GARMIN 010-00656-00 Nuvi 250W Widescreen Travel Assistant

Product Description:

comparison of 4.3-inch screen to 3.5-inch screen

Wider screen lets you see more of what's  around. View larger.


nüvi 250W accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.


The nüvi 250W comes preloaded with maps for U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and features an  ultra-slim design.
The widescreen version of Garmin's nüvi 250 offers a large, easy-to-read screen (4.3 inches diagonally to the nüvi 250s 3.5 inches) at an attractive price point. Like its smaller sibling, the 250W comes with preloaded maps for the continental U.S., Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada and Alaska. If all you don't need Canada and Alaska, you can get the nüvi 200W at a lower pirce.  If you want maps for Europe, you'll need to go with the smaller nüvi 270, or you can purchase a set of European maps on SD Card or CD-Rom. While it doesn't have some of the more sophisticated features of higher-end nüvis, it does, like all nüvi 200-series members, offer a rock-solid navigation experience with an easy-to-use colorful touchscreen, 6 million points of interest (POI)s, and an ultra-slim design.

See More of What's Around
The widescreen format gives you 70% more actual screen area than a 3.5-inch screen. Primarily this translates into a better view of the area through which you are driving. This is especially useful in showing you what parks, restaurants, ATM, gas stations, etc. are nearby, or in letting you know whether a detour is a good idea. Also, the device itself is larger, meaning controls on the screen are more widely spaced and somewhat easier to push.

Smart, Powerful Design
The nüvi 250W is built with a high-sensitivity WAAS-enabled GPS receiver for extreme accuracy, as well as an SD card slot for storing your media and additional navigation tools, and a USB interface for loading data. All this is wrapped up in a package that measures 4.8 x 2.9 x 0.8 inches (W x H x D) and weighs just 6.6 ounces. The nüvi display is touchscreen-enabled, making it a cinch to control the device with your fingertips. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to five hours of battery life depending on use.

Navigate with Ease
nüvi 250W comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, including a hefty POI database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. In addition, nüvi 250W accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.

Garmin's interface is a key to their success and one of the things that makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip.

Garmin's own navigation is easy to use



Custom vehicle icons

Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS. See more icon options.

Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 250W features travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and configurable vehicle icons that let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map. Optional plug-in SD cards for our line of Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nüvi for your travel needs.

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

What's in the Box
nüvi 250W, preloaded City Navigator NT for the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Canada, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, and set up and go guide.

Product Details
  • Feature:
  • Personal Travel Assistant Comes Preloaded With Maps For The United States, Canada
  • Features A Wide 4.3-Inch Sunlight Readable Color Display
  • High-Sensitivity WAAS-Enabled GPS Receiver Offers Extreme Accuracy
  • Route To Addresses,Restaurants, Hotels & More
  • Turn-By-Turn Directions & Voice Guidance
  • BatteriesIncluded: 1
  • Binding: Electronics
  • Brand: Garmin
  • EAN: 0753759072162
  • Format: CD
  • IncludesMp3Player: 1
  • IsMemorabilia: 0
  • Label: Garmin
  • LegalDisclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
  • Manufacturer: Garmin
  • Model: Nuvi 250W
  • MPN: Nuvi 250W
  • NativeResolution: 480 x 272
  • OperatingSystem: N/A
  • PackageQuantity: 1
  • Platform: Not Machine Specific
  • ProductGroup: CE
  • ProductTypeName: GPS_OR_NAVIGATION_SYSTEM
  • Publisher: Garmin
  • Studio: Garmin
  • UPC: 753759072162

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Customer Reviews

Hate Garmin!!!2008-12-01
Garmin has a policy of allowing free updates for 60 days only on this product, but there is nothing on the package to warn of this. So when I figured out that it needed updating, it was past the date. I AM REALLY MAJORLY TICKED OFF AT GARMIN! I sat on hold for 35 minutes, got cut off, sat on hold for another 15 minutes, got transferred, sat on hold for another hour and then was told there was nothing they couldn't fix it.

WARNING! LOOK FOR A DIFFERENT BRAND!
Great screen, Great Navigation2008-11-26
I've used the Garmin GPS around town and overseas and it is really good.

It doesn't have some of the more prosumer features like bluetooth or saying street names but it just works with a great screen.

The graphics are really nice and helps you get your way.
Garmin nuvi 250W GPS2008-11-12
It has a few quirks, but all in all, a very good and easy to use GPS. We recently used it on a 3700 mile trip and discovered all its peccadilloes as well as its advantages. The latter outweigh the former. An annoying feature is for some inexplicable reason the GPS will sometimes take us on circuitous detours that don't seem to make much sense. Eventually you get where you need to be but a person familiar with the area would find it a bit strange. We love Starbucks, so the points of interest feature came in handy for locating them in unfamiliar towns along our route. Even so, we occasionally got routed to a location where a Starbucks didn't exist. Just one of the mysteries of the GPS world, I guess.

Overall, I like this GPS. It doesn't have the text to speech feature which could come in handy if you're traveling alone, but you receive ample warning to make sure you turn or exit at the right places. Good product at a good price.
A Bargain Sleeper2008-11-09
I am in sales and travel thousands of miles a month. In the course of using different GPS brands I have found Garmin to be the best. I have 3 250w units and 2 260w. For the money the 260w is not worth it. Its only advantage is speaking street names which it murders the pronunciations to the point you get even more confused, for example St. George road comes out sounding like "San Orange Rone", and it gets worse. The 250w is the perfect unit. If you don't need a billion points of interest, bluetooth, live traffic updates, (BTW a separate subscription service), mp3 player, or 7" screen in your NAV unit then this is the one. It is small, lightweight, strong battery life, (about 5 hours with contrast down), and inexpensive. The screens and menus are simple clean and give the right amount of information. Even my 70 year old mom used it with no instructions and returned home without police, and if you knew my mom you would buy it simply on that merit. Out of the few thousand destinations I have travelled, the 250w only misled me about a dozen times--not bad. If you don't need maps of Canada then the 200w is even a better bargain. The next gen of NAV units coming out from Garmin have not separated the technology apart enough to justify 7 or 8 bills, (lane change gestures and posted speed limits with traffic updates and accident avoidance re-routing). I'll stick with this bargain basement 250w for a while longer.
Buy a Garmin if you want to get ripped off on map updates2008-10-31
When I purchased my 250W I was told by the retailer that map updates were free downloads from their website. As soon as I started using the product I found the maps were outdated by at least 3 years, (roads in the area that had been built 2 years hence were not listed - roundabouts that had been removed still showed up). I wasn't worried because I just figured that as soon as an update was available I would download it. I received an email from Garmin stating that an update was available. I come to find that to update your maps on a Garmin will cost you $70.00, 1/3 of the price I paid for an outdated unit. Had the retailer told me the map updates would be so expensive I would never have purchased this product. My family members have Tom-toms and recieve their map updates at no charge. Furthermore, comparing my Garmin with the Tom-Tom, I find that the Garmin takes you a roundabout way - often longer - when compared to using a Tom-Tom.
See all 154 customer reviews...

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