Garmin Nuvi 260
Garmin has announced a new member of the Nuvi 200 family, the Garmin Nuvi 260. Basically what you will get with the 260 when it becomes available later this month is a 250 with the addition of text to speech. So instead of an instruction like “turn left in 250 feet” it will say something like “turn left on Maple Avenue”. It is nice to see text to speech moving further down the product lineup, however I hope nobody pays close to the steep $500 MSRP price attached to the 260.
Like other devices in the series, the 260 will really excel for pedestrian use thanks to the “hold” switch at the top of the device that prevents accidental touch screen input if you put the device in your pocket. The small size and good battery life will also make this device an excellent choice for pedestrians.
In the box you get the Nuvi 260, suction cup mount, and a power cable for your car. Many people might want to pick up the optional AC power adapter for faster charges outside of the car. There is an SD card slot, however the maps and application are stored in an internal memory, so most people will probably never use that card slot. But if you want to add maps of locations not covered, an SD card pre-loaded with those maps is a great way to go.
The Garmin Nuvi 260 is also compatible with optional travel guides and the SaversGuide, and features the Garmin Lock anti-theft protection.
| Store | Rating | Best Prices |
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Compare all prices on the Garmin Nuvi 260 Auto / Road GPS ranging from $99.99 to $341.99. | ||
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 | In stock at RadioShack.com | $199.99 |
 | In stock at ClubMac | $99.99 |
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Looks great. Does this mean a 260 wide is next? If so I’m buying.
I’m not sure we will see a 260w real soon, I suspect the 650 is filling that void nicely for now.
How does the 260 compare with the 350? They seem to be similar in price, what about features and performance?
Carrie, you can compare those two here.
Do you consider the wide screen a real advantage? I am debating between the TT xl-s with its 4.3″ screen and the Garmin nuvi 260 with its 3.5″ screen. Anything else I should consider?
Ronald
The widescreen is nice to have as you can see further on turns to the side. It leaves more room for the status bar and maps. It also makes they virtual keyboard keys easier to type on since the keys are larger.
Do these have the ability to upgrade to European maps? If not, what devices would you recommend we be looking at? We’re mainly in U.S. but will be traveling overseas next spring.
Mark – Yes, you can add European maps. The easiest way on the 260 is probably through the pre-programmed SD cards.
Does the Garmin 260 GPS come with a Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery? Sorry – I couldn’t find the answer…
Yes, 5 hour, rechargeable, lithium ion.
I just purchased a Nuvi 260, but am wondering if there is a way to delete the pictures that come pre-installed and copy my own to the internal memory rather than using an SD card. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Yes, when you connect your 260 via USB it will mount as an external USB drive to your computer. From there you can browse the contents of your Nuvi’s files and delete the photos/copy yours in.
does the 260 come with the V8 north america maps. and when you enter the states, do you have to spell out the whole state for this one?
Jeff – Map version can vary depending on production date. It will likely come with the 2008 version map. You do need to spell out the whole state.
how many addresses can the 260 store? the screen of the 260 compared to the 350, whats the difference? has there been any problems reported with this product? thanks
do the 260 come with the SURF III chipset, if it doesnt what gps come with that chip?
Rob, Garmin doesn’t confirm what chipset they use in many of their devices, including the 260. Is there a specific application whereby you need that particular chipset?
The 260 says it comes with complete North American maps but “No details for Canada or Alaska” does this mean I have to buy an additional SD card of Canadian maps if I live there?
Graeme – Where do you see it say ““No details for Canada or Alaska”?
Graeme, I’d go by what Garmin’s website says over Amazon’s website. Garmin’s website says “City Navigator® NT for North America” which includes the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
this is my first look at GPS units…a Christmas present for my husband who happens to be, in my words, directionally challenged. I do not want to spend a high dollar but I want a quality unit. Is this a good unit to purchase or is there another one for the dollar?
I am travelling to hawaii soon and wonder if anyone has used the 260 there. They have an asterisk that says the use government information for mapping in Hawaii.
I like the 260 but would like traffic reports as well. Don’t need the mp3 player, pictures, video. I just want one that tells me where I am going by street and if there are traffic problems. Any suggestions? Thanks
I purchased a Nuvi 250 in the summer. It has been great for travelling in Montreal, Toronto and other Canadian cities. The Nuvi 260 went on sale and I am considering this because of the text to speech feature. Is this the only advantage of the 260 over the 250 and if so, do you think it is worth purchasing the 260 ? Thanks for your input.
I am having problems connecting the Nuvi 260 to my computer. I tried on a MacBook and a PC with no luck. I downloaded the appropriate WebUpdater but it can’t find my device. Any suggestions?
i am trying to update and can’t find my device whare do i go
Did you look in the top left dresser drawer… maybe under the passenger seat… didn’t your husband have it last…
Tim – after on hold with support for about 35 minutes it turned out it was an issue with the USB I was using. It could charge the device but it could not be read when using WebUpdater. Would be easier if they just included the USB with the product – still don’t know why they don”t considering you are paying $300 for the product!
I don’t understand it when you say that there is a 5hour rechargeable, lithium ion battery. Isn’t it that we will plug the adapter on the cigarette lighter of the car?…If we travel 8 hours to Dallas from McAllen, will the battery be dead and needs to be recharged? what is the battery for? Is it when it is not in use or is it while in use? Please explain it to me further, I am confused..thanks.
Yes, most people will plug it in to the car charger and not utilize the battery. Many people don’t like to carry the car charger with them in the car, or like to use it walking around city streets without access to power, and it is in those cases where battery life becomes important.
Thanks for the information Tim….I truly appreciate it and so far, we used the Gamin Nuvi 260 this past weekend, and it helped us so much…I love it…We used it without reading the manual because we were rushing to leave, and we bought the GPS a couple of hours before we drove to Houston…HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Is there a map of Tokyo that can be used on Garmin Nuvi 260?
Is there a way to map out a way to go to a destination via a certain way. An example would be if I was to go to New Hampshire and wanted to take route that a friend told me about, would that be possible. I understand you can set it to shortest, fastest and off road.I am taking a trip to New Hampshire to visit some friends and they were telling me a scenic way to get to my destination.
Dave – Your only option is to see if you can add one via point (you only get one) into your route to force it where you want to go.
Thanks for the info Tim. But I was trying to find some more information on this and I was wondering what is the memory disk for? Is there a way to work that into making it do what I am looking to do?
No, the SD card slot is only for adding additional maps and content. It won’t allow you to set a specific route if you can’t get there with just one via point. Your best option is to setup multiple “favorites” at specific points along the route and then navigate them one (or two) at a time.
I was looking to buy an AC charger for this unit but could not find one. The guy at Circuit City said I could use something like a phone or blackberry charger, which appears to be working. Seems logical but wondering why this is not better publicized. Any danger to using a different charger?
Bob:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=1344
It seems that there is NOT much memory capacity in the 260. How many photos should I be able to install ?
Also, what is this screenshot feature ? It sounds like a camera shutter….not much info. in the manual about anything past basics….why ?
I’ve had my Nuvi 260 for about 2 weeks, & I still can’t get a satellite. I’ve gone outside away from trees & tall buildings. Still search for a satellite. I’m about to send it back. Any ideas as to what I’m not doing right?
Dave – The screenshot takes a picture of the screen and saves it to the internal memory.
Wanda – Check out these tips.
Is there a way to make your own vehicles. I have not found a viewer/editer for .srf files
Sorry one more question…..I don’t see any resturants or a food tab under the POI’s. Shouldn’t there be a tab for food?
thanks
I purchased a Garmin nuvi recently and I have to charge it through my computer’s USB port. My Motorola cell phone charger has the same USB connectivity and I can charge it through the wall. But I’m not sure if I will damage the unit if I use that charger. The charger is 5 volts. Does anyone know if it is safe?
I went to look at the 200 after seeing it advertised [snip, see comment policy]. I wanted the text to speech feature, and also the Canada maps, and was able to get the 260 for just a little more. The next day I saw the 350 for [snip] and decided to return the 260 and buy it. I was amazed with the 260’s ease at aquiring the satellites. Sometimes almost immediately, but usually not more than a minute indoors. When I went to pick up the 350, I noticed that it could not locate the satellites indoors, but the 260 next to it on display was tracking fine. The sales person said a new 350 would be better, so he opened one up, but it still would not locate the satellites. I took both units ouside, and the 350 was still having trouble. I decided to keep the 260 and am amazed at how well it gets signal just about anywhere. I could drive for an hour, and still not get more than one satellite on my i5. Nice to own a GPS unit that I can actually use.
I’ve been using my 260 now for a month, including a 2200 mile trip From Colorado to Florida, and with one small exception, it does everything I want in a GPS. I still find it odd that Garmin would think that it could ever make sense to leave out a routing feature, but I can work around that with waypoints, so I’m satisfied. If they ever add a routing feature without making you buy all the other garbage (Bluetooth, mp3, traffic, etc), I might trade up, but for now I’m good. Its a quality GPS from a company with solid support and the price is right.
Are there bicycle path maps available for the Garmin Nuvi 260 on SD or downloadable? It has bicycle mode, but it doesn’t know about the Rt. 9A greenway in Manhattan and keeps trying to take me off the Greenway onto streets.
Thanks.
Ari – There are not specific bicycle paths on the device. The “bicycle” mode is so that it will follow bicycle rules when navigating streets. In other words interstate highways are not allowed, etc.
All of you should have the latest software version 3.60 on your nuvi 2xx. To check your software version tap Settings > System > About
You will need to run Garmin’s Web Updater to update your nuvi unit. Start here:
http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp
Also check the final text page of the webupdater for additional voices and vehicle icons. There may also be a GPS chip software update for your unit at the top of the list.
Your nuvi gps unit will lock on satellites much faster and run better with these updates.
Dave – If you Google vehicle srf converter it will point you in the right direction for making your own vehicle icons for the nuvi..
Garmin also offers many different free vehicle icons for the nuvi on their website:
http://www8.garmin.com/vehicles/bundles/allvehicles.html
should I buy a garmin nuvi 260 or a 360 or something else for about $250
The 360 is a newer model with more features, but will cost a little more than the 260
Actually, that isn’t quite correct. The 360 is an older model than the 260.
The 360 is older but has more features they are both going for about $250 so which one should I buy
Ethan, here is a link to 9 good threads about the 350 vs 260.
That just confused me I think I am going to go with the 260 because I don’t need the bluetooth or the mp3 features Is there any reason to buy the 260 besides the looks
The 260 has newer hardware and will probably be supported longer by Garmin.
The 260 has an internal antenna, with the new software upgrade from Garmin locks on quickly now.
I just use some stick-on velcro on my dash and on the nuvi and just stick it in my pocket when I leave my truck. It comes with a car charger, I rarely use it. Recommend you get a 5v home ac charger and a Garmin leather case.
You won;t have any regrets with the 260.. IMHO
I like the 260 for its size and the 350 does offer more features except I despise that pop-up antenna.
I there any information on whether Garmin will offer a 260 sized unit but with traffic and FM but no pop-up antenna?
Unless I missed something, the pop-up antenna does not go away until the 700 series units.
Thanks!
Ed, the wide nuvi 200W & 260W also have internal antennas, but not the FM/Traffic feature. I also have a 660 but prefer the small size and better menu structure of the nuvi 260 hands down..
Is it really necessary to spent extra money on a USB cable to upgrade the garmin 260 software, if any?
Still don’t understand why a cheap usb cable is not come with the package.
One more question – I am not able to decide which one is better Garmin 260 or tomtom one xls. All I need is a solid navigation device. I don’t think any of extra features is necessary to me. Which company offer free map update?
Dick, if you want to update the software on your 260 then yes, a USB cable is necessary. No companies offer free map dates as an ongoing policy.
Does anyone make a sd card for the 260 that can be used on lakes/water? I would love to use the unit in my boat as well. Or is the 260 allready capable of water navigation?
I want a gps that tells you turn by turn, that gives distance name of the street that you turn on. I have looked at several but confused. I don’t want to put to much money it because I won’t use it very offen,
which Garmin GPS at the lowest price that will give direction turn by turn and the name of the street?
Is there a place where I can purchase a USB cable for my Garmin 260, other than their website. I need it quickly do not want to have to order it online. Also I love my Garmin, however sometimes it takes me on the whackiest route. I went from Silver Spring, MD to Dulles Airport which is apprx 20min drive. The Garmin took me on the city streets and the drive ended up being 45 minutes. My orginial starting point I was less than 2 miles from I495 and instead it took me through the city. Do I need update my maps?
Cheryl – just about any “USB to mini USB cable” will do. It is a similar cable to that used on many digital cameras so you might already have one. If not an electronics store like Circuit City, Best Buy, or even Target, Wal-Mart, etc should have them.
I bought the nuv 260 for my brotherinlaw for christmas and he tells me that the gps took him the wrong way everytime that he used it and he said that it needs a sd cards to work. Is this right?
Diana, no. The Nuvi 260 doesn’t need an SD card to work. See : Do I Need an SD Card for my GPS?
Thanks Tim. I found a USB cable in my junk drawer and it worked perfectly. Is there any software, that can track my miles/routes I have taken with my Garmin Nuvi 260? I wanted to track my miles for tax/work purposes
No, the 260 doesn’t have a tracklog feature.
