audio through 
car stereo
system)
Multi-
Point
Routing
Battery
life
(hours)
Cont. U.S., 
Hawaii, and
Puerto Rico
AK and
Canada
Europe
nüvi 2002.8 x 2.1check




Photos



up to 5
nüvi 200w3.81 x 2.25check




Photos



up to 5
nüvi 2502.8 x 2.1checkcheck



Photos



up to 5
nüvi 250w3.81 x 2.25checkcheck



Photos



up to 5
nüvi 2602.8 x 2.1checkcheck
check

Photos



up to 5
nüvi 260w3.81 x 2.25checkcheck
check

Photos



up to 5
nüvi 2702.8 x 2.1checkcheckcheck


Photos



up to 5
nüvi 2052.8 x 2.1check


MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)

Photoscheckcheck

up to 4
nüvi 205W3.81 x 2.25check


MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)

Photoscheckcheck

up to 4
nüvi 2552.8 x 2.1checkcheck
checkMSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)

Photoscheckcheck

up to 4
nüvi 255W3.81 x 2.25checkcheck
checkMSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)

Photoscheckcheck

up to 4
nüvi 265T2.8 x 2.1checkcheck
checkIntegrated FM
receiver with
lifetime traffic;
MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver)
checkPhotoscheckcheck

up to 4
nüvi 265WT3.81 x 2.25checkcheck
checkIntegrated FM
receiver with
lifetime traffic;
MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver)
checkPhotoscheckcheck

up to 4
nüvi 275T2.8 x 2.1checkcheckcheckcheckIntegrated FM
receiver with
lifetime traffic;
MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver)
checkPhotoscheckcheck

up to 4
nüvi 3502.8 x 2.1checkcheck
checkFM (with opt.
receiver)

Photos, MP3s



up to 8
nüvi 3602.8 x 2.1checkcheck
checkFM (with opt.
receiver)
checkPhotos, MP3s



up to 8
nüvi 3702.8 x 2.1checkcheckcheckcheckFM (receiver
included)
checkPhotos, MP3s



up to 8
nüvi 6503.81 x 2.25checkcheck
checkFM (with opt.
receiver)

Photos, MP3s



up to 7
nüvi 6603.81 x 2.25checkcheck
checkFM (receiver
included)
checkPhotos, MP3s

check
up to 7
nüvi 6703.81 x 2.25checkcheckcheckcheckFM (receiver
included)
checkPhotos, MP3s

check
up to 7
nüvi 6803.81 x 2.25checkcheck
checkMSN (receiver
included;
1-year free);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
checkPhotos, MP3s

check
up to 7
nüvi 7503.81 x 2.25checkcheck
checkMSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)

Photos, MP3s

checkcheckup to 5
nüvi 7603.81 x 2.25checkcheck
checkMSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
checkPhotos, MP3s

checkcheckup to 5
nüvi 7703.81 x 2.25checkcheckcheckcheckMSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
checkPhotos, MP3s

checkcheckup to 5
nüvi 7803.81 x 2.25checkcheck

MSN-enhanced
(receiver inc.;
3 months free)
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
checkPhotos, MP3s

checkcheckup to 5
nüvi 8503.81 x 2.25checkcheck

MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)

Photos, MP3s

checkcheckup to 4
nüvi 8803.81 x 2.25checkcheckcheck
MSN-enhanced
(receiver inc.;
3 months free);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
checkPhotos, MP3s

checkcheckup to 4
nüvi 50004.5 x 2.7checkcheck
checkMSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver)




checkcheckexternal
battery
only


Basic MSN Direct Content Features
traffic reportsTraffic Reports
  • Find the best route through traffic. Your GPS device uses MSN Direct traffic data to select the best route for you to avoid traffic congestion.
  • Check traffic flow. Know at a glance where to expect slowdowns in traffic.
  • Get accident warnings. Receive warnings about accidents, road closures, and construction in the area that may affect you.
Gas PricesGas Prices
  • Compare local gas prices. See a list of recent gas prices in your area and an indication of how recently the prices were reported.
  • Find your way to the savings. Once you find the best price in your area, use your navigation system to guide you to the gas station.
Weather ReportsWeather Reports
  • Stay on top of current conditions. View the current weather conditions in your area, including today's high and low temperatures, chances of precipitation, and more.
  • View the three-day forecast, Plan ahead by checking the three-day weather forecast for your area.
  • Check weather in other cities. See current weather conditions in major cities across the country.
movie timesMovie Times
  • Search for a movie. Find the theaters in your coverage area that are showing the movie you want to see.
  • See which movies are playing. View which movies are playing in your coverage area or at your favorite theater.
  • See show times and get directions. Once you find a show you want to see, check the show times and use your GPS device to guide you to the theater.
Enhanced MSN Direct Content
Web FavoritesWeb Favorites (Send custom destinations to your GPS with Live Search Maps)
  • Powerful trip planning: Use Live Search Maps on your computer to look up an address, search for a business, or plan a trip
  • Choose your favorite location, and then MSN Direct delivers the address, phone number, and more straight to your navigation system.
  • Visit Live Search Maps at http://maps.live.com.
Local EventsLocal Events
  • See what's happening near you. Find nearby events to see what's happening in your area.
  • Find the events that interest you. Browse events sorted by category.
  • Search for an event. Get details about a particular event.
Stock QuotesStock Quotes
  • Watch the stocks that interest you. Select stocks that you want to keep an eye on, and then see regularly updated stock prices and daily changes.
  • Get a little more detail. Touch a stock in your list to see daily highs, lows, and trading volume.
News HeadlinesNews Headlines
  • Browse the headlines at a glance. See breaking news and other major news stories of the day.
  • Read more details. Select a headline to read all the details about the news story on your navigation system.


