Nuvi 500 product discussion thread

 
--
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.

Engadget Article

Here is a link to an Engadget article about the Nuvi 500/550:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/22/garmin-introduces-waterpr...

One thread

I have changed the name of this thread and have stuck it to the top of the lists so that we don't get multiple threads on this one unit.

Thanks,

Miss POI

Nuvi 500 Review

Here is a link to GPS Magazine's review of the new Nuvi 500:
http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2008/07/garmin_nuvi_500_review.ph...

Thank you for the

Thank you for the heads-up.
Jim

The new 500 seems cool, but is missing some key features

I think the big one is that it does not speak street names. I like a lot of the other features though. $499. It should have street names.

--
Frank (Nuvi 2497LMT, 2455LMT, 765LMT,680,StreetPilot 2720)

Removable battery

I really like the removable battery. So much easier to deal with and can put in an extra battery when the old one runs out.

Garmin's Future

With the economy the way it is, I question Garmin's pricing policies. They continue to put out overpriced units.

Don't get me wrong, I love Garmin units and own two myself. I just question why they continue to come out with new units which are vastly overpriced. If you look at the specs for the Nuvi 500, it's not worth the $500 MSRP.

.

A 3.5" screen and only 48 states? Waterproof? Great. Replaceable battery? A nice feature. $500?!

Not much value there from what I see.

--
"Delete nothing, back up everything"

PC Magazine Review

Here is PC Magazine's review of the Nuvi 500:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2326914,00.asp

No blue tooth and $500.

No blue tooth and $500. Wow.

--
Garmin Nuvi 765t

Just bought one for $406 delievered!

You guy's are right it doesn't have Bluetooth or text to speech and it is only a 3.5in screen. But most of you look at that from the "in the car point of view". Step out of the car for a minute. It comes preloaded with not only the lower 48, HI an PR. But it also has topo for those of us that like to hike, bike, hunt and fish around in the woods (did I mention it was waterproof). It also has a replacable battery and what about that huge for a portable 3.5in color screen. For me because I do hunt, fish, hike, bike and occasionally will do a little Geocaching (which its all set up to do) the little trade-offs will seem minor.

Blue Tooth

miles2912 wrote:

No blue tooth and $500. Wow.

Blue Tooth should be a standard feature in all GPS units (let alone cars)...

The traffic MSN direct works well

I have had the Nuvi 500 for about 1 week with the MSNDirect.

I use a blackberry perl without GPS and google maps with traffic to show traffic for my commute to and from work.

I find that the the Nuvi works well. And the traffic data helps choose the best route and avoid some of the traffic. The MSNDirect traffic data seems to very closely match Google traffic data.

I have yet to use it outside, but that is comming for some hiking.

I do find I miss a lanyard hole for the GPS and a good case. But it is water proof. I plan to make a Kydex holder for it, to hold it on my belt.

I do find the 3D view is a bit odd and takes some geting used to. I wish that the 3D view was adjust able to different angles.

I like the Dr. Nightmare voice for route navigation.

I have yet to find a way to edit the waypoints coordinates once entered without deleting them and recreating them.

I found this site because I was wondering about red light cameras, but was finding the POI Costco entries were very spotty and were missing some of the Costcos that I know of. So I plan to eventually get the costco POI from here.

I don't find bluetooth a necessity if I have my bluetooth headset in the car ready for a call already.

But it might be nice to be able to send an address to the GPS via bluetooth or exchange data, but I don't see that happening with blackberries soon.

I would love to see more voices like Dr. Nightmare. I prefer womens voices in english. But I like Dr. Nightmare.

Garmin Nuvi 500 Reduced to: $289.99 at REI

http://www.rei.com/product/775807
It is on sale until 12-01-2008. Considering the current economy, I suspect many stores will price match. This also points out that there is a considerable margin of profit on these devices. Clearly the Garmin Nuvi 500 isn't for everybody, but given its weather resistance, it will be just the device for many people.