Just like Cheryl said, my Garmin takes me all over the map and gets me there through the strangest routes. Is there any way to fix this? Updating my maps? It’s almost like the darn thing refuses to take highways. It chooses slow backstreets instead.
set to fastest driving time instead of shortest route.
You won’t always agree with the route the GPS generates. Your device came with the map Garmin calls “2008″ which is the most recent available from them at this time and is based on a map they received from their mapping supplier in the second half of 2006.
Just got a 260 and the one thing that drives me crazy about it is that there isn’t a “Home” button on every screen, like there is on my 360. For example if you go to Where to? on the main menu screen, click a favorite, then on the favorite itself, but then decide you want to go somewhere else, there is no “Home” button to take you back to the Where to? screen, you have to hit, Back, Back, and Back again. Very annoying. Am I missing something, is there an easy way to get to the Where to? page from any screen?
Ken, tap and hold down on the back button for a couple of seconds. It will take you back to the Home screen.
Tim – Thank You! Very pleased.
Can the 260 upgrade to include inland waterways?
2 Questions: What is the optimum size of a jpg (to which I should reduce my photos) in order to view them on a Nuvi 200 and (2). How do I view them once I insert the SD card into the Nuvi?
Dan, the screen size of the Nuvi itself is 320×240, so that would probably be the “optimum” size from a smallest file size to fill the screen perspective. The picture viewer should find them on the card.
I just bought the 260 and I have a usb cable and wanted to update the 260’s software via pc; but I don’t know where to go to do this. Please help. Thanks. – Prue
prue, you can find information on updates through this program:
http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/
Hi, I have had altitude in the past on the dash of my car.. I wonder if any of the Garmin products for automobiles display altitude? Sure does lend a lot of information as one drives..
Thanks..
I just bought the Garmin 260 the other day and tried it out today for the first time. For some reason it’s just saying “turn right in ____ km” instead of “turn right on _____ in _____km”. Am I missing something for the setup?
Ashley, make sure in your voice preferences you have a voice selected that is named with ‘TTS’ at the end.
I am wondering about the satellite accuracy of my gps unit. I bought a new nuvi 260 yesterday and it appears to be consistently 50ft off of every intersection. I know that hand held GPS are usually accurate with 12ft? Is mine a defect? I live in the mid michigan area, if that changes anything.
GPS is typically accurate up to 10 meters (about 30 feet).
I bought an AC adapter for the 260, but noticed that the connector is identical to my Motorola Razr cell phone charger. Will one safely charge the other? The 260 is my first GPS and it’s lived up to all the hype and positive reviews. I absolutely love it.
Jeff, if you look at the back of the auto adapter you will see that the output is 5 volts at 1 amp. If your Motorola charger gives the same output it should be OK.
I’m a pretty navigationally-challenged guy moving to D.C., and I’m looking for a GPS system that I can use both in my car and as a pedestrian. The 260 looks like it might be good for that purpose, but is it easily extracted from a car and used as a pedestrian? Also, if you’re in pedestrian mode is there any way to use headphones and hear the directions, as opposed to looking like a tool walking in the city with some voice telling you out loud to turn left in a mile? Thanks.
My husband gave me the 260 for xmas – I love it! I just bought him a 260 and today we used them -each of us in different vehicles, his gave different directions than mine, didn’t give him direct routes. How do we fix his?
Jeff, if the voltage and amps listed in the power cable are the same you can likely use it safely, but technically it probably voids your warranty.
Jack – There is no headphone jack on the 260, otherwise it is a great device for pedestrian use.
Virginia – If the route preferences are set the same it should produce the same routes. Sounds like the route preferences might be different.
how do I do point to point navigation on my nuvi 260? It keeps navigating from my home, but I want to look at routes to and from points in another city. thanks!
please exlain why does this unit not have a map around Port O’Connor-Texas??? at my point of location which is about an hour from there i’ve tried a specific address and it was unavailable. not to doubt the device i kept trying different sample addresses as well as other options on the unit and none worked…it came close to knowing only the near-by town of Port Lavaca.
Melanie, that isn’t a feature offered on the 260. You can work around it by putting the GPS into simulation mode and setting a different location, but it isn’t very convenient.
Joseph – I can see the maps of that town. Can you list a specific address you can’t find?
Tim – thanks for the response! Can you tell me how I put my Nuvi 260 into simulation mode, so I can do this workaround? Thanks!
Melanie Eyre
Melanie – Go to (wrench) -> Settings -> System -> GPS simulator -> On. Then to set the starting location, find it like you were entering it as a destination. Instead of hitting ‘GO!’, click ‘Show Map’ and then ‘Set Loc’. That will set your starting location. Now you can plan routes all starting from that separate location.
Melanie – This is something a number of people have asked about recently, in addition to you. So we put together a short tutorial on Offset Starting Locations you can checkout that offers a little more detail.
hey tim could you tell me how were you able to pick up the maps of that town? like i said, after i tried all options it still had no search results…
Joseph – I don’t know the area… you likely do. But from what I’ve been able to read Port O’connor is an unincorporated village… not really a town or city by official standards. (Again, I’m not pretending to know anything about the area other than what I’ve researched.) Where “Port O’Connor” is on the map appears to be within the boundaries set by the town of “Port Lavaca”. Therefore if you search for the address using “Port Lavaca” you may find what you are looking for.
Is there any way to fool the 260 into diplaying and working a MapSource Topo Map by using a memory card? I’d like to use it while off-road with the Jeep.
The Nuvi devices can display topo maps. You can’t do any of the typical handheld navigation functions, but you can display the map.
A couple of other questions regarding the 260. Will the Nuvi auto-navigate the Topo’s when the Jeep is in motion (with “off-road” unchecked)and is the MapSource Topo the actual program I need to purchase to make this all come together? Thanks again!!
tim, thank you for that info…well, being brand new to the southern area i did not know of that. that’s good info. i’ll have to do more research on my own…also, not knowing the area gave the initiative to get myself a GPS unit. i’ll give it a try using “Port Lavaca.” once again thank you, i appreciate it.
Mike – Yes, you would need to purchase the Garmin Topo product and it will follow along.
Tim, Thank you so much for the info. I’ll order the Topo 2008 and should be good to go! Thanks again!
With the 2009 map update coming in a week or two, will I be given any discount for having just purchased a nuvi with the 2008 maps?
Chris, Garmin doesn’t have a stated map update policy for that anymore, so your best bet is to give them a call directly.
I live in Ontario Canada where outside temperatures vary a lot. If I leave my nuvi in the car and the temperature goes down overnight to 0F or up to 110F on a hot summer day – will the nuvi live on? Is there a published operating temperature range?
Limited Storage: -4 – 140F (-20 – 60c)
Extended Storage: 32 – 77F (0-25c)
Operating Range: -4 – 131F ( -20 – 55c)
what is the difference between the nuvi 200 & 260 ?
The 200 doesn’t have text to speech and the maps include only the USA 48 + Hawaii.
Hi,
I have a TT1 3rd ed. nice but the map is really old even I just bought it on BF.I’m considering buying Garmin 260 but I’m still a little bit concern about the voice how it sounds when it speaks street names? I like the voice of Navigon 2100 which also has Text-to -Speech,How about Garmin 260?
Thanks and appreciated for your inputs.
I just bought nuvi260 with 2008 map and the map does not have road to my house which is a prime loacle in houston. I am wondering is this the same with the rest of the country. Is there a way to let the gps accept the starting point i.e. My Home with out it being on the Maps
my nuvi 260’s voice is fine – I have no problem with it. Sound level can be adjusted.
I agree, the voice on the Nuvi 260 works just fine. I don’t have any reference point to compare it to, other than to say that it’s worked well for me when driving in completely unfamiliar areas.
My only minor real complaints are: 1) in my area we call something like CR-9 “county ROAD 9″ and NOT “county ROUTE 9″. 2) I sometimes cannot tell the difference between the speaker saying, “EXIT 2B” and “EXIT 2C” It does, however, give a direction with the exit number, so I can still take the correct one.
All in all it works well.
Keep in mind that if you do miss and exit or turn, the unit will immediately let you know, and reroute you from there.
when exactly will the 2009 map update be available, also, will it be free?
joseph, they are just starting to become available at some stores. They are not quite available yet at garmin.com:
http://www8.garmin.com/unlock/update.jsp
Garmin typically charges $69-$79 for the updates.
How recent is the street information used in the 2009 map update?
I’m unsure at this point, Dave. The “2008″ map was based on data they received from NAVTEQ in the second half of 2006, so if they haven’t changed their processing time the data would be from a release by NAVTEQ in the second half of 2007.
Thanks for the pointer to NAVTEQ, Tim. I’ve sent a note to them asking if some major road reconstruction and rerouting that was completed in the Fall of 2005 will be displayed in the 2009 update. (It’s not in the 2008 map, and the poor gps “has a kitten” trying to recalculate every time I drive a route through the area.
Can the battery in the nuvi 260 be recharged from the trickle charge in my PC’s USB port?
I’m still trying to decide between the nuvi 260 and the nuvi 350. Text-to-Speech is the most important feature for me, and they both have it. Does anyone have any suggestions based on performance or other qualities? Thanks!
jade – I think the 260 is the better buy right now. It is slimmer, has a brighter screen, has the hold switch, etc.
I am shopping for my very first GPS. After reading 118 reviews about Garmin nuvi 206, I really like it and think this will be a good one for me. However, before I make my final decision, I would like to know whether it has the 2009 map or 2008 map if I buy it now.
Jie – April 26, 2008
Jie – You won’t know until you open the box.
Tim – thanks for the response! If I found out it is 2008 map after I opened the box, can I get a free update for 2009 map?
Garmin doesn’t have a written policy for map updates anymore, but chances are quite good you would get it if you ask.
I have an SD card installed and was wondering where to go for cool downloads? Are there any sites for certain areas/states or specific types of stores? Any free community sites that anyone would reccomend?
I offer this cautionary tale re: downloading the 2009 map update for the 260. Yesterday I downloaded the file from Garmin’s website, it’s HUGE, over 2 gb. The download went fine, it took about 45 min. over a cable broadband connection and a 6 mo. old Dell computer w/Vista, one with a fairly substantial amount of memory and muscle.
When the download was finished, the installer program wouldn’t launch, it froze and subsequently crashed my computer. After a few very agonizing and scary restarts, I got the computer up and running again, whereupon I deleted the downloaded file, called Garmin and ordered the map upgrade on a disk.
This could very well be an isolated incident, or even a Vista thing, but I’ve never had any such problems before with other downloads.
I just thought I’d toss this out for whatever it may be worth. If you don’t think your computer can handle such a task, you might want to opt for the disk and save yourself some grief. By the way, the Garmin folks were amazingly helpful, efficient and accommodating, and much to my great surprise were all native English speakers.
To add the older machine perspective to Jeff’s post #124, I did the 2009 map download on 3 year old machine with 1 gb memory and Windows XP… I got through the download and into the equally long running file extraction and map generation when my system “Blue Screened.”
I was able to restart the downloaded MapInstall program and get the new maps on the 260. But, another word of caution… I initially selected loading ALL of the North America maps. But, there was not enough space on the 260 to hold all of them. I had to delete Alaska, and a good portion of Canada to get it fit in the available space on the 260. (Maybe I have some corrupted files still on the 260 from the system crash. I haven’t investigated that.) But, the map install program tells you how much space your using and what’s available as you select and deselect regions. So, it’s pretty easy to figure out what you can load.
Oh, one last item. To follow up on my post #115, the 2009 update did have my highway reconstruction and rerouting area covered. So, in the end, I’m a happy camper.
I have 260 with 2008 maps, when ever I check for updates on the website it says no updates available , Could some one post the url or way to get 2009 verson of maps on my nuvi
Vijendra, I got the 2009 update from the https://my.garmin.com/maps/updates.htm url yesterday. I had bought and registered my 260 about a month ago, and the update page said I had until 6/1 to update for free. So, maybe there is some sort of timeout when you can get it.
I just went back to the site to see if the download was still available to me. But, when I entered my serial number it said no updates were available. I guess it was a one shot deal.
I also ran the free update last night on my new Nuvi-260 and there were a couple of snags along the way, but eventually it completed successfully. Now if I could figure out why it routes me off the interstate at Waco and through back roads on my way from Austin to Little Rock. It’s neither faster or shorter, but regardless of my choices, it routes me that way! Guess I need a waypoint at Dallas to pull the route back on course. Even the router in my iPod Touch does a better job on this simple route. Otherwise, the 260 seems great so far.
Does anyone know if you can add marine maps to the 260? I live out west and want to put the maps for Lake Powell on my 260. Thanks.
I “tried” to download a FREE map upgrade to my monyh old 260, but I have dialup at home & can’t seem to get the DL to function here at work. Now I don’t have it, & can’t get it. I’ve emailed Garmin & am waiting to hear. I’ll post the results here. Great site. Thanks.
