The Value of Navigation

Author's Rating:

Pros: Traffic

Cons: Ads

The Bottom Line: 
Nothing everything is perfect, but this unit is a step toward the future of the new value.

Author's Review
With the economy in its "G.B. state" and many consumers tightening their belts, manufacturers have had to improve the value of their products.  Garmin, already a company known for making quality products, has decided to raise the bar by keeping prices where they are and adding high-end functionality.  The pinnacle of this new line of GPS devices is the Nuvi 265WT.  That gaggle of letters is not just a new form of catchy suffix, but is an acronym for two of the snazziest upgrades out there: "wide" and "traffic".  Not only can do this new Nuvi do everything the older models could do and do it well, but It displays everything in the wonderfully modern wide format and to top it all off, this model provides live traffic updates for free.  While not all the kinks have been ironed out, this is a very usable device and q good value at this price.

As with other Nuvi models, the 265 has the clean and trim look for which Garmin is well appreciated.  The unit measures approximately 5x3x1 and anyone who cares to do the math will see that this doesn't leave much room for a border around the screen (unlike some other brands in this price range and above).  The frame is black but because of the slenderness of the frame, it makes for a subtle addition to a windscreen or dashboard.

The display on this device is, as previously mentioned, widescreen.  Although widescreen does not constitute a recognized standard, this particular screen is 4.3" diagonally and if my calculations are correct, this screen is in the 16x9 aspect ratio.  With all this extra real estate, the screen is plenty spacious for all the info that you might like to see on the display while driving.  The screen itself is very bright and easily readable during the brightest light of day.  The resolution of the screen, checking in at 480x272, is more than high enough to make all text and pictures very crisp.  The only exception to this is when using the onboard picture function.  In this particular case, close-ups can lose their quality due to the pixels required.  Since this particular function of a GPS is fairly divergent from the main purpose of this device, I wouldn't hold something like that against the Nuvi.

One of the best things about Garmins in general, and certainly this model is no exception, is the quality of the design of the menu system.  Everything is polished.  All menu trees are intuitively laid out and easy to navigate for even a first-time user.  The main screen presents you with the only two options you really need: "where to" and "map".  On top of the well-designed layout, all icons are large and clear with readable labels.  Gone are the days of endlessly consulting the manual to decipher the meaning of a tiny and obscure symbol.  I imagine that at 6 months, users will only be slightly more confident operators then their day-1 counterparts.

As touchscreens become more ubiquitous across all handheld devices, the importance of their functionality becomes more integral to their use.  Unfortunately, there are some GPS units out there that sully the good name that others have garnered.  The 265WT is in the garner camp.  This is largely due to two polished features on this screen: the input method and number inclusion.  Unlike some other units that insist input be done via an ABC keyboard, this device allows you to switch between ABC and QWERTY.  Also, rather than have you switch between letter and number keyboards, the engineers are Garmin so fit to include both on the same keyboard.  Despite the extra space on the screen, the keys are still somewhat on the small side.  While this may be problematic at first, I imagine that most seasoned users will quickly become accustomed to the required area of finger pecking. 

The best part of this keyboard is how responsive it is.  Probably largely due to the faster 333MHz processor onboard, the unit is quick to interpret and display the chosen letter.  Again, gone are the days of multiple peck after seemingly failed peck only to find that you have entered "Mainnnnnnnn" street.  Inevitably this last input is corrected with a harried group of pecks at the delete key, which leads to "Ma" street.  While this manner of operation might land some other GPS devices in the garbage can, they will not be laying next to a Nuvi.

As with the rest of the design, the external controls are very simple.  This is perhaps where we find the first of very few detracting features.  While the clean external look on these devices is well appreciated, some buttons are required lest the unit lean too far in the Spartan direction.  In this case we have only a power button, an SD slot, and a USB mini port.  The only thing missing here is a way of controlling the volume.  Although the power button can be used in a pinch since it doubles as a standby button, a better way than onscreen menus would be preferred to raise and lower the volume.

One of the best parts of this device in addition to its fantastically easy operation is the inclusion of free traffic updates.  While this is not the first device to offer this service free, it is one in a very small club.  One of the few others is the Navigon 8100T.  Contrary to the Navigon method of building the price of these updates into the initial cost, Garmin builds the cost into an ongoing ad service (discussed later).  The traffic updates themselves operate over the FM frequency of the radio spectrum.  The updates are constantly broadcast in the available areas and should include all areas of traffic moving slower than normal and the reason for and nature of that slowdown.  As the data is received, pertinent areas will be addressed audibly by the navigator.

The aforementioned ads are what allow the traffic service to remain free for life.  The commercial are small onscreen ads that will display when the car ceases to move for 10 seconds.  These ads do not appear while the traffic service is turned off.  Also, if the service works well and the car never slows (or at least never stops due to traffic), the ads are displayed only at a minimum - and only add annoyance to frustration.  They can be a bit disconcerting when they do show up.  They are colorful enough that they will catch your eye when they appear, but this is generally harmless as you should not be moving when they do appear.

There are only two problems with this service in my experience: coverage and advanced notice.  The areas that this service covers are mostly major metropolitan areas as far as I can tell.  It is possible that the data is transmitted in other areas but the signal is not strong enough for the unit to pick up.  Since I live near enough to one of these major areas, this wasn't too much of a problem for me but I can imagine that this feature might prove largely useless for those in more suburban or rural areas - although, these are perhaps the very areas which do not require this service.  The other problem with the traffic receiver is the time it takes to get relevant data.  On numerous occasions, the Nuvi alerted me to the traffic that I was already in.  This may well be due to the aforementioned spotty service and as the data comes in and out, I miss the window in which it might be useful.  As traffic data becomes a more pervasive feature and coverage improves, I have no doubt that this service will become invaluable.  Until then, if you drive in a congested area, it is probably worth it to have this option, even if it doesn't save you from traffic every time.

The Garmin Nuvi 265WT is a step in the right direction for electronics manufacturers everywhere.  While not everything in this unit is perfect and not everything is included, it certainly gives you more for your money than many other units out there.  While placing ads in your car is a novel way to reduce end costs to the consumer, the intrusion of the advertising industry into every part of our lives may be undesirable for some, if not most.  Then again, this device does provide excellent ease of use, superior speed, and performs its primary service just as well as anything else on the market.  When viewed in that light and the value it can add to your driving experience is contrasted with its peccadilloes, my math says this is a great unit at a great price and adds up to a better than average buy.