Garmin nüvi 295W 3.5-Inch Widescreen Wi-Fi Portable GPS Navigator

by Garmin

Product Features

• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging
• Spoken street names (e.g. "Turn right on Elm street in 500 ft.")
• Dual-orientation automatically switches between portrait and landscape view
• 3 MP camera with auto-focus
• Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity
• MP3 player with 2.5mm headphone jack/audio line-out
• 1-step navigation from contacts, e-mail, and local search results

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Product Description

Amazon.com

nüvi 295W offers a new take on an old favorite with Wi-Fi® connectivity, a 3 MP camera with auto-focus, dual orientation capability and much more.

Dual-orientation with 1-touch navigation

Get Connected
Wi-Fi connectivity on the nuvi 295W provides a full desktop web experience with an HTML browser so you can surf the web whenever and wherever you choose. Check your e-mail, including Hotmail, G-mail, AOL mail, POP3 and IMAP, and view email attachments in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and JPG. You can also search an abundance of customer-rated points of interest (POIs), such as restaurants, hotels and more, using Google™ Local Search.

Get Going
With a single tap on the dual-oriented screen, you can avoid writing down addresses and go straight to your destination. nüvi 295W offers 1-touch navigation from your e-mail, address book (with up to 5,000 contacts) and local search results. Additionally, the unique 3 MP camera geotags pictures so you can create routes to them. You can also send the picture to a friend to route to or upload to the web to auto-locate on a map.

The slim, sleek design is  ultra-portable

Get Turn-by-Turn Directions
With an intuitive interface that greets you with simple, familiar icons and a scrollable menu, nüvi 295W is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. With a quick tap on an icon or flick of the menu, you can easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with detailed City Navigator® NT street maps for the U.S. and Canada with nearly 6 million points of interest (POIs) such as stores, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, gas stations, ATMs and more, and speed limits for most major roads. cityXplorer maps are also available for your nüvi 295W. cityXplorer™ maps provide the latest detailed roads and points of interest for metropolitan areas.

Go Beyond Navigation
nüvi 295W isn't just for navigation. A quick tap provides access to the lengthy feature set, including a calculator, stop watch, calendar, check lists and more. Also included are travel tools such as a JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter and current and 5-day weather forecasts. With photo navigation, you can download pictures from Garmin Connect™ Photos and navigate to them. Garmin Locate™ automatically marks your position when you remove nüvi from your car so you'll never forget where you parked again, and nüvi 295W is compatible with the free Garmin Garage where you can download custom voices and vehicles. Enhance your travel experience with optional microSD™ cards.

Certified Frustration-Free Packaging
Amazon.com is happy to offer this item in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging, a recyclable, easy-to-open alternative to traditional packaging. Products in Frustration-Free Packaging are exactly the same--we've just streamlined the packaging. A Frustration-Free Package comes without wire ties, hard plastic "clamshell" casings, and plastic bindings. It's designed to be opened without the use of a box cutter or knife and will protect your product just as well as traditional packaging. This item ships in its own box, without the need for an additional shipping box. Learn more about Frustration-Free Packaging.

What's in the Box
nüvi 295W, preloaded City Navigator® NT for North America, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, USB cable, dashboard disc, and quick start manual

Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

Product Description

Garmin's nuvi 295W offers a new take on an old favorite with Wi-Fi connectivity, a 3 MP camera with auto-focus, dual orientation capability and much more.

Get Connected
Wi-Fi connectivity on the nuvi 295W provides a full desktop experience with an HTML browser so you can surf the web whenever and wherever you choose. Check and send e-mail, including Hotmail, G-mail, AOL mail, POP3 and IMAP, and view email attachments of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and JPG files. You can also search an abundance of customer-rated points of interest (POIs), such as restaurants, hotels and more, using Google Local Search.

Get Going
With a single tap on the dual-oriented screen, you can avoid writing down addresses and go straight to your destination. nuvi 295W offers a 1-touch navigation from your e-mail, address book and local search results. Additionally, the unique 3MP camera geotags pictures so you can create routes to them. You can also send the picture to a friend to route to or upload to the web to auto-locate on a map.

Get Turn-By-Turn Directions
With an intuitive interface that greets you with simple icons and a scrollable menu, nuvi 295W is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. With a quick tap on an icon or flick of the menu, you can easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with detailed City Navigtor NT street maps for the US and Canada with nearly 6 million points of interest (POIs) such as stores, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, gas stations, ATMs and more, and speed limits for the most major roads. cityXplorer maps are also available for your nuvi 295W. cityXplorer maps provide the latest detailed roads and points of interest for metroploitan areas.

Go Beyond Navigation
nuvi 295W isn't just for navigation. A quick tap provides access to the lengthy f

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

256 of 267 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice small GPS, but READ THIS about cityXplorer and Support June 22, 2010

By Derbydano

Update: September 17, 2010
After a few months of regular use, I still like this unit fine. My biggest problem with it is that the battery drains so fast when it's turned off. Even if I disable wi-fi and gps, it drains a full charge after one or two days of no use. The battery also takes a long time to charge compared to a phone, camera, or mp3 player.

