Use for SD card slot?

The SD cards can be used to hold additional maps that you might purchase (eg Topo maps, additional map regions (say for example Europe) beyond the region for which you purchased the unit). They can also be used to hold MP3s for the units that have MP3 players. They can hold pictures for the units that can support that. And they can hold Custom POIs. Most of the nuvis have enough space on the unit to hold tons of Custom POIs. But if you want to load MP3s, there typically is only enough space on the unit for a few songs.

The GPS unit cannot read CSV files. You have to use POI Loader which compiles the CSV, GPX, and any associated BMPs and MP3s into a GPI file that the unit can read.

You could put the GPI file on an SD card and then the other users could import the Custom POIs from that file.

Note that rental GPS units may or may not have the ability to load custom information.

After reading lots of horror stories in many forums, I would strongly suggest to keep the internal memory "as is"; anything else (maybe excepting genuine added maps) should be loaded onto external SD card.

The horror stories are usually from people deleting, moving, or renaming files without knowing what those files are for or trying to load incompatible maps to a unit.

Loading Custom POIs won't adversely affect the unit in any way. POI Loader creates the GPI file and no other files are affected.

It's probably safe to say, that if you try it on the SD card and it works, you can then safely move it to the internal storage.

AFAIK, there are no (Fatal) POI related firmware bugs left (but there were some!).

(Loading your own home-made maps for the first time is a different story though!)

Somehow, I don't think that only risk-taking people are running into troubles... at some point, anyone can push the wrong button and start the WW3!
Obviously, a GPS unit is like a micro PC, using a specific OS to function. In a real PC, one of the best ways to preserve OS's integrity is to have 2 different partitions: one for the OS (usually D:\) and another for the daily applications (usually C:\).
So, why not following the same rule for our precious little toys? Let's keep the internal memory as D:\, bearing only the almighty OS, while anything else going into SD card (C:\).

My Nuvi 350 has NT 8. I loaded NT 2008 on a 2GB SD card.

I keep all of my custom POI's, we well as the Canadian maps, on my SD card. Like another poster said, as often as I tweak and update the POI file, I like to keep that on a separate "drive", apart from the operating system.

Couldn't you put GPX files on the SD card and then give it to someone else and when they turn on the nuvi, it will search for all gpx files and then load those into the favorites?

I've wanted to use the SD card similarly but haven't had the time to play with it yet. This is very interesting and informative to me. Thanks!

Yes, absolutely that would work. Of course, as you point out, they will be Favorites and not Custom POIs.

That would be fine with me. The idea would be to distribute locations to my fellow company travelers that could be quickly and easily used.

Question is now would the Nuvi find a second .gpi file on the SD card. Guess I'll experiment and find out.

Before I bought my Nuvi 350, I rented a car and a Nuvi 6xx at the airport on my last business trip. The rental Nuvi had quite a few favorites saved on it from previous renters. Would have been less cluttered to open a single POI file that I brought with me.

Not really a concern any more, since I bought one that I will take with me from now on.

The one reason that I didn't initially recommend loading GPX file to the SD card is that people have done that and then complained about the file filling up their Favorites and having to go through the Favorites and pick and choose to delete them.

The unit will automatically read the POI.GPI file from the card.

Load them to the SD card either while it is in the nuvi (be sure you select the drive letter for that drive) or a card reader. Then when you insert the card into the unit, when the prompt asks you if you want to import the data, select 'No'. Or if you unit offers this choice, select 'Yes' and then select 'Ignore this File'. (The Zumo doesn't have this option, but I think some of the nuvi's do.)

have a Nuvi 350.
How does one make use of the SD card slot? Does it just add memory available? I was hoping to simply add a .csv file for example, and have the 350 use it. Looks like I'd have to use POILoader to add the new .csv in the usual fashion.

What I was thinking of was the ability to put some POI's on a SD card and then hand the card to someone else with a compatible unit, or to use with a rental unit while travelling.

My company has 9 offices throughout the country, so I've created a POI file with each office location and the recommended hotels near each office. I would like to make this file available to other managers who frequently travel between the offices. Usual practice is to fly to the respective city and rent a car. Many of the car agencies offer rental GPS units. It would be cool if they could just take a SD card along and pop it into the rental Nuvi and have the office and hotel location immediately available.

Is such a thing possible?

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FIrst thing I did with new unit (nuvi750) was to backup the Garmin directory to a CD. just so something did not get lost and I can always go back to square one

I use my SD card for music, and POI's

later...