Garmin Nuvi 500 preloaded with Topo and City

[HDM]

Note, just like the 276C, Garmin has failed to see the full crossover potential with their 620 and 640 by not utilizing a high sensitivity receiver (ala sIRF, et al). Not a big problem, I guess, if you don't use it around tall skyscrapers in big cities, in deep canyons, or in heavily forested areas. Seems like another missed opportunity to me.

OK, now I'm really confused. I wrote the above comment based on the following email I received from Garmin in late December:

----------------------------------------------------
Thank you for contacting Garmin International.

The GPSMAP 620 does not contain a high sensitivity receiver. If you are familiar to the GPSMAP 276C, the GPSMAP 620 will be equivalent to satellite acquisition. It can accept the MapSource Topo mapping and be very similar to the detail quality as the GPAMAP 276C. It is also WAAS enabled.

With Best Regards,
Steve D.
Garmin Marine
Garmin International
----------------------------------------------------

I just checked the Garmin website and found this comment which says exactly the opposite: "...the GPSMAP 620 comes standard with a high-sensitivity GPS receiver..." Now I don't know who to believe, Garmin's website, or their Marine department. Perhaps it's a last minute design change? Anyway, I'll send them another email and see if I can get "another" definitive answer.

2/3/09 Update: talked w/ Garmin this afternoon. The Marine Division now says: "we won't know for sure if the 620 has a high-sensitivity receiver until the unit is actually released [sometime in 2009Q1...call back then...." hdm

 

[clinnet]

I would go with the Official Garmin Website. But I'm just going with gut instinct - They are charging close to a Grand for the unit. So it would be idiotic not to include the hight sensitivity receiver they offer on the lower line models.

My Nuvi for city driving is way way faster than my 276c.

Still, if you're in the market for one, I'd make sure.

 

[opie]

It does appear that the Topo loaded on the 500 is the same as the Topo you get on the DVD.

Very nice to have them together...

 

[HDM]

After chatting with a couple Garmin reps at the local Sportsman's show, it appears that the 550 might be a pretty cool set-up. Combining the 550 (which is preloaded with NA street maps), Garmin's TOPO U.S. 24K DVD (at the moment, only the West and Southwest are available on DVDs, but more sets are likely to follow), and a couple large microSD™ cards give you the best of all worlds: larger screen, water resistant, topo friendly, great detail, easily moved between vehicles, high-sensitivity receiver, street routable, etc. Worth a look.

 

[450 DUDE]

Great info guys , I have ben having a hard time pulling the trigger on a GPS.
The 500 is on its way and Im looking forward to using it in DV next week!:smiley_drive:


Thanks,
ken

 

[Ryanmb21]

Cool, I bet you'll love it.

 

[daverami]

It would be really nice if the 500 Series were available in a widescreen.

 

[djsixbillion]

Just got one of these about a week ago, and need some help/clarification. Here's what I'd like to be able to do:

I've downloaded a nifty gps route of the Mojave Road trail that I'll be travelling in a few months. I can open and view it in Google Earth, and it shows me a nice line that represents the route I will be following, with a bunch of waypoints along that route. So far, I've been able to export that as a .gpx file and import it into the Nuvi 500, but all that shows up are the individual waypoints (under "Favorites"), and they seem to be sorted by distance from my home location.

So the question is, can I use this "route" as a route, and actually have the Nuvi 500 direct me along the trail from waypoint 1-2-3-4, etc.? Or do I need a different GPS unit/software/something else to get this kind of functionality?

Sorry if this is a bonehead question.

 

[Mike.rider]

So the question is, can I use this "route" as a route, and actually have the Nuvi 500 direct me along the trail from waypoint 1-2-3-4, etc.? Or do I need a different GPS unit/software/something else to get this kind of functionality?

Sorry if this is a bonehead question.

yes you can! if you want to do it on the unit you need to build the route from the way points. from the main screen, 1. where to? 2. Custom Routes 3. New. add your start and end points from your way points. then add the way points in the middle. take some time to do . let me know if you need screen shots I can walk you through it. or you can do it in map source and build the route there and import it to the unit.

side note - New to Expedition Portal but I am an avid Outdoor explorer, search and rescue and mountain biking specifically. I have a Nuvi 550 my self because I wanted the navigator for Canada and I plan to add topo u.s. soon.

Hope this helps!

 

[Abel Villesca]

Welcome Mike.rider. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Roktoys84]

Just got one of these about a week ago, and need some help/clarification. Here's what I'd like to be able to do:

I've downloaded a nifty gps route of the Mojave Road trail that I'll be travelling in a few months. I can open and view it in Google Earth, and it shows me a nice line that represents the route I will be following, with a bunch of waypoints along that route. So far, I've been able to export that as a .gpx file and import it into the Nuvi 500, but all that shows up are the individual waypoints (under "Favorites"), and they seem to be sorted by distance from my home location.

So the question is, can I use this "route" as a route, and actually have the Nuvi 500 direct me along the trail from waypoint 1-2-3-4, etc.? Or do I need a different GPS unit/software/something else to get this kind of functionality?

Sorry if this is a bonehead question.

You could download GPSBabel (converts all thing gps to different formats depending on your needs) and see if it will convert your gps file to a Garmin track file. Might be quicker depending on how many waypoints your file has.

Would you be willing to share the file with us?

 

[Cabrito]

I just pulled the trigger on this unit after reading tons of reviews and following this thread.
Plus, since my girl did not get me this for my birthday or x-mas (trust me I did ask for this as a model spcific gift) I just had to do it.

 

[Abel Villesca]

I think you'll really like it. I bought one last month and have been really happy with it.

 

[djsixbillion]

You could download GPSBabel (converts all thing gps to different formats depending on your needs) and see if it will convert your gps file to a Garmin track file. Might be quicker depending on how many waypoints your file has.

Would you be willing to share the file with us?

Finally figured it out, using GSPBabel to convert the .kmz (Google Earth) file to a .gpx, then opening that in Garmin Roadtrip and building a route from the points (somewhat tedious), and finally exporting the route to the Nuvi 500. I managed to figure that all out on my own, but finally had to give up and call Garmin support (who were very helpful by the way) to figure out that once you have sent the route to the unit you need to go to Tools>My Data>Import Route From File to find the route you sent over USB, then open it and it will show up under "Custom Routes". Hope that makes sense and might help somebody else.

Here's where I found the .kmz for the Mojave Road:

http://www.dirtopia.com/wiki/Mojave_Road

 

[Cabrito]

FYI - I saw the Nuvi 500 in Best Buy here in SF last night for $223.00 :Wow1: