Description

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 preloaded with maps for U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and features an  ultra-slim design.

Text-To-Speech
The text-to-speech feature of the nüvi 260W means that device automatically calls out street names (saying "turn right on Main Street" instead of "turn right in 200 feet."). This feature lets drivers keep their eyes on the road while navigating through busy traffic and tricky roadways.

See More of What's Around
The 4.3-inch backlit widescreen touchscreen on the nüvi 260W gives you 70% more actual screen area than a 3.5-inch screen. Primarily this translates into a better view of the area through which you are driving. This is especially useful in showing you what parks, restaurants, ATM, gas stations, etc. are nearby, or in letting you know whether a detour is a good idea. Also, the device itself is larger, meaning controls on the screen are more widely spaced and somewhat easier to push.

Smart, Powerful Design
The nüvi 260W is built with a high-sensitivity GPS receiver for extreme accuracy, as well as an SD card slot for storing your media and additional navigation tools, and a USB interface for loading data.The nüvi display is touchscreen-enabled, making it a cinch to control the device with your fingertips. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to five hours of battery life depending on use.

Garmin Lock
Garmin's patent pending theft prevention system that disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location

First Rate Map Data
The nüvi 260W comes preloaded with City Navigator NT North America--road coverage for the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and nearly 6 million points of interest. City Navigator North America NT gives you everything you need to travel North America. Powered by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality digital map data, City Navigator brings you the most detailed street maps available so you can navigate with exact, turn-by-turn directions to any address or intersection.

Easy To Use Interface
Garmin's interface is a key to their success and one of the things that makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip.

Beyond Navigation

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

nüvi 260W accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.

Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 260W features travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and configurable vehicle icons that let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map.

This device is compatible with optional content plug-ins available via SD card, such as the  Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nüvi for your travel needs.

Garmin has also added the ability for customers to add custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras.

Trick Your GPS Ride

Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS. See more icon option

Like all nüvis, the 260W supports configurable vehicle icons. These fun, customized car-shaped icons come in a variety of colors to add a personal touch to your vehicle's position on the map.

What's in the Box
nüvi 260W, preloaded City Navigator NT for North America, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, and quick start manual.

Visit Garmin.com to get the latest firmware updates for your nüvi to keep it current and performing at its best.

Which nüvi is Best for You?

Device	Screen Size inches (W x H)	Included Maps			Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	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 260	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 205	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 205w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 260w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 265T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 265WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 275T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 285WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free);		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 465T	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 755T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 760	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 765T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 775T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 780	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 785T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 850	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 855	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 885T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 1200	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1250	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1260T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1300	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1370T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1390T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1490T	4.4 x 2.5					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1690	3.81 x 2.25					NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service)		Photos			up to 3

Customer Reviews

 After 4 months --FIVE Stars - Aug 28, 2010

This is my first navigation device. I have taken it now to the following states- CA, AZ, WA, CT, RI, MA, NY and it has worked beautifully in every situation. Simple to use, super accurate, and just plain awesome. In fact, I am looking at new cars at the moment and everything I am considering has a built in navigation system. None of these car brands (Jaguar, Porsche, MBZ and BMW) have navigation systems as good as this little Nuvi! It is incredible that for $100.00 you can get such a useful and high quality product. I have the Nuvi voice set to "Samantha" with an "Australian" accent. She is my little companion as I drive and, don't tell my wife, but I think she might have a little crush on me.

 Great GPS, but there is a battery recall - Aug 27, 2010

Good GPS, big screen and easy to use, but I just learnt about a recall because of battery issue from [...] on this model and several others, here is the official site [...].

 an old couple's deliverance - Aug 20, 2010

we love our garmen. it saves time and fights. there are so many reviews about the details that i won't elaborate on them. just that it's not only reliable but fun, and like others, we gave our "recalulating" lady a name. the price is right on amazon. do get the beanbag friction holder extra. it's worth it for easier moving and makes the garmen much more accomodating to both people in the front seat. we didn't like the way the suction would suddenly come apart on the windshield and the garmen would drop off. to avoid this, the beanbag holder is the ticket.

 GPS - Aug 20, 2010

Christmas gift for my husband. Gets us where we are going without a heated discussion!