GPS Deals
Finding the Best GPS Deals on the Web

http://bestgpsdeals.net/

good deal on Nuvi 500

I somehow ended up with a Rewards AMEX. The stuff one can purchase changes often. I just kept checking back and finally the nuvi 500 was listed by a vendor. It retailed for about 375.00 but with the rewards points was covered.

Just Got One

I just bought a 500 for $235 from Bestbuy. The reason I bought it was that I was wanting something that would allow importing Geocaching information and has the topo maps. To get a handheld unit would cost with these features would cost more that I paid for this one unit. Yes it did not speak the names of the roads until I updated the firmware. Now I have a nice little red van that looks like mine, a male voice that sounds like he has had one to many prozacs and spoken street names. Add onto this the ability to add more memory, download Geocaching files with all of the information, a compass and basic screen as well as a decent Nav system and I think I got a winner. It sure is a step up from my c300.

Nuvi 500

I am jealous. I looked at one tonight at a Best Buy. They had it for $229, but I decided to wait just a little bit longer. I am holding out for an online dealer that will sell it to me for about $200 with free shipping, but that might be wishful thinking on my part. Maybe if I wait until after the latest map updates I can have that going for me, too.

I wonder if this is a dying breed or if we will see a Garmin Nuvi 500/550W or something similar in the future. Since they added the Test To Speech (TTS) update, I think this is a super unit at a great price.

Here is a garmin nuvi 500

Here is a garmin nuvi 500 for $199 Brand new.

http://www.cameragiantsinc.com/products.asp?dept_id=10358&pr...

Oh yeah!!!!! Now this one is a true Deal:)))

powellp wrote:

Here is a garmin nuvi 500 for $199 Brand new.

http://www.cameragiantsinc.com/products.asp?dept_id=10358&product_id=19298

With a lifetime rating of .43%(note thats POINT 43) out of 10%, such a deal I got for you!!!...

They will ask that you call them to confirm the order and then tell you the unit doesn't include maps, so you would need to add another $125 or more to purchase them. Or, make it mandatory that you purchase a Memory Card for about 20 to 25 times the going rate. Good luck Chuck:)) I've seen that picture of the customer Service guy on several other web sites, all of which are huge rip off places. They just keep adding more new names and new phone numbers and keep ripping off the general public...

--
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.

My Bad!

I Didn't mean to get you riled up. After I posted this I did some checking and learned the same thing you said.
So never mind everyone Ignore that post.

I wasn't riled, just didn't want anyone

powellp wrote:

I Didn't mean to get you riled up. After I posted this I did some checking and learned the same thing you said.
So never mind everyone Ignore that post.

Including you, to get stung:)))

Be Well.

--
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.

Garmin Nuvi 500

I did finally get a Garmin Nuvi 500 shipped to the door from Crutchfield for $229.99. I have updated the software so that it now has the TTS (Test To Speech) feature. I ordered The Garmin Nuvi Pocket Guide http://tinyurl.com/r3pq8f via inter library loan and I have been checking online the Garmin GPS Tricks, Tips, Work Arounds, Hints, Secrets and Ideas for the Garmin Nüvi GPS (and others) at http://home.comcast.net/~ghayman3/garmin.gps/
I am hoping that they add the following features in future software upgrades:

-The ability to disable auto zoom

-QWERTY keyboard

-Ability to edit location in a Favorite to "use current location".

The 500/550 are unique in that the City Navigator and topographical maps are integrated officially referred to as "CN Lower 48 States NT 2009+Topo".

Price?

Jim:

I just got one as well, but ... am wondering if I paid too much or it was a typo. in your note. Did you pay $229 or $299 the Crutchfield site now says $299 ...

I am in heavy learning mode now, with POIs and etc. which my prior unit did not have......

Thanks,
KWB

Nuvi 500 Product Discussion Thread

The posted price when I ordered was $249.99, but some site had a code to take off an additional $20. The shipping was free. I, too, am in the learning mode, but I have some experience with other Garmins, so it should be fine. My 4 GB micro SDHC came this past Saturday, so I will get that installed and see how well that works out.

