Hand-me-down Garmin GPS: How to update maps?
you'll spend nearly as much with Garmin for new maps as for their least expensive GPS. You can do it, likely not cost effective
Thank you for giving me the short version! (Did not want to invest a lot of time in addition to the money. Was going for either/or.)
Your phone does the same thing for free. No reason to have a separate gps unit in 2016.
Then the money would be much better spent on a new phone! You need a smartphone.
I have a smart phone, friends. I find I am a better driver when I rely on a stand-alone GPS. That's just my deal, and I'm living with it.
breal said:
I can't even tell you what kind of Garmin GPS this is. It came with its UBS cable and its holder. It was free, so maybe I should just pay a Geek Squad-er at Best Buy to make this problem go away??? Thank you in advance!
My partner had an older Garmin a couple years ago that I tried to update. I paid for the newer maps but couldn't get any of them to download properly. I later found there was not enough memory on the Garmin to load the newer maps and unfortunately no memory could be added to that particular unit.
Garmin was very understanding and refunded our $ after they spent some time troubleshooting the issue. I wanted to mention this to you just as an fyi since you mentioned you are unsure which Garmin you have.
I'm curious- just how often and how many times do folks HAVE to have the absolute latest map(s)? Seems to me that 123 Main St. Podunk, NJ is pretty much in the same place as last decade.
I ask bc I have a Garmin that I've never used. I can't use it bc power port on dashboard is burned out. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth getting repaired.
I have a smartphone and use the GPS for simple local stuff, but for going to completely new areas, or into NYC, I do like to have the "real" GPS up on the dash. It is larger and for me I feel that it is easier to see. Also, in NYC if you are caught fiddling with your cell phone (say to update an address or something similar) you can receive a ticket, but you won't get a ticket if it is a stand alone GPS even though you are doing the same actions. IIRC someone here on MOL actually got a ticket for just that.
It's not the location 123 Main St, Podunk NJ that changes, but every few years there's some changes to traffic flow at various intersections and the occasional rebuilt onramp on a highway, so updates to maps help avoid the occasional surprise.
Personally, we switched from using a Garmin GPS to using our smartphones, we bought a mount so that it's mounted in the same spot that our Garmin was. I had installed a custom mount for our Garmin that mounts off the tachometer in our Mini. I was able to find a smartphone clip that fit that mount, so switching was easy. Having the phone mounted is also much safer.
The biggest plus is that something like the Waze app has accurate traffic reporting as well as accurate maps. The traffic features that GPSes can have as an option don't really work. Driving into NYC with a 'real' GPS instead of using Waze is something that I would definitely NOT recommend!
qrysdonnell said:
It's not the location 123 Main St, Podunk NJ that changes, but every few years there's some changes to traffic flow at various intersections and the occasional rebuilt onramp on a highway, so updates to maps help avoid the occasional surprise.
+1. I remember trying to get to the Ikea in Elizabeth some years ago with an old GPS, before phones had good maps. Several entrance/exit ramps had been reconfigured and weren't reflected by the GPS. I had never been to that part of the state and had no idea where I was going. It was not a happy experience.
You also won't be able to find certain businesses that might have opened or moved or closed.
I use my phone now but my Garmin was better for general navigation. I agree that the traffic antenna (a pricey extra) was helpful but not as accurate as Waze or Google Maps.
I can't even tell you what kind of Garmin GPS this is. It came with its UBS cable and its holder. It was free, so maybe I should just pay a Geek Squad-er at Best Buy to make this problem go away??? Thank you in advance!