Garmin 650nui

[Ronnelly]

We ordered the Garmin 650 nuvi from Costco.com. It arrived yesterday. I have tried some of the features, but have not taken it on a trip yet. Any others with the same GPS that have questions of upgrades, accessories, trip planning tips, or any good tips, etc. would be appreciated.

[stiles watson]

When you load it into your computer, look to see what version of the software you have. If it is not the 2008 version, I would call tech support and request a free upgrade. After all, you just purchased it and should not have to pay for the latest upgrade. In two or three years, you will be buying an upgrade if you want to stay current.

[bsmeaton]

Once you register with Garmin you will get email notifications of the upgrades and links that will do it automatically.

Once the maps are outdated, your Garmin software will tell you on the Nuvi when you boot up, and the email updates will stop coming. At that point you can still us it, but the info will not be the latest greatest. 2008 Software Upgrade is $80 (a whole lot cheaper than the $240 to update the factory NavTech in the Ford - again!).

[Ronnelly]

I just called Garmin, and was told that I do have the newest map. You can check your version, by clicking on the Wrench on the GPS, then click on Map, then Map Info to see the version of map you have. The latest is "City Navigator North America NT 2008.

quote:Originally posted by stiles watson

When you load it into your computer, look to see what version of the software you have. If it is not the 2008 version, I would call tech support and request a free upgrade. After all, you just purchased it and should have to pay for the latest upgrade. In two or three years, you will be buying an upgrade if you want to stay current.

[stiles watson]

Great! Their software production has caught up with their instrument production. That was not so when I received mine, but Garmin sent me an update when I asked for it.

[garyka]

I also just got one and am trying to teach myself how to create a map with streets and trips or google and convert it so I can load it to the sd card and use it on the garmin

[rames14]

Garyka -

Just curious, why do you want to create a map and then import it into the Nuvi? It should have all of the same streets, features, etc. that you need. If you want specific waypoint, the free POI loader program from Garmin (available at www.garmin.com) works great for that. I'm just curious if there's something I'm missing.

[sreigle]

Gary, Garmin has the Mapsource application. It came with my Garmin and is all set up to upload to my Garmin without need for any conversions. It's a bit quirky (learning curve) but quite effective. If you get Mapsource I'd be glad to help you out with your questions. I'm not an expert but use mapsource for nearly all my routing then upload to the Garmin. You'll need the cable to connect Garmin to a usb port if you don't already have that. Email me (envelope icon above this post) if I can help in any way.

You may already have mapsource on a cd. I'm not sure if it comes with your model or not.

Ron, I find it far easier to plan a route on the laptop and then upload it. For one, there's drag and dropping of a route to shift it to a different road and much more map is visible on the larger screen. Just my preference, though.