MSN Direct Coverage Map

Get detailed info for your Zip Code at the MSN Direct website
.

MSN Direct Coverage Map


Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
930 of 944 people found the following review helpful.
4Good unit for the price
By John S. Dean
Spent a weekend reviewing various GPS devices to replace my less than 1 year old Mio C320 (avoid these like the plague) that had its battery die about 4 months after purchase. Went back and forth along the entire line of Garmin devices, and finally settled on this one for the blue tooth and traffic, neither of which I'll probably hardly ever use, but nice to have when I want them.

I was disappointed with the map, the "new" 2009 one, because I have some streets in my neighborhood that have been around for over four years and they're not to be found on this unit. Even the piece of junk cheap Mio had these streets.

But that's about the only downside there is to it, the only reason I haven't given it 5 stars.

Having been used to the MIO, and the horrible refresh rate, it is a pleasant change to see smooth scrolling as my vehicle moves. The ability to change the car icon is nice, especially with the plethora of icons available on the garmin website.

Accuracy is very good as well, and even in turns the unit isn't so laggy that it becomes annoying. And also unlike what I was used to with the MIO, when I come to a stop at the intersection, the map doesn't start rotating randomly on me.

Speaker is about as I expected, won't hear much over a loud stereo but crank it up enough you can at least hear it if you keep the music down a bit.

The option to easily download voices is also appreciated.

It did well with my testing of going point to point, following the instructions, and for the most part you're given the instructions in plenty of time. only once or twice did it not tell me "turn right on such and such" until I was about 20 feet from the street, but that was when I was coming up on stop signs and had slowed down, so it may be compensating for the speed factor.

Recalculation notice is a bit annoying, my MIO would say it once, sometimes this says it three times before it starts to display the alternate route.

Still has about 900MB free on the internal memory for additional voices, icons, maps, and such, and with the SD slot there's plenty of room to grow.

I have a Verizon XV6900 phone with Windows Mobile 6.1, and while the bluetooth paired well and it can see the phone status, battery power, signal, even dialed and missed call lists, it never does get the phonebook. it gets a random entry and that's it - so whenever I turn it on, I have just one user to select from, and it's different each time. Still haven't tracked that one down yet. But every other bluetooth option worked just fine.

I'm not a fan of the very thick double power cable for it though, and it would be doubly annoying (no pun intended) if I were mounting this somewhere higher up on the window to have that double cable dangling down.

I can see how the ads would get annoying sometimes (the free traffic is because it is advertising driven) but you don't get them at all if you turn off the traffic feature, and since most of my driving isn't around times that traffic is a concern, i can just leave it for when I really have a use for it.

Good response to finger input, and while the unit is overall much better quality than the MIO, I really do miss the MIO's ability to have an info pane down the last third of the screen and the map on the first two thirds of it when desired. But there's some of that info available in the data bubbles on the bottom and top so I'll survive.

Overall happy with the unit, it works well and was worth the cost.
529 of 536 people found the following review helpful.
5Best GPS I have ever Owned
By Michael Simpson
I have owned quite a few GPS units all including Phone, Laptop and Dedicated. Flat out before I even get started the Garmin Nuvi 265WT is the best I have ever owned. Let me just make a couple of comments on the most important features.

Touch Screen Interface
Very intuitive and easy to use. Touch screen is responsive but not instantaneous. What I particularly like is the ability to switch to a top down view by touching the screen. Once done you can use your finger to drag the map around at any zoom point. Once done you can hit the back button and resume your 3D view.

Turn by Turn
You have two options here. You can use one of the Text to Speech voices or one of natural voices. The text to speech voices will give you more information such as street names. This is what I use and even though you can tell it's a computer generated voice its quality is superb. The 265WT does a good job at keeping you updated. Also at any time you can hit the turn Icon and it will speak the distance to the next turn, giving you street name as well as direction. The audio is quite loud and in my noisy little Scion I have no problem hearing the messages.

Maps
I have found the map accuracy quite good. I live in Northern virginal and it seems to be very well updated as many of the very new streets included.

Automatic Routing
Very effective. You can choose between the quickest or the shortest with options to avoid U-Turns, Highways, Toll Roads, Traffic, Ferries. The automatic rerouting is faster than my TeleNav phone and my Laptop computers.