Over the fastest of dial-up connections it would take about 6 days to download the entire map update… order the DVD.
what difference does the 2009 update for the pc do? i’ve downloaded the update free and not only did it update the maps on the garmin already after all the prompted instructions but also gave me a downloaded file named “mapinstall” for the pc as well. when i opened it, it asked what map region i wanted to install onto the garmin. apparently, i did not have enough free space to get all of north america and so i had all of texas installed since i live here…the thing is, i didn’t notice what feature or difference the pc “mapinstall” made when i got texas installed…what was it supposed to do?
to dave on post #125…i read you were able to update all of north america except alaska and a bit of canada. i just left a post and unsure of the program feature, didn’t it update the maps onto the garmin from the initial download? and also, do i need an sd card to install all of north america from the “mapinstall” program? my available free space on my unit gave me the limit of installing only all of texas and southern california til it reached full…need help here…thanks.
Joseph, my system crashed the first time it was in the middle of download/update of the 260. When I power cycled the 260 after the crash it said I DID NOT HAVE ANY maps on the unit. I then restarted my PC, reconnected the 260 to the USB and used the newly downloaded Mapinstall program to put maps back onto the base 260 unit. (I don’t have any SD card.)
The first time I tried Mapinstall after the crash and selected ALL of North America I didn’t notice (at least I think I didn’t notice) the Mapinstall warning that I didn’t have enough space on my 260 for all the selected maps. Mapinstall ran for a long time (45+ mins) getting the maps ready (and downloading?) to the 260 before it errored out on the not enough space message.
On my second attempt I definitely noticed the warning that I didn’t have enough space, and reduced the number of area maps to load.
When Mapinstall completed the second attempt I again had a functioning gps; and I could tell that I had the updated versions of the maps.
After the very first download/update attempt crashed, when I restarted my PC I found the Mapinstall program and used it to get the maps loaded. (I didn’t say in the first download/update attempt to start the mapinstall program. I’m making an assumption that some version of it was running automatically as part of the download process.)
So, the net is that the mapinstall program that got downloaded kinda saved me in that I could run it stand alone to put the downloaded update maps on the 260 after the automated download/update process crashed on my PC.
I think for you, you’ve probably just re-updated the 2009 Texas map.
thanks dave, i appreciate that info. i would like to get some feedback from tim about the purpose of the mapinstall pc program.
well, if anybody else is or will be having any confusion about this then let’s say for instance, your unit had downloaded and installed the 2009 map for north america WITHOUT the pc program “mapinstall”,with you knowing that the maps have been updated onto the unit already from the initial download. (i say this because that’s exactly what i did before opening the progam, i checked it and sure enough it was updated.) now you’re left thinking you’ve got the maps updated. now on the other hand, you DO HAVE the program. you’re wondering if not or if so the maps have been updated. IF NOT, THEN WHY LIMIT THE WHOLE NORTH AMERICA TO ONLY PORTIONS IN THE FREE SPACE OF THE UNIT? my only guess would be to have an sd card to accomodate the file size of the 2009 map but i’m not sure. or is it a backup like in dave’s case for example…
HELLO,
I TRIED TO DOWNLOAD THE 2009 UPGRADE. ALL WENT WELL UNTIL I RECEIVED A MESSAGE THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE SERVER. NOW IT SAYS NO UPDATE AVAILABLE. HELP!!!!
They were having a real problem with their servers this afternoon, and I got messages to the effect that they were upgrading the site. Try calling the 800 number – I be customer service will help you straighten it out.
I’m having problems getting the adhesive part of the mount to stay on my dash. I’ve heard this has been a problem for others as well. Has anyone tried a different one (ie- the beanbag one, or the 4 point friction mount)???
the bean bag mounts work great.
I love the bean bag mount. Nothing to permanently attach to the dash or windshield, or to tempt thieves, as you can just move the whole thing to the floor of the car or the trunk. Plus you can use the device in another car. It’s also great to be able to move it around on the dash to find the best place for unobstructed viewing for either the driver or a passenger. And so far, it’s not moved a bit once it’s been set in place.
I’ll echo Jeff’s comments on the bean bag mounts. I have both the Garmin bean bag w/attached arm, and the Bracketron bean bag which you attach your window suction mount to the base. Both work well, and the Bracketron can be had for less than half the price of the Garmin.
But, I think I prefer the Garmin anyway. Just for the extra piece of mind that there is no suction mount to potentially let loose… especially in the cold weather that we sometimes have here in Minnesota. (-:
I am trying to help my Dad update his 260. He insists that the only connection on the unit is a regular round plug, not a mini USB. Could that be correct?
Does the 260 work with Macs?
Susan – No, there is a mini-USB plug.
Jim – Yes.
Is there any possibility it could be counterfeit? He bought it from a reputable dealer, not on ebay, but you never know. He is an electrical engineer, so should know what he is looking at.
Susan, that seems unlikely. It is on the back, near the right edge, somewhat centered top to bottom. Here is an image:
Garmin Nuvi 200 Series Back
They just updated their website (on 5/10/08) – it took several hours before Garmin’s website was ready – and I had just purchased the Nuvi 260. Looks like whatever they did has fixed the glitches in loading the 2009 maps.
I noted there was a download available for both Windows and the MAC. I could not use their downloader – did not work, but I was able to download using the native Windows downloader.
Once the Garmin website was back up, I registered my Nuvi and discovered a free upgrade to the 2009 maps. I then started to upgrade my Nuvi. I have an extremely fast connection to the Internet. I then upgraded my Nuvi with the new maps with no problems – it took about 1 hour to download, another 1/2 hour to process, then another hour to load the map into my Nuvi. I used a mini-USB cable from my camera and connected it to my Compaq Home Basic Vista portable computer.
Tim, thanks for your help. It would have helped if my Dad actually took the GPS off the windshield mount before telling me he couldn’t find the connection
I just bought the 260 the other day and love it so far. My only issue so far is that I can’t get the car charger to work in my 2001 chavalier. I’m missing the lighter so I’m not sure if it my lighter that it broken or if this is a common problem with my make of car. It looks like the contacts on the side of the adapter may just be a little too far from the tip. Has anyone heard of other problems like this and does anyone know of any fixes that could work. i.e. other adapters that do work in my car and with the 260.
Thanks
Ryan
Ryan, does the charger work in other vehicles?
My husband’s 260 has a line running across the bottom. About a 1/4 way up. It still works but the line is there.
Does anyone know what causes this, what can be done? Thanks
I’d give Garmin support a call on that one. Sounds like a hardware issue.
What about the Garmin 660? Is that for the US also? It looks like its wider than the 260 / 200 models and it’s not really that much more expensive. I’ve not seen anyone comment on this. I am looking for a wider model but dont want to shell out another 300 bucks for it!
Hi Melanie – Here are some similar widescreen models.
I thought it might be the charger so yesterday I got another charger tried it out and it still didn’t work so I returned the new one.
I just bought the 260 and tried using it this weekend – I spelled out a couple of locations and they did not map out until I was almost in the particular city. What am I doing wrong? I tried both “Where to” and “POI” and still the only thing that appeared was the hour glass turning turning turning I am ready to return
Leslie, you would need to describe in more detail the exact steps you were taking. It doesn’t matter where you are when you lookup addresses.
First I touch “Where to” then I spell the state and then it asks “What City” I spell the city and the screen goes to Search all Cities ..I touch that and it then goes to Enter House Number which I did and then Street and then it takes me to an address in a different city than what I spelled out
Can you give an example?
I don’t want to give a specific address for obvious reasons but I put in the address number and the Street name which was King Court and the city was Boothwyn Pennsylvania. I also tried to map West Chester University in West Chester Pennsylvania and that would not come up either.
The reason you see “search all cities” is because there is no town called “Boothwyn” in Pennsylvania. Boothwyn is a CDP located within the town of Upper Chichester.
I send mail to Boothwyn – So unless I have previous knowledge the GPS would never be able to give me directions to Boothwyn, correct? Another question – why when I keyed in West Chester does it ask me for a house number – I just wanted directions to West Chester.
Correct, the GPS will only recognize official towns/cities. To go to a city center rather than an address, go to ‘Where to’ -> Cities.
Thanks for all your help – So in your opinion, I shouldn’t return my new toy?
It sounds like it is working properly, just not to your expectations, so yes.
I bought a nuvi 260 recently. Yesterday, it took over 10 minutes to acquire a signal (on three occasions) and today I shut it off after over 20 mintues after it failed to lock onto satellites. I was driving my normal route to work. The sky was clear so I dont think weatehr was an issue.
Any ideas?
Henry – Weather doesn’t impact GPS performance, so that wouldn’t be it. Follow our satellite acquisition tips and see if that helps.
Great site. I’m trying to decide between the 260w and the 760. One of the strengths reported for the 760 is the exceptionally bright screen. Can someone please confirm that the two screens are identical.
I really don’t need the bells & whistles of the 760, but I want the bright screen & possibly faster processor. Thanks.
We got a laugh out of the Voice on our 260 when traveling through Sault Ste. Marie MI, Ms. Garmin Pronounced it as “Salt Sweet Marie”
I’ve had my 260 for a month and love it. I travel, so I added Europe using the MapSource software to manage it – also works great and I even got past the ‘free’ upgrade problems. However, I will be going to Central America in a couple of months and will need to delete the European maps from the 260 so that I will have space for the Costa Rica maps. I can’t figure out how to delete the maps sets from the documentation. Any ideas? Thanks,
This is an update of my post 124, re: problems I encountered trying to download and install the 2009 North America map update for the 260. I got the disk from Garmin a couple weeks ago and finally got around to installing it yesterday. Everything went flawlessly. No computer problems, no error messages re: insufficient space for all the maps, and the entire process only took about 90 min. from start to finish. I plan on going the disk route for all subsequent map updates.
Patrick – I can’t say that the screens are identical, but the 260w screen is very bright. (Note that this page is discussing a different model, the 260.) Garmin has also changed screens mid-production on some older models making screen comparisons even more difficult, but the 260w does have a very bright screen.
Okay, so I just realized something by reading the first 120 or so posts: You don’t just use a gps to find out where you are and go from there WHILE driving- you also use it to plan trips. DUH! Since I am getting it for my daughter and she gets lost WHILE driving, I had not thoought about planning out a trip. She often goes from her college, or from our home (in a different state) or from somkeplace else. So she would need to be able to enter a starting point in order to plan a trip. Do they all, like the 260, start you from your home and you have to do a work around to start from someplace else? Thanks! It is so good to be able to “think” of these things, stimulated by the posts, BEFORE buying one!
No, the don’t all start from your current location. You can program other models to start from a different location. The Nuvi 700 series for example (see our review of the 760) offers that feature, but is much more expensive. Or, for the other Nuvi models like the 200 series you can follow our Offset Starting Locations article/tip to accomplish the task.
My 260W takes about 25 secconds to load and then another 30 seconds to get a signal lock. So about a minute total time. This is in my parked car in an open space. Is this the normal amount of time it should take?
Thanks
Henry – That isn’t uncommon.
I downloaded the latest webupdater updates for the 260W three days ago and this is what I have now:
software version: 3.40
gps sw version: 3.00s
Is there somewhere I can find out the latest firmware for a GPS? I tries this site:
http://www8.garmin.com/support/blosp.jsp
but it didn’t have the nuvi 260W.
Thanks in advance
I’m trying to decide whether to get the 260 or TT one XL-S. Which is the better GPS overall?
Darrell – They are both top performing devices. So you will likely get subjective answers based on personal preferences. The XL-S does have the advantages of a widescreen and multi-destination routing though.
Thanks for the follow-up Tim.
I am looking for a gps with the following features: USGS hiking trail maps, US Street maps, multi-waypoint planning & advanced planning, doesn’t have to be color display but text to speach would be nice. would like to have at least 5 hr battery life, and a car charger with car mounting accessories. can you suggest a unit?
Mark – No, I can’t recommend a device for that. However I can recommend two devices for that. Checkout this article including the comments, especially comment #32 I left yesterday. Though the auto GPS I recommended in that comment wouldn’t be appropriate, you would want the Nuvi 700 series for that.
Tim, I just got my 260 this afternoon from the UPS man. About 2009 maps you said: “You won’t know until you open the box.” Where in the box, or on the 260 would I find out which maps are installed? I did go to the Garmin site and put in my serial number for the 260 and it said, “no updates available.” Should I assume, then, that I have the 2009 maps? You’ve got a GREAT site here…many thanks.
Tools -> Settings -> Map -> Map Info.
Perfect! 2009
i bought the Garmin 260 last week and it came in extremely useful for a trip out of state. I really do not know what we would have done without it. Not only did it keep us on track, but it lead us to the same resturants and supermarkets that the locals told us about once we found the POI tool.
One thing that I am wondering about though is the distance to the target turns, or should I say the lag between the time that it shows the distance and the actual distance. After the 0.1 mi comes 500ft, 400ft, etc. I do not think I have ever been 500 feet from the target when the unit states 500. It is more like 150 feet and the hundreds go down every 10 feet of travel. Usually it goes from 200 feet to 40 feet at once. There were many times I was at the intersection and the unit was still at hundreds of feet. If one stops at the intersection than it shows accuracy within 45 fee most of the time. This lag though really makes the distance at the intersections fairly useless.
Is this the way that these units are or did I get a defective unit?
Thanks!
Ken, what you are describing is a fairly common complaint about Nuvi devices. It can also be induced sometimes by mapping anomalies where the road isn’t placed exactly where it should be on the map, but “lag” is a common complaint about Nuvi devices.
I have spent a lot of time investigating and I just cant find the answer: can this device (model 260) find the closest “place” automatically? I mean, if I want to find the closest “sea food restaurant”, the closest “gas station”, etc… I ask this question because on garmin web site it marks the “where am i” function NOT AVAILABLE in this model, thanx in advice for your help!
i have a garmin 260. just updated mapping software
(2008 to 2009) the map of the city i live in are
practically the same.new streets were added in my block i live more than 1-1/2 years ago. my nuvi 260 right now shows software version 4.10
and shows a check on city navigator north america 2009. Just wondering if i didn’t install it properly because several new streets around my neighborhood don’t show up.
Joe, unfortunately the time it takes new roads to be identified that they need to be mapped, the mapping company sending out people to map the area, those changes to get into the map database, then a GPS company purchasing a new cycle of maps, reformatting those maps for their devices, and sending out those updates can take a long time– years in many/most cases. The “2009″ maps are based on maps Garmin purchased from their mapping supplier in the second half of 2007 and contain the updates the mapping company had implemented as of that time.
That’s OK, Joe, as I just discovered on my first trip with the 260, they have added non-existent Points of Interest to make up for the roads that aren’t there! No kidding – it took me to a farmer’s bean field when I asked for directions to a particular gas station! Otherwise, with the exception of some interesting (not short, not fast) routing, it worked pretty well.
Tim, I’m considering a first navigator purchase. 1)Are some brands better than Garmin for having up to date or better quality maps?
2)Are some brands better at calculating the distance to a turn than the Garmin.
Thanks
Paul – (1) It really comes down to the individual neighborhood. (2) Not really– are you having trouble with it?
Tim-After I enter my Where to address can I see the entire route before I drive it? There are 2 ways to drive from my address to location in another state & I wish to see which route the Garmin would recommend
Caryll – Yes. Tap on the green bar at the top of the map showing the next instruction. That will display a list of turns as well as a ‘Show Map’ button that will show the entire route on one map page.
I have the 260w. How do I tell the unit that I want to go a different way than what it is suggesting?
For example: I live in a far western suburb of Chicago. When I travel to Milwaukee, WI it is quicker (hours traveled, not miles) for me to drive through Rockford then Beloit and then on to Milwaukee rather than having to drive through/around Chicago and deal with all of the traffic. Garmin’s route is to have me drive around Chicago which is the quickest route in terms of miles from Point A to Point B but not in terms of actual travel time due to traffic.
Is what I’m trying to do called a “via point”? If so, looks like I’d have to upgrade to a 700 series?
Thanks!
Yes, you would use a via point for that. The 260w allows you to insert one via point into the route. If you need more than one to get the route you want, you would need to either break up the route and navigate shorter segments or upgrade to the Nuvi 700 series.
Thanks Tim! I saw your article regarding adding via points. Based on my understanding from it, it looks like I have to have an address or POI to add as the via point. Is that true or can I add a city with no street address, e.g. Rockford, IL?
Thanks again, great site!!
Sorry one more question. Now that I have the unit in front of me, I tested out the via point and it sends me on the route I want it to take me however I don’t know how to save the via point into that favorite so I don’t have to add it each time. Is there a way to save a via point?
Thanks
You could add a city as a via point, however it will pick the “city center” to route you through rather than just the most efficient way through that city.
You can save a via point as a favorite, however you cannot save a destination and a via point as one single favorite.
Response to #6 post. I called Garmin on several occasions to ask questions. I specifically asked it the wide screen was actually a wider view of the area, or just a wider picture of the same picture…like a larger TV. I was told that it was a only a wider picture of the same picture. I was also told it gave a wider view of the area! I just bought the 260 based on the possibility of it not actually having a wider view. It was not that important to me. Would you clear this up for us please?
Peter – if you’re driving down the highway and enter a category of “points of interest”, it will show you a list, sorted by how close it is to you, and will also show you an arrow pointing in the general direction (ahead and to the right, behind and to the left, etc.) so you can determine whether you want to backtrack or not. I found it very helpful (for the POI’s that actually exist
… Duane
I am looking for a GPS with electronic breadrumb feature for my brother. Does the Garmin 260 offer this? If not, what do you suggest?
Peter – The “where am i?” function just tells you in plain language where you are, like “north main street between oak and pine street”. What you are referring to is known as “POI – Points of Interest” which is on the 260 and most every auto GPS.
Teresa – Can I ask how the “breadcrumb” feature would be used? That might dictate what type of device to look at.
I have a 260w purchased about 6 weeks ago.
The suction cup attachment seems to be leaking air. When I first got the unit, temps were 20F-50F and it had no problem sticking to the windshield or disc….now, everytime I get in my car I have to remount it. What’s worse is that without notice, it’ll fall off its disc when I’m driving…any ideas?
Jim, if you haven’t done so already, check out our tips on How to make GPS Suction Cup Mounts Stick.
Jim, it sounds like you might be a candidate for a bean bag mount. See the comments up around post #138.
Then you’ll be ready for that vacation in Minnesota without having to switch! (-:
The breadcrumb feature would be used for hiking or dirtbike riding in the Ocala National Forest.
Teresa, I wouldn’t use a 260 outdoors… to many big open ports for dust or moisture to get into and ruin the device. I’d suggest getting a simple handheld GPS for that type of task.
Okay- I bought the 260 for my daughter’s bday, which is on the 15th. We shall see if it helps keep her from getting lost while driving and while long-distance bicycling (she said yesterday she biked 37 miles!). I’ll let you know what happens…(some of my previous posts were in the nuvi 650 area which is where I got enough input to decide to go with the 260).
Just got a 260 delivered today. And it came with the 2009 map.
Have a questions. Is there any way to have the POIs display on hte map? For example, I have a built in toyota Nav system where if you choose gas stations from POI it displays all the nearby gas stations as I drive.
Second question, if I travel by plane and then want to use it, should I do a hard reset (holding the right bottom corner as you power on)?
Thanks
S
Sean, no there are no settings to enable POIs on the map. They become visible at higher zoom levels, but otherwise are not visible.
I would not do a hard reset when traveling, I’d just let it be.
Sylvia, that’s great! I’m sure your daughter will be thrilled with the 260. Make sure you put your address in it as one of her Favorites. That way, no matter what, she can always find her way back to “Mom’s House.”
I am traveling to Costa Rica later this month and was looking fro a response regarding post #170. Can I purchase a SD card with Costa Rica maps?
Derek,
If you get an anwser to my post (#170) please let me know! I’ve had no response.
Dave
Costa Rica:
http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mpc/#Costa%20Rica
If I buy the Nuvi 350, is there a way to get the maps of Canada, or do I have to buy the 260? This will be my first GPS system and all the reviews are making me confused! Please help me to make the right decision. Thanks.
Lisa, the Nuvi 350 (and the Nuvi 260) both come with maps of the USA and Canada– no need to purchase them separately for either model.
Thanks. But, as a first time buyer, which one would you suggest? I’m sorry, wasn’t paying attention and the USA,Canada thing vs. North America through me off. Where I can buy it, the 260 is only 30 dollars more, but it seems that the 350 has more features, just not sure I will use them…………
as a first time buyer, which one would you suggest? I’m sorry, wasn’t paying attention and the USA,Canada thing vs. North America through me off. Where I can buy it, the 260 is only 30 dollars more, but it seems that the 350 has more features, just not sure I will use them…………
The 350 has an MP3 player and can be connected to an optional traffic receiver. The 260 is a “newer” model, has a slimmer profile, and doesn’t have the flip-up antenna which is handy. If the traffic receiver and mp3 player don’t interest you, I’d go with the 260. You can compare them (as well as see current street prices) over here.
Just tried the 260 in pedestrian mode. I notice two things. There are no voice commands other than “walk to highlighted route” and arriving at destination. The distance to the intersections does not seem to work well either. Sometimes the distance goes up rather than down even though it was too high to begin with.
Is this the way this unit is supposed to work?
Thanks
Ken – Voice prompts are disabled in pedestrian mode. You are more likely to notice GPS signal error when moving slowly.
Is there any way to configure the 260 to give directions avoiding express ways
thanks
kev
Often the ’shortest route’ option may give you that– but not 100%.
I aquired a 260 as a gift. Was wondering about mapsource topo u.s. 2008. I see it is available in micro SD or DVD. The 260 has SD not micro. Should I by the DVD version and download that to an SD card in the device?
Jim – Yes, that would be the way to do it.
I was trying to do a map update and the screen is telling me to type my product key number which never came in my box..Any clue on how i get that??
The product key will come with however you got the map update. If you got the DVD then it will be on the DVD. If you downloaded the update, it was presented at the time of download. If you didn’t grab it when you downloaded, log back in to my.garmin.com and go to myMaps -> Manage Maps -> And you should find the key under the ‘Maps installed on this device’ section.
Hello All,
I have a Nuvi 260 that we got in March. It was working fine till about 3 weeks ago when all of a sudden it has been taking about 15 minutes to aquire satellites. Any clues on what is going on??? Are there any updates I shoudl log on to get??
Rob, follow our Tips for Acquiring Satellites.
Tim,
Thanks for the link, that helps. I also received another email from someone who had a Nuvi 260 who had the same problem. They told me to go on the Gamrin site and download the WebUpdater (???) for software update. Are you familiar with this???
Rob, yes, you can check for updates with the WebUpdater application:
http://www.garmin.com/products/webupdater/
After installing any updates, perform those tips linked to above.
Tim,
Thanks for all your help. I downloaded the WebUpdater and performed the tips on your site and it seems to be working faster. Thanks again for the assistance.
Two questions.
Is there a way to change the voices?
Can you download different Vehicles? Thanks
You can get additional voices through WebUpdater, vehicle icons from garmin.com/garage .
Thanks Tim. With a little playing around I was able to download different voices and vehicles. This is a great site.
Thanks Tim
Howdy!
Are the milage values listed in “recently found”, “favorites”, and “points of interest”, etc, in air miles? I have a feeling it is since they don’t seem realistic and because they don’t match the distance found once selecting the sight and hitting upper title bar and then show map.
Air miles don’t really help at all as there can be, or maybe not be, a huge discrepency when actually driving to it.
Thanks
Correct, they are all straight line distances as no route has yet been created.
Hi Tim,
I saw the comment in #125, I’m just curious. Instead of completely deleting the Canada and Alaska maps, is it possible to move it and access it from SD card?
or perhaps move the big U.S. map to an SD card and leave Canada and Alaska maps in the unit?
Thanks again.
In a normal configuration you should have enough free space to install the update for all of North America. I think you can install to an SD card, but you shouldn’t have to.
Thanks Tim, I think I found the GPS I’m looking for then. It would address the complaints I have with my Magellan 3225 and the uncertainties I have with tomtom 130s.
Hope you don’t mind I’m reposting here some parts (what’s stopping me from getting a 130s) of my #73 post under your review for tomtom 130s:
1. Do you know how many POIs comes with the 130s? I only see “millions” in other reviews, doesn’t say how many exactly. One of the reviews said, can’t find a Barnes and Noble.
——–
I assume this would not be an issue with the nuvi 260.
2. Up to how many POIs can I add before I ran out of space? estimate?
——
I assume I can use the SD card for POIs if I ever ran out of space or move the maps to an SD card to free up space in the unit.
3. There are only two things that’s stopping me from buying, first is you can’t search a restaurant by cuisine type. Sometimes when you’re in a new place, you feel like eating some specific cuisine. Is there any way to get around that?
——
Again this will be addressed by the nuvi 260, it’s got less cuisine type compared to my magellan but at least it’s got some division.
4. Second is, I’m worried that this GPS is not for long term use if you want to always have updated maps, perhaps longest is 5 years since with all the map updates, it would eventually ran out of space, no SD card slot.
—-
SD card in the nuvi 260
5. I currently have a magellan 3225, pretty happy with it, but it seems slow when recalculating when you miss a turn, takes about 12 seconds (could be the free 6 million POI update I got from the net) to give a new route from right after I get past the street I’m supposed to make a turn. How long does 130s take to recalculate? Another thing I don’t like about the 3225 is that when you miss a turn, it usually gives you longer recalculated routes but if I cancel the recalculated route and re-enter my original destination (it’s easy, I can go to previouis destinations) it would give the better/best route. This is not an issue if you know the place, just ignore 3225’s recalculated route and keep going the good route, and eventually it will recalculate and give the good route. But, I don’t always know the place and that’s why I want a GPS that will recalculate and still give me the best route, is 130s dependable in this area of recalculation?
——-
I haven’t really heard how reliable nuvi 260’s recalculation is.
There’s just one thing I don’t like about the nuvi, the price! and I would sure miss the speed limit that the tomtom 130s displays. Oh well, I think you are absolutely right, there’s no perfect GPS for everyone. I can’t find a perfect GPS but I think I found the closest to perfect.
Cheers.
What is the procedure for adding europe maps to the nuvi 260? How long does it take? CD’s better than downloading? CD’s better than SD’s?
Thanks.
You can get the maps either on SD card or DVD. The SD card is more convenient– just pop in the card and go.
I just bought the Nuvi 260 and I’m afraid to mess up the battery by only charging for the first time in my car for only 15 minute trips. I was waiting to get a wall charger. Do I need to worry about this? How long does it need to charge for (the first time) to get the best battery life.
I wouldn’t worry about it.
