Product Description Garmin nüvi 500 3.5-Inch Portable GPS NavigatorFrom Garmin
GARMIN NUVI 500 3.5 inch GPS Navigator. Garmin International is pleased to announce the nuvi 500 and nuvi 550, the newest members of the popular nuvi line. This new multi mode nuvi series will guide you while you drive, hike, bike or boat. Both models switch modes to navigate through your active lifestyle. Go sightseeing with geotagged images from Garmin Connect Photos or see your terrain with the digital elevation model basemap. Nuvi 500 and 550 are ready for your active lifestyle. The nuvi 500 comes preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator North America NT Lower 48 States plus topographic maps for the U.S. The preloaded map data features over six million points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs and attractions. The map data is provided by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium quality mapping.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #463 in Consumer Electronics
Brand: Garmin
Model: NUVI 500
Dimensions: 4.21" h x 3.30" w x .90" l, .50 pounds
Native resolution: 320 x 240
Display size: 3.5
Features
High-Sensitivity GPS Receiver For Improved Performance And Reception
Built-In 3D Basemap
Includes Built-In Lower 48 Us States Topographic Maps
3.5-Inch Display, 320 X 240 Pixels
Easy Touch-Screen Interface
Editorial Reviews Garmin nüvi 500 3.5-Inch Portable GPS NavigatorFrom Garmin
Amazon.com Manufacturer's Review (July 22, 2008)Perfect for crossing over the threshold from city to backcountry, the Garmin nüvi 500 provides a high-sensitivity GPS receiver with turn-by-turn navigation in a ruggedized, waterproof exterior that you can use while hiking, biking, or boating. With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver and HotFix satellite prediction, nüvi 500 locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons--whether in the city or out in the wilds. And it easily switches modes (driving, walking, biking and boating) to navigate through your active lifestyle depending on your activity. Other features include a 3.5-inch touchscreen, microSD memory expansion, geocaching GPX file capabilities for complete cache descriptions and hints, and Garmin Connect Photos--enabling you to associate your favorite images with saved locations.
The nüvi 500 comes preloaded with the highly detailed City Navigator North America NT maps for the lower 48 states, which also includes topographic maps for a better perspective of your elevation. The map data, provided by NAVTEQ, features over six million points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs and attractions.
The DEM basemap (above) provides shaded contours, and the nüvi also includes a digital compass.
Weighing 7.6 ounces and measuring less than an inch thin, the nüvi 500 fits easily in a purse, backpack, or jacket pocket. The 3.5-inch color touchscreen display (with 320 x 240-pixel resolution) is easy to read even in direct sunlight, and the nüvi's easy-to-use interface means you'll spend more time enjoying the outdoors and less time searching for information. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with turn-by-turn voice directions, 2-D or 3-D maps and smooth map updates as you navigate. Its digital elevation model (DEM) mapping shows you shaded contours at higher zoom levels, giving you a big picture of the surrounding terrain. In addition, the nüvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.
Garmin's HotFix capability automatically calculates and stores satellite locations, greatly reducing satellite acquisition time so that you can turn the unit on and get going. With HotFix, your nüvi 500 remembers the position of all satellites it is tracking when you turn it off, and calculates their movements in order to predict where they should be the next time you turn it on. HotFix can predict satellite positions for up to 3 days after the device was last turned off.
Conveniently plug in optional preloaded microSD memory cards for all your outdoor activities on land or water. Just insert an optional Garmin MapSource card with detailed street maps (such as for locales outside the United States), and the nüvi 500 provides turn-by-turn directions to your destination. And with optional BlueChart g2 Vision maps, you'll get everything you need for a great day on the water including depth contours, navaids and harbors.
A user-replaceable lithium-ion battery will give you up to eight hours of battery life (depending on use). In addition to an AC charger, the unit also ships with a 12-volt power adapter for vehicle charging, as well as a windshield suction cup mount.
