Overall Rating: |
| Retail Price: Varies based on product options |
| Amazon Price: View Sale Price |
| Product Reviews | |
|---|---|
| Refurbished GPS Score | 74 out of 100 |
| ZDnet | 8.3 out of 10 |
| Amazon.com | 4.3 out of 5 |
| CNet | 4 out of 5 |
| alaTest | 92 out of 100 |
The refurbished Garmin Nuvi 260W is the widescreen version of the popular and budget friendly Garmin Nuvi 260. Fitting in the palm of your hand, this Nuvi 200 series GPS is easy to use and compact. The directions offered to travelers are accurate and well routed, which is what you would expect from a company like Garmin. The Nuvi 260 boasts a text-to-speech feature that will read out street names and POI to users. This feature is pretty popular among consumers because it allows them to spend more of their focus on the road while traveling on busy streets or unfamiliar intersections.
Because this is a budget friendly navigation GPS, this model has a pretty basic feature set. The preloaded maps included the 48 contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Left out on the list of detailed maps include Alaska (who drives to Alaska anyway) and Canada. There are several ways to begin planning a trip available on the nuvi 260W. The include:
- Entering the address you want to travel to
- Picking one of the 6 million POI (Points of Interest) preloaded onto the refurbished nuvi 260W
- Selecting one of your recently entered locations (great for heading back home after going out to a new place)
- Or choosing a destination from among the ones that you entered on your Favorite Locations lists
If you don’t want to have turn-by-turn directions then you can just switch the Nuvi over to Map mode and get a bird’s eye view of your location. This is for those who are already roughly familiar with the area or who like to fly by the seat of their pants. It is also a helpful way to get oriented in a new city without relying on your cheap refurbished GPS too much.
The routing system in this Garmin is excellent. It provides fast and accurate directions along a variety of different parameters. If allows you to optimize routes by such filters as which one will get you there the fastest (fastest time), which one will make you travel the fewest miles (shortest distance), which one will take you off road, and which one will help you avoid such road types as toll roads and highways. This feature allows this GPS to be used in a lot of different uses. Walkers, cyclists, trucks and buses can all use the Nuvi 260W for their navigation needs.
The refurbished Garmin Nuvi 260W has a pretty robust POI database that has all the major categories one would expect in a Garmin GPS. You categories like gas stations, ATMs, lodging options, restaurants, and more. There are even some really specific ways to search the POI database – like searching by a certain type of cuisine or chain name (like McDonald’s). You are even able to add custom POIs to your Nuvi if that will tickle your fancy.
Another cool goodie on the Nuvi 260 is the Garmin Lock security feature. This feature prevents the unit from working unless a 4-digit PIN that you set up is entered into the unit. Another way to break the lock is to take it to a predetermined location (like your house) so that it will unlock once it gets to those coordinates.
Overall Rating: |
| Retail Price: $229.99 |
| Amazon Price: $140.00 |
Right now, the price of the refurbished model is slightly higher than that of the new model. When this is the case we always recommend that you purchase the new model. This is especially true with Garmin refurbished GPS since Garmin charges users to upgrade their maps on a refurbished unit while giving purchases of new models 30 days to update their maps for free. A Garmin map update can cost anywhere from $50 to $100 depending on whether or not you purchase a one-time update or a lifetime update.
Overall, the refurbished Garmin Nuvi 260W is a solid navigation GPS that goes lighter on the features than other models in the Nuvi line but also goes lighter on the price.
Product Features
- GPS System Preloaded with City Navigator North America NT
- 4.3 in Diagonal Touchscreen Display with 2D/3D Mapping Perspective
- Turn by Turn Directions with Voice Guidance/Text to Speech Feature
- Trip Computer Records Mileage/Max SpeedTotal Time and More
- Features Picture Viewer/World Clock/Currency Measurement Converters/Calculator
Technical Details
- Brand Name: Garmin
- Model: NUVI 260W
- Connectivity Technology: USB
- Battery Average Life: 5 Hours
- Map Type: North America
and the TomTom 130S 
Garmin Nuvi 265WT
The refurbished Garmin nuvi 265WT is an improvement on previous GPSs from the nuvi 200 series. The most notable improvements in terms of both features and usability are free lifetime traffic updates, Bluetooth integration for hand’s free calling and GPS tracking addons, GPS HotFix which speeds up the units ability to find a signal, terrain maps, and a better map screen that is brighter, clearer, and sharper. While this GPS is still a part of the budget friendly 200 series, it is still a powerful and useful navigation GPS with the features that most people want and use.
Like all refurbished Garmin GPS, the nuvi 265WT is very easy to use. The map is simple to read, being brightly lit and crystal clear. The menus are also very easy to get around and make a lot of sense to first time users. Even finding traffic alerts is simple, easy and efficient. Also, Garmin did a great job of making sure that this feature rich 200 series isn’t cluttered with icons on the screen. For example, the cell phone controls only appear when you actually have a cell phone connected to the device via Bluetooth.
Another strength of Garmin navigation GPS that is passed on to the refurbished nuvi 265WT is the routing engine. The routes selected by this unit are sensible and efficient. As good as a seasons driver in the area – probably not – but no computer is going to be better than a person who knows the area. The device also handles missed turns promptly, adjusting to a new course in a matter of seconds. When turns are imminent, you will hear the name of the street through the text-to-speech capability on the device as well as see an upcoming turn indicator on the screen you are looking at. You even have speed limit information displayed for you as well.
The refurbished Garmin nuvi 265WT also offers free traffic alerts for the life of the device. This used to run $40-$60 a year, so this represents a significant lifetime savings for this device. The free feature is supported by contextual adds, meaning if you search for hotels you might get an add for a Marriott Hotel in the area. If you are particularly hostile toward ads you might find this feature outrageous, but the ads do display in a very non-intrusive manner. If you don’t want to be distracted by them you will not be.
The Bluetooth connectivity seems to work just fine and we found no reports of problems with this feature. If you want to turn your Nuvi 256WT into a real-time GPS tracking device by installing some free GPS tracking software into your phone then that should be very easy to do with this model. The real issue with the Bluetooth is that the speakers on the 265WT are pretty weak and the absence of an FM transmitter makes the use off this GPS to actually make calls dubious. But that is a general problem of Bluetooth enable navigation GPS units in general and is not a statement against the nuvi 265WT.
When compared to the more expensive models, the nuvi 265WT has all the appearances of these top of the line Garmin GPS devices. It has a slim black case, with a wide 4.3 inch display. It differs from the more expensive nuvi units in that when you mount the GPS you have to plug the power cord into the back of it instead of having the mount itself powered. This can be an inconvenience at first, but once you get the hang of it you shouldn’t have any problems.
In summary, this is a good, solid refurbished GPS that provides an awesome feature in the free traffic alerts. The wide screen and ease of use makes its very easy for first time and experienced users alike. For the dollar, this is a great GPS.
Product Features
Technical Details