10. Traffic

The nuvi 265WT includes free traffic service for the life of the device. The catch? It's ad-based, which means advertisements will periodically appear while using the GPS. The good news is it's not as bad as it sounds, and the ads aren't terribly distracting or annoying. Also, I found the FM traffic data more accurate than the MSN Direct service used on some other Garmin GPS devices.

When calculating the route, the nuvi 265WT evaluates current traffic conditions and automatically optimized the route for the shortest time. If a severe traffic delay occurs on your route while driving to the destination, the nuvi 265WT automatically recalculates a new route to avoid the problem.

Figure 65: MSN Direct vs. FM TMC

The nuvi 265WT can receive traffic alerts using the included FM Traffic receiver, or via Garmin's optional MSN Direct receiver. The 265WT's included receiver provides free, ad-sponsored traffic alerts, while the optional MSN Direct receiver requires an annual subscription, or a lifetime activation fee of around $130.

Figure 66: Traffic Provider

Once the traffic receiver is connected to the 265WT, traffic service is enabled and the GPS is ready to begin receiving alerts. Note that unlike previous nuvis, the 265WT doesn't require a subscription or activation. Just connect the receiver and you're ready to go.

Figure 67: Traffic Alert Received

If a traffic alert is received that will impact the planned route, the traffic icon changes color to indicate the severity of the traffic conditions on your route:

• Green = Traffic is flowing normally
• Yellow = Traffic is slightly congested
• Red = Traffic is heavily congested or stopped

The traffic icon also displays how much time the delay has added to the trip. Non-severe traffic alerts won't cause the nuvi to find an alternate route, but you can still see how much of a delay the traffic will cause.

Tapping the traffic icon on the Map brings up the Traffic page, shown below.

Figure 68: Traffic Incident Details

The nuvi 265WT automatically attempts to avoid severe traffic when an alert is received. However, you can also manually avoid certain traffic conditions by touching Avoid on the details page for a given incident.

Figure 69: Driving Through Traffic

When driving through a traffic incident, the background color of the map changes, and the problem area appears highlighted in yellow, as shown above. This is a nice addition that visually shows how severe the traffic incident is.

Figure 70: Traffic Page

The Traffic page allows you to view traffic conditions the following ways:

• Show Traffic Map - displays traffic conditions on the map. You can manually scroll around and see all traffic incidents on the map
• Traffic Search - lists all traffic delays that have been received, sorted by distance from your current location
• Traffic on Route - displays the traffic incidents along the current planned route

Figure 71: Ad Displayed on Main Menu

Ads occasionally appeared on the Main Menu in a small, horizontal blue box across the top of the screen. They seemed to only appear once per use, when the unit was first powered on, and never appeared on the Main Menu again until the unit was powered off and on again.

Figure 72: Ad Search Results

Tapping on an ad initiates a POI search for the relevant business. In this case, tapping on the Wells Fargo ad causes the nuvi to search for nearby Wells Fargo banks.

Figure 73: Ad Displayed During POI Search

Ads can also show up during a POI search, and are contextual based on the type of POI you're searching for. For example, when searching for a hotel, the nuvi displayed an ad for Ramada hotels.

Figure 74: Ad Search Results

Touching the Ramada ad displays a list of nearby Ramada hotels.

Figure 75: Ad Coupons

On occasion, the nuvi displays coupon ads for discounts at nearby businesses. For example, while I was driving near a BP gas station, an ad for BP appeared on the map screen. Touching the ad brought up the coupon details screen, shown above. Touching the area inside the dotted line searches for nearby BP gas stations.

Figure 76: Driving to an Ad-Sponsored POI