Neighbor's Nuvi 50

Sounds like it would be a good candidate for an inexpensive SD card assuming that model has a slot for one, I think most do. That would likely permit the full map set. Some models only supported the US while others support North America. For some that is more important than to others.

Interesting, I thought Garmin's policy was regarding map updates would HAVE TO BE updated under a 2 year period in order to receive map updates. Since your neighbor's Nuvi 50 is 3 years old, I'm assuming the Nuvi 50LM came with map updates.
Perhaps Garmin has eased the restrictions on map updates?

Policy indicates:
" A product will be deemed to be out of service and its useful life to be ended if no updates have been downloaded for such product for a period of 24 months or more."

http://www.garmin.com/en-US/legal/lmdisclaimer

There is also the Garmin nuMaps guarantee which says you get a one time map update when you buy a new Garmin device. We don't hear much about this policy any more since most devices now come with a Lifetime map update subscription.

I think over time Garmin has changed the rules on the nuMaps guarantee. If I remember, it originally stated that you had to use the update within 90 days of "first use". But I have read other reports of users that did not register their device when it was new, then claiming the nuMaps guarantee update when they eventually registered even though the device was several years old.

I recently updated a nuvi 1300 for a friend that had never had an update. I'm pretty sure it was more than 2 years out of date. However, it had never been registered, so I don't know if that played a part or not.

My guess is that for a Garmin GPS with lifetime maps that's never done a map update or been registered (as is likely the case for this nuvi 50), Garmin won't know the difference between this purchased three year old nuvi and one that's been sitting on a shelf at Best Buy for the past three years and therefore, Garmin will need to allow the map update.

If the nuvi did come as a LMT, I would not risk going more than two years without another update for fear that the Garmin policy would kick in and Garmin could refuse the future updates since Garmin now knows the nuvi has been sold and is 'in use.' Therefore my suggestion to JanJ is that you offer a map update to your neighbor at least once a year, if not with every update when you do your own map updates. Maybe you'd get a free batch of chocolate chip cookies every year for your effort.

PS: Looking at your user image, muell9k, I see that you're New School. Living within a mile of Lowell Observatory, I believe I'm required to be Old School:

http://www.cafepress.com/mf/33667880/old-school-solar-system...

...it would not do an entire US update. I bought both my son and daughter Nuvi 50's several years ago. I have not had any issues with updating either one of these units. Maybe there is some extraneous data on this unit.

Two things:

First, the nuvi 50 was only offered as a 48-state or a US/Canada device so a North America map update is not possible. Also, it may be that a 48-state device could do a full map update internally while a USA/Canada device would not be able to do a full update. You can't compare two nuvis unless you know what map was offered on the device when purchased.

Second, the entire storage of the nuvi 50 is under 2GB so without adding a SD card for the 48-state or US/Canada map update, my guess is that by now with the 2017.30 map, only a regional update may be do-able internally. Possibly with the deletion of unneeded files like foreign language files more of the map could be installed, maybe even all of the 48-states, but I can't imagine the current map version being able to fit all of USA/Canada into such a limited space without going the SD card route.

I didn't want to go in and browse & delete...
I guarantee you, this unit had not been registered or anything!

I was surprised when it told me that a map & OS upgrade was available... I did ask Neighbor if she had purchased lifetime maps, and she said she had NO IDEA....

So anyhow, since I was staring at a free map update... I wasn't going to let it go without installing it...

When next map update is out, I'll contact her and try it again, and we'll know more then!!!

I think CraigW was right on target thinking that the Nuvi 50 had never been updated and was eligible for a one time free update. If in fact she has a 50LMT you should be able to update it when the 2017.40 gets released. As CraigW stated there are two versions of the map, lower 48 only or US\Canada depending on the model she purchased.

Since she has no SD card, for sure the US\Canada will not fit on a 2GB memory unit without an SD card, even without a SD card the lower 48 may not fit in memory WITHOUT removing some of the files such as voice or vehicles as well as others.

As others mentioned, it would be wise to invest in an SD card for future updates, I recommend a 8GB SD card since they are cheap enough.

I realize this is the neighbors Nuvi, so when you have time, can you please advise what version map version is displayed in the Map Info screen and what memory is available after the map update you installed assuming you installed 2017.30. You will need to access the available memory through Windows Explorer.

I did check, it loaded SE 1/4 of USA of current map.
HOA meeting tonight... If I see her will ask how it's going.....

That's what I love most about poi-factory. Everyone here is a good neighbor. Thank you for passing on the kindness.