New Garmin Nuvi owner (250W)

Yes, that unit can use Custom POIs.

You can download custom vehicle icons from Garmin's website.

http://www8.garmin.com/vehicles/

You didn't say what MapSource products you have, but in general, they should be compatible with the nuvi. However, if the maps are locked, you would need to purchase additional unlock codes in order to unlock them to the nuvi. In general, the map products on SD card are not preferred over maps on CD/DVD, but it somewhat depends upon the situation. You can't transfer routes from MapSource to that unit, however.

Thanks for your help, One other thing I noticed a folder in the Nuvi file system named "voice", Can I change/download other voices? No offense to the ladies but the one on there now sounds like BEA ARTHUR from the Golden Girls.....I never liked that woman!:]>

yes, most updates can be found on the garmin link that M.Mama posted. keep in mind that you only download what you like and not all of them. Most GPS unit has a limited amt of storage space. My 350 has only 1gb of storage.

My 350 has a side slot for additional storage. I've purchased a 4gb SD card for additional storage. mine can support up to 4gb, so you might want to check your compatibility as well.

Congrats on your new purchase!

Ok, So I can change voices, Sorry to be so problematic but i can't find any on the Garmin site, Any other good resources for voices and other useful files?? And yes I have an SD card slot, It has a 1 gig card in already.

The voice files that Garmin supplies with their units, are the ones availible and supported by Garmin. It is possible to make your own. Poi-factor is now creating a new section on custom voice creation. In the near future we will be sharing our creations. Stand-By.

Voices normally come via firmware updates. You should already have several available on your Nuvi. Download the user manual from Garmin.com and look at the section dealing with changing the voice. You should have the one that I prefer (English/Jack). By default, I think Garmin uses English/Jill, and like you, listening to her voice was like finger nails on a chaulk board to me.

Joel

I have been online ALL morning on several other sites, And VERY LITTLE info is available on the 250W, I'm pulling my hair out(what's left of it), Found ways to make custom vehicle Icons and ways to convert c330 TTS files for use on Nuvi's, Only to find out that TTS meant "text to speech" which the 250w does not support! Ahhhhhhhh! The humanity of it all. I think I am going to give up until some enterprising young computer Guru figures it out or until garmin decides to give out some updates.

The c330 doesn't have tts either. I converted my C530 (which didn't support tts) to be able to do tts from C340 files. So what you found is probably a 'hack' on how to do it for non tts nuvis.

If you run WebUpdater, you will find all the voices that are available for your unit.

i ran the Webupdater, and didnt see anything about voices. And on the unit I dont see anything about selecting Voices. HELP ME

I'd call or e-mail Garmin. For some reason, the Nuvi 2XX series does not have a "decent" users guide available. Unusual, because the series has been available for some time now. When you ask the question about voices, also ask when they will have a user guide available for this model.

Joel

Since this is a thread on the nuvi 250, I'm assuming that's the unit you're referring to.

The nuvi250 does not support Text to Speech (TTS); so IF you do have the voice selection it's fairly limited.

If you press Settings (the wrench) on the GPS, do you have a Locale option? If so, press it and you may have an option to select voice.

RT

UPDATED: Direct from the horse's mouth (Garmin):

RT

Isn't it shipped as a file on the unit itself, like the Nüvi 3xx?

If you didn't see any in WebUpdater, then there aren't any available for that unit.

thanks for the info, sadly the only usable option was British English. But, since this is a newer unit
I guess it will take time for new options to be added for the unit.

I hope Garmin comes out with some updates soon, MM mentioned some custom voices available in the future from this site, Hope they don't leave us out either, I don't know how long I will be able to stand Bea Arthur shouting directions at me, Seriously, Garmin should be paying her Royalties for using her voice on thier units!!

I kinda like the voice on my 650... The woman's voice. When she says "recalculating" it sounds as though she's pissed. Hahahahaha

Sometimes she does and sometimes, she just sounds like my wife babbling.

One other thing that I would mention (and it may not apply to all models), but on my Zumo, some of the voices don't always show depending upon the voice/text settings that were initially there.

If I go to Settings [Wrench] > Locale, then there is a setting to reset everything in the voice and text settings. This allows me to choose voices (for example British Daniel) which might not be visible with the defaults for my American English settings.

You can verify which voices are actually on your unit by looking in the voice folder while your unit is attached to your computer.

Having said that, not all units support all the Garmin voices.

There has got to be a way to get more voice options on the 200-250 nuvi's, I do not give up easily, so i will be on an endless search until I get some satisfaction, Anyone know a way to decompress the voice files on the garmins?

How do I delete maps off the Nuvi 250W? Also I found a program that allows you to split the Voice.vpm file into .Wav files, change them and then recombine the set back into a .VPM file for use on the GPS....Custom voices!! You can even record your own voice for use on the GPS, Email me if your interested.

Ok, why would you want to delete your maps?

Do a search on splitting vpm (non-TTS) files. This has been discussed on this site several times with procedures how how to do it. There are also threads on spitting TTS files.