Payment Method:
Master Card :
Exp: 10/2009
Shipping Address:
Ship to the Billing Address

Shipping Method:
Standard Shipping
In stock orders usually arrive within 3 to 4 business days.

Quantity Item Number Description Unit Price Amount
1 150NUVI500 Garmin NUVI500 GPS Waterproof with US 48 and Topographic $249.99 $249.99
Merchandise SubTotal: $249.99
Special Offers: -$20.00
Merchandise Total: $229.99
Shipping: $0.00
Order Total: $229.99

Thanks

No coupon for me ... rats ;-/
I paid $249 w/ free shipping at Amazon but not too bad I guess.

My old unit was Garmin C330 which did not support downloads. Fortunately I was able to extract my saved Waypoints from the C330 with MapSource.

This is gonna be cool, motorcycles, hiking, camping, and of course a little use in the car wink

I have to travel to NY Sunday so I loaded in the off-beat tourist attractions with 10 mile alert radius so maybe I'll have a little fun on the trip!

KWB

Nuvi 500

Just bought one a couple of weeks ago. I bought it for use on an ATV. Big screen (for old eyes) and waterproof. I don't care for the other garbage (blue tooth, pictures, tunes ect).

Found out that it would not import routes (from MapScource) and called Garmin. "Yea we know it says you can do that in the manual, no it can't do that. We'll get around to fixing it, sometime."

Not very impressed with Garmin at this point.

Maybe somewhat less worse that Magallen?

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If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

Work Around

I may have a workaround on the 500's refusal to see routes from MapScource. I'm going to try a route next week, and see if it works. If it does I'll post back here.

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

Beware Camera Giant

powellp wrote:

Here is a garmin nuvi 500 for $199 Brand new.

http://www.cameragiantsinc.com/products.asp?dept_id=10358&product_id=19298

There are many, many complaints against Camera Giant.

Just Google "Complaints Camera Giant" to read them.

To many good, cheap places to buy the 500 to let this place spoil your purchase.

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

I can import routes

Unless I misunderstand what you are talking about. I am able to create routes in MapSource, transfer them into my nuvi 500 and then Import them for use.
After doing the transfer from within Mapsource look in your nuvi under [tools][mydata] then select[import route from file]. Your transfered routes will be right there.

Anyway i hope that this helps.

Route Import

Let me know if it shows up as a good route, because it doesn't in mine, and Garmin says it will not do it also. The problem is the map in the 500 and the map in Map Source are different. You will get a bunch of pink lines running between via points, not necessarily on your route. I was going to try my new idea today but the unit died, and will not reboot.

So it's a brick, and it's "phone time with Garmin again". "Have your tried this..."

"It's a brick..."

"How about trying this..."

"It's a brick..."

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

Works Fine for Me

I just created a route in Mapsource using City Select NA 7, sent it to my Nuvi 500, imported it, and it worked great. The route looks the same as it does on Mapsource.

Creating Routes

When I create routes in MapScource, I get a bunch of red lines from via points to other via points when displayed on the screen. I got the routes to show up in the 500, only when I copied them to the SD card under Garmin/GPX.

Basically the screen looked like someone had played Tic Tac Toe on the screen in red.

When I talked to Garmin Tech on the phone, they said that they hadn't fixed that problem yet. It having to do with the map in the 500 being different than the map in MapScource.

Also keep in mind I'm talking about off road routes, not pavement routes.

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

More Bad news from Garmin

I sent my bricked 500 to Garmin 2 day thinking I would get it back before a trip next week. Even though they received it a week ago, They have a 1 week turn around time. Plus travel time for UPS to get it back.

Gee Magellan got my Triton back to me in a total of 7 days from the time I sent it to them.

What's the problem Garmin? To many bricked GPS units, so your falling behind?

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If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

seems like the 500 series is

seems like the 500 series is a bust.

Works Fine for Me as Well

Did the same and it wored fine. Also..Ebay seller had new Nuvi 500s for $200 Shipped.

