Migrating to new Garmin Unit

1) Assuming your computer isn't changing, your custom POIs and alerts can just be re-uploaded with POI Loader as you already plan to do.

2)Take your current GPS which will be surrendered and connect it to your computer, run Garmin Express, then in your device's area tap Tools & Content, then Utilities, then Back Up Now. When the new GPS arrives, do the same except instead of Back Up Now, tap Restore Backup. (Although it doesn't apply to your situation, the Utilities also offers Transfer Favorites which requires both devices to be present.)

There are other ways to do both but I think this is the simplest and does not require tinkering with the files manually in the devices.

That sounds very promising! Thanks!

I can backup and restore backup to 2 different models of GPS though? I guess if it only backs up the data and not other things like the firmware that would make sense.

Yes, the choice by Garmin to call it Back Up is unfortunate since some will assume it's a full device backup and ditto for Restore. When using it, check the text in Garmin Express Utilities regarding what is actually being backed up or restored.

What do you mean 'have to surrender my Drive Assist before I can get whatever other unit I decide on'.

See https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=GVuNLr5hDf3NezcXCkPFL8.

Scroll down near the bottom to the section titled "To transfer a backup to another Garmin automotive device:". You are just inserting a "pause" between steps 1 and 2.

Think of it like a "trade-in" like that offered by GPSNation; see
https://www.gpsnation.com/trade-in

When GPS's used to change a lot from year to year, I would buy the "extended warranty" plans from certain retailers. These plans would offer to replace the battery of a unit once it gets under 80% capacity. Well, no piece of electronics I have would ever have a battery last 2-3 years so I was safe with both the 2 or 3 year plans. There was a little hidden gem in this in that if you showed back up before the 3 (or 2) years was up with a bad battery, and it didn't have a serviceable battery, then they'd give you a gift card for the purchase price of your GPS unit.

So every year when the new garmins came out, i'd decide if I wanted the new unit or not, and if so, I'd go trade it in because inevitably with daily use and daily charge and discharge, the battery was no longer holding 80%. If not, as long as I traded it in before the 3 years was up, I'd still come out ahead.

Fast forward to 3 years ago, the last time I did this. Well I have a DriveAssist 50 that I got for a few extra bucks when I upgraded from my Nuvi 25xx series, thinking i'd continue doing the same thing. Alas, the 51 came out in 2017 and nothing happened in 2018 so I had no occasion to trade it in. Now if I don't trade it in in the next few months, the warranty will expire. So even though the DriveSmart 55 is underwhelming in terms of new features, it's time to upgrade or lose my chance.

At this point, I think i've hit the end of this gravy train of "renting" my GPS units from these big box retailers to the tune of $20/year. I'm going to take the money and buy a DriveSmart 55 and a separate dashcam unit, but I don't think I'll be renewing my extended warranty. The market seems to have plateaued without many new features coming out year after year like they were 5 years ago, so I don't think there will be really anything that that comes out that will be a game changer in the next 3 years. I think I'll spend the money and hold onto this unit until it breaks.

I use a Mac and Basecamp. I just drag the POI, routes, etc. from BC to the unit. Done.

I've heard about basecamp for the past few years on this forum here and there, but I've never actually looked into what it is or what it does. I might do that while I'm waiting for this damn update to finish updating!

Update: was reading through the basecamp website. There's a line that says:

"publish photos directly to Picasa™"

I'm guessing that this is a very old piee of software that hasn't been updated since at least 2016? Picasa has been dead for quite a while!

I'm not enjoying the Drive 50 either, so I hope you'll come back and let us know if you like your DriveSmart better. I don't know about your beefs with the Drive 50, but IMO though it does some things well, it suffers from poor searchability and routing in certain circumstances compared to other Garmins I've used.

I have a DriveSmart 50 and have no problems with it. Caveat: that's with the EU map

Why can't the OP simply copy off the Current.gpx (his saved places), and copy off the POI's that he's loaded ending in GPI.

Then rename the copied Current.gpx to something else like OLD.gpx and copy it onto the new unit. No need to rename the GPI file so he can copy it to the new unit or run POILoader again.

Seems simple.

All that's really backed up by GE is the Current.gpx and if he just copies that over to the new unit it will be overwritten when he turns it on. It has to be renamed before moving. Once the device is powered up the OLD.gpx info will be in memory and copied to the Current.gpx on the device, and then delete the Old.gpx.

Current.GPX also has configuration data of the unit it was created on.

Express does it all automatically, no need to copy current.gpx, rename, install to new unit etc.

And yet that is how I migrated from a Nuvi 50 to a Drive 51 and a Drive 52. Worked without any problems.

It was only a suggestion and the OP can do whatever he feels comfortable with, but don't say it won't work and will cause problems, because that's not correct.

Don't think anyone said it wouldn't work or cause problems?

Ive never had a Drive 50. I used the DriveAssist 50 and it was serving its purpose well. I only got a new one because it was time to upgrade or lose my extended warranty benefits.

There's lots of good reference info here in this thread. Much thanks for the posts.