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.

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.

Which nüvi is Best for You?

Note: All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.

Device	Screen Size inches (W x H)	Included Maps			Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)	Multi-Point Routing	Battery life (hours)
		Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico	AK and Canada	Europe
nüvi 250w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 205	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 205w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 260w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 265T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 265WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 275T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 285WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free);		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 465T	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 755T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 760	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 765T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 775T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 780	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 785T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 850	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 855	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 885T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 1200	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1250	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1260T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1300	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1370T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1390T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1490T	4.4 x 2.5					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1690	3.81 x 2.25					NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service)		Photos			up to 4

User Reviews about GARMIN 010-00656-00 Nuvi 250W Widescreen Travel Assistant

I currently use this unit on business trips so I don't have to use the rental car companies' units. It's small enough to fit in a briefcase, yet the screen is big enough to be very visible in all conditions. The Garmin interface is the best out there in my opinion, better than the OEM equipment in most cars. I prefer it to the one in our Lexus, and my next car will come without nav, I'll use the Garmin instead.
The accessories are robust, and map updates are a lot cheaper than the ones from car manufacturers. -- Excellent portable GPS navigator

This was a present to my brother, shipping was slow, but his satisfaction was very high, thank You -- refurbished garmin 250W

This GPS is still going strong. We like it very much. The only problem we had was that sometimes it takes us on a longer route. It doesn't mention street names. It will tell you to make turns but it can be rather confusing if you're on a highway in unfamiliar territory. -- Takes longer routes sometimes

I bought it 1.5 years ago,just when I came to LA and had no idea about the city...this item is awesome,never had problems with it,went to Las Vegas with it and never had any issues...except one that have been mentioned here,it does take several minutes to connect to satellite when its not connected to the power plug...otherwise its great,has attractions, hotels,parking,shops,gas stations etc...what else you need?! -- very good item...