How to create custom POI’s for your Garmin GPS [Model: Nuvi 250w]? Garmin GPS, Model: Nuvi 250w, supports custom Points of Interest. Custom POI's can provide alerts with respect to a specified speed and points, like red light cameras, school zones, etc. You can create your own custom POI's in a number of ways. Some of the most basic methods are as follows:- 1. Using MapSource --> It is easy to create POI files using MapSource. Firstly, create the file name and save it in .gpx format, i.e, GPS eXchange Format. Now, either create new way points or just cut and paste those way points that are already their in your other files. Thereafter, save this file into POI folder/directory at a location where you keep your POI file on your Pc. 2. Using EasyGPS --> Use “F2” for creating a new way point. From there fill the following fields:- “Waypoint” (This is POI name, maximum 10 characters) “Comment” (Put in address/phone number/other message) and thereafter input latitude/longitude. Other fields can be left blank, EasyGPS will automatically fill some of the fields. Lat/lon can be in any format (minutes, minutes/decimal,degree). Make selection in preferences and use WGS 84 datum. Once you have created all the POI files, save them and place in POI folder/directory on your Pc. (For downloading EasyGPS visit http://www.easygps.com) 3. Using G7ToWin --> refer http://gpsinformation.net/main/g7to-mag.htm 4. Using Microsoft Notepad--> Here you can create POI file in .csv format. First of all, create a new folder for saving your POI files. Within the main folder you may create categories. For creating a file open Notepad . Now choose “Save As.” give .csv extension to the file. Name it according to the type of POI you plan to save in it, for example, Speed, Redlight, etc. on each line, add latitude/longitude, with longitude first and in case of western coordinates, put dash as a prefix. Place a comma in between each coordinate and name. You may create more than one points by using a separate line for every POI. Examples of a basic POI one may want to route are: -117.91914,33.80909,Disneyland For speed alert: -117.91914,33.80909, Disneyland@35 (This implies 35 mph or kilometers per hour in case you use metric) 5. Using Microsoft Excel:- here also you need to enter the POI's in the same way as you did in a Notepad. Open a file and in “A” cell, enter longitude (put dash sign before longitude for West locations) and POI name (speed, if needed) in “c” cell. In “D” cell you may add comment/address/phone number. You must use a new row for every POI. Now “Save As”, and save as “CSV(Comma delimited)” format. Apart from the files created by you, the input files can be downloaded from the Internet also. With the help of POI loader, the unit can be configured to provide alert when you are within a specified distance from a point or when you are driving over a specified speed near a point. The GPS unit will also support search and navigation to locate loaded Points Of Interest (POI's).