Update: August 4, 2010
Just returned from a 1,400 mile trip thru KY, TN, NC, & SC. This GPS worked pretty good most of the time, but it can loose it's postition on the map as well as graphic details if you use the zoom, rotate, or other features while in the course of navigating. On some occassions, I'd wait for a few minutes and eventually it would correct itself. Other times I waited, but I had to power cycle the unit to get it back on course. Also, at gas stops and rest stops, it recalculated the route correctly most of the time. Sometimes I'd get off for gas and the GPS would recalculate my route in the opposite direction of the interstate that I just left! The GPS signal was always strong and satelites were always found within 30 seconds.
Regarding the Wi-Fi, it was compatible with the free Wi-Fi at the inn's where I stayed, but if it was a place where you have to pay for Wi-Fi service, this device was not compatible. This was also the case in Las Vegas.

Update: July 12, 2010
Just returned from Las Vegas. This GPS could not even pick up a satelite at all while walking the strip. Not even on the raised pedestrian bridges where I had a huge view of the sky. However, it got a great signal at The Grand Canyon (of course).

Update: July 2,2010
I dock it another star for the false advertising and poor support.
I purchased the add-on 10 dollar cityXplorer map of Las Vegas from Garmin's website. After I downloaded it, I couldn't find any evidence that it was installed. I emailed tech support to find out how I could confirm that it was installed and working. After three days of back and forth email help from their support I was convinced that I was gonna have to call. I called support, waited one hour to talk to a guy who walked me through the same process that I'd already done. He said, I'll see bus routes on my GPS when I get to Vegas. That's the upgrade?
They don't have this unit on hand to work with, and they are using support directions for other units which don't have the same menu's as the 295W. A few hours after talking to the tech, I got an email from Garmin saying that the cityXplorer maps enhanced pedestrian mode is not compatible with this model. They issued me a refund for the Las Vegas map upgrade. This is an advertised function of the GPS that does not work.

My original review:
My 3 year old Tom Tom was swiped from the car, so I was forced to shop for a replacement. This unit caught my eye right away due to the Wi Fi. I am a cheapskate prepaid phone guy, so the idea of smart phone features without the monthly charges sounded good. The family gave me this for Fathers Day and I've had two days to play with it. Here's my impression:

This device feels good. Solid and light. Responsive buttons and touchscreen. Good resolution and contrast. Navigation is simple, and within 20 minutes I had learned the layout of apps, menus and interface as well as configured the personal stuff(home address, wi fi connection, 2 email accounts, home page, and a couple of bookmarks). Very simple. No manual needed. I connected it to the computer and registered it at Garmin's website. Serial number is behind the battery pack, so write it down first. I downloaded the device update which took nearly an hour. The one-time map update refused to install. I downloaded it, went to install and the file was corrupt. tried it again. Same result. Oh well, I'll try later. I grabbed a different vehicle icon and some geotags and downloaded the pdf users manual while at the website, and then copied two albums to the device.

Web Browser - sluggish but effective. I would use it for banking, news, stocks, etc, but I wouldn't do my christmas shopping with it! The + and - zoom buttons work as good as pinching the screen (apple). Wi Fi signal is fair, but will not reach my garage 50 ft. from the router.

MP3 Player - This is a basic MP3 player that has features like repeat, shuffle, playlist, album art, etc. The internal speaker is not made for listening to music. The headphone jack is oddly not standard 3.5mm.

Apps - Nice practical assortment. All I need in a handheld really. The tools are well designed for their specific purpose. Biggest let down is that it can't import calender and contacts. That could save a lot of time! Email app is great.

Navigation - Google Local Search is a brilliant addition to this GPS. It helped me find some lesser known establishments, and provided ratings for restaurants. Satellites are found quickly when outside, but I must be near a window to get a signal if indoors. Route calculation is fast. Voice guidance is clear and surprisingly good at pronouncing tricky street names. It recalculates a wrong turn in seconds.

Mount - The windshield mount has a quick release button that detaches the GPS from the cradle, as well as the suction cup lever that makes it easy to attach/remove from the windshield. This is much nicer than the Tom Tom set up.

Overall I am very pleased with this GPS. It will be great for my basic traveling needs. I think it will be especially nice for exploring a new city pedestrian style. I think that this device will allow me to leave my laptop at home on many trips, while avoiding expensive monthly charges of an iPhone or Droid. I give it four stars because I like it a lot, but there is room for improvement (standard headphone jack, synchronized contacts and calendars, an included case or wrist strap, maps that download correctly)

217 of 226 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Replaced my 755T May 20, 2010

By Northern Traveler

Amazon Verified Purchase

Just finished my first few hours with the 295W.

Just received the 295W today to replace the 755T that was unfortunately stolen. I was thinking about waiting for the 3790T or 3760T, but needed something before that becomes available.

** UNIT DIMENSIONS / FEEL / RESPONSE **
First impressions of the 295W are pretty good. Good fit and finish, has the right heft to it to where it does not have a "toy" feel. Fit and finish is nicer than the 755T I had. All functions process more quickly than the 755T did, and the touch screen is much more responsive. On my old unit, either the processor bogged down a bit, or the screen sensitivity was not quite there, but it did not respond like the 295W does. Scrolling with the touch screen is nice both in the menus, and in map view mode.

