Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)
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Go wide with the ultra-cool nuvi 260W that speaks street names. This widescreen navigator is attractively-priced and simple to use. Like the rest of the nuvi 200-series, you’re just a few screen taps away from anywhere.
Navigate With Ease
nuvi 260W comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest (POIs) database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nuvi takes you there with 2-D or 3-D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. In addition, nuvi 260W 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.
Take It With You
Like the rest of the nuvi 200-series, nuvi 260W sports a sleek, slim design and fits comfortably in your pocket or purse. Its rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot.
Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nuvi 260W includes many 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 is compatible with our free Garmin Garage where you can download custom vehicles that show your location on the map. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in SD cards such as Garmin Travel Guides for detailed data on attractions.
nuvi 260W: It’s a whole nü way to travel.
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
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 1 x 3 x 5 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
Great performance and value!
This refurbished unit arrived in absolutely perfect condition and worked flawlessly right out of the box. I went on a 1200 mile road trip only days after purchasing and never had a single issue. Love the text to speech feature for street names! Highly recommended as it is significantly cheaper than a new model, but has identical quality and performance.
Simple and Useful
I prefer simplicity rather than multitasking in my gadgets. I have a Nextar GPS that I like so much that I decided I would like never to be without a GPS again. Thus I bought this refurbished one as a backup. The first nuvi arrived completely dead. I was immediately able to print out a return label and order a substitute from Amazon whose customer service is exemplary.
The second GPS arrived a couple of days later. It works fine. There is a volume control and a lighting control. Being a little hard of hearing, I set the volume high, and I found it very clear, although there were a couple of words badly mispronounced. I couldn’t see the screen at all in the light, but it was set at 50%. When I set it all the way up, I could see it in the brightest light. I imagine this might cause the battery to run down easily, but the cord that plugged it into the auto cigarette lighter was long enough so I could keep it plugged in without any tension. (This is not true of the Nextar which is stretched so tight when I put it in the only place where it doesn’t block my vision that it sometimes pulls out.)
The GPS is bare bones. If I want to update, I will need to buy some kind of memory to use for the transfer. I have not tried to register it which I gather will be a bit of a hassle. It does not have a way to charge the battery in the house. It does have a disc that can allow it to be fastened to the dash. I used the suction cup on the windshield.
Once when I went off the route to buy gas, it wanted to take me all the way back to where I “got lost,” but other route deviations it took in its stride and recalculated. Getting out of malls is difficult with all GPS’s, and I wish there were a way to improve it. Telling the driver to proceed to the nearest road is not helpful. I have not yet tried all the settings and will update when I learn how useful they are.
The Nextar has a useful “boink” at the turn, which this one does not, but it seems to speak urgently when the turn comes up. I do prefer the “boink” in the Nextar.
For the price, this is impossible to beat.
Pay $149 for map update or get new Nuvi 260W for $89?? mmm
I have a Nuvi 270 which works fine but the map updates expired early 2008. I got an email offering to update my maps for $149. I see that this NUVI 260W (with updates thru the end of 2010) is only $89. Let me think about that??? New Nuvi with a wide screen and updates for at least a year or update my old NUVI for 50% more??? mmm, that is a tough one.
By the way, I like the Nuvi 260W better than the 270 simply because of the bigger screen. Other than that, it is functionally identical to the 270. I have learned to always check the route before I blindly follow it because sometimes the NUVI will go thru a town that will take a long time although physically shorter as opposed to simply taking a bypass around a town. Other than that, it is a great tool.
Most reliable and cheapest GPS on Amazon
After many months of screaming at my old 3.5″ Magellan Maestro 3200, I decided it was time to upgrade to a larger, faster, and more reliable GPS. My biggest complaint was the time it took for the unit to acquire a signal after first starting up. Leaving a Hotel Valet in Downtown Chicago was not possible for sometimes 2-3 minutes. Not with the 260W! This thing is lightning fast and very accurate. It acquires signal in a much more reasonable amount of time. How about some Pros and Cons..