Hi Tim. I’ve never had a GPS unit before and I’m trying to decide between a Garmin Nuvi 260 and Tomtom One 130S. (I’m going for the Nuvi 260 over the 350 based on what I’ve read online.) The things I care most about are text-to-speech clarity, speaker volume (since it’s noisy in my car), screen brightness\clarity, and performance\responsiveness (most accurate without too much lag). Can you give me any advice? Thanks.
I think the TTS voice on the 130s is a little less robotic sounding than the Garmin, though others may disagree. The 130s speaker is much louder. The 260’s screen is a little bit brighter. Both are fairly fast in operation.
Chuck,i just went through quite an ordeal with the Tomtom One 130S.Seems that model has a lot of problems with the speaker.Can hardly hear it.I took mine back to BB and they opened 5 more units and never found one that was as loud as it should have been.They said they were sending their entire stock back until the problem is resolved.I’ve read that it is hit and miss with this problem.
BB in turn gave me a good deal on the Garmin 260.I liked a lot of the features on the Tomtom but was pretty useless since i couldn’t hear it.So far the Garmin seems to be ok.Garmin seems simpler in design/use but Tomtom mapshare is really nice feature.Garmin was a little more expensive…
Tim and Mike,
Thanks for your help. I went to BB and Fry’s and both wanted to charge a restocking fee of 15% if I wanted to return a unit. Since I wasn’t really sure which one I wanted, I would have liked the ability to retun it if I didn’t like it. Oh well. At Fry’s I played with a Tomtom 130 (because they didn’t have a 130S) and a Garmin Nuvi 255 (or maybe it was a 200). After playing with each for a few minutes, I decided that I liked the Nuvi better. The Nuvi had a noticeably brighter display and when browsing maps, I liked the way the maps looked on the Nuvi more than on the TT. I would have liked to spend more time using each of them, but there is only so much you can do with the unit when it can’t get a GPS lock indoors. I really would have liked some of the Tomtom features, like mapshare, “Where an I?”, etc, but in the end I figured that the way the maps looked and the screen quality was more important. I hope I made a good choice. The salesman told me that the Nuvi 260 was being replaced by the more expensive Nuvi 255, but I didn’t really want to pay extra for the 255. I’m probably going to order a Nuvi 260 online.
I am having to return my c340 for a warranty issue and have been offered my choice a remanufactured c340 or a new Nuvi 260. Before opting for the Nuvi, I just wanted to check and see that it could be removed from the bracket the same way as the c340. By this I mean will I be able to just snap it back into the mounting bracket or will I also have to reatach the power cord. Does the power courd plug into the bracket or GPS?
The power cord connects to the back of the GPS, not the mount.
Do they have the complete map of Canada? By that I mean restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc.?
Reply back.
Yes, it is a complete map. Keep in mind though that they don’t try to put every known POI on the device. Only about 5-20% of all known POIs will be listed.
is there a sd card with inland waters for texas-nuvi 260
My family and I are taking a long road trip from Atlanta, Georgia to Toronto, Ontario today for the first time. And for that, I decided to get a GPS, my first ever. I picked the Garmin 260W after reading this on-line forum. My initial getting-to-know experience have all been wonderfully positive. I will give my full feedback when we get back. So far, this is one amazing product.
Mark, the lakes data cards don’t appear to be compatible.
How do you download stuff to an SD card? when I try it just the Garmin file but it doesn’t show the SD card. Thanks Ken
Sorry but I had another question. Will the SD card show up when you right click on the Garmin properties? Thanks
What “stuff” are you putting on the SD card?
I am having to return my c340 for a warranty issue and have been offered my choice a remanufactured c340 or a new Nuvi 260. Before opting for the Nuvi, I just wanted to check and see that it could be removed from the bracket the same way as the c340. By this I mean will I be able to just snap it back into the mounting bracket or will I also have to reatach the power cord. Does the power courd plug into the bracket or GPS?
George – July 4th, 2008
The power cord connects to the back of the GPS, not the mount.
Tim – July 4th, 2008
TIM, THANKS FOR THE QUICK RESPONSE. HOW ABOUT THE 260W, DOES THE POWER CORD PLUG DIRECTLY INTO THE GPS OF THE SUCKSHUN BRACKET?
The 260w’s power cable also connects to the back of the device, not the mount.
Downloading other maps,pictures,icon’s. Stuff like that.
7/12/08:
I just received a Garmin 260. I am currently using a Magellan Roadmate 3000T sereis in which I reallly enjoy and I think its interface is really user friendly compared to its competitors. I travel for business quite a bit and the Magellan offers a optimazation (trip plannning)feature in which I can program up to 20 addresses(provide a trip name) and it will direct me to each nearest location to the farthest location from where I am currently at. Does the Gramin 260 or any of Garmins products provide this trip planning feature. It really is a great feature when traveling for business. Please respond.
Larry, Just so we are on the same page when it comes to terminology– the Magellan will “sort” a route while other devices might actually “optimize” the route. As you mentioned, the Magellan will sort from nearest to farthest which might not make the most efficient route possible. The most efficient route would be to “optimize” the list.
The Garmin Nuvi 700, 800, and 5000 series devices will “optimize” up to about 48 destinations in one route. The 260 doesn’t have it.
Looking at ordering a GPS tomorrow and was wondering on your thoughts between the 260w and a TT1 XL-S. I like both, but I haven’t been able to find a listing of pros and cons for both.
Stephen – You won’t find much discussion on this particular page about those two devices because this page is about the 260, not the 260w. But there is plenty of discussion about those two models elsewhere on this site.
Comments #48, 49, 58, 59 on the Garmin Nuvi 260W page.
Comments #88, 89, 90 on the TomTom ONE XL-S page.
And this entire thread:
Garmin 260 vs TomTom One XL-S
NOTE**** The Nuvi 260 does NOT come with the USB cables necessary to register the device! Be sure you already have the cables necessary or purchase them… otherwise if your device is stolen and hasn’t been registered, there is no way for Garmin to track or report it as stolen!
I found a great site for POI’s. Does my Garmin 260 accept POI’s (I think so) and does it accept sound files (mp3) to alert the POI’s. I down loaded all the rest stops in the United States and want to download an alert sound for the rest stops that someone else created. Does the G260 support mp3 playback and if so, how to I set Proximity Alerts to “ON”?
Looking at getting Garmin GPS. Is 260W worth the extra compared to 260? How about the 250W. Thought wide screen would be nice, but is it necessary…how about text-to-speech? thanks for your help
Chris – The 260 does accept custom POI files, but not custom alerts nor MP3 music.
Scott – You can read our info pages on Widescreen models and Text To Speech to see if those features are for you.
Scott, I have both the 260 and a wide screen 650. The wide screen is nice for seeing more on the sides, and the touch screen buttons are a little bigger. But, as far as navigation they are the same. If price is the final deciding point, I’d have no problem sticking with the smaller screen 260.
Now text to speech is a different matter… IMHO if you do any driving in a city larger than 2 stop lights, TTS is an absolute must! It’s really great to be able to get the street name confirmation without taking your eyes off the traffic to look at the gps.
Just got my refurbished Nuvi 260. First impressions are that the speaker is not as loud as it was on the StreetPilot 330, which this replaces, but I like the smaller size anyway.
I recently bought the 260 and used it right away, so it takes a while to gain reception. I’m thinking about resetting the device and following the guideline to acquiring satellites. Just to be safe, resetting the device won’t delete the preloaded maps will it?
A reset won’t delete the maps. However you can certainly try the steps without performing an actual reset– that might still help.
I found the 260 voice prompt for turning is too late – usually inside 100m before a turn voice prompt which led to many overshots. Also, late prompt led to many instances of not able to get into the right lane for turning. Can anyone help?
There really isn’t anything you can change about that.
Jesse,
I had the same problem on the 260 (and the 650 for that matter). My wife said the solution was to drive slower… but that aint gonna happen.
So, I had to pay a little more attention to what the gps was saying before I got the TURN NOW… RECALCULATING routine.
If the gps is going to have you do a couple of turns in quick succession, it will usually tell you on the turn before. Something like, “Turn Right, then Left.” Or, “Turn Right then bear Left.” That’s usually the clue that you best get over right away.
Listen for the street name to help pick the correct one when intersections are close. (Not always is there a street sign, or accurate, but usually.)
And when you get that first prompt that there is going to be a turn in .7 miles, maybe get over, or ready, remembering what street it said the turn was going to be on.
I can still miss some turns, but not as often. And I haven’t slowed down… yet.
We just got back from our Canada road trip. The Garmin 260W got us there and back even during heavy rainfalls. The POIs were very helpful. However, I had to return the 260W to BB. Not because it was not working well, but to get the Garmin 750 for less (another store is selling the 750 for $50 less than the 260W – so they matched that store’s price). I felt reluctant to return my unit because it was tried and tested on a 2500-mile trip. A GPS is truly a driver’s best friend. I thank you all for this very informative and helpful forum.
Just bought my 260 a few days ago and trying to download additional voices via the WebUpdater but unsuccessful (can’t find directions as to how to do this). Saw Ken’s entry (#237) – any suggestions?
Jerry, after you check for application updates, you can look for more voices in the ‘additional updates’ section.
Thanks Tim – I’ll give that a shot.
Excellent column with worthwhile user comments as well. Good moderation in preserving some of the user comments (& even repeated by some savvy users). Here’s my contribution:
1) Similar to Dave (#138, #207), I used a ‘beanbag’ mount in Minnesota (windshield/window glass mount illegal since ~2006; although I still see even cop cars with windshield mounts) in multiple cars and while traveling in Milwaukee, Edmonton – Alberta – Canada, NYC. Worked well even on sloping surfaces. Theft prevention simple since it’s easy to pick up GPS+mount and disconnect charger/lock away or leave connected/place on floor. With any mount, this also protects against high dash temperatures in summer.
2) Used C550 unit with RDS FM traffic receiver and loved the traffic info while traveling. Rerouting and advance warning of snarls/construction/etc seemed to be valuable time-savers. However, this impression changed at home around Minneapolis-St Paul as I compared the warnings to local knowledge. The I-35W bridge collapse a year ago led to major reconstruction and diversions. Most of this was shown but not on shorter segments. Say if I wanted to use part of I-35W between closed intersections – I could not get specific information; only a red segment was displayed. I did not compare this to the state DoT traffic map to check if better info was available on that website.
Overall impression (of this specific FM-based traffic service):
essential if you (A) commute through choked areas/rush-hours (7a-7p nowadays?) since you do get the accident, etc updates every now and then and don’t have to pay attention to verbal radio reports or (B) travel often to – & drive yourself in – cities where the service is available.
Unfortunately, I want the pocketable feature for walking/biking and the C550 (with “stereo” speakers – OK sound, mp3 player, bluetooth – useless if you don’t disable paired earpiece every time you get into car) is anything but.
Returned to Costco in 80 days.
All set to get the 270 until I realized here that it doesn’t have TTS. That was an essential timesaver since it offset the newbie effect of turn-update-lag as mentioned in #277. Now I’ll have to try Dave’s tips in #279 in the 260 I buy.
I have the 260W. I am using my blackberry car charger (mini-USB) to charge the unit while in the car. It charges fine; however, as soon as I plug in the charger, the screen goes to the image of the unit being plugged into the computer, and does not allow me to see the traveling instructions/map, etc. This is very inconvenient if I need to know where I am going and have a low battery because I cannot do both at once. Is this typical?
That is the expected behavior, Marian. Use the charger that came with the GPS, other chargers not designed for the Nuvi will force it into USB mode.
I’ve had that happen with my 260, too, with a charger designed for a Blackberry. I used to be able to charge my previous StreetPilot 330 with the Blackberry cable (one less cable to carry around in the car was appreciated).
I’m curious, though, if anyone has NOT had that happen when using another device’s charger. Have you been able to both charge and use your 260 with someone else’s cable plugged into it?
Hi Tim,
My Garmin 260 (fantastic device!) is set under the Navigation settings for “Faster Time”. Is this a better setting generally than “shorter distance?”
Thanks
Alan.
“better” will depend on what it is you are looking for… fastest or shortest. You can see our GPS Route Types article FMI.
On the 260W what is the difference between the North American versions with the model numbers 010-00656-30 and 010-00656-62?
I believe the only different is the type of packaging used. I think one comes in that clear plastic nearly people-proof packaging whereas the other comes in a cardboard box.
I was wondering if anyone can tell me what might be the better GPS unit. I realize that there are more features in one of them, but from a GPS standard, which would hold up better for accuracy: The Nuvi 260W or the Nuvi 650?
Virtually identical.
Tim: Based on your reply to my query yesterday (130S vs. 260), I went to Radio Shack today intent on buying the 260, only to be told that they were ordered to pull all of theie 260s due to a myriad of problems and that they were considered “obsolete” now, anyway. What’s up with that? I notice they’re still available all over the Web. Please advise…
The 260 or the 260W is obsolete and pull from shelves? I just ordered a 260W.
Vonnie, I haven’t heard anything regarding that. It hasn’t been declared discontinued by Garmin yet.
Tim,
My wife came back from a gathering here in Central Ontario, Canada, today using our new Garmin Nuvi 260. It is a 21/2 hour each way driving route.
The route both ways really took her on off road and a very different route which she has driven many times in the past 20 years.
I have read on these sites that having the “U-turns” tick in the box under “Avoidances” it can lead to problems?
Can you elaborate?
Thanks
Alan.