RT

I NEVER plan on going to NYC, LA or CANADA so why do I need to keep them on my nuvi? I have also purchased the topo maps from garmin, and would like to know how to remove the maps I previously loaded using mapsource topo? It would seem there is no option on the Nuvi to delete maps, I also have a copy of City Navigator NT 2008 and would like to load ONLY the regions I need/use on a regular basis, Call me anal retentive or whatever you want but I see no need for data I will never use taking up space on my device.

Welcome

Well, since you asked, and PLEASE proceed at your own extreme risk. I would NOT recommend that you or anyone else do this because the unit may or not not perform the way that you want since it was designed to work with the pre-installed maps.

However, the pre-installed maps are located in a file named GMAPPROM.IMG located on your nuvi. Any supplemental maps that are loaded to the unit are contained in a file named GMAPSUPP.IMG.

If you want to completely delete the detailed maps and be left with only the basemap, you could delete the GMAPPROM.IMG file. If you want to deleted the supplemental maps, then you would delete the GMPASUPP.IMG file.

If you have a full copy of CN 2008, then you would likely need an unlock code in order to load those maps to your nuvi.

Whichever maps you wish to load, the way that you would do it is to select those map tiles (segments) in MapSource (they turn pink when selected and show up under the Maps tab in MapSource), you would do this for the Topo maps and then use the drop down list to select whatever other map products you wish to load (presumably CN), then select those map tiles, then you would send those maps to the unit all at one time.

Bear in mind that when you load maps, all the previous maps are overwritten, so (much like POIs) you have to send all of them that you want loaded at the same time. All of these become the GMAPSUPP.IMG file.

Let me reiterate that I have no idea how the nuvi will work with CN maps loaded in this manner. Presumably it should work, but I wouldn't try it on mine since there is no real reason for me to.

I will back up all of the files on the Nuvi First, You think I would be safe to delete the map files then? If it goes badly, I could then reload everything and theoretically be back at square one. I'm familiar with mapsource products as I have been messing with GPSr's for a few years now, always been handheld units mostly for hunting/fishing and geocaching purposes but this is a new animal for me, I appreciate your patience and help while i am getting up close and personal with my new toy. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yes, I would COPY your entire GARMIN drive to your computer first just in case. Then you could delete the map and see what happens. The good news is that if you completely mess it up, Garmin will certainly help you get it back into working order. They are very good about that.

i've just buy a nuvi 250, and like allways i like to see how it works. i've put him on pc and i've delet all voices. plss can some1 help me i need the voices back.
sorry for my bad english

Download WebUpdater from Garmin's website. Install the program to your computer by running the downloaded file. Hook your GPS unit to your computer. Run WebUpdater program that you installed on your computer. The voices should be available at the end.

For the future, you might want to backup your GARMIN drive by copying the entire contents to you computer before you delete anything.

i've than that, but there is only english voices, i need italian and romanian too. you know how can i take them too???
ty for the reply

If you had those voices to begin with and they aren't showing up as additional options at the end of the WebUpdater sequence, then you probably are going to need to contact Garmin for assistance. I don't think that even a hard reset will restore those. The one other thing to try is

ty , i'll see what to do. else, i'm f....d

Here's my full post. It locked up on me before I finished. (Oh, and you might want to edit the end of your post.)

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If you had those voices to begin with and they aren't showing up as additional options at the end of the WebUpdater sequence, then you probably are going to need to contact Garmin for assistance. I don't think that even a hard reset will restore those.

The one other thing to try is to go to the Locale Settings and hit Change All to see if they show up. But if you truly deleted them and they didn't get restored with WebUpdater, then they probably won't be there.

Hi, download poi custom file for example type in search for banks all poi file that has bank in it will come up download the the file to your computer and install.go to garmin website and download poi software. you will need that software to download poi files.

Perhaps someone with a nuvi 2xx can eMail those voice files to you. I can if I know what files you need to restore.

DO NOT DELETE YOUR MAPS!!! Not good, After backing up the device, I deleted the base maps....AARGGHH!
After which I could not access the unit with my USB cable, Sent the unit off to Garmin for a solution, Got a replacement unit 2 weeks later, However, It contained the "New" Version 2.70 firmware, Unit worked fine except that Under POI I had only 5 options, Spell Name, Transit, Fuel, Recreation, Attractions! No food, hospitals ect. only the ones listed above, After talking to Dang near every software specialist Garmin could throw at me, Over an hour on the phone, the tech confirmed they were aware there was a problem, They wanted to exchange my unit again FOC, But I did not want to wait another 2 weeks for a replacement, I asked the Tech, Byron, If I could safely "Roll Back" the firmware version, He said I could but he did not think that would fix it, So after saying thanks and finally hanging up the phone I figured what the "H" I'm gonna roll it back! It worked, botton line...Do Not upgrade to version 2.70 and don't screw with the maps on the unit!! Lesson Learned, Thanks again MM

MM,

I do not like the new British English voice that WebUpdater put on my nüvi 2xx. Am I correct in assuming that I can copy the British English voice files from my backup CD to the Voice folder on my nüvi to restore the old voice?

Yes, you should be able to do that