 Very disappointed - Aug 19, 2010

When I first started looking for a Garmin, I thought that "the more you pay for it, the better it must be" - wrong! As it turns out, this Garmin is a discontinued item, and unfortunately there was nothing to indicate this when I purchased it. It does not have some of the features that the more current Garmin's have for less money. My biggest complaint is dealing with this seller. They have a very strict, no return policy, which I should have investigated before I bought this, but they would not even respond to my email. As it turns out, I could have gotten a cheaper Garmin that has more features that this one that is discontinued. Very disappointed...

 saved my bacon many times! - Aug 19, 2010

This is the first GPS that I've ever owned, and I couldn't be happier with it. I've been using it for a couple of months now, and it's just made my life so much easier. It is really great being able to just throw it in the car and go meet someone in an unfamiliar location, or when travelling to a city you've never been it is an absolute lifesaver.

Does it take a while to locate a satellite? Sometimes a few min, sometimes less.

Accuracy of maps? I've probably looked up several dozen places with it so far, and it has worked flawlessly for all but two of the lookups. One time it didn't have the street, and another it gave a route that was kind of messed up, but 90+% of the time it has been flawless.

The only thing that has annoyed me is that the battery runs down pretty quickly and it needs to be charged very frequently. Other than that, I'm happy as can be with my little Garmin 260.

 pretty useless overall - Aug 15, 2010

There's not much I like with this GPS, really.

After 4-5 months, it wouldn't charge off my lighter plug anymore. Did the lighter plug fuse blow? Hmmm, not sure, the GPS is the only thing I plug into it, so it would have been the device to blow it.

But it does charge from an USB cable. However... the batteries now only last 2 hrs or so. Let's take my last trip:

I left Vancouver for Seattle recently, duly charging it up. Tried to use it getting outside of the city. No great luck - "take Richmond freeway, for 10 kms". Hmmm, what's "Richmond freeway"? Not sure, could be "Highway 91A", which is what all the signs call that particular road. The nuvi often uses local road names on long, numbered roads, for reasons that are unclear.

So I turn it _off_ to save batteries. Until I get to Seattle where it right away tells me the batteries are out. That's good now, I can rely on the maps that ... I didn't bother buying, because I have this gps.

Another peeve is that, sometimes, it will advise you to turn off the main road and follow another one. In spots where it absolutely doesn't make sense. On one trip, it wanted me to turn off a highway and unto a dirt road. The highway was running on a big stretch of wilderness at the time and my destination was the next upcoming town, in a straight line. Did exactly the same thing before, only difference was that road was at least paved.

So, between what looks to be 2 hardware fails (short life batteries, charger) and 2 software fails (using local names rather than numbers, random turnoff instructions), I really don't have much use for this unit.

 DO NOT BUY - Aug 09, 2010

it is a piece of garbage. it takes forever to load, to input addresses,constantly loses satellite , and if you are on route, following directions and you have to stop because the light is red, and of course as a driver you must stop at red lights, guess what it recalculates your route.
trust me do not buy this unless you have money to waste if i could give this a zero star rating I would

 how did I live without this??? - Aug 03, 2010

this is one of my favorite things. We use it whenever we travel or even around our area to find stores and such. It is really super eady to use and I love the favorites sections I have enterd a buch of bicycle shops around Texas into mine so whenever we travel to a different city it will alert me with a bicyle emblem if we are near a bike shop that I have programed into it. i went on a trip with a friend of mine and she said she had a navigator so I did not have to bring mine, well it was her husbands and none of us could figure out how to use it so it was useless. So now I always bring mine!

 Good for someone non-tech-savvy - Aug 01, 2010

I have only used this once, but found that it was very easy to use without much time spent reading the directions. The screen is easy to see and make sense of. The voice is easy to hear and understand. I bought it to help me on a longish unfamiliar trip, and it worked very well.

 Great product - Jul 25, 2010

I love this GPS. It is very user friendly and it works well. My only complaint is that it sometimes takes forever to search for points of interest that I look up by name. otherwise it is great!

 Good GPS - Jul 22, 2010

I had a Garmin from my rental car when I was on vacation in California. It was amazing. My only issue is that the speaker is too small on the 260W. If you drive with the windows open you can't hear it and the speaker is pretty much useless. Otherwise it's great.