Specifications
User modes: Driving, Boating, Bicycling and Walking
Expansion: microSD card slot for optional mapping and data storage
Wherigo player
Geocahing: Supports Geocahing.com GPX files for complete cache descriptions and hints
Dimensions: 4.21 x 3.35 x 0.9 inches (WxHxD)
Display size: 3.5-inch QVGA color antiglare TFT screen (320 x 240-pixel resolution) with white backlight touchscreen
Weight: 7.6 ounces
Battery type: user replaceable lithium-ion
Battery life: up to 8 hours depending on use
Waterproof standard: IEC 60529 IPX7
What's in the BoxGarmin nüvi 500, preloaded City Navigator North America NT Lower 48 U.S. states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico plus topographic maps, lithium-ion battery, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disc, quick start manual
Play Wherigo Wherever You GoThis nüvi GPS device is compatible with Wherigo, the latest GPS-based activity from geocaching pioneers Groundspeak. Wherigo (pronounced "where I go") is a toolset for creating and playing location-based multimedia experiences in the real world. Using the Wherigo platform, Wherigo authors can build exciting adventure games, historical tours or other innovative activities.
3D Terrain MapsShaded relief terrain maps show you when to expect hills, mountains, forests and other natural features. Topographic terrain maps are viewable when using the 2D "birds-eye" view.
Customer Reviews Garmin nüvi 500 3.5-Inch Portable GPS NavigatorFrom Garmin
Not bad, but not all good either. This unit is fairly nice, but its more of an on-the-road GPS. It has a terrific 3D view and works well at guiding you down the road. It does lack any way of holding it when in the back country though, and has no screen lock for when you throw it in your backpack, so the touch screen goes nuts while in the pack. It also only comes with the 1:100K TOPO's which are about as useless as they get in the woods, and at the moment Garmin has no TOPO 1:24K maps for the NorthEast, and you have to purchase those separately. There is support for Raster images, but no way to create Raster Maps, which would be a major plus if we could load on USGS 24K maps, which are superior to the ones Garmin uses. I also found the Address lookup ability, which a GPS unit should excel at, was quite useless. There just isnt enough addresses in the unit, it has serious troubles when looking up small towns addresses. I have a legal address and zip code and it refuses to accept it. It will suggest the next town over, or a location several miles from my home, and this is normal for all Garmin's. I find this annoying, because like I said, this should be its strong suit, it is a GPS unit afterall. I did find some custom made 1:24K maps online, and they are pretty good, but no where near as good as the USGS. Its a good unit, but they didnt think it thru very well, maybe the next generation of this unit will fair better. Things that need to be changed or added: 1) Should come with 1:24K Maps 2) They need to get the Raster ability working so we can load USGS 1:24K 3) Address lookups need to be updated/expanded and more accurate(This is a real let down right now) 4) Needs a place to hookup up a strap so you have a way to secure it while carrying it around. 5) Desperately needs a Screen Lock, even Garmin's vehicle units have this, but a Cross-Over unit that spends its time in the woods/backpacks doesnt? 6) Should be smaller, its just a little to large to carry around or hold.(Maybe adding the ability to turn the unit and have the screen view turn with you, its easier to hold the unit the long way)
Excellent unit.. but know something about map updates The Nuvi 500 (vs. the 550) has TOPO maps of the US. Great, but this creates an issue when Garmin releases new maps for their GPSes. The 2010 maps for this will not be available until summer, and if the included 2009 maps are any indication, they may be out of date compared to the standard 2010 maps for their other units. For example, in Milwaukee a major construction for the interstates is completed and included with the 2009 maps for the rest of the GPS line, but it is NOT in the 2009 map version for the Nuvi 500. There is also debate on if Garmin's Lifetime mapping program will be available for this. If you do not need the TOPO maps, and want more up to date maps, you may want to get the Nuvi 550.
cool machine my first gps . easy to use - survived well my first heavy off-raod trip - lots of mud and water around and it run beautiful - after it, i cleaned it and looks as new - i live in brazil .... working great here ... only had to load southamerica map ... rgds !
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