Garmin nüvi 500 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator |  | Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $499.99
Buy New: $195.00
as of 7/31/2010 16:16 CDT details
You Save: $304.99 (61%)
New (38) Used (2) Refurbished (2) from $169.99
Seller: Electronica Direct
Rating:  63 reviews
Sales Rank: 1114
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 11
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 320 x 240
Display Size: 3.50
Battery: 1 Lithium-Ion
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 0.9 x 3.3 x 4.2
nv:Condition: New
Type: Handheld
Type: Marine
Type: Automotive
Type: Motorcycle
Waypoints: 1000
Route Capacity: 10
Display: Color
Display: TFT
Display: Backlight
Screen Size: 3.5"
Touch Screen: Yes
Voice: Yes
Expansion Slots: microSD Card
Battery Type: Rechargeable lithium-ion
Battery Life: 8 hours
Special Features: Bluechart Compatible
Special Features: Waterproof
Special Features: Geocaching Ready
Special Features: Spoken Street Names
Maps Included: United States
MPN: 010-00700-10
Model: NUVI 500
UPC: 753759076948
EAN: 0753759076948
ASIN: B001CSZSDI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| 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 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
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 waterproof nüvi 500 guides you while you drive, hike, bike or boat. | 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. Plus, a user-replaceable lithium-ion battery will give you up to eight hours of battery life (depending on use).
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
Navigate by Photo with Garmin Connect Photos
| Using Garmin's Connect Photos Web site, you can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google's Panoramio photo sharing community and download them to the nüvi for a richer navigation experience using pictures as a guide.
- Choose from Panoramio's collection of photos from around the world.
- Easy to use interface displays photos on Google Maps.
- Search for photos by location name or map area boundary.
- Transfer photos directly from Garmin Connect to device with the Garmin Communicator.
- View photos in Google Earth.
- Supports Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ on Windows and Mac.
| Play Wherigo Wherever You Go
This 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 Maps
Shaded 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.
What's in the Box
Garmin 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 Which nüvi is Best for You? Note: All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations. | Device | Screen Size inches (W x H) | Included Maps | Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names) | Traffic | Bluetooth | Media | FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system) | Multi-Point Routing | Battery life (hours) | | Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico | AK and Canada | Europe | | nüvi 500 | 2.8 x 2.1 | |
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| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 8 | | nüvi 205 | 2.8 x 2.1 | |
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| MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 205w | 3.81 x 2.25 | |
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| MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 255 | 2.8 x 2.1 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 255w | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 260w | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
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| Photos |
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| up to 5 | | nüvi 265T | 2.8 x 2.1 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 265WT | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 275T | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 285WT | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); | | Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 465T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
| | up to 4 | | nüvi 755T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
| Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | | nüvi 760 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5 | | nüvi 765T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | | nüvi 775T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | | nüvi 780 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5 | | nüvi 785T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | | nüvi 850 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | | nüvi 855 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | | nüvi 885T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | | nüvi 1200 | 2.8 x 2.1 | |
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| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1250 | 2.8 x 2.1 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1260T | 2.8 x 2.1 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1300 | 3.81 x 2.25 | |
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| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1350 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1350T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) |
| Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1370T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1390T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
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| up to 4 | | nüvi 1490T | 4.4 x 2.5 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos |
| | up to 4 | | nüvi 1690 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| | NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service) | | Photos |
| | up to 4 |
Product Description
3.5" display, 320 x 240 pixels QVGA color antiglare TFT with white backlight High-sensitivity GPS receiver for improved performance & reception Preloaded with City Navigator(R) NT map data for the lower 48 states, Hawaii & Puerto Rico Built-in 3D basemap Includes built-in lower 48 U.S. states topographic maps Digital elevation maps Easy touchscreen interface Turn-by-turn directions with voice guidance Where Am I? feature finds closest hospitals, police stations, gas stations, nearest address & intersection 4 user profiles?automotive, marine, cycling & pedestrian Supports www.geocaching.com GPX files for complete cache descriptions & hints Includes Whereigo player Includes Garmin Lock (TM) anti-theft feature Waterproof to IPX7 standards Micro Secure Digital Card (TM) slot Built-in Li-Ion battery with up to 8 hours usage Includes suction cup mount Dim: 2.8"H x 3.8"W x .8"D Weight: 5.2 oz
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 63
 Great GPS July 23, 2010
Jason
I bought this GPS specifically because of its Geocaching features, and it preforms excellent for this function as well as general navigation. It has all the normal features you would expect from a Car mount GPS. For Geocaching it works excellent as well. You can load (with a premium account on [...] 30day free included with unit) caches in various ways from the geocaching website by creating a pocket query on were you are going or the area you live. The unit can be changed from driving to walking very easily and take you right to caches. I still use my phone or another GPS when I get out of the car but when my kids are with me and they all want there own GPS to join in the fun it can be removed and used by one of them.