Latest Models

I have a nuvi 350 and have yet to see anything I must have in the new models. I also have a etrex legend for geocaching that does everything the 500 does.

Well just another Garmin Unit out the door . . . .

with problems from the get go. I just don't understand Garmins marketing strategies.

--
Looking for a place to go this summer? Try Oshkosh, WI, July 20-26, 2015. The largest gathering of aircraft in the world. http://www.airventure.org/index.html

Re Furbished Nuvi 500

Well I just got my "New" Refurbished Nuvi 500. The one I bought 3 months ago had bricked (wouldn't boot up).
Garmin had the old one for 7 days before shipping out the new one. Just for comparison purposes Magellan had the Triton for 24 hours before shipping out the replacement. You can make your own determinations about that.

New Nuvi took all the updates and I loaded the routes I'm going to use. Checked the routes and lo and behold that are no red lines criss-crossing the maps except the route lines.

Going riding tomorrow, so we will see how this holds up. So I don't know if it was a bad unit, or the last software update that solved the route criss-crossing problem. The update notes mentioned solving a route problem, but the way Garmin releases information you just never know.

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If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

Topo Maps And The 500

The Nuvi 500 is working great so far. Next I'm thinking of adding the TOPO maps for the Northwest Region of the US.

Anyone have these maps on a 500?

How well do they work?

Any problems with the maps? How much detail do they show?

Since this unit takes a micro SD card is this a problem getting Garmin to send the right chip?

Does the micro SD card only work with the one unit or if the 500 bricks again will the micro SD card work with my stand-in backup Nuvi 750?
Thanks!

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

Garmin Nuvi 500 MP3 Upgrade

I know that the Garmin Nuvi 500 does not include an MP3 player. Could that be added by a simple software upgrade or is there hardware that would need to be added for that to work?

Nuvi 500

I believe there is a lack of hardware that would prevent the 500 from being an MP3 player.

It doesn't have a stereo jack.

I also question why you would want a duel purpose device? I use my IPod while riding the ATV where the IPod gives me music, and the 500 let's me know where I am.

I just doesn't make sense to me to combine these devices. I also have no use for Bluetooth.

If your interested in these extras, look at the Zumo series. Three times the price, for a couple of extra unnecessary items.

But hey, that's just me.

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If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

On the Water Charts

Does anyone know what happend to the offshore charts Garmin used to sell for the Nuvi 500? East Coast, West Coast, etc. Recall they were call Bluewater or something like that. All they have now is lake charts.

I just got my Nuvi 500 from

I just got my Nuvi 500 from Amazon this week and so far everything is working great. Small bug when the description is longer than 26 characters it will crash the Nuvi.

Are you talking about a waypoint descriotion?

I was wondering about if you meant the name of a waypoint or the the description of the waypoint.

I have never written a name or description longer than just a couple of words so that's good to know.

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

Pre-Installed topomaps

The pre-installed topomaps are terrible. All I have are white contour lines and elevation data. No bodies of water, roads, trails, rivers, nothing. I was expecting at least the same quality of maps as the mapsource files. I installed my mapsource files and they provide much more detail. However, my whole idea behind buying this was the idea of having all the topomaps installed and getting around the issue with mapsource and the map data limits and carrying around different SD cards. Plus, am I hearing from users you can't transfer usable routes between the unit and mapsource. Also, it seems like my mapsource files show less icons and details as when viewed on my 660. I miss my 660...

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Nuvi 1450,500; Nuvi660 - R.I.P

Bluecharts

DBUS wrote:

Does anyone know what happend to the offshore charts Garmin used to sell for the Nuvi 500? East Coast, West Coast, etc. Recall they were call Bluewater or something like that. All they have now is lake charts.

My buddy loaded them onto his. They are overpriced, and somewhat questionable due to the wide range of accuracy of the unit (25-50 feet). Fun to look at, but I wouldn't trust them in a high lack of visibility situation.

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Striving to make the NYC Metro area project the best.