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gpspassion
87495 Posts |
 Posted - 10 juil. 2008 : 00:26:56
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Reviewed here : http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=117500
NEWS - GARMIN NUVI 500/550 CROSSOVER
Product page on the Garmin site : nüvi 500 - nüvi 550
Updated July 22nd, 2008 - The nüvi 5x0 range is now official, here are the product pages on the Garmin site : nüvi 500 - nüvi 550 and here is a comparison of both models, they only appear to differ in map coverage options, continental road maps for the 550 and regional road + topo maps for the 500 in America and regional road maps in Europe.
It's not clear how advanced the "off-road" mode is at this point (waypoints/routes/tracks ?), but the "road" mode seems to offer multiple stops with auto-sorting, a feature only available on the high end 7x0, 8x0 and 5000 nüvis so far.
After reading this review, I'm shocked how Garmin dare to write "you can do it all" or "ready for adventure both on and off the beaten path" with this device though, while I thought they did a decent job "dumbing down" the interface of road systems to make the nüvis user friendly, what they've done to the "off-road" modes could be described as "axing" them. They make the Magellan Crossover look like advanced systems!
Unless the reviewer missed some essential features like track importing or waypoint management (he did miss track recording which has to be there like on the 7x0, 8x0, 5000 and 2x5, unless I missed it myself in the reviews!), I really don't see much of a difference in terms of usability on foot with the nüvi 2x5 I used on foot in London a couple of weeks ago, quite effectively I may add. I guess there is this "compass" mode but that's really not much of a consolation. The powerful removable battery should be more useful though.
I'm concerned these nüvis are going to generate a lot of unhappy users, a trend that started with the Colorado units earlier this year.
Posted July 10th, 2008 - The title about says it all, a French site recently gave some information on the nüvi 500 a "crossover" GPS system that Garmin are apparently planning to release in September, the original text is below :
"Mais le fabricant espère bien créer la surprise en commercialisant le nuvi 500, un GPS crossover, valable pour deux roues, voiture, piéton, bateau et randonnée. Le produit sera capable de lire la cartographie routière, maritime et de randonnée. Selon le constructeur, ce créneau du loisir écolo n’a pas encore été pris et il compte bien s’y installer.
En termes de taille, le produit reprendra la taille d’un nuvi 2x5, soit environ 73 mm x 97 mm x 20 mm pour un poids d’environ 150 g. Comme le Zumo, le GPS deux roues de Garmin, le Nuvi 500 sera très résistant. Ainsi, il répond aux normes IPX7, c’est-à-dire étanche à toute poussière, résistant aux intempéries - à 30 minutes sous un mètre d’eau - et aux hydrocarbures. Pour le prix, le constructeur ne peut pas le vendre plus cher que le zumo. On peut donc s’attendre à un prix aux alentours de 300 euros. Une version France et Europe sont attendues. Son design suivra également sa vocation outdoor."
You can run it in your favorite online translating tool, but in essence it says that it will have the same size as the recently released 2x5, will read road/topo/marine (the nuvis already do) and is designed for use on foot, bike, car, with "green" users in mind. This probably means that it will have the standard features of handhels systems, i.e. waypoints, tracks, routes. Hopefully all these features will be well integrated, better than on the Magellan Crossover where the different modes ran separately.
Let's stay tuned for more ! |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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gatorguy
USA
595 Posts |
Posted - 10 juil. 2008 : 03:27:45
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| I dropped a similar hint in another forum a few days ago. In addition, location-based services (LBS) were to be integrated as well, as I understood it. The device was to be announced in August with no word on actual availability date. Great you came across additional details. Perhaps a September launch with a much earlier announcement is closer to correct, as you have posted. |
Garmin 760 & 255 / TomTom 930 & 740 / Navigon 7200T / Garmin Dakota |
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gpspassion
87495 Posts |
Posted - 10 juil. 2008 : 03:39:59
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LBS as in "connected" ? That seem as a stretch on what is already a device packed with features. It's likely Garmin are working on a "connected GPS" like the Dash/Magellan/Mio 380 but that will certainly be a different device all together.
