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Garmin nuvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

List Price: $482.13
Price: $138.99
You Save: $343.14 (71%)

Rating: (373 reviews)

Garmin’s nüvi 260 combines the thin profile and attractive price point of other nüvi 200-series GPS with directions in real street names. 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.

Details:

* High-Sensitivity GPS Receiver For Improved Performance & Reception
* 3.5-Inch Color Display, 320 X 240 Pixels
* Turn-By-Turn Directions With Spoken Street Names
* Sleek, Ultra-Slim Design
* Easy Touch-Screen Interface

What’s in the Box

nüvi 260, preloaded City Navigator NT for the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Canada, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, and set up and go guide.

Note: Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nüvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.

Key Features

Text-To-Speech
The text-to-speech feature of the nüvi 260 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.

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. All this is wrapped up in a package that measures 4.8 x 2.9 x 0.8 inches (W x H x D) and weighs just 6.6 ounces. 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

Navigate with Ease
The nüvi 260 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, 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. In addition, the nüvi 260 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.

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.

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

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

Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 260 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
Like all nüvis, the 260 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.

With this GPS system on board you’ll be prepared to steer clear of traffic with the integrated FM TMC traffic receiver. The nüvi 260W is designed to receive alerts 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.

Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS.

Customer Reviews:

Love it!, January 9, 2009
We got a nuvi 260 for Christmas 2007 - and after a vacation with our adult daughter - she had to have one too!
It is easy to use. The spoken directions are clear and the voice crisp. Sometimes the pronunciation of street names is off, but not too bad.

It is an affordable, and at times priceless, gadget that is sure to get a lot of use.

Fantastic Basic GPS Unit, January 6, 2009
This is my first GPS purchase, but not my first time using one. My girlfriend has one which I have played around with many times. This Garmin is great at doing what a GPS unit should do: get you from point A to point B. No frills, no useless programs and no bells and whistles. The reason I went with the 260 is because it was one of the cheaper models that actually speaks the street names instead of just telling you to turn in 300 ft. Also, if your destination is a POI, it will even tell you what side of the street it is on. Great little tip for those of you like me who travel for work and are consitantly in new and confusing cities (Philly, really, was it so hard to make streets that are parallel to each other?).

The navigation of the menus is pretty easy. There is a little bit of a learning curve and it can get a little confusing when you are deep in menues as it doesn’t state just which one you are in.

The speaker is just fine. Even with the windows down and going full speed on the interstates, the volume at 80% is plenty loud. 60% when the windows are up. The down side to this is there is no external volume control. It is on the first page of the menu though, so it is just a small annoyance.

The maps are very accurate and up to date for an older model unit, plus the ability to upgrade the vehicle icon is pretty cool (I am using the little R/C looking car.)

I don’t like the fact that Garmin did away with the power cord plugging into the mount and moved it to the unit itself, but it makes sense if you want to plug the unit into your computer to update it. Now you don’t have to bring the mount out of your car.

It acquires satellites very quickly and calculates to routes incredibly fast. The stock voice is a little annoying when you miss a turn though, she sounds like she is agrevated at you when you hear “recalculating.”

All in all, I am extremely happy with this unit. I don’t need bluetooth, mp3 capability, voice recognition or any of the other features the more expensive units are coming out with. Just tell me how to get to the hotel from the air port and then to a pub for a cold beer and this unit really shines at doing just that.

Exactly what you want for the average guy/girl, January 4, 2009
There is no need to type an essay about pros and cons. It does what it is supposed to do. It doesn’t cost $8000, so it’s not going to cook you breakfast for you. Great product, I’ve had it a few days and have no complaints. I see people up here complaining about things that aren’t included…they tell you exactly what’s in the box. There should be no surprises. BOTTOM LINE: GREAT GPS!

Best Bang for the Buck, December 30, 2008
I got a Garmin 260W as a Christmas present from my daughter. This is my first GPS and I found its use to be very intuitive. No full owners manual was included but none was needed. Amazon’s under $150 price and free shipping makes this the best deal out there.

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