Pros:
Wide screen, text to speech(very cool!), speedy processor, acquires sat signal quickly, customizable vehicles and voices, long lasting battery, power cord is flat(not coiled) and has a 90 degree bend so there is no stress on the cord.
Cons: No Free Traffic(although from what I have read it isn’t worth it anyway. Not very reliable or timely), No Bluetooth/cell phone transmitter for hands free
Even though this was a refurb it came with a 1yr warranty just like a new one. It looked 100% brand new out of the box when I received it and had the latest maps and updates. Way to go Garmin on an excellent refurbished product.
Awesome
I’ve been a Garmin user for over five years. I started with the Street Pilot I5 in 2005, and just recently purchased the 260W as a factory refurbished model. I have absolutely no complaints with this product, and would highly recommend it to anyone who is in the market for a GPS. It’s extremely user friendly, and packed with useful tools and available upgrades. The wide screen makes viewing very easy while driving. The touch screen is wonderful, and very easy to use also.
Very satisfied
I received the Garmin 260w in a timely fashion. It took a little while to figure out the features and now I use it frequently. I am very happy with the 260w so far.
So Easy
This GPS is perfect for me.
Very ease to use, perfect size, cheap and pretty. We are always at the right place and on time!
Very happy with my purchase.
Good. Could have been better
The Initial start time is high.Also there is no audible indication like the bell in some other product just before the turn
Garmin nüvi 260W
my Garmin nüvi 260W came in on time and was in working order it was a refurb
I like the bright screen – I carry it in my pocket when I riding my motorcycle and take it out when I need to check my location – with the older TomTom I could not see the screen unless I was in the deep shade and the Garmin has a long lasting battery – the older TomTom battery would – from the day I got it not hold a charge when is was powered off (i guess when it was off there was still stuff running in the back ground). The Garmin battery stays charge up when it is powered off
Simple and easy to use
Its simple and easy to set up. Takes a short amount of time to find out where you are, but doesnt take too long. Has some good options such as planning a multi-stop route, setting favorites and what not. The mount it comes with is very good, suctions onto the mirror, so no need to buy another one unless it bothers you that much. All in all it is a great product, and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a basic voice GPS unit.
nuvi 260w
Easy to use. It has all functions I need. The only problem was with google map, that was off-line and no one knew about it, so I kept installing and uninstalling the software and couldn’t see the links in the maps to send to the gps. Not Garmin’s fault, though …
FRUSTRATION
THIS IS A GREAT GARMIN WITH PLENTY OF FEATURES BUT JUST KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHEN YOU BUY ONE THERE WILL BE A BETTER, CHEAPER, W/ MORE SOFTWARE IN SIX MONTHS.
happy with my garmin purchase
i previoulsy owned a garmin nuvi 200 and loved it. when i saw the price of this unit to $110 i jumped on it. unit performs just as good as my older nuvi with a bigger screen and TTS (Text to speech – says street names). overall very happy with my garmin purchase. i have also owned magellan and tom tom units. each of those has some disadvantages. the garmin is more user friendly and takes less screen taps to complete a task. the garmin also seems to get better satellite signal and has better route guidance.
excellent product
We use this often and it works great. I love the voice active feature as it tells you where to go and turn. Nice feature
Garmin Nuvi 260W (Factory Reburbished)- Outstanding Value!
Garmin nüvi 260W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)
PROS: Screen clarity, fast satellite acquisition, QWERTY keyboard, auto dims screen for nighttime, auto sets the clock.
CONS: No USB cable or home charger provided. However, available on EBay & Amazon for very few dollars!
