Downloading files to my nuvi 650?

Please read the FAQ link to the right of the search on the main POI website. It has
Loading POI files

* Loading POIs with POI Loader
* Loading multiple POI files with POI Loader

http://www.poi-factory.com/faq

Assuming Windows XP.

Start, All Programs, Garmin, POILoader

That should launch the POILoader software. You should click Next at this point, and have your Nuvi plugged in to a USB cable connected to your PC.

At the Device Settings screen, you should have a drop-down menu which shows a drive letter assigned to your Nuvi. You may have other drive letters show up if you have some sort of card reader connected on your PC. Let's assume your Nuvi shows up a Removable Drive H: - select that and click on Next.

Select 'Install new custom POI's onto your device' and click Next.

Now you have to point the program to the location of the POI files. I download mine to a particular directory on my hard drive (C:\install\garmin\pois). Your location will almost certainly be different.

You want to have all your .gpx and .csv POI files in one directory, and point to that. You can click on the browse button to get to it. If you have your POI's spread out, try copying them all to some common folder/directory, and point to that. If you don't know where they are, download them again, and be sure you put them somewhere you can find. (You might create a C:\POI directory for example).

Once you point to the location with POILoader, set the units you want, click Next, and you should be updating.

Have fun!

I like Tarheel, just purchased a nuvi 660. I've reviewed the web how to load POI files, but I'm not flamiliar with the term "New Directory" in it's directions. Are the instuctions saying to make and name a new "folder" to put downloaded POI files in. to download in the nuvi GPS.

That's correct. I guess the term "directory" is a bit of a throw back to the DOS era

JM

I too have just recently purchased a nuvi 650 and it is fantastic. I created a folder under the "My Documents" folder called "GPS_POI".
In that folder I have copied all the POI .csv and .gpx files that I want to load to the 650.
I also loaded the .bmp files that match the .csv / .gpx files so that the 650 will display that image on the maps instead of a dot or some other default image.

Safe to say I have loaded and erased all the nuvi POIs about a dozen times by now. POIloader works well if you do the prelim work first.
i.e. 1) Make the folder for just the .csv / .gpx and .bmp files, 2) Attach your nuvi to the USB cable and wait until you can see it when you click "Start" -> "My Computer".

Once the nuvi is connected to your PC, you can manage a lot of files on it as though it was just another hard drive/disk partition.

Enjoy.

JM and drdevo, thanks guys for the input, it is helpfull.

Thanks for all the information. Probably couldn't have done it without your help. I believe I have downloaded everything I wanted. Now, how do I tell on my nuvi if the downloads worked?

After going to "extras/custom downloads/" I have only a partial listing of my downloads. There is an "all categories" which contains a dozen or so locations and then another dozen listings. Did I not do something right? In the all categories, it only shows those POIs that are 160 miles from my location.

I was downloading a dozen or so POI's and then deleting them thinking that the downloads would go faster. Evidently, I was erasing what I had already downloaded each time I downloaded another group. It now works.