Comments on: Garmin Nuvi 500

By: rdb

rdb — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:44:26 +0000

I purchased the 500 for on/off-road motorcycling and geocaching.

I think I’m going back to my Map 76csx!

I didn’t like the topo colorization on the 500, as it made it impossible to zoom out to see possible routes. I zoom out with the 76, and can see roads that may take me cross country to my destination. On the 500 was so cluttered I couldn’t make heads-nor-tails of the roads. (topo lines did the cluttering-not sure if there’s a way to turn the topo off). I think the nuvi 550 omits the topo.
For geocaching, I think I’ll pass also. The 76csx was 100% better for getting within a few feet or so of the cache. The 500 would have me walking in a lake if I followed the gps.

By: Malakai

Malakai — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:42:11 +0000

The nuvi 500 is the most disappointing product I’ve purchased from garmin. I’ve had a GPSIII+, Streepilot 550, and streetpilot i5. I bought the nuvi 500 as a replacement for the gpsIII+ that I’ve been using on my boat. The nuvi is waterproof and small, which made it look like a good choice. It also can do street routing with live traffic update, which I hoped would make it useful during towing in the crowded San Francisco Bay area.

The nuvi 500 is an ok street GPS when it works. I have a GTM25 traffic receiver for it. When the traffic receiver is plugged in, I can count on the nuvi 500 locking up at least once per trip. Garmin support is terrible, they deny all knowledge of any such issue, even though I’ve logged the issue with them before. I had it lock up on me during a trip to a campground I’d never been to, and I overshot the freeway exit by almost 15 minutes before I realized the stupid nuvi 500 had frozen again and was showing me my location from an hour ago. That is unforgivable in a gps.

With a recent software update, the nuvi 500 will speak street names, but unlike the stock voice, the TTS voices seem to have a problem with the volume. They are almost inaudible even with the volume at 100%, making them mostly useless unless the windows are up and the radio is off.

The boat mode is by far the most disappointing thing. The nuvi 500 WILL NOT SUPPORT BOAT NAVIGATION without adding bluechart g2 maps!!! I’ve been navigating for years on a gpsIII+ on the stock garmin base maps. I don’t need depth, I dont need buoys, I boat in the sacramento river delta. I just need to see where the water is, to have a compass heading to the next waypoint, and to not have the gps jumping my position onto levy roads every time I get close to one. The nuvi 500 WONT DO IT without the addition of maps that cost more than the unit itself.

The screen is dim and hard to read while wearing polarized glasses, and forget about taking it out without a power source. The battery wont last more than three hours even with the backlight off.

In summary- this product from garmin is mediocre at best. Neither of the two features I bought it for- live traffic-based routing and occasional use on a sport boat- work in any usable way.

I’ve been a proud owner of garmin equipment for ten years, but this is likely to be the last garmin product that I will buy. The product quality on the nuvi 500 is terrible, garmin support is non-existent, and the cost of the maps borders on robbery. Save your money, look elsewhere for your crossover gps.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:37:22 +0000

Kirk, see this thread in our forums: Garmin Nuvi 500 550 for 4×4 trails?

By: Kirk

Kirk — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:27:20 +0000

Does the 500 have the same topo maps that the Oregon 400t has. I am looking for a GPS that I can use for both car and for hiking and hunting.

By: Cary

Cary — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:37:40 +0000

Sure wish I could figure out where Chuck bought his 550, since they deleted that link. Upgrading from a GPS76 Comparing the Garmin 550, 500, and the 276C.
HARD to DECIDE!!!
I currently have the Garmin GPSMAP76. I’m looking for a unit that can work for me on the home lake for sailing events here in SC.
GPSMAP76 is hard to read in the sun during a Sailboat Race, much less add waypoints on the fly. Want to load my MAPSOURCE LAKES V5 on my new device and use it the rest of the time for the car, Any suggestions?

By: Kacy

Kacy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:13:39 +0000

Can-am has the Nuvi 500 already mounted on some of their ATVs standard. I think it would work great on a motorcycle. You can turn off the voice if you want to. Also the Garmin ATV mount is very solid. I mounted one on a friends and was very impressed.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:55:12 +0000

Tom you can purchase a entire topo map for the United States for 150$.

By: Chet

Chet — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:00:13 +0000

The Nuvi 500 will work on a motorcycle. I bought a Ram mount for mine and it works just fine, so lang as you don’t mind not hearing the voice prompts. The zumo has bluetooth capabilities that let you hear voice prompts through a head set, but is that worth another $500.00. IMHO it doesn’t. For the car the unit is fine also and it is very versatile.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:55:36 +0000

I am looking for a GPS to use on a motorcycle and car. I have read about the Garmin zumo’s. I have a co-worked who has a Garmin Nuvi 500 and loves it, in a car and hiking. Would a Nuvi 500 work on the motorcycle? or should I stick with the zumo, which is designed for motorcycles?

By: roxanne

roxanne — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:49:51 +0000

Yeah, my BF and I have had the same issue with the unit shutting down, something to do with LONG CACHE NAMES.
We have had to take 2 units back because they froze and simply would not boot up again.
We love the units, and called Garmin to see what they have found, and they played really stupid and said they have NEVER heard of that happening with the units…yeah right.