Garmin Nuvi 265WT $199 A/C at Costco B&M + Bonus Case

I stopped by my local Costco. This was in-store only. I didn't see it on the web-site.

Garmin Nuvi 265WT for $229 (similar to Newegg and Amazon), but the Costco version included a case worth about $15.

Update: Was down to $219 at my local store yesterday. Coupon starts today for $20 off.

I am really struggling with buyers remorse, I bought the 780 for $199 but the lifetime traffic of the 265wt has me intrigued. Anyone care to fill in the gaps? I haven't rec'd it yet.

OK, I cancelled my 780 and bought the 265WT, I am in, I did go with Amazon to avoid the sales tax, but thanks OP.

ellisd said: OK, I cancelled my 780 and bought the 265WT, I am in, I did go with Amazon to avoid the sales tax, but thanks OP.

I had both units and kept the 265WT. Not for the traffic - although it does work pretty goon in NJ, but the oler 7xx series takes FOREVER to lock in to a satellite signal and the newer 265 series is very quick. This was a world of difference for me.

I was in Costco today looking at this and a manager for the Electronics department came over. I asked him which warranty applied: The 90 day or the one year. He quickly responded "one year."

That said, a few months ago I asked the same question about another Garmin GPS at the membership/return desk and was told 90 days. I do plan to buy this GPS, but if the return policy is an issue, you might want to try and nail someone down (and get their name).

I doubt if there is a hard and fast return policy in costco, It is all dependant on the assosiate you speak to. Usually Costco, WalMart & Staples have the best return policies ( I am more than happy if they dont charge restocking fee ). The problem with Amazon is that we have to pay for the return shipping and the hassle you have to undergo for getting RMA & etc compared to no questions asked return policy at costco.

j2eetechie said: I doubt if there is a hard and fast return policy in costco, It is all dependant on the assosiate you speak to.That is not correct. There is a posted return policy at Costco and they do honor it.

I picked this up at Costco on Sunday since I was there, to see if I liked it (if I do, I'll return and rebuy while it's on sale). I already have the 780 which I got from Amazon for the same $199.99 and am also trying to decide what to do with. Does anyone know how to view the traffic information on this? On the 780 there's a separate screen in the MSN Direct section to view it. Here, if you don't see anything, it seems like you don't know if it doesn't have a signal or if it just doesn't have any traffic alerts on your route.

I am not happy with the window mount, it is really just a cheap piece of plastic. You have to plug the power into the back of the GPS (as opposed to it attaching to the mount), which is very inconvenient if you need to plug it in because of a low battery alert, and the mini-USB plug is much more difficult to plug in than a normal round plug. I guess that's how they save money on a low priced model.

On the other hand, the voice and speaker are better than on the 780. Loading POI seems very slow, especially for something like all shopping.

Hamsterman said: To see traffic when viewing the map, you press the green circle with the car in it. The display goes black & white, with colors for the traffic.So does that mean if there's no green circle, there is no traffic signal? I guess I should go find a GPS-specific board to ask these questions.

And macosx, please stop rating all of the posts red. That is not intended to be used as your personal bookmarking system.

From the Amazon listing:

Product Description
Garmin nüvi 265WT 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Text-to-Speech, Bluetooth, and Free Traffic

What's in the Box?
nüvi 265WT, Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America (full coverage), Lifetime traffic, FM traffic receiver with vehicle power cable, Vehicle suction cup mount, USB cable, Dashboard disc, Quick start manual

But don't feel bad. You're not the first new person who has decided that after dozens of posts, they have found why the deal is broken. It's likely the MSN Direct service that you're seeing is optional.

I believe you get Navtek traffic. I am sure the information is available on the Garmin website or GPS site reviews.

I bought it for the traffic, and will return it because the Navtek traffic is crap.

The first day I got it I was stopped on a major freeway in Oakland, CA, and the device showed no problem.

Today, it claimed there was a 2 minute traffic delay on the Bay Bridge which was more like a 10 minute delay.

billrubin said: I believe you get Navtek traffic. I am sure the information is available on the Garmin website or GPS site reviews.

mogulman said: I had a Garmin 765T that I got at Best Buy a few weeks ago when they were on sale for $350. Garmin had a firmware issue on the 7x5 series units. Mine was affected.

I returned my Best Buy Unit and bought the Costco Garmin 265WT unit for $199+tax yesterday. The Costco unit does come with a case which doesn't come with other Garmin units. The 265WT from Costco does come with lifetime navteq Traffic. You can purchase other traffic options like MSN. The Costco 265WT came with 2010.10 maps.

For me the units are almost identical... Other than price.. Here are the differences I noticed (there are probably others that I don't care about):
-Car dock is nicer on the 765T, you don't have to unplug the GPS when you undock (biggest difference IMHO).
-765T has a rubberized case, 265WT doesn't. No big deal
-Graphics are slightly updated on the 765T from the 265WT (not enough to matter).
-Touch screen works better on the 265WT than the 765T
-GPS acquisition is slight faster on the 765T.
-TTS voice Samantha on the 265WT sounds better than Jill on the 765T
-Traffic reception is better on the 265WT is better. Car adapter/antenna is different on the 265WT.

Definitely worth saving $150 for me. The dock thing is the biggest issue that I could see, but I use this more for vacations or traveling for work so it didn't bother me.

The graphics on the 765T are a little nicer, but not enough that I really care.

Aren't you forgetting one of the biggest features of the 765T?
It shows which lane you should be in (and how many lanes there are) when taking the exit.

I have another broken GPS and purchased through Cosco. The return policy is excellent as they took back the previous 780 which died. I'm just trying to justify fixing under warranty the 780 or returning it to Coaco and purchasing the 265WT. I need the traffic in Houston and it worked well on the 780.

Thanks any comments here.

SM