5. Navigating With The nuvi 265WT

Figure 27: nuvi's Main Menu

Power on the nuvi 265WT and within a few seconds the Main Menu appears:

1. GPS satellite strength (Tip: touching and holding this icon brings up a more detailed satellite page)
2. Bluetooth status
3. Battery status
4. Current time (Tap to change time settings)
5. Where to? - Tap to begin entering a destination
6. View Map
7. Volume
8. Tools menu

Garmin's menu is clean, uncluttered, and easy to understand. The text is large enough to be easily read from the drivers seat.

Figure 28: nuvi 260W vs nuvi 265WT Map Screen

The nuvi 265WT brings some welcome enhancements to the map screen. An upcoming turn indicator has been added, along with speed limit information, and a more streamlined information bar. Let's take a closer look at the new map screen:

Figure 32: Map Screen

Whether navigating to a destination, or simply driving around, you'll spend most of your time with the nuvi 265WT looking at the Map Screen, shown above.

The nuvi 265WT benefits from an updated map screen design that improves on Garmin's already excellent layout. An upcoming turn indicator has been added - a most welcome addition that now displays the distance and direction of the next upcoming turn. Speed limit information is now displayed on the map (where available), the traffic alert icon has been updated, as have the zoom icons, and a slimmer information bar.

The following information is displayed on the map:

1. Upcoming Turn Indicator - Displays the distance and direction of the next turn. Touch this icon to view the Next Turn page.
2. Text Bar - Displays the current navigation instruction. Tapping on this bar opens the turn list (a list of all up-coming turns)
3. Zoom - Touch the plus or minus icon to zoom in and out on the map
4. Vehicle icon - This customizable icon represents your vehicle on the map. Tapping on the vehicle icons allows you to save your current location (even if there's not a valid street address at your location). Additional vehicle icons can also be downloaded from Garmin's website.
5. Highlighted Route - The highlighted route is "painted", or marked, in magenta color
6. Traffic - Displays traffic alerts that will impact your planned route. Touching this icon accesses the Traffic menu.
7. Speed Limit - When available, the nuvi displays the speed limit for the current road you are driving on
8. Speed - Displays your current speed. Touch this icon to view the Trip Computer
9. Menu - Tap the Menu icon to return to the Menu page
10. Arrival - Displays the estimated Arrival Time

Figure 33: Turn List

The Turn List, available by tapping on the text bar (the horizontal green bar across the top of the Map Screen), displays a list of all upcoming maneuvers. Each turn can be selected to view a more detailed view of the turn (Next Turn page, shown below).

Figure 34: Next Turn Page

The "Next Turn" page is available by tapping on the upcoming turn icon, and displays a detailed view of the next turn. This split-screen shows a 2-dimensional drawing of the turn on the left side of the screen, and a text description of the turn on the right side. Also displayed are the distance and time to the turn.

Tapping the up/down arrows in the lower-right portion of the screen cycles through the remaining turns, one at a time. Voice prompts are also announced as each turn is viewed.

Figure 35: Trip Information Screen

Tapping on the Arrival Time area (#10 in figure 32) brings up the trip information page, which displays a running counter of various statistics about the "trip", or since it was last reset.

Figure 36: Digital Elevation Maps

Shaded relief terrain maps show mountains, forests and other natural features. Topographic terrain maps are viewable when using the 2D "birds-eye" view.

Figure 37: Map Screen - Day and Night Modes

At sunset, the nuvi automatically switches from the bright daytime color profile to the darker nighttime palette.

The nighttime map retains the same layout and controls, but adjusts the brightness and colors used to be more pleasing on the eye when traveling at night.

Figure 38: Main Menu - Day and Night Modes

The nuvi 265WT automatically switches to "Nighttime" mode at sunset, darkening the screen brightness and adjusting the color scheme to better fit nighttime driving.

You can also manually force Daytime or Nighttime via the Color Mode menu.

Unfortunately, you can't create your own custom color scheme to use on the map, so you're limited to the Daytime and Nighttime modes that Garmin provides.