My wife got me a Garmin Lifetime map update for my Garmin Nuvi 500 this Christmas.
For those you don't know, the 500 is somewhat of a compromise product in that it has some functionality for use for street and highway navigation along with POI location and some topo functionality as well. For a four wheeler such as myself it is however the perfect unit.
There a little wrinkle however stemming from the unique nature of the product that you need to be aware of. Since Garmin isn't telling you up front, I will.
At least when they came out, or so I've been told, the Nuvi 500 used map files that supposedly contained combined street map data along with POI and 100K topo data but I'm pretty sure the 100K topo was separate. Later on my wife purchased (as a gift) 24 K tops DVDs from which I made segment limited files for my microSD card from which I could choose the areas I wanted.
Everything worked well except for the fact that when I wanted to change the 24K topo map to other areas/states I had to rename files using a PC. It was a clumsy but workable workaround.
The trouble started when I began to active the lifetime update. After searching their site I found and installed their lifetime updater program.
After performing the update however my unit became mostly dysfunctional in that only the base map data was showing on the map display. That is street and highway data down to only the 5mi scale along with the 100K topo date. When retrying the update the maps, assuming something had gone wrong, the program now complained that there was insufficient room. After enduring some hassle with there product support, not fun as you probably know, I was told to delete all the map data from the unit manually, which I did.
After that the update installed properly and worked well for street data. However my 100K topo was gone and the ability of my 24K topo maps to display contour lines was gone with it as I expected it would be. After all they told me to take out all the map files. What good is a topo with no contour data? I was then supplied a download/install on their website for a new and separate 100K topo. However when I attempted the install the program complained that there was now insufficient room. I then, prompted by product support, removed some help files and other extraneous stuff in order to free up some more room, freeing up to over half the capacity of the unit about 1.4GB. I then reattempted the install but found the install program required over 3GB of space to be available on the unit. How could this be? The Nuvi only came with 2.7GB total in which it had street, POI and 100K topo data and the memory for program code, help files voices etc. Along with the new street update, appx 1.3GB and now another 3GB for the 100K topo that would be about four times the capacity of the device but for the map files alone.
Therefore if you own a Nuvi 500, DO NOT purchase a Garmin Lifetime update for it as it will be completely useless for you.
I am now arguing with Garmin for a refund for the Lifetime update and an install DVD that will restore my 500 to the way it was before they broke it.
Buyer beware.
For those you don't know, the 500 is somewhat of a compromise product in that it has some functionality for use for street and highway navigation along with POI location and some topo functionality as well. For a four wheeler such as myself it is however the perfect unit.
There a little wrinkle however stemming from the unique nature of the product that you need to be aware of. Since Garmin isn't telling you up front, I will.
At least when they came out, or so I've been told, the Nuvi 500 used map files that supposedly contained combined street map data along with POI and 100K topo data but I'm pretty sure the 100K topo was separate. Later on my wife purchased (as a gift) 24 K tops DVDs from which I made segment limited files for my microSD card from which I could choose the areas I wanted.
Everything worked well except for the fact that when I wanted to change the 24K topo map to other areas/states I had to rename files using a PC. It was a clumsy but workable workaround.
The trouble started when I began to active the lifetime update. After searching their site I found and installed their lifetime updater program.
After performing the update however my unit became mostly dysfunctional in that only the base map data was showing on the map display. That is street and highway data down to only the 5mi scale along with the 100K topo date. When retrying the update the maps, assuming something had gone wrong, the program now complained that there was insufficient room. After enduring some hassle with there product support, not fun as you probably know, I was told to delete all the map data from the unit manually, which I did.
After that the update installed properly and worked well for street data. However my 100K topo was gone and the ability of my 24K topo maps to display contour lines was gone with it as I expected it would be. After all they told me to take out all the map files. What good is a topo with no contour data? I was then supplied a download/install on their website for a new and separate 100K topo. However when I attempted the install the program complained that there was now insufficient room. I then, prompted by product support, removed some help files and other extraneous stuff in order to free up some more room, freeing up to over half the capacity of the unit about 1.4GB. I then reattempted the install but found the install program required over 3GB of space to be available on the unit. How could this be? The Nuvi only came with 2.7GB total in which it had street, POI and 100K topo data and the memory for program code, help files voices etc. Along with the new street update, appx 1.3GB and now another 3GB for the 100K topo that would be about four times the capacity of the device but for the map files alone.
Therefore if you own a Nuvi 500, DO NOT purchase a Garmin Lifetime update for it as it will be completely useless for you.
I am now arguing with Garmin for a refund for the Lifetime update and an install DVD that will restore my 500 to the way it was before they broke it.
Buyer beware.
Support GPSFileDepot
Contact Us
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Share on FaceBook