Alan, I can’t elaborate as I’ve never seen the U-turn problem myself.
Howdy Alan,
Do you have shortest distance or fastest route selected in options?
I find that the GPS does not always pick the same route as I do. At times it even picks a different route going back from a two way outting.
Funny thing about the avoid U turns, and I guess it makes sense considering the setting. I was up in the mountains last month and I had to go somewhere between two towns that were 23 miles apart. The road I was on only goes between these two towns with no options for any turns other than a few properties and hiking parking lots. I had a location selected between these two towns about two thirds the way between the two and I passed the stop on purpose, but the GPS stated to take a 14 miles u-turn! 7 miles to the other town, around a block, and back again. :C)
Hi Ken,
WE got back from Charleston S.Carolina last week after an 18 hour ride each way from here in Toronto and back, using the Garmin.
We just loved the unit and it was fantastic.
But when my wife used it to go to a friends place up north, 2 hours away it took her on this really odd route. We have driven this route for 20 years but she decided to use the Garmin for curiousity sake.
It took her through all these back roads and on and off main onto arterial roads…very strange.
In regards to the “u-turn” option.
We were staying in Richmond Virginia and I went to a certain location and the Garmin told me to take a “u-turn” to get to this location instead of me just taking a left hand turn into my final destination!!
Just don’t understand why.
Alan.
I am interested in the Garmin 260 and am also interested in a feature that gives you an approximate distance and travel time to your destination. I believe the 205 and 255 have this, but can’t seem to find in the specs if the 260 has this. Would you know?
Geoff – Every auto GPS will give you that.
How is the quality of the text-to-speech on the 260? I’ve read that voice on text-to-speech units aren’t as good a quality as non-text-to-speech units because non-text-to-speech units are actually recorded voice versus digital. Can you at least understand street names in TTS?
Thanks in advance.
Correct. You can understand them. Sometimes the pronunciation is a bit off… but you can almost always understand it.
Thanks for the quick response, Tim. One more question on TTS. If you have a TTS unit like the 260, does that mean you won’t get any voice prompts as to the distance (i.e. 500 ft, 200 ft, etc.). Will the voice on the 260 say the street name as well as the distance in feet, or just the street names? If it only speaks the street names, and you have to read the distance on the GPS screen, that would be more distracting than a cell phone I think.
It will still speak everything the non TTS models will speak.
hello all….after much research, got the 260 on the web for under 200.00…had it for a week and love it….found I had the right usb cable..same one a lot of digital cameras use..out of the box,
went to garmin site and downloaded communicator and web updater…if you take your time, not hard to register and unlock the maps at all.said I have the 2009 maps..found the device easily…I was able to aquire signal inside house….not much use in pedestrian mode….we put it in car
and found sattellite in 5 seconds…full 5 bars..
set it for shortest distance and it gave us shortest routes to places we knew…I like the ” go home feature ” at night , would not be without it….only thing , a gas station I can see from my home was not on the poi database..it’s been here 8 years….no big deal…still give it 5 stars…the mount works great..battery time was over 6 hrs on mine..most street names were pronounced correctly using american english jill..
will keep using and post if any problems…thanks
Gary, unlike the road database where they strive for 100% inclusion, they don’t try to fit every known POI onto each GPS. Typically 5-25% of all known POIs will be included.
Tim, I have a built in GPS unit in one car and are looking for a portable unit for the other vehicles. If we don’t like the directions our GPS gives us, we ignore them, and the unit will recalculate based on the road we chose. Will the 260 and 260w also alter it’s directions or simply turn us around to get back on it’s listed directions?
David: Yes.
David, make sure you have U-Turns checked in the Settings/Navigation/Avoidances.
Even then it might try to take you back to the old route by having you do turns around a couple blocks. (technically not a U-turn) But, be tough with it, and keep going along the route you want to go until it finally capitulates!
Or, set a Via Point along the route you want to take.
Using my Garmin map source. Can I make a route, download it to a sd card, and use it on my 200 ?
The Nuvi 200 doesn’t accept routes from MapSource.
Does Garmin have a software that will let me download any routes made by me, To my 200?
No, the 200 doesn’t accept routes, so any software that generates routes won’t be able to give the 200 anything it can use. So it isn’t a software issue so much as it is a restriction on the device itself.
What garmin would you suggest where there is advanced planing and is pocket size?
My garmin 260 will not shut off when I slide the switch to the left. Any suggestions on what I can do?
Thanks.
Dave – If by “advanced planning” you mean creating a route with a starting point different than your current location– you can do that. See our article here.
Jimmy – I’d call support if it is no longer working properly.
Dave, I think you have to get into the Nuvi 500 series to have a 3.5 inch screen with route planning capabilities. Higher than that and the units are 4.3 inches.
Guess you’d just need a bigger pocket then.
Jimmy– Are you connected to an external power source when you are trying to turn it off? If so, then this is typical behavior for the 260. If you want to power down, make sure you are disconnected from external power, then shut it off using the slider switch (or the screen menu, if it pops up.)
Les
Les, no I am not connected to any external power. It is operating on it’s own battery.
Tim — great work here. Just a quick question that I didn’t see an answer to (and perhaps because it’s so late and I’m tired).
Every now and again I need lat and long coordinates to input a location into another piece of equipment I use in one of my hobbies. I have typically used a handheld GPS for this. Can the 260 output lat/long data? Also, can the USB interface be used to get raw NMEA data into a laptop? If so, I can potentially eliminate a device that I need to carry all the time. Thanks so much!
The 260 won’t do any sort of NMEA output. I don’t recall if the 260 does this or not, but try tapping on the car icon from the map view to get your current coordinates.
I bought a 260W after reading this webpage and the reviews, questions and answers from Tim. They helped me a lot to choose this GPS.
This was my first GPS and I used it when I went to Boston (I live in Washington DC) and got around smoothly and very easily. I just love it. Since I don’t have much experience with these GPS devices, I can’t say I have anything bad to say. It worked like a charm.
I also bought it as refurbished from [snip] and I’m happy with the price. I also bought the bean bang stand as open item from [snip] at $24 which I absolutley recommend. I would’ve paid $40 but got lucky and bnought it for $24 and would certainly recommend it. I’d have had dickens of a time with the suction mounting.
Thanks for helping me make the right choice. BTW I also used the review about “refurbished” GPSs which actually brought me to this page next.
Tim,
Quick question…..I am looking to buy a gps with text to voice for my wife, who is not tech savvy at all. I am debating between the Garmin Nuvi 260 and the TomTom One 130S. The price seems to be about the same. What would your recommendation be?
Thanks!
I am trying to decide between the Garmin 255 and the Garmin 260. What are the diffrences? Is the 260 going to be obselete soon?
The 255 is compatible with optional traffic services… that is the biggest difference.
When I travel by plane, my 260W takes over 45 minutes to acquire a satellite. I saw the recommendation was not to do a hard reset, but is there something else I can do to speed up the process? 45 minutes to an hour just is not a practical solution either.
I don’t recall if this works on the 260w or not, but sometimes you can help tip the GPS off to where you are. Turn on GPS simulation mode, find your current location, and then use the ‘Set Loc’ function on that position (or somewhere nearby). Then turn the GPS back on, by turning the simulator off. That type of process helps on some devices… not certain if it applies to the Nuvi 200 series or not as i haven’t experimented.
I typed in a name of a retail store I was looking for and it was in the Garmin. The problem is the hour glass went on for SEVEN MINUTES! Is this a defect–and are others having this problem?
My Nuvi 350 just broke after a drop from my purse to a store floor. The screen no longer displays anything although it still ‘talks’. Question, is it fixable, if not should I replace it with the same Nuvi 350 or get a 260? I don’t use the MP3 or traffic, and also a little worried about durability.
Lee- I’ve heard of that issue before, but I don’t know the resolution. Although members of our Garmin Nuvi Forums might.
Alice – It would likely be more expensive to fix it than to replace it with a 260.
I am having a hard time finding an AC adaptor/charger for the Garmin Nuvi 260. Are the adaptor/chargers for the Garmin, Tom Tom and Magellean interchangable?
Here are some places where you can find a Power Adapter and some places where you can find the straight .
Is the Nuvi 260 being charged when it is connected to a PC through the USB cable?
Kim, yes.
Although it will charge much slower over USB.
Thanks just one more question, I’ve tried putting in addresses (number & street name) but a couple of times I’ve typed say for example “23″ & for some reason the unit changes this to “22″ or a number either side of what I’ve typed. Originally I thought it must have been a typo but the same thing happened when I retyped it. Has anyone else experienced this & is there a logical answer as to why it happens?
Kim, that will happen when the address range that the GPS thinks that street has doesn’t match the address you are typing in. For example if Main Street goes from house number 100 to house number 800, and you input number 900, it will type in 800 for you as the closest match.
Ok Tim Thanks, at least it will get me close to my destination.
Should the POI icons show up on the map when driving?. I’m on highest detail and they don’t show up?
I have a 260W.
No, POI icons will not show on the map while driving.
I was told that coordinates could be inputted into the 260. How is it done can, anybody help me?
Does the Garmim 750 have the same “text to voice” prompt like the Garmin 260?
Thanks.
Yes, both the 750 and 260 come with text-to-speech.
does this unit come with the commercial truck route?
Depends what type of commercial routes you are trying to make. It doesn’t know things about weight or height restrictions for example.
no just wanted to no if it knows like commercial highways onstead of parkways.. which units have this option
Tim: please provide more info about the pedestrian mode. How useful is it? How many steps do I have to take in order for me to see if I am walking in the right direction?
Frank, I think that feature has been removed from most Nuvi models as the data just didn’t seem to be good enough to support it.
Chris – the feature is very useful if you need directions walking around a city. You probably only need to walk 20 feet or so for it to show the direction.
I’m buying a GPS for my 66 yr. old mom. She needs something nice, but pretty basic and easy to use. TTS is a must. I have a garmin (streetpilot340) which I’ve been happy with. I’m thinking of either the Nuvi260 or 260W for her. I’ve read all your posts on both units. Is the only difference between them the wider screen? I’m thinking the wider screen might be helpful for her to see it better. What do you think between the two?
Yes, that is the only significant difference. I agree, go for the widescreen.
Dawn,
Another plus for the wide screen is that the buttons are a bit larger. Makes it easier to enter letters and numbers.
Hi – I bought a Nuvi 260 recently and it works really well, however i find it does not give much advanced notices for turns. It tells you about 50 metres before the turn which is not nearly enough time. Any other gps i have used will tell you “turn left in 500 metres/feet”.
any idea?
thanks
Ryan, there really are not any settings you can change to impact that– if that is what you mean.
My nuvi 260 gives notices usually around 0.6 – 0.8 mile and as you get closer it goes as low as 0.2 – 0.3 miles. never at 50 meters
GREAT GPS. i have been through a mio and a tomtom. i despised the mio. horrible. LOVED the TomTom but it was more curved to the european side then the american side. loved the mapshare with tomtom as well. Returned it for undisclosed reasons. Bought a Garmin Nuvi 260 online, received it and bam! it worked like a charm. i live in a real remote part of North Carolina right outside of Charlotte and work for an ambulance service, so i really needed one. So naturally its going to be out of date with a new street and buisness being added everyday to my area. No Worries! you can custom make or upload your POI with a variety of websites for FREE. Garmin is a great product. only two downfalls: 1. you cant update your map like tomtom and mapshare (which is free). you can purchase a yearly update from garmin for around $70.00, eh… it may be worth it. 2. the Text-to-Speech feature is GREAT but the voices are too bland and often have trouble saying roads (example: left on Ballantyne Commons, pronounced bal-an-tine, garmin prounces it as bal-en-teen) no biggie, nothing is ever perfect, plus i am a perfectionist when it comes to my gadgets! but this really hit the spot when it comes to GPS. exactly what i wanted and more. love it. please spend the extra to get the garmin. you will not regret it!
update on my above comment… its does take a while to acquire sattellite reception when your first turn on the unit after not using it for a while. let it be. it makes up for it when it has to recalculate. super fast.
I found out I qualified for the map update on my Nuvi 260 and all seemed to go well until the screen gave me a choice to give the software full or partial access to my computer. I selected partial and that’s when I got a message that said it couldn’t do the update because of the restrictions. When I went back to give total access, Garmin now says that their records show that update has been made. Is there a fix for this or do I have to contact Garmin directly about this? I’m open to all suggestions. I’m working on a Mac.
Core you said: “you can custom make or upload your POI with a variety of websites for FREE.”
Which website(s)? can you provide a link? thanks
Hi, If the 255 and the 260 were the same price, which one would you buy?
255
Tim, why pick a 255 instead of a 260?
Thanks.
Sorry Tim, got the answers from the previous days. Thanks though.
Jay, because of the next turn arrow and traffic compatibility.
The 260 has a next turn arrow! and traffic compatibility is so over rated. its not even legal in some areas yet. a 260 is a Great GPS. do your research before posting on here.
Cory, the original shipping 260 does not have the next turn arrow. Some of the newer models coming off the production line do. Traffic “not legal” in some areas? Tell me where– I’d love to hear where it is illegal to receive traffic reports.