All around an excellent unit and if you are a Geocacher this is a great buy!!
All my experience with this unit is after I upgraded it from the Garmin website, which is the first thing I did when I opened the box and I recommend others upgrade as well. It takes an hour or two to upgrade the units maps and software as the map files are large but well worth the wait.
I use it for Geocaching and travel July 12, 2010
Rencer
I like the crossover features of this GPS. I love to geocache, and with a little help from the GSAK program, I am able to do it completly paperlessly. I also like the turn by turn voice directions for when I am in the car on the road. I don't have to take my eyes off the road. It has not let me down yet on directions in the most remote of places. I like the size, the weight, the fact that it is waterproof, and has a great battery life. The only thing I would have liked is to have a ring or niche to attach a lanyard so I could hang it around my neck when in the woods. For the cost, I don't think you can find a better GPS that is easier to use for both your car and Geocaching.
 It would be great if I could only hear it June 11, 2010
R. Baker (MD USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought the Garmin 500 primarily to use on my motorcycles.
I have had experience with Magellan and Lorance GPS's in the past.
My old Lorance iway 250C does an adequate job in the car, but the color screen is easily washed out by the sun on a motorcycle. I use the Lorance audio on the bike, but if I need to change a setting, I need find a dark place.
I selected the Garmin 500 for the following features:
Relatively long battery life,
Computer loadable custom POIs and routes.
Good visiblity in the daylight.
Weather proof.
A $200 price tag.
I am generally satisfied with these features with the following caveats.
The battery life is overstated. It is only achievable if you turn off the good features.
Nevertheless, battery life is better than most.
I took me considerable research and experimentation to figure out how to load routes to it.
This feature was not documented in the manual.
After I figured out how to load Google routes to it, I got poor results like "Turn right at 2nd street and then make a u-turn". Or it told me to circle the same block repeatedly.
I suspect that this can be avoided with the right software or by manually editing each waypoint, but after a few days I decided it was not worth doing.
Custom POIs was not well documented, but a bit easier to figure out and useful.
The Pros:
The daylight visibility is as good as any color display that I have seen (excellent).
The acquisition of a satellite fix is the fastest that I have seen (excellent).
It even works indoors.
It is a compact pocket size unit.
You can charge it from a USB port if you have the optional cable or equivalent.
The Cons:
The audio is poor. You can hear it in a quiet car, but don't turn on the music.
There is no audio/headset jack, so you can't amplify it.
I can't hear it on my quiet motorcycle.
I told it I preferred the fastest route, but it chooses to take the shortest/slowest/roughest route.
One might expect a crossover unit to have some protection against rough handling, or a place to
attach a lanyard to guard against dropping it. This has neither.
I have recently used a Magellan 1475T and I found its user interface to be far more efficient and user friendly than the Garmin.
In the end, I decided to return it.
I already have a Lorance that I can hear but not see.
The Garmin offered me one that I could see, but not hear.
I would have overlooked the other flaws if the audio was more substantial.
 Is NOT WAAS-enabled. June 1, 2010
MN (Minnesota)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This GPS works as well as any other Nuvi product for auto navigation. As a matter of fact, it works great for auto navigation in my experience. However, this unit is billed as a crossover GPS that is also suitable for marine, geocaching, hiking, and other outdoor use, and it falls well short in all these categories.
Pros:
- Works great for auto navigation.
Cons:
- The compass does not work (completely stops responding to any changes in direction) for hiking navigation under or near any cover (small trees, buildings, etc).
- The trackback feature doesn't work for anything in my estimation. It tells you to follow the track log on the screen (which you could do without an extra feature), but gives you no indication when you stray off the track.
- The accuracy of your moving direction on the map screen is HIGHLY suspect. I've changed direction by 90 degrees, and the GPS doesn't recognize the change in direction until I've walked 100-500 ft. It keeps happily tracking along in a straight line until it catches up, and then re-draws the last 100-500 ft. You would spend a lot of time lost if you were depending on this thing for outdoor navigation.
