Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
Customer Review: Better than a Nuvi 760
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I decided to buy this Nuvi 265wt model, I had bought the Nuvi 760 model on Black Friday. The 760 model was okay at best. I had it for about three weeks until I realized that the upper right hand corner would not respond until after pressing that corner at least five times. So I decided to return the Garmin and I was thinking about getting a tomtom or magellan. But then I saw the 265wt on sale for $200 and I decided, since I bought the 760 for $250, maybe I could save money and just give Garmin one last try...As soon as I opened the 265wt, I fell in love with it!
The 265wt FAR OUTWEIGHS the Nuvi 760 by a mile! The screen refresh rate on the 265wt is much better, the satellite locks on faster, the colors are brighter in my opinion (and yes, they were at the same brightness level!), and the free traffic is so much better on the 265wt. With the 760, I had free MSN Traffic for three months and comparing that with the 265wt traffic, they are exactly the same. Except with the 760, you have to pay a yearly subscription. Furthermore, with the 265wt, you can custom load POI's (Points of Interest) and so I have loaded mine with all the locations of In-N-Out Burger and Rudy's BBQ in America, which is awesome. They also have Custom POI's which show you where speed camera's and red light camera's are, if that's your kind of thing. But I'm a law abiding Texan, so I never mess with Texas and that kind of illegal stuff...
The only thing that the 760 had that the 265wt doesn't have is mp3/audiobook and the FM Transmitter with audio jack.
About the FM Transmitter - it was a cool feature but it wasn't practical because in Dallas, where I live, there are thousands of radio stations. There are hardly any open radio stations. You think there's an open one, but then all of a sudden, you hear the voice of a person speaking a different language (must have been Chinese Talk Radio) or you hear a Mariachi Band playing. Then you go one decimal point higher, and there's the Hip-Hop Station. With so much static in Dallas, the MP3/Audiobook Player really becomes useless...
The only time I was able to use the transmitter without static was when I took a trip up to Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, there isn't much radio stations as there are only cows and fields in Oklahoma. I finally was able to put the 760 to the true test of using the MP3 player. However, what I found really dissappointing was that as I was listening to Richard P. Feynman's Audiobook, "The Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures", I fell asleep on I35 and almost got into a car crash near Oklahoma City. It was then I realized that the Nuvi 760's MP3/Audiobook player was more of a driving hazzard than a helpful tool to get me safely to Norman, OK where I needed to go.
Therefore, HANDS DOWN the 265wt is not only a better GPS than the Nuvi 760, but it's also a FAR SAFER GPS!!! If you want MP3's or Music without static, get an Ipod and connect it to your car. It's far better...
Customer Review: Impressed!
Summary: 5 Stars
After doing extensive research I decided on this unit. Mainly because the 265wt is one of their newer NUVI products and it had the features I was looking for. If you look at the sites that have reviews on the 265wt, most are from nov/2008. I think this unit was released about 6 months ago. Anyway, here's my opinion on some of the key features of the 255WT.
1. Windsheild mount - works great. The suction cup is very high quality and I have no concerns that it will accidentally detach from the windsheild. I love the swivel capabilites and it allows you a perfect view no matter where you put it.
2. Satellite aquisition time - incredible! once you perform the initial aquistion, you are set. Now when I turn the on it's ready to go in usually under 3 seconds. Awesome!
3. Map directions and screen - wonderful. The GPS unit so far has given me perfect directions and the re-route capability works flawlessly. The screen is clear, bright and easy to navigate.
4. Free traffic alerts - works as described. I love this feature and I hardly saw any ads.
5. Bluetooth - giddy up! I had my Motorola KZR1 synched up in about 15 seconds. Easy to use and sure makes talking on the phone alot more enjoyable when driving. I've had conversations with multiple people and they could hear me fine. One cool thing is if your phone has voice dialing; because it allows you do it through the GPS unit. Also, all my contacts show up (even with multiple phone #'s).
6. And finally...the internal speaker. If you researched the 265WT like I've done you'll see ALOT of people complaining that the speaker is too quiet to hear anything. That was a big concern of mine but I felt I would give the unit a try and if it was that bad then I would return it. My thoughts on the speaker are this. The speaker size/quality could and probably should be improved. It's a cheapy speaker...BUT...I CAN hear the directions perfectly fine and can here the other person talking to me when using the bluetooth phone capability. Side notes: You HAVE to turn down your radio if you want to be able to hear it. Also, I was driving with the windows closed (it's friggin winter), so I cannot say how well you'd be able to hear the directions/phone with your windows rolled all the way down.
Bottom line - it has met or exceeded all of my expectations! I bought it on the day after Thanksgiving (aka Black Friday) and I got an incredible deal! $199.99 with free shipping, no tax, and got %50 off a $25 case logic travel case. I would have spent an extra $150 if I would have bought the same unit from a local retailer.
Finally if your in the market to buy any GPS my suggestion is wait until it gets closer to X-mas and see if the price drops. I'm guessing they'll do it again. I was fortunate to get it when I did and hence saved a nice chunk of change.
Hope this helped!
Customer Review: Great product at good price
Summary: 5 Stars
I spent about a month researching Garmin Nuvis before I settled on the 265WT. I knew I wanted a Nuvi, but wasn't sure of the features I'd want or need. All of the features on this unit are great. I don't use the Bluetooth, but do use everything else. I like the new firmware - the Eco Route is very useful for gas mileage purposes. There really isn't anything negative I can say about it. I got it for a great price (around $240 when I bought it and it's worth every penny). If you can get it for a lower price, that's great, but to me, $240 was worth it for the features it has.