From what I can see the 260 only announces turns when you are “there”, doesn’t give you voice prompts for advance notice of how far ahead the turn/exit you want will be, unless you touch the distance icon in bottom RH corner of screen. Have I not accessed something correctly because our Garmin 650 does this handsfree? We actually returned it to the store because for a new driver this is a great feature that appears to be missing but are now wondering if we missed accessing it?
Patty – it should alert you about 1/2 mile before the turn and then again about 200-500 feet before the turn depending on the length of the segment and the road speed.
does the 260 have the “where am I? emergency locator”
I have found this site extremely helpful. I’m a new user. I agree that the voice prompts are at the last minute however the distance to the next “event” appears on the bottom at the right, works great when you have a passenger, the driver can concentrate on driving and not worry about navigating. My question is I would like to change the speaker’s voice, can you please advise me on how to do this. Thanks
Roger, go to Settings, Language, Voice to change. Remember that you have to pick one that has “(TTS)” if you want the unit to speak the street names.
what’s the difference between 260c and 260cc?
Carl – Officially, no. However some users are reporting it does appear on some of the newer production runs.
Roger – There are a couple of extras you can download through the Additional Updates section of the WebUpdater application.
Xi – Typically a suffix like that simply denotes a difference in packaging style… Some come in a plastic container while others might come in a cardboard box.
When I am looking at any navigator literature how can I tell if I can feed in coordinates as well as addresses?
Tim, I want to get the cheapest unit I can that works well and simply and has TTS and street names as a gift for my senior brother in law. I love my street pilot c304 and see that it is still available online. The more I read, the more confused I get. I do not live in a town, just a CDP and “Gracie” (my gps’ nickname) finds addresses well, although not my own home address. I guess old roads have been renamed and some roads that are no longer available are still listed. No big deal. Help me make a decision, PLEASE!!!!
Judi – This Nuvi 260 is likely your best bet. See prices on the top half of this page.
What about factory refurbished?
See Refurbished GPS Devices.
I used a Mio before and the thing does more harm than help. There was only one feature about the Mio that I liked, it would display the itinerary of your trip and allows you to select which roads to avoid. Does the garmin 260 have this option?
Please can you tell me what is the utility of CAPTURE D’ECRAN and what can we do with this operation. Please answer me. Thank you.
Bernard, my french isn’t that good, but the Screen Shot function when enabled from: Settings -> Display -> Screen Shot -> Enable allows you to save any image that is displayed on the gps.
A little window with a camera symbol is displayed. Touch the camera on any screen and it will capture the image as a bitmap file (*.bmp) in the /Garmin/scrn folder on the gps.
What you do with it after that is up to you. e.g. You could hook your gps up to your pc via usb and download the bitmap into an email to show someone where you were.
voice prompt for turning is too late – usually inside 100m .. can this be correct?
Leon,
No, there isn’t any settings that you can tweak to change when the turn prompts occur. The topic was discussed around entry #277 above.
Can you look at the serial numbers or something to see if a recently purchased 260w has the “Where am I?” feature? If so, anybody know the difference?
I know garmin offers a GPS for Harley Davidson with their locations programed in. Is there a way of buying this information on a SD card for my Garmin 260?
NEED help please! Just bought brand new 260W that is loaded with 255 software. Installed web updater twice, no additional updates available. My audio version is only 1.0 !! Only total of 8 English (American, Brittish and Australian) voices. (I would like more options). Sounds VERY “tinny”. Will having a higher audio version help? Why do I only have a 1.0 and is it possible to get this updated even though I’ve done webupdater 3 times now (and looked under additional-no additional’s available). Should I return this because audio is only 1.0? It’s the lowest I’ve seen on many boards. Thank you!!!
Software-4.6
GPS SW Version-2.55b
Audio Version-1.0
Thank you so much!
I purchased the Nuvi 260 and love it except it tends to take me on city streets instead of using expressways. I can’t find an option in the menu to utilize expressways more. Is there a way to do this?
Not really… just check to make sure you don’t have some strange avoidances set (like highways). Otherwise it is taking you over what it thinks is the best route.
If my memory serves me correctly my 250 has two options for selecting the route, quickest and shortest. It sounds like you might have shortest selected
Recently I bought Nuvi 260 but is not giving me the street name in the text to speech feature. It still says “In 50 ft turn left” instead of saying “in 50ft turn left on Maple Avenue”.
Do I need to do some setting?
See : Enable Text-to-Speech: TomTom or Garmin.
Tim,
Thanks a lot!
It helped and now I am able to use TTS feature with street name.
In Garmin Nuvi 260 – is there a way to see the complete calculated route (after entering the destination address) before actually starting travelling?
Two ways to do this. One would be to touch the top green bar. You will get a window that you can scroll through to see all of the route. You can also select view map from this screen and it will show you a map that has the entire route in screen. You can zoom in if you care to. On the map it also shows you time for the entire route.
You can also hit the box on the lower right and it will show you a smaller map with the routes turns on the right. You can also scroll through all the route in this box.
Thanks Ken! It hepled.
I just purchased a nuvi 260, I have a two issues.
First, when I installed the Garmin Communicator Plugin and went to the test page, the message stated, The Communicator plugin is not detected.
Secondly, I’ve done something I should not of done, when I power up my nuvi 260, the following message appears,
No detailed maps found that support routing. The nuvi cannot be used wihtout them
Did you try rebooting the computer after installing the plugin? Was your browser turned off when you installed the pluging? If you go to tools -> settings -> map -> map info (or thereabouts… going from memory) is the map listed and checked?
Just got a garmin 260 does garmin have computer software like TomTom home?
Garmin does have software called WebUpdater for updating the application on the device, but it doesn’t offer as many of the other supplemental features that TomTom HOME does like backups, map updates, user shared POIs, subscription services, etc.
We were at the store today and the Garmin 260 (model number was verified on the bottom of the unit) on display had a microSD card slot. I thought that all of the Garmin 260’s had the regular SD card slot. Will there be a difference in the software package that is in these units?
Tim:
I purchased a Nuvi 260 and was able to register my product and also successfully download webupdater, however, when I try to use webupdater it tells me “device not found”.
Please help. Garmin is closed today and tommorrow. Thank you.
I like to take days off too.
I’m not sure what to tell you. Garmin support is your best option with questions like that, or our Nuvi Forums.
Tim: I spoke with Garmin customer service. All I needed to do was plug it to a port on the back of the PC and it worked perfectly. The customer support lady said sometimes it works on the ports on the front and sometimes it doesn’t so you have to use the port on the back. I had it plugged to the ports on the front initially and that didnt work for me.
FYI in case others experience the same problem.
I’ve a nuvi260 and would like to buy a additional sd card with europe navigator. The question is where to buy, is possible by internet (cause i live in brazil)
thanks
Ricardo,
how did you get the maps for Brazil? I am going back to live there and would like to update my nuv260 with maps from S. Paulo and Salvador.
Every once in a while, I stumble on a screen that has information that I’d love to know how to call up, like elevation of my current position along with latitude and longitude. (The coordinates screen does not give it, just lat-long.) Is there some “secret manual” that tells how to get neat stuff?
Also, sometimes the regular screen information changes, such as replacing the normal ETA and distance to next turn on the lower corner and replacing them with speed and direction. I’d like to know how to control that.
You get to the elevation and coordinate screen by touching the vehicle icon on the screen.
The info on the bottom of the screen changes depending on the mode you are in. If you have a route set it will tell you the ETA and distance to the next turn. If you just have it in map mode, with no destination selected, it will show you your MPH. In this mode the top bar also shows you the closest intersecting roads’ name. I use this feature at times.
If I know the latitude and longitude of a place that I want to go can I enter these coordinates in the 260 GPS and have it direct me to that location
Tim, I have the USB cable to upload maps etc to my 260. Having difficulty, I get a message to close all sites and retry. I have downloaded webupdater. the wait for support is about 20 minutes, not at home now and am using a cell phone and would use up lots of minutes waiting. Can you help? By the way, really like the bean bag and and more importantly this unit saved us from getting lost many times.
I have a 260W and I’m trying to use it to see my tracks sometimes when I make mistakes, etc. Is there any feature on this unit that does this, or is there an accessary? If not, what product could you reccommend?
I just talked to GARMIN and they say that when you register your unit it will tell you if you have the lastest ver. of the map system.If you do not ,you have 60 days to download FREE the lastest ver. of the map.Hope he is right.
He is right.
Can the 260 be connected to a Laptop and show maps and destination through the laptop?
can i use the 260 to navigate cross country (like taking a hike)
This thing is a bad joke.
It pronounces 14 St as 14 Saint
Southland Dr (drive) as Southland Doctor
It’s going back tomorrow.
No, don’t send it back. Try updating to latest firmware and map. After that find Turboccc in the nuvi forum. He has programs to change st to street and dr to drive. It is called speech doctor, he also has a program to change \recalculating\ to \whatever you want her to say\. Here is the link to his post:
http://forums.gpsreview.net/viewtopic.php?t=7824
Does anyone know if this GPS supports SDHC (SD High Capacity) card type? Thanks,
I have purchased the map update and have delted everything that I possibly can but it is still coming up with the message of not enough space. Any suggestions?
David,
I got that response when I tried to update my maps recently. I discovered that there was not enough space on my laptop hard drive! I never suspected that I was running our of room, but I was. After deleting a number of DVD files, the update was done in just a few minutes.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Once I freed up space, it worked perfectly.
Go in to the Garmin web site and they address that problem.What you have to do is go into the voices and delete ones you will not use and that will free up space.
How do you erase the fact. pictures??
I own a 260W Nuvi but cannot figure out how to view the coordinates of a favorite location. This must be possible, otherwise how can I communicate the location of a favorite to someone.
Any ideas?
thanks Scott
Touch the vehicle icon on the touch screen. This will bring up a screen that shows lat, long, and elevation for your location at the time you pushed the vehicle. It will not change as you drive. The elevation is not the most accurate.
Oh… I am not sure if it is possible to get the coordinates from saved locations on your GPS. I am just a reader here at the site. It would be interesting to find out how if possible.
Our forums have a few threads on how to do that:
Coordinates – Garmin Nuvi Forums
Extracting Coordinates After the Fact
Calling up coordinates from my nuvi 750 favorites
I have a Garmin Nuvi 350 that has spotty voice prompts that have just about gone away completely. I tried resetting the device (per Garmin support’s suggestion) and re-downloading the software from Web Updater, and I still get sound only for a few seconds before it disappears. Do you have any suggestions for restoring (and keeping) the voice prompts? I’d like to hold on the this unit which is only about 18 months old.
Thanks!
Are all usb outlet plugs that fit the nuvi 260 going to be the same voltage? I just bought a replacement Motorola bluetooth earpiece and it came with a charger that fits the 260.
They won’t all be the same, no. Many third party chargers will put the GPS into USB Mode.
I just got my Nuvi 260, charged it, and opened it. It took 2 minutes to get signal.(4bars and later 5) When I am getting familar with all the buttons on the screen after I just opened it. I accidentally pressed “X” besides “STOP” at the bottom left. What are the two buttons and how can I get them back?
If I properly understand what you are describing, those two buttons only appear when a destination/active route has been set.
(Australia)I recently purchased the nuvi260 and am having a lot of difficulty with the unit and am at the point of returning as faulty – problematic. It has maps from ‘09.
1)Satellite reception up to 20 minutes upon start up, then dropping out as well during journey (no clouds buildings etc).
2) routed down old(more than a year old) dead-end streets.
3) routed through no-right turns
4) it uses whereis maps/ I tried the same journeys through http://www.whereis.com and it did not make the mistakes of (2) and (3)
5) I used webupdater from Garmin and still no luck, are there any more options left or should I go back to the retailer and try navman or tomtom ?? Thanks.
Sounds like the maps on your device are older than the maps on the website if they are from the same vendor. Keep in mind that maps labeled on a device as “2009″ were often released to the public in the year 2008 and those typically came from the map supplier of the GPS company in 2007.
So, I was told by the retailer they are ‘09 maps, I use the map about page on the device and it reports ‘09, how can I possibly tell the real version of maps that are installed, and there is still the major issue of satellite reception?
The “name” of the map probably is “09″. And the map you have might be the most recent made available. But generally there is a “lag” time of between 6 months and 2+ years between a release from the mapping company, to the GPS company purchasing an update from the mapping company, to them converting it to their device format, to that map being released on newly manufactured devices, to the new maps getting into your device.
browsing the above comments, I need the browser plugin from garmin to do a map update.
I just purchased the 260W and like it a lot. I have 3 questions. 1) Can other voices be purchased that will speak the street names. Only the American English has a “name” and I wanted to use the British one. 2) Are there non-city maps for Pennsylvania available? I downloaded the City Navigator® NT for North America and it accurately reflects the streets in Philadelphia. However, when travelling around the towns near my vacation home in the Poconos, many of the roads are missing. We were driving around Lake Harmony (an older community in ) and it looked like were were driving through a large tract of undeveloped land. 3) Is there a source that provides more up-to-date Points of Interest? In Philadelphia, the points of interest appear to be years old. It couldn’t find the Target near my home that was built about 5 years ago. Thanks!
I hope you didn’t purchase any additional maps because your device came pre-loaded with the map type you said you downloaded. There are no maps that Garmin offers that are any more “detailed” nor for “cities” versus what came on your device. There are occasionally map updates offered, but of the same detail level.