- This unit is NOT WAAS-enabled despite documentation on Garmin's website and retailer product descriptions.
- The accuracy for outdoor use is highly suspect. Sometimes it brings you right to your waypoint, sometimes it brings you 100 ft away.
- The speed does not work (completely stops responding) for hiking navigation under or near any cover (small trees, buildings, etc).
- No screen lock or lanyard attachment points. I knew about this before purchasing, but they are significant shortcomings for a crossover GPS.
This unit works great for auto navigation, but you can get a much cheaper unit for auto navigation. I would assume that many people are interested in this unit for outdoor use in addition to auto navigation, and it doesn't perform well in the outdoors. Garmin packed it with outdoor features, but they either don't work or were falsely advertised from the beginning (WAAS).
 Nuvi 500 not for motorcycle use May 23, 2010
Wolfgang (MA, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Background: Late in 2008 I decided to buy a GPS unit for a cross country tour with the motorcycle.
Total miles 4800
Based on reviews and specs I decided to go for the nuvi 500.
Features I required:
Waterproof: Yes IPX7
Rugged: Yes
Battery life: about 5-6 Hrs in real life, degraded over time to 3-4
Mac OSX Interface : Yes via Roadtrip, however Garmin hasn't updated Roadtrip since 03/24/09
Waypoints/Favorites: Yes up to 500
Routes: Up to 10
Fast Satellite reception: Slow, takes quite some time to acquire signals
Features I would have liked in addition:
- Faster satellite reception
- Lane assist
- It should be possible in Roadtrip to add an address & telephone number as a waypoint not as a text box
- It should be possible to set a specific location as a "day" destination within a 2 week trip
- Altimeter function
- Keyboard layout should be like a real keyboard
- The unit could display miles to go for the day, not how much remains for the entire trip
- The software needs to more accurately calculate the total miles for a trip showed in roadtrip 3621, when we actually travelled 4800
- If certain roads are closed due to weather it would be nice to get an indication.
- Daily mileage display, display could be more configurable
- When routes are imported it should show version or date/time of import to better determine what route to load.
- Delete function of imported files within unit.
- Optional time display on main screen
- Allow MAD maps to be displayed in Roadmap/Mapsource
Real life experience
So by end of December 2008 I received my Nuvi500 and got started with Roadtrip on my Macbook Pro.
This is my first GPS so it took some time to get familiar.
In the car when I entered a single destination the unit worked always flawless without problems, no complaints except the slow signal.
After I planned a short motorcycle trip for a day I learnt that the waypoints have to be placed very precisely since the unit directs you literally exactly to it. When I used the optimize waypoint function I learnt that some of them are not placed where they should be. So you may end up at a turn where you should turn right and the unit makes you turn left and then a U-turn.
So after working with the unit for 5 month I imported a route, which according to roadtrip was 3621 miles including 80 waypoints. We started our cross country tour on June 16th arriving on the East Coast on July 1st
So when I imported the route into the Nuvi500 it first said the route is too long. OK, so no big deal just calculate as you go. Then the system was asking if it should navigate to the beginning of the tour, which I confirmed with "NO"
For some unknown reason the system wanted to make U-turns for the first 100 miles, really annoying.
However for another unknown reason the trip was calculated with 7156 miles, didn't plan a de-tour through South America??
So waypoints got duplicated even so I deleted all routes, performed a factory reset a couple of times.
Finally I got a mileage which seems half way accurate 3981 miles.
So we are on the tour for a couple of days and it starts raining, and suddenly the unit turns itself off and on again and is stuck in an endless loop. So finally in the Hotel I perform another factory reset and delete my route all my favorites and addresses.
The good thing is I got my MBP with me and re-import the map. This time it works however only for a couple of days. When in Lake Placid rain started again and the nightmare continued.
Overall impressions:
Reliability is questionable in rain
Route calculation is sometimes calculating air way, until you perform a re-calculate route?
Software seems not as stable as I would have hoped.
Calculation of total mileage seems off
A friend of mine ordered the same unit this year and has exactly the same issues I had last year however he is using mapsource? So you start to wonder....
Recommendation
So overall I'd say don't buy this one for a motorcycle. Look at other reviews for motorcycles. If you are looking for single destinations for use in a car, the unit is OK.
Any recommendations from riders?
The ZUMO665 seems improved but $999 is not something I would consider. Any feedback on the BMW Navigator III?
Showing reviews 1-5 of 63
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