I started a search for a replacement GPS in January ‘08 and had narrowed the field to the Nuvi 255W or the 260W to replace my decrepit TomTom Go 700 for many reasons. I read all of the internet reviews: CNET, Amazon, EBay!, gpstracker & decided the 260W was the choice on 12/30/09 from Amazon. I received it 1/6/10- far faster than the 1/15 projected arrival date!
It wouldn’t boot out the box (1/2 hour of charge fixed that!) but, I connected it to my computer, went to [...] registered it, updated the software from the ‘Dashboard’, followed the instructions to update my maps (@ 1.25 hours on highspeed cable connection), added a few vehicles & voices and went to the car. If plugged in, it starts with the car, grabs satellites in under 20 seconds, set my ‘Home’ location & loaded several favorites.
Very impressed with screen clarity & brightness, unsure how I survived without streets & turns being announced before (TTS), very intuitive interface, easy to input addresses with my fat fingers, POI’s are accurate but slow to load & sound quality is clear @ 70% volume when driving.
My 84 year old mother would be able to use this newfangled technology right out of the box (however, I would have update software and load the newest maps for her 1st!) and even she would be able to follow the prompts, put in addresses & even use the POI database! Very basic (no mp3’s, traffic updates, etc…) but, it does have a picture viewer, a calculator (fuel ecomony), a currency convertor and other useful tools. Garmin’s webpage is not the easiest to navigate, but there are free vehicles (tank, motorcycles, ambulance…) as well as free voices (squirrelly, the Yeti) and others that can be purchased. Still trying to figure out how to load speed zones & camera speed traps, but very workable!
In conclusion, if you are looking to upgrade without all of the bells & whistles, this may be the best value on the market today. It is night & day when compared to the TomTom Go 700 and at just over $100.00, it isn’t too hard on your wallet either! I would give it 95 out of 100- only missing the charger & the computer cable!
Easy to use
I bought this for my mom to use around town. Although refurbished, it looked and was packaged like new. It was easy to set up and use right out of the box. My mom is very happy with it.
Good GPS
A very good GPS for my purposes. This unit had every feature I originally wanted in a GPS, and has me discovering all new places to eat and shop around my new apartment. The only feature not available is the “traffic” detection. I think this feature would be nice to have, but isn’t a big deal, as I only have to drive about 10 minutes to work, with no highway driving. Charges quickly and holds charge well also.
refurbished garmin
I bought this for my son who is away at college. While I am not a Garmin user myself, hehas had some issues with getting to his destination. I don’t know if it is an “operator error” or if the garmin itself has some issues. It seems to dance around while in route and sometimes will take him to an alternate destination. I bought a new one for my husband for Christmas so we will see what the real problem is!
No More Mapaphobia
“Tis a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done…” I said as I recycled all of my old paper maps…No more frantic attempts to find out where you are as you are approaching a jumping off point on the interstate, etc. No more arguments over who is holding the map upside down, etc. No more EVER BEING LOST EVER! And to be able to locate instantly your whereabouts and the location of all of those important points, viz., fuel, sleeping quarters, dining spots, points of interest, et al is just an outstanding ability to possess. And to be able to know that you are constantly being guided by space vehicles to your desired destination is just so damn stressfree, it is almost too much to be true. It is the stuff out of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon,etc. (there I go, I gave away my age…) that as a kid you could only dream about. But, here it is, live and in person for your daily use to aid you in your rambling about on Mother Earth. TO NOT HAVE AND USE ONE IN THIS DAY AND AGE IS TO IGNORE ONE OF THE MAJOR COMMUNICATION INVENTIONS OF THE CENTURY. Or as a famous explorer once said, “Where the hell am I?” will never again be uttered by you as you panic your way through heavy traffic in an unknown location is just amazing…SemperFi
Purchased as a gift
I already had a Garmin GPS and loved it. However, this one I had purchased as a gift for a friend. She lives in another state and I haven’t seen her since she received it but she tells me that she is thrilled with it. If it hadn’t been for the low price for which Amazon had offered it, I never would have been able to give it to her.