 Garmin GPS - Jul 20, 2010

This is an awesome product, I like the fact that I downloaded the Garmin updater and am able to connect GPS and update the software to the latest version available.

 false details - Jul 20, 2010

The Garmin nuvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator does not have Bluetooth support as stated and it does not have MP3 Player feature as stated and battery life was less than 2 hrs. So, we bought this item thinking it had all the features Amazon stated and we find out from Garmin themselves that this model does not have the features I mentioned above. I assume the letter 'Y' beside a feature means yes, right?
Very disappointed.

 lousy product support - Jul 20, 2010

Technical support is the pits!!! No matter what time of the day one calls, you receive "due to a high call volume all product support specialists are busy; minimum wait time is 30 minutes; please call back another time; best in the morning."

 A GREAT VALUE - Jul 18, 2010

Amazon has done it again! That is where I found my Garmin GPS. It was a great value, and a fantastic product. My purchase was of a used GPS.

The only (minor) drawback is that you need to make sure you can obtain a satellite for directions. Then again, the same would apply for any product for which a satellite is required. Am I the only one who's lost a cell phone connection when surrounded by trees?

I love its portability. The instructional voice is distinct. The maps are updated, colorful and clear. The screen size is just large enough.

I am planning a long distance road trip very soon, and look forward to my Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator coming along for the ride.

 My Garmin Nuvi 260W review - Jul 16, 2010

Its easy to use. Touch screen works great. Options easy to move around in. Easy to type in adresses and coordinates. Easy to remove from its mount so you don't have to leave it sitting in your parked car for someone to steal or the sun to beat down on it. I put PhantomAlert on my gps for fun and to avoid traffic tickets. I was thinking about getting a $100 hand held gps but I was like "How often am I ever going to use it? maybe like 4 times a year? so I thought about a car gps and was like "This will be useful for everytime I start my car." So I did my research and I found the Nuvi 260w. Its already helped me find my way to places with adresses and coordinates.

 Performed to expectations - Jul 16, 2010

The main reason that I purchased this unit was to use it on a recent vacation. I was extremely pleased with the way it performed and it was much better than using maps, of course. After reading other reviews before I purchased it, I was a little concerned about the time it took to acquire satellite signals, but I did not find this a problem at all,completing it in about a minute or so. I suggest a carrying case for the unit if you do what I did, which was fly to a city, and then use the GPS in a rental car. The only minor point is that it always seemed to underestimate the time of arrival at the destination, but it was only by a small amount. I had no other issues with it on this trip.

 Leaves something to be desired - Jul 13, 2010

Generally good but one must be careful in areas where there are congested streets since it tends to send you in directions which leads you astray. (You will eventually get to your destination but can take awhile. Also on winding roads, it tends to want you to "turn off" only to tell you to head for the road you're already on. I suggest you have a fairly good idea of the route to where you are headed and do not put all your trust in this unit.

Accuracy in finding points of interest fairly accurate and a reasonably good source when looking for something in a strange area. At times will not indicate the address that you give a location (even when it is legit) but makes one up which may or may not be near the location you've entered.

Instructions that come with the unit left quite a bit to be desired

 Garmin Nuvi 260w - Jul 12, 2010

The only thing I didn't like was not having a volume button that you could easily turn down (on the side)without having to go back to the menu.

 Like it - Jul 10, 2010

I have only had an opportunity to use this item once but it was easy to use and I like it. Maybe when I've used it longer I'll change my mind but I doubt it.

 Review of nuvi 260W - Jul 05, 2010

It's a good product, with pretty decent features, following are the drawbacks
1) Software dashboard doesn't have option to change the (time to destination) to (remaining distance)
2) Lacking speed in recalculation

the one i love is hooking to IE with plug-in installed and get the updates ease.
overall i recommend this product (sadly this is discontinued by Garmin now)

 very satisfactory - Jul 05, 2010

It's very good, reliable.
I went to the Big Trees Park (Northern CA) using this GPS, and while some other people's GPSs stopped working on the way when they got into the mountains, mine still worked and nagivated my way very well. Highly recommend this!

 worth the money - Jul 05, 2010

took it to Tennessee and if you know the roads they are CURVY !! caught in a traffic jam and it helped us find a new route with ease, so glad we had it along for the ride

Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

 It's OK - Jul 02, 2010

In general, this model is slim and easy to carry. but its searching speed is not that good...