** ROUTING / DIRECTIONS **
The routing seemed faster than the 755T. I will miss the lane assist when I travel to larger cities like L.A. and Atlanta, but for the vast amount of time, it won't be a big deal. I did purposely take some wrong turns to check the rerouting capabilities, and found that to be very quick.

That said, it did have one hiccup already. ( i.e.- when chose Lowe's from the POI list, it showed it in two different directions, same address, 5 miles apart. There is only one Lowe's in my town, and it is not a divided highway or anything).

** UPLOADS **
I have not yet updated the map. It seems strange to have JUST released the unit, and the website suggests there is an updated map set available? I am going to see if I can figure out the version, and when the last one was released. Since I can upload over 60 days from initial use, I may wait a bit.

That said, I did upload some of the extra voices and vehicles that you can get from the Garmin site. It was quick, and seems to be just fine. ( By the way, I did have the problem upload with my prior 755T that made it a brick, and I had to send back and forth with Garmin.)

** WEB / WIRELESS **
Set up with my wireless network. Security settings were easy. The auto download weather is a neat feature, but I don't see myself carrying this around every day in and out of the house the way I probably would with GarminPhone. The Google Local Search worked well though. The pre-loaded POIs were very good I thought, but there were a couple places I figured it wouldn't know, and it didn't. Connected through the web though, it found them in 5 seconds, and then they were added to the unit saved places.

** OVERALL FIRST IMPRESSION **
After being used to the larger 755T screen, this seems a little bit small. Seems like I can't just glance as quickly at it as the prior unit, but maybe that will change with some time. The spoken directions seem a little bit clearer than the 755 was The response of the unit is very good in my opinion. Not sure how much I will really use the wireless, but I can see it handy traveling when I head to the hotel and might be looking for all the food options locally that the bas POI may not have, etc....

I am headed on a couple hundred mile drive over the next weekend and will see what other opinions arise. I know it's an initial review, but at least I don't have any buyer's remorse at this point. I may still wind up with a 7300 series after those arrive, and put this in the other vehicle, but we'll see.

**As for the packaging issues mentioned by the first poster, (who may just have wanted to be the first poster, since it certainly was not a PRODUCT review), I can say that while everything did arrive in fine shape, the stuff did just kind of seem tossed in the box. I felt it actually cheapened the Garmin brand to send it this way.

101 of 109 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars great GPS w/o the phone May 20, 2010

By J. Mursuli

Amazon Verified Purchase

GPS Experience:
I have been a GPS user for over 10 years. I have owned Garmin's, Tom Toms, Magellan's, Mio, DASH, and others.

Packaging:
You get a brown box with all the Garmin pieces inside and most important it's recyclable.

Physical unit:
The 295t has a power button on the top, it also has a 2.5mm headphone jack/audio line-out on top. It has volume up and down button on the right side and well as a camera button on the right side. The left side has the USB as well as the windshield bracket connection. The nice thing is that you can connect the power directly to the bracket.

First Impression:
I just received my Nuvi 295t and I have to say that I excited about the concept of being able to connect to the Internet to surf or to find POI's. I believe that all future PND units will have some kind of wi-fi connection or a bluetooth connection through your phone. The PND companies are loosing market share to all the NAV phones that are on the market. The 3.5 inch screen is SMALL. If you like having a 4.3" screen or even a 5" inch screen you might not like this small screen. Remember this a similar size to most NAV phones on the market today.

Navigation:
It has spoken street names (e.g. "Turn right on Elm street in 500 ft."). The directions given were similar to other Garmin units. The directions were accurate. The unit displays the posted speed limit, and your current speed on the bottom right. It displays your arrival time on the bottom left. On the top of the screen it displays the next turn arrow with the street name. The "Jill" directional voice is low and tiny...it must be a small speaker.

Screen:
3.5" inches. Dual-orientation automatically switches between portrait and landscape view. The Scrolling menu option was a nice add-on.

Wi-fi(web surfing, weather, e-mail):
Web surfing: Connected to an available hot spot was fast a easy. The web pages display as full web pages. You have the option to enlarge or reduce the web pages with a (+) or (-) that displays on the screen. Loading web pages was average with some taking longer to load.
Weather: while connected via wi-fi you can check your local forecast from the main menu. You would have to use the browser to go to [...] to view radar, and maps.
E-mail: setting an e-mail account was fast and easy. Once you are connected via wi-fi you can check your email from the main menu. The email icon shows how many un-opened emails that you have in your inbox. I was able to setup 2 e-mail accounts. The screen qwerty keyboard is not the greatest but you can still input the URL's and other info.

Wi-fi (Google searches):
Once you are connected via wi-fi and you have the option to use Google Search to find POI's that were not listed in the 6 million POI database. The searches were fast and easy. Once they are found the unit can route you to your destination. You can also use 1-step navigation from contacts, e-mail, and local search results.