Garmin Nuvi 265WT

Garmin Nuvi 265WT

If you're shopping for a bargain-priced GPS, searching for the previous year's models is often a good place to start. One of the current best finds is the Garmin Nuvi 265WT. While it still carries a hefty list price of $220 on the Garmin Website (as of 1/21/2011), you can generally find it online for $100 less. The 265WT is essentially a 4.3-inch widescreen version of the older Garmin 265T. It shares an otherwise identical feature set with its 3.5-inch-screen sibling. Though included in Garmin's 200 series of Nuvis aimed at entry-level buyers, the 265WT includes features often found only in midlevel or premium-priced devices. When it first shipped, Garmin broke ground by offering a built-in traffic receiver with subscription-free, advertising-supported lifetime traffic alerts. While driving, you'll occasionally get a pop-up alert for one of the advertisers, but it doesn't happen too frequently, and the ads are fairly easy to ignore. The Nuvi 265WT will evaluate a traffic alert and offer to reroute you around it for your current route. Alternatively, it will alert you to traffic on your current road if you aren't currently using the device for turn-by-turn directions.