GPS Outlet & Clearance Review • Best Price

I have only used my first GPS for 3 days, but I already enjoy the great features
(1) Free traffic – It works surprisingly well for me in east SF bay area, it accurately and promptly reports conditions of 680 and 880. Even though I use 680 and 880 every day for commuting, I am often hit by traffics on 680 and 880, but today, 265T guided me correctly. This saves me time and money – I think those global warming guys should provide rebate for FM equipped GPS!
(2) Bluetooth – Works well with my Samsung Beat. It supports address book as well. The only problem is that the Beat always ask for accepting GPS or not even though security is off. I am still trying to find a way so that Beat accepts GPS without asking for confirmation(It always works if the phone tries to connect GPS, no question asked)
(3) GPS – Response time is very good. Speaker is loud enough for me.
The only problem I had with this unit is that there is a pixel always stays as dark blue at lower left corner. But Amazon staffs have been really helpful on resolving this issue. All in all, I am very happy with this unit and Amazon service.

Update: Overall still very good GPS. But now I have two minor issues:
(1)Like other reviewers mentioned, local travel time is off because it does not take traffic light delays into account. In the case of slight traffic on highway, it often results in wrong judgment(insisting to use local roads)
(2) GPS lock time had been very good, but somehow it became slower and slower. I had to perform firmware reinstall and it locks very quick again(within 10 seconds)

Update 2:
I did not see other reviewer mentioned often, but this device supports custom POI – The most useful one for me is Red light and Speed camera – It gives a warning when your car approaches these cameras!(You can select how far to alert) I found Trapster POI file very accurate and it is free! The CSV files can be easily modified. I would purchase GPS sooner if I knew today’s GPS can support so many fancy features – Some are money saving features(It is particular useful for east bay area traveler, lots of cameras!)

Update 3: 12/10/2009
Up to 2 block inaccuracy around San Francisco Moscone center. I went to this area serveral times for meetings, this GPS never lost signals in this tough area, but it may show me on neighbour street. I suspect other GPS will have same problem because this is signal quality issue due to surrounded by tall buildings. I simply follow two rules in this situation:
A. Follow voice prompt for next turn – when it says keep left/right after turn, do keep left/right after the turn
B. The default 3D normal view shows about 3 blocks, if 2nd turn is 2 block within next turn, it will show up in the map. So after next turn, if GPS put you on wrong street or does not update map, do not panic, drive calmly, the GPS will catch up within 2 blocks. So you either know where is 2nd turn or GPS will tell you in time.
Following these two simple rules, I have not missed any turn yet.

Another suggestion is to use simple prompt for warnings. I used “Attention, Red light camera ahead” before, my colleague said it was cool the first time, but it soon became very annoying around Moscone center because there are so many camera.

I had a Garmin c320 for a few years that I was mostly happy with, but I was ready to upgrade after hearing about some of the new features. Here are the highlights that, in my opinion, make this GPS the best bang for your buck.

* Like all Garmins, the interface is designed for ease of use. My grandparents use a Garmin. However, if you are looking for customization, you might want to consider a TomTom.
* The routing engine is very good. Caveat: Be wary that the points of interest (POI) addresses may be inaccurate. If you have a specific address, enter it!
* The 265T is much quicker at getting a satellite lock when turning on than my c320. Starting from power on, usually about 10-15 seconds vs. 1-2 minutes before.
* The traffic service is free (ad-supported). Other makes and models require a subscription, which I’m not a big fan of. The ads are unobtrusive and appear only on startup and on arriving at your destination.
* Text to speech
* The new interface is much more helpful, specifically, the upcoming turn direction indicator.

The higher end Garmin features, such as lane assist, 3-D building view, mp3 player, etc. seem superfluous to me. Voice recognition would be cool, but the 855 and 885T models are very expensive. If you want a widescreen model, the 265WT is exactly the same except for a bigger screen. Still, I don’t have any problem reading the 265T’s screen and its approx. $50 cheaper.

P.S. I would highly recommend getting the Garmin Friction Mount as well. This will prevent suction cup rings on your windshield, to reduce your profile for theft.

This GPS is much more than just a GPS, I also use it as a bluetooth handsfree carkit for my BlackBerry and now my iPhone.
It’s a smaller GPS than my earlier Garmen’s with the most features.
This model comes with lifetime traffic and the only “price” is the small ads.
I also find the speed limit and my actual speed useful as this helps me to drive in the speed limit all the time.