Points of Interest
On my TeleNav phone GPS system I can enter any business in the national database and I can get directions, address and phone number. This is where the 265WT falls short. The TeleNav system has the advantage of searching online. Since the 265WT is limited to onboard memory there is a limit to the number of points of interest. A good example is I was looking for "Off Broadway Shoes" and the unit could not find them. However a search for "Payless Shoes" worked very well.

Traffic Alerts
The lifetime free traffic comes at a price. You will get popup adds. These are very small popups that supposedly only come when you are in the menu. This is not true. I have gotten them while in the navigation screen. For now they it seems to be once per trip but there is nothing to say they wont start getting more frequent. The other thing I don't like about the messages is that you have to hit them to continue and doing so takes you out of the nav screen to a kind of favorites screen. You have to hit the back button to get back to your navigations screen.
How well does the traffic system work. I live in Northern VA and have coverage throughout my area. The included radio fails to pick up a single signal without using an external antenna. Sadly you can just go down and purchase an FM antenna.. The Power cable has a 3/32" jack. What I did was to pick up a 3/32" plug from Radio Shack and soldered a 4' wire to the tip pin on the connector. Once draped out one of the windows I get very frequent traffic updates.
Once you start getting traffic reports I found them to be accurate and they do help. You can automatically avoid high traffic arias or do it manually as they accrue.
I am still debating if the popup adds are worth the effort.

Bluetooth Integration
This is my favorite feature. I can keep my keyboard locked Motorola Q in my pants pocket and use my 265WT to make and receive all my calls at a touch of a button. All my phone features are available on the 265WT. Phonebook, Call history, Voice Recognition. The voice quality is quite acceptable on both ends. As a matter of fact the echo I get on my Motorola is not there when using the 265WT as a hands free set.

Picture Viewer
I found this to be a very useless feature. If the photos are very big it takes forever for the 265WT to load them. This may be due to the slow access to the SD card slot.

There are other features like the ability to connect the 265WT to your PC and automatically add favorite locations using GoogleMaps. All in all I am very happy with my purchase and would purchase it again.

FYI the Nuvi 265WT is the same unit as the Nuvi 255W without the Bluetooth ability and the FM reliever cable (GTM 25). You can even purchase the GTM 25 from Garmin. If you don't want the Bluetooth feature and don't currently need the traffic feature you can pick up the Nuvi 255W cheaper.
966 of 998 people found the following review helpful.
3Map database leaves something to be desired.
By Larry K.
I got this unit for Christmas, 2008. Although this is the first GPS that I've owned, I've been passenger on many trips with a friend who has Nuvi 350 so I was already familiar with Garmin. The unit I bought had the 2009 maps, and the firmware was fairly recent. Firmware, etc has since been updated to most recent version(s).
My choice came down to the nuvi 265WT, 765T or 760. The 760 is a premium unit for a bargain price due it's being last years model, while the 765T had the features I wanted but is still pricey since it's a new model. In the end I opted for 265WT since it had the updated/new features that the 760 didn't have and was at the price that I was willing to spend. I did not really consider other brands, though my impression is that other brands offer more "bells and whistles" but suffer in the areas of ease of use and reliability.
The unit has worked fine, no problems to speak of, though my actual time spend driving with it has been limited so far (spent lots of time just "playing" with it, though).

[update 9/11/09]
I've now used for a week of commuting to work and running errands. I use for commute because of the traffic reporting.

traffic -- haven't encountered a backup that it didn't warn me about, but have driven through a couple of non-existent backups. I've also found that it can take several minutes for the traffic status to be displayed after power-on, sometimes *after* it has picked a route.

routing -- the route it gives me to work is rather strange. It routes me off of the freeway onto an expressway that has several lights. I tried it once, and sure enough it took longer than predicted, even with light traffic.

reliability -- The unit has "glitched" 3 times in the last week. Once it just turned itself off, another time it jumped from the map to the speedometer screen (by itself) while the voice became very distorted, and another time the backlight setting was not as I had left it.
[end of 9/1/09 update]

My biggest complaint has to do with the POI database. For example, I searched for local cinema's... it did not have the 20 screen cineplex that is closest to me. When I searched for local Staples Office Supply locations the closest it found was 50 miles away, even though there are at least 4 within 15 miles. I didn't show a nearby Britannia Arms. A large regional shopping center is still called by a name that was dropped 5 years ago. etc...
The POI management software (such as it is) could use more flexibility. For example, when searching for Staples, the unit was "busy" quite some time searching. There appears to be no way to put a limit the search distance.
I think the map update policy is in need of revising. A two month "grace period" is not really fair to the buyers. Most of these are sold in Nov & Dec, and the maps are typically updated in the Spring, beyond the 60 day cutoff. Garmin should be guaranteeing map updates for at least 6 months, if not a year. Or, one free update within 2 years or something similar. Another gripe is the Garmin request for an "account" to register the unit. Yet another user name and password to forget.

[update 1/9/09]
At 2009 CES, Garmin announced a new map update policy. For $120 you get lifetime updates ("up to" 4 times a year) while a single update will be $69, which (I think) is less than before.
[end of 1/9/09 update]
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