You will find wherever you go that there are mapping errors with misnamed streets or missing streets. The same goes with POIs. It often takes many years for changes in the real world to make it into GPS maps. Also keep in mind that with POIs, not every known POI will be in your GPS. Manufacturers typically only include about 5-25% of all known POIs in their devices so you can expect that about 75% of all business will not be included.
1. You want to pick a voice file that has (TTS) at the end of the file name. Go to Settings, Locale, Voice Language to scroll down and select one.
2. You might have to zoom down farther when viewing your map screen. The wider the area shown on the screen, the less detail given on smaller roads. Maybe make sure your Map Detail setting is set to Most.
i have a 260 200 series garmin nuvi..it is over a year old… twhen i turn it on the screen lights up with the garmin name and below it says loading maps..then it turns off..i tried charging it in the car and that does not work..your tech support team tol me to charge it on my computer for 5 hours, will this work??itf not what do i do now…
I have the Garmin Nuvi 260 and it has been working fine for a year, but all of a sudden whenever we plug it in with the car charger that came with it, it goes into USB mode and we can’t view the maps. I’ve tried my digital camera USB cord which fit the port, but my computer wouldn’t read it. I also purchased a brand new cord that is compatible with this model, but my computer still won’t read it. I don’t know what to do!!! My operating system is Windows XP. Can anybody tell me how I can fix this? Thank you in advance for your help.
We have an article for troubleshooting why a GPS goes into USB Mode. The most common reason is not using a Garmin USB cable. While there are other brands of USB to mini USB cables, they are not all identically designed.
Why is the Nuvi 260W discontinued? Is there something wrong with it? I just bought it yesterday and just registered my product and found that it’s discontinued.
All models get “discontinued” after about a year or so as new models are introduced that take their place. Garmin has many dozen Nuvi models so they can’t produce 60 models at a time.
I just dropped my nuvi 260w as I was mounting it on my dash. The screen shattered and now some of the controls wont work. Are repairs an option, or d I need to just buy a new one? This is depressing. It really didn’t fall hard.
Wow. Cancel my request for help. Garmin has decided to send me a new (referbished) unit free of charge.
Amazing customer support. Thank your Garmin.
I NEVER RECEIVED A REPLY FROM, WHERE CAN I PURCHASE A USB FOR MY LAP TOP TO CONECT THE GARMIN 260, 200 SERIES TO MY LAP TOP ??? CAN I SELL MY GARMIN BACK TO YOU????I HAVE NO RECEIPT OR ANYTHING FOR MY GARMIN .. THERE IS NO SERIAL NO ON IT… HOW DO I REGISTER MY GARMIN WHEN I HAVE NOTHING TO GO BY. I CAN’T REGISTER WITHOUT THE SERIAL NO…I HAVE NOTHING TO GO BY ??? I JUST PURCHASED ANOTHER 260, 200 SERIES AND THAT ONE HAS A SERIAL NO ON THE BOTTOM OF IT… MY OLD ONE IS OVER A YEAR OLD.. CAN ANYONE HELP ME..ANDREW
Andrew, those questions should probably be asked of Garmin.
will garmin buy back my garmin 260-200 series ??? i have no proof of purchase or serial no to go by andrew
Buy it back in the condition you describe… my guess would be, No.
But, from your previous posts I’m having a hard time understanding if the gps works at all. When you plug it into the car, AND LEAVE IT PLUGGED IN when you turn it on, does it work? It might be that the battery is just worn out and won’t hold a charge. If that’s the case, I’d suggest just using it while plugged into the car’s power port.
Can you charge the nuvi 260 with the usb cable using my pc??
Yep… but not as fast as using your vehicle or and A/C charger.
How do you download pictures and is there more than one way to do it ??
I just bought my Nüvi 260 a few days ago and was curious what version software is the latest/most up to date? In other words, I have 4.10 and was hoping for the free map upgrade.
can this unit be updated with the new truck mapping
Hi, am looking into the 260 but I would like to know if it is bluetooth. I thought I read somewhere that it was but can’t seem to find it now.
carol
Hi! I am writing from India, we bought Garmin NUV 260 a year back from US. now we are india, so can we change the Maps for india , if yes how can we go out about this?
Hi
I just bought a 260W from [deleted] yesterday. Can anyone please let me know if there are any difference in feature compare to 255 (3.5) model. I cant find the speed limit which is available on the 255 and not on the 260W. Another feature that is available on the 255 (3.5) model is that each time you key in a new location, on the bottom right screen where it show you the arrival time, it will also show you the total distance to your location but this feature in not available on the 260W.
Can you please explain.
how can I know if I buy the 260 new or refurbished that I can get the updated maps with out paying forthem. I have read some reviews where the unit did not have the latest maps installed and it cost 70$ to gett ye update which did not come with the unit.
thanks
ed
Don’t worry about buying a refurbished unit. I bought one a month ago and Garmin covers EVERYTHING! I had a problem with the unit’s registered owner, but when I sent them the info., everything was Fine, Including the FREE update. It’s nice to know they are worried about THEFT as I am. Great company to do work with!
Tim, this is probabaly a dumb question but I am lost. We just purchased our nuvi 260. We got it charged, turned it on, the word Garmin comes up in English but everything else looks like it is in Russian. Why is this? Do I have to register it first? Thanks for you help.
Jan
That is okay, Tim. I finally got it figured out. I had acquired the satelites before the 20 minutes was up, let it set another 30, it was still in Cairo. I uploaded the software update for it and registered it. Then, hit thge rest button. I assume the reset button did it.
Thanks for all you do. A great site.
I purchased a Garmin Nuvi 260 in April 2008 and it was not able to read a lot of the newer highways near us. By newer I mean roads about 3 years old. I called Garmin right after getting it to make sure it had the latest maps and was told yes. When you turn it on it says Garmin 2006 on the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately I think I need to buy the updates and now realize I must get a mini USB cable to download from my computer. Is this true and does it have to be a Garmin one? Where can I find this cheaply? I also have a MAC and hope it will download the updates with no problem. Is it worth buying a mini USB cable and the updates or just look for a new GPS?
You can use any USB cable with a mini connector. I use one from my camera. To check the level of map you have installed go to the Settings, Map, Map Info page on the unit. It will tell you the year release of the map you have installed. Note that the latest release has a date the is 1 year in the future. (even though we are currently in 2009, the latest map available has a 2010 date on it… not too confusing, huh.
Also, it can take 3 or more years to get the road changes in the map releases. It was 3 years before MAJOR highway changes in my area showed up in a release. No guarantees.
Many non Garmin USB to mini-USB cables will work, however there are a few that might not. YEs, it is required to get the cable to perform the updates. It will work fine with a Mac.
I have tried off and on to get the latest download of maps since I registered my Garmin. Today the 6th of June is my last date. I can I extend this? It doesn’t seem to work with my laptop and I need extra time so I can try another computer. I seem to get the down load but none of the next commands for installing happen. Have saved it twice and then that is it and it takes a couple of hours to load. And I have the same problem Dave had, my address doens’t even register and neither do most of the streets in my communiity and it keeps wanting me to turn onto highway ramps that no longer exist. It also takes me long ways to get places. Help, please.
I finally got around to opening up and installing my Nuvi 260 (a christmas present) and I like it fine, except…….
I keep it plugged in at all times in the car, and I drive a Toyota – which, as you may know, does NOT support the charging ports unless the engine is on.
My problem is that every time I start the car, the Unit turns on, even if it was off when the car was stopped and parked.
Is that a feature that can be disabled? It’s annoying to have to shut it off every time I start the car – or does it have something to do with the messge that there are newer maps available?
Thanks – I read all these posts and no one else mentioned this problem…………
Barbara, no– as far as I know you can’t disable the auto-on function.
Thanks to everyone who helped me figure out the mini USB cable solution. I have finally found a cord from my daughters camera that will work, but now I have some questions about the new updates.
The Garmin website has the 2010.10 City Navigator for $99.99 (Download, DVD or Micro chip installation) and I found another website that has it for $59.99 (DVD only) plus shipping. Is there a good reason to pay the higher price from Garmin? And what is this lifetime maps download I have read about. We haven’t done anything with updates since buying our Garmin Nuvi 260 in April 2008 which is why I am looking at an update now. Thanks
Deborah, provided the other website is also selling the same map version (2010) there isn’t any difference between the one on Garmin’s website and the ones at a third party website. (Provided the other site is an authorized dealer.) As to the lifetime map update product, see our GPS Map Update Costs page to see if you think it might be worth it for you.
I am make a long trip from Houston to St. Petersburg, Fl and then to jacksonville, Fl and finally to Iowa. I would like to get a GPS for my car. I am so totally confused by all of the above comments and reviews that I have read.
I would like the system to have Voice instructions that give street names along with traffic re-routes.
Can anyone give me some ideas, please.
I really appreciate your help!
Richard
richard – if i were you i would go with a garmin nuvi 260.
u can go to amazon.com and order it for a good price.
but make sure u order the one that says something like “sold and shipped by amazon.com”
i trust amazon and only amazon. and they have an absolutely fabulous return policy. yes it’ll give you street names and will re-route you if you stray from the prescribed route.
just remember, none of the gps units are perfect but i have found the 260 to be the best of the lot.
i have the 260.
Just purchased my Garmin 260. I want to be able to drive to unfamiliar cities in US and Canada and request info on “near by golf courses” When I tried out my new unit close to home, I noticed that only one of three courses was identified??? Why is that?
Most GPS devices only include a portion of all known POIs. The Garmin devices have about 6 million POIs whereas there are about 25 million POIs in the coverage area. So you can expect many locations will be “missing”.
Does ANYBODY but me get wrong directions on their Garmin Nuvi 260?? I’ve lived in this area all my life and therefore know my way around. I’ve tried numerous times to program a route to familiar places, but my Garmin goes NUTS, giving me wrong directions time after time. I at this point would NEVER go on a trip if I didn’t already know directions, depending on my gps to get me there. I’m awfully disappointed, and am wondering what options I have. I bought my reconditioned Garmin on e-bay.
Mary, IMO the worst time to use a gps is when you know the area like the back of your hand… because you always already know the best route to a destination. I can’t really tell from your post if the “wrong directions” are taking you on a path that is not the optimal route, or the directions are actually having you end up at the wrong place. If you are ending up at the wrong spot, it might be a problem with the actual gps. Or maybe new maps would help.
But, if you just don’t like the path it picks, there isn’t much you can do (other than setting way points to force some route).
I use my gps when I don’t know the area I’m driving in to get me to a destination. It may not have taken me on the “best” route to get there, but I’m happy I got there.
I also am having problems with strange directions! It directs me to take a left onto a ramp to an autoroute that was removed and made into a right round-about in 2007. My 260 was purchased in March and I have 2009 maps but did try to do an update and that didn’t work. Also, when travelling from my area in Quebec to Ontario, the GPS always tries to go through the US even when I have added other way points to avoid it will them take me to the next crossing. How can I tell it to stay in Canada?
hi,
has anyone used of thought of using this or any other automobile gps system on a motorcycle?
i don’t need all of the features i’ve seen on the other models like waterproof and don’t want to spend the extra money on the motorcycle system.
i’m looking for a gps that will provide me with gas stations, places to eat, and other simple features.
any input would be appreciated.
thanks!
I love my garmin 260 – gives me the confidence to explore a little further from home!! Anyway my garmin gps 260 was showing “low battery” but wouldn’t charge (not by car or computer, or wall outlet either)…now I can’t even turn it on..What should I do? HELPI just bought it in March!!
Thanks
Tammy, that sounds like you have a warranty claim. I would call Garmin Support.
How do I go about getting answers to my questions? I have posted previously and get no response. How do I get my GPS to stay in Canada when I am driving in Canada? Always wants me to head south of the border and when I check the route with Google maps it is not necessarily faster just seems to use more highways therefore more traffic!
Carol, I don’t think there is a good, or any, answer to your question. I’ve never seen an option to select a particular country, state, or province avoidance on a gps. You could try to select the Highways avoidance option; but, I don’t know how well that will work out for you.
This is probably an interesting question to ask of the map making companies and Garmin… Can they provide a “Border Crossing” avoidance?
PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP ME!!!
I Have a nuvi260, early morning my gps is still working and when im going home turn my gps on, 1st thing happen is it suddenly calibrate screen appear, so I calibrate it then after that I turn it off, after few minutes I turn it on, this screen pop up saying that, \No detailed maps found that support routing, The nuvi cannot be used without them\.
PLEASE HELP!!! ASAP!!!
I had the same thing happen with my 260. Let me know if you come up with a solution.
Hello, Can anyone help me here the sound on my nuvi 260 went dead,is there anyone having this same problem PLEASE HELP!
Hi,
Can anyone tell me why my Garmin Nuvi doesnt work when i plug it in to the car charger but as soon as I unplugg it I am able to access the touch screen and maps??
Thanks
Dean
What is happening that it “doesn’t work”? Is it going into computer/USB mode? Something else? If it is thinking it is attached to your computer check out our article on troubleshooting USB mode.
No what it does when i plug it into a wall outlet or into the car it charges the unit bt does not let me use it while on charge? as soon as I unplug it I am able to access the maps?
Can routes with via points be saved in my Garmin 260?
I try to use this method to stay away from downtown traffic which the device selects. The device memory tells me about the added routes but not with the via points I have added.
No, the 260 doesn’t support saving routes.