NOW, in order take advantage of all of the features, you need to really know what the unit can do and the user manual just doesn't cover it all. You need to search online for uses (there are a ton that I'd never even have thought of, like GeoTagging photographs)! Luckily, a guy named Gary Hayman had put together an excellent tutorial. Without him, I'd simply have used my Nuvi to get from point A to point B, but he has taught me that it can be used for SO MUCH MORE! Check his site out. I'll post the link, but if it doesn't come through, just do an online search for his name and GPS (or Nuvi). Or seach his name and 'garmin GPS Tricks, Tips, Work Arounds, Hint, Secrets and Ideas'. AND, no, I'm in no way compensated to give him props, but after you see his site, you'll see why he deserves mention. Like I said, I wouldn't know all of the wonders of my Nuvi if not for his site. He definitely deserves credit for taking this from a good GPS system to an excellent gadget capable of so much more than I ever though. [...]
Now, more specifics:
The screen size is great (one of the features I insisted I get was widescreen)/
The Traffic feature is good. I had read some bad reviews of it, so I guess I wasn't expecting much, but I've had good luck with - it's gotten me around a couple of traffic tie-ups (I live in Atlanta, so traffic is a big deal here). The 'free' traffic feature is ad supported. But, honestly, the ads aren't a bother at all - they're very small and aren't constant - they appear every so often.
The new EcoRoute feature rocks. You simply plug in your gas price (and a couple more specific items about your vehicle) and it keeps track of how much you spend per tank and per trip! So, if you want to know how much it costs you to drive to work, it keeps a list of every trip you make and show your the cost of fuel. Just be sure to enter the new gas price each time you fill up for accurate results.
That's about all I can think of right now. I'd highly recommned this Nuvi. Lots of advanced features for a reasonable price.
Customer Review: Smarter than expected
Summary: 5 Stars
I rarely get lost, have no trouble reading maps, but using the Garmin nuvi 265WT is sure a lot easier, especially when traveling alone. I can't compare it with other navigators, but I found it generally easy to use, and though the first look at it seemed rather complicated, I found I needed to check the manual (online, not with the product) only once or twice to pretty much figure out everything.
The maps are key features in a navigator, of course, but I found the decisions the nuvi made were often better than my own decisions would have been. Tested it in my own "backyard" and it took me on some routes I wouldn't have, but which I should have, chosen. In other cases, it picked some of my favorite tricky shortcut routes that I thought it would never find. Most interesting was the time I asked it to return home by the most economical way, and it twisted and turned until we were on rarely used dirt roads throug the woods. Exciting in its way, but a bit scary if it had been at night or in unknown territory.
On another trip from a hotel to the Mt. Vernon Inn in Virginia, it took busy streets and highways to the Inn, but the return route was a beautiful route along the Potomac River. Perhaps it was because I asked it to stop at a Dunkin Donuts on the way back, though.
There were two problems I noted with it. I was taking a trip from Massachusetts to Maryland one sunny day, and the nuvi was on the dash, in the sun all day. It apparently was overheating, even though the AC was on and the outdoor temperatures weren't too high. While it continued to navigate with no problem, it responded very slowly to any menu selections, taking minutes in some cases before the screen changed. The manual warns against leaving it on the dash of a parked car, which makes sense, but it shouldn't exhibit a problem when you're using it in a moving car.
The second problem occurred when traveling back from the Mt. Vernon Inn that I mentioned above. I asked it to find and go by a Dunkin Donuts on the route back, but we would have gone by the DD if the passengers didn't happen to spot it. When we left the DD, the nuvi had us go around the block and come back to it, this time letting us know that we had arrived--and it would have had us do it again, apparently, as it seemed to get into a loop. I had to stop the trip and re-set the destination.
Generally, though, it was great to have, giving me a wonderful degree of freedom to "take the road less traveled" when I was in somewhat unfamiliar territory, confident that any side-trips would end without being lost.
Customer Review: Best GPS Yet
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first Garmin. I've had it a couple months now and wouldn't give it up for anything. Great price and features for not a lot of money. I did a lot of research before deciding to buy. The larger the model number doesn't necessarily mean you're getting a more feature-rich unit. Do the homework. I talked to other users, checked the internet, used the Amazon comparison charts (which were super) and read a lot of reviews from other users.
The Good: It took no time to get it up and running. The Quick Start Manual gives you the critical information and the website fills in the blanks. I never used the POI feature on my other units but I had to with this one. A client wanted to meet me in an area of Miami I had never been to. They didn't have an address and gave me the name of the restaurant and a general area. I plugged it in and bam... it popped right up. The trip computer is great. My expense reports for mileage and tolls have to be accurate so this is a great feature since it tracks every right (and wrong) turn I make. You can't get that level of accuracy using MapQuest. The speed limit icons on the left side of the screen are surprisingly accurate. I purposely watched for changes in the speed limit and a second or two later, the correct speed would display on the icon. The Bluetooth feature is great, easy to pair up with multiple cell phones, good volume and sound quality. No one appears to have any problem hearing me talk to them through the unit and I can keep both hands on the wheel. I prefer the wide screen to the standard screen. It helps a little if you want to zoom in on an area. I like being able to see how many optional routes I have in the densely populated areas I have to travel in.
The Not So Good: The spoken directions didn't always jive with the map display. This is no big deal to me since the map display was always correct. You can still have fun with the wrong spoken directions. I sometimes change to the Cantonese language from English. I don't speak Cantonese so it's pretty amusing to hear the directions. The Traffic Message Channel (TMC) doesn't seem to be very accurate so far. So far I seem to get reports of problems on my route that didn't appear to exist. It's probably not the unit but rather the service. It doesn't mean it won't come in handy at some time. I'll keep using it because you can't complain about the price. The 265WT has Free lifetime traffic. Many of the other models require you to pay for it.
Overall, I feel real good about my decision and would highly recommend it.