Product Description

GARMIN Nuvi 260W Mexico 4.3 in Auto Navigator. Garmin International is pleased to announce two new versions of the nuvi 200 and nuvi 260W affordable GPS navigators. These two new nuvis take the existing nuvi 200 and 260W and add mapping coverage for Mexico. The new products will also feature bilingual packaging in Spanish and English or Spanish only. With easy to use touch screen displays, both models can route to addresses, restaurants, hotels and more with turn by turn directions and voice guidance. nuvi 200 will say Turn right in 500 feet, while nuvi 260W will include text to speech which will prompt you to Turn right on Main Street. Both the nuvi 200 and 260W also feature voice guidance in Spanish. Nuvi 200 is the most affordable option, with mapping coverage of the lower 48 states, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Mexico. It offers five million points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs and attractions. nuvi 260W has broader map coverage it comes preloaded with City Navigator NT road maps for North America and Mexico and six million points of interest. The map data for both units is provided by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium quality mapping.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35204 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Garmin
• Model: Nuvi 260W Mexico
• Dimensions: .80" h x 2.90" w x 4.80" l, 1.00 pounds
• Native resolution: 480 x 272
• Display size: 4.3

Features

• Auto Navigation System w/Mapping Coverage of Mexico
• Turn by Turn Directions, Voice Guidance and Text to Speech
• 4.3 Inch Touch Screen Display
• Six Million Points of Interest

Customer Reviews

Mexico maps are deficient
This Garmin GPS was my choice as I live in Mexico and need a GPS for navigating in urban areas. I have had it for nine months.

1. The Mexico maps are about 85% accurate in the major cities. They attempt sometimes to send you the wrong way down one-way streets, and give confusing directions at traffic circles. Some streets do not appear on the maps, and names are sometimes misspelled. In addition, Mexican street names are often combinations of words, but the Garmin cannot determine what street you want, even for major streets. Nevertheless, in confusing Mexican cities with heavy traffic, it is an enormous help, and will deliver you close to where you want to go. In general, in major cities the Garmin GPS can get you within 2 or 3 blocks of any address, and one block of most.

2. Between the cities, the maps are far less accurate and omit some major four-lane routes (e.g., MX145). Detail falls off rapidly outside any major city. Thus, while the GPS can substitute for the Guia Roji street atlas of a major city, it cannot substitute for the Guia Roji road atlas of Mexico.

In sum, the Garmin GPS with Mexico map is worth buying for navigation in major cities, but cannot be trusted for navigation between them.

The Garmin 260W also has difficulty finding the satellites, with no obstacles, and at 20 degrees north latitude where the satellites are almost directly overhead. At times the Garmin takes 3 resets and up to 30 minutes to find the satellites. There is no predictability to this.

Perhaps a better Mexico map will be forthcoming at some point. If combined with a GPS that can find the satellites reliably, it would be a better option.

traveling in Mexico
I live outside Guadalajara. I bought this for an upcoming trip around Mexico. I recently used it on a drive to Guadalajara to see how it worked. It took us pretty much the same way I always go which pleased me. I also tried it on a short trip to a nearby city near Lake Chapala and it had me going some bizarre ways that I knew were not right. So my opinion is still out on how well it works in Mexico.

Mexico Maps
I bought this thinking it would not be able to find where I used to live in Texcoco and where my wife's parents live in a small neighborhood in Cuautitlan Izcalli both just miles outside of Mexico City. I typed in the address of my in laws' house and it found it right away - I was truly amazed. This thing will be great to get around Mexico City - if you have ever driven there you know it's hard to get to know the city and where you are. I only had a few routes memorized and had gotten lost a few times - the roadsigns arent very helpful there and the road system is confusing, so I think this is a godsend for me.

The only complaint I have is that it seems it randomly puts things in your favorites list with names like 002. I don't think I'm hitting the wrong buttons, but its kind of whacky like that.