3590LMT and SD card

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The first link makes sure the settings on your computer are such that you can do more advanced POI loading.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30393

The next link helps you make a backup of your GPS by attaching it to your computer. (NEVER do anything to your GPS until you have a backup). It also assures that you put your (newer) unit into a state where you can see all of the folders there.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30394

I doubt the GPS would ever need anything over a Class 6. Remember those Class ratings are primarily write speed and just when is your GPS going to dump any high resolution images to the card? It's not even going to read high resolution well as most have only a 480 x 800 pixel display.

Welcome to The Factory!

1. My understanding is that SD card Class speeds are intended for file writing and that the faster cards are meant for recording video and similar things. Since a map on a SD card is being read, not written to, faster cards are not needed. This is definitely not universally accepted and I have no experience with faster cards but I can say that when I have maps loaded to my Class 4 SD cards, they work well.

2. I can't answer the 16+ GB slowdown issue but I do have a couple thoughts:

2a. What do you plan to put on the SD card other than a map of Europe? If you don't have an answer to this, then an 8GB card will be more than adequate.

2b. Here's my big question for you: do you really want to have your 3590 with North America stored on the nuvi and Europe on the SD card? Here are reasons to think about your plan: buying and installing City Navigator Europe onto a SD card will result in a map useable in Europe on the SD card for use in the nuvi. This map of Europe will not offer features like Voice Recognition and Junction Views, etc. Also, if you plan to use the Europe map in more than one year, know that the installed map isn't going to be eligible to receive map updates. These issues are also true if you buy the Garmin-made Europe on SD card ready-made rather than installing the map to a SD card on your own. I suggest you also consider buying a stand-alone Garmin nuvi or other automotive device with the European map pre-installed. This 2nd device may be nearly as cheap as your plan and this 2nd device will likely have lifetime map updates and will accept voice-activated navigation, offer Junction Views, etc.

If you are planning to use Garmin's City Navigator Europe, know that the map, even on a SD card made by you, will be tied to your specific nuvi 3590 and will not be swappable to a different nuvi. A Garmin-made Europe-on-SD is swappable between devices but can not be copied or used on a 2nd SD card. Then again, maybe you're planning not to use a Garmin map of Europe but rather will use one of the open-source maps of Europe.

If buying a Garmin-made Europe on SD card map, you may find used ones on eBay cheaper than buying new from Garmin, Amazon, etc. You also have the ability to resell a Garmin-made Europe on SD card map on ebay, useful to save some net cash if you're planning just a once-in-a-lifetime European trip and will not return soon.

Shout back if you have further questions.

SD cards are so cheap these days, just buy the 32 GB class 10 card, use it and don't over-analyze whether a $3 cheaper card would have worked just as well or better.

is why people buy 802.11n routers and wifi expecting their 6 Mbs Internet service will run at gig speeds. Guys, it's only as fast as the slowest link and if what you are going to put the card in is a Class 4, a Class 10 isn't going to make it any better.

Thanks for the replies.

I intend to use the free Europe OSM maps on my microsd card.
Overlay that with GPX routes (from google maps) and it should work well - in theory anyways as I have never used OSM maps before.

The few dollars (between a Class 10 and Class 4 card) do not concern me, it is what I read that there is a degradation in performance on a GPS if you use a larger size card.

Anyhow, its a moot point as any maps will not exceed 4GB so I will just purchase a smaller card.

I will search the forum archives for info on OSM and Garmin.

p.s. If this becomes too complicated I will do as Craig suggests and buy a standalone older Garmin with pre-loaded Europe maps.

Does anyone have any idea which Garmin's come with Lifetime FULL Europe Maps and (importantly) have the powered mount feature?

I'm not a fan of plugging the charge cable into the GPS unit.

The 2599, 2597 and 2559 series come with Europe but none have the powered mount feature.

I agree that I prefer and I also think it's wise to buy a GPS with a powered mount for use in a vehicle.

I've never looked for Garmin models with European maps preinstalled, which I agree is what you should be looking at. The typical US websites sell essentially only devices with North American maps. I expect that shopping at sites like www.amazon.co.uk will offer most Garmin models with European maps (full or limited, so be sure to look for a device coming with all of Europe if that's important to you).

I fully expect that regardless of map preinstalled, a given Garmin model will offer the same features including powered mounts. Given that, this FAQ should let you know which models have powered mounts and even those with powered mounts with speakers:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/45200

Note that many models in the above FAQ are discontinued. To me, that's not a problem. Rather than limiting yourself to models actively being made now, several of the older models are worthy of consideration including the nuvi 3597 and even the older nuvi 2460 as well as many others. You will want a model ending in LM, LMT or LMTHD to receive lifetime map updates as well as choosing from the above FAQ identifying powered mount devices.

Maybe one of our across-the-pond members can add to this.

I have 8Gb card and do not see any lag getting the map to update when it is reading the card. I'm not sure what class it is but is on the lower end.

Craig as usual has given a good steer. Only thing I'd add is that if you're going to be mainly in the UK get a device with digital traffic, so one that ends in T-D

It's way more accurate than the previous analogue traffic, particularly in UK. I've driven in Spain, France and Portugal and there, at least at the moment, it makes little difference.

I have my Europe maps on a SD card (via a DVD and Lifetime maps). So should I backup my unit then delete the NA maps, remove the SD card and then reinstall the Europe maps to my unit? If so, which files should I delete from the unit? Then when I return to NA do a backup, delete the Europe maps, and restore the NA maps to the unit

That way I can get the junction view etc.....

As always, thanks for the expertise!

Sorry but you only get junction view etc for pre-installed maps so what you're suggesting won't help.

Garmin does sell one nuvi model that comes with both NA and Europe maps and apparently has JV for both continents ... the nuvi 2475 LT. So there must not be any technical or programming reason that Garmin couldn't include JV when you add a map. But they don't, as sussamb said.

Note that the 2475 LT does not come with lifetime map updates. I am not sure what would happen with JV if you added lifetime subscriptions for both NA and Europe.

Maybe I missed something but if the Europe maps came originally from a DVD would he have ever had junction views for those maps.?

If that's correct then I think that what he is suggesting will work with the NA maps getting all the features of pre-installed maps and EU maps getting only what is offered on the DVD version.

I guess ChiefDon16 will need to clarify for us what he is trying to accomplish, but I read it as that he was trying to get junction view for Europe by moving the Europe maps to internal storage. And as sussamb said, that won't work. I guess I don't see any reason to move the Europe maps to internal storage ... just leave the pre-installed NA map there and continue to run Europe from the SD card. Why go through all that deleting/reinstalling of maps?

I agree, there doesn't seem to be any real need to switch maps, particularly if there is no Junction View file for the Europe maps anyway. Basically that's what was confusing me - if the DVD version of the Europe maps didn't include the Junction View files then what ChiefDon16 was suggesting will work but sussamb has indicated it wouldn't. If, on the other hand, he is attempting to get the JCV's for Europe as you suggest then sussamb's statement is correct, although I still don't know where ChiefDon16 would have got the Europe JCV file in the first place. Would the Lifetime Map Update purchase have given them to him?

Thanks everyone for all your comments. What I was hoping to do was to get the Europe JCV file by deleting the NA info and re-downloading the Europe maps without a SD card in place. Anyway it was worth asking. Thanks again