Back to the 500, crossover devices look great on paper, but it's hard to get all the parts right as Garmin found on the Colorado, which is a crossover device in a way, I wouldn't be surprised if the nuvi 500 used similar software. Battery life is also going to be an issue for pedestrian use. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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gatorguy
USA
595 Posts |
Posted - 11 juil. 2008 : 02:27:46
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| You could well be correct. It may turn out that we are talking 2 different devices. One announced in September, the other ready to ship by then. |
Garmin 760 & 255 / TomTom 930 & 740 / Navigon 7200T / Garmin Dakota |
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stress
USA
18 Posts |
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gpspassion
87495 Posts |
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gpspassion
87495 Posts |
Posted - 22 juil. 2008 : 23:02:38
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Nuvi 500 and 550 now official :
Product page on the Garmin site : nüvi 500 - nüvi 550
Here is a comparison of both models, they only appear to differ in map coverage options, continental road maps for the 550 and regional road + topo maps for the 500 in America and regional road maps in Europe
It's not clear how advanced the "off-road" mode is at this point, but the "road" mode seems to offer multiple stops with auto-sorting, a feature only available on the high end 7x0, 8x0 and 5000 nüvis so far. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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danham
USA
6348 Posts |
Posted - 22 juil. 2008 : 23:35:51
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Hmm, no TTS and hard to tell if it accepts pre-planned routes.
-dan |
- Nüvi forum moderator -
Nüvi 760 in a '10 Jetta TDI Diesel SportWagen & BMW F800 ST (350 & 680 stolen/recovered!)
Supporting a Vespa trek: >> details <<
Language Guide / US Topo / GPS III+ / MacBook with OS X & Win XP / Cape Cod, MA
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Boyd
USA
1125 Posts |
Posted - 23 juil. 2008 : 00:30:01
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Hmm... looks like they have finally dumbed down their handhelds to be worthy of the Nuvi title. Of course, as you say, it's hard to tell exactly what to expect. It appears to have DEM shading capability which is nice though - the screenshot shows .5 mi scale with shading and the current Nuvi models only show shading at 8 mile or greater zoom.
If you go to the main automotive screen and check the box for the 500 and some other models, you get some info in the comparison.I think it will accept routes from mapsource, based on that. The chart says it can "Auto sort multiple destinations". The Nuvi 750 also has this ability but the Nuvi 650 does not. But the 500 DOES NOT have a QWERTY keyboard option. WTF? What possible excuse could Garmin have for leaving this out? Screen size? |
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SergZak
USA
1575 Posts |
Posted - 23 juil. 2008 : 01:13:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Boyd
What possible excuse could Garmin have for leaving this out? Screen size?
I'm pretty sure that this is Garmin's excuse. I do seem to remember reading here of someone that somehow cobbled their 4x3 aspect ratio unit to a qwerty layout but the full keyboard & some characters did not fit due to the screen size/layout. |
nüvi 3790T, nüvi 855, nüvi 765, nüvi 760, nüvi 750 |
Edited by - SergZak on 23 juil. 2008 01:14:11 |
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popej
Poland
250 Posts |
Posted - 23 juil. 2008 : 01:23:49
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As a commnent 2 screens from my nuvi 205:
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popej |
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gpspassion
87495 Posts |
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popej
Poland
250 Posts |
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gpspassion
87495 Posts |
Posted - 23 juil. 2008 : 02:04:49
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| Ok, would have been best to spell it out in the first place ;-) And that's with the base Euro DEM, no DEM data included with your topo maps ? I'll have to try with some French topo maps if that's confirmed. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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Decidion
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 23 juil. 2008 : 03:32:16
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quote:
Originally posted by danham
Hmm, no TTS and hard to tell if it accepts pre-planned routes.
-dan
And also it doesn't seem to say anything about tracks/tracklogs in the specs. This would be a critical feature for an offroad GPS to me. |
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popej
Poland
250 Posts |
Posted - 23 juil. 2008 : 12:02:33
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quote:
And that's with the base Euro DEM, no DEM data included with your topo maps ?
No, Slovakia Topo has DEM. Maps without DEM will behave like City Navigator. Probably in nuvi 500 too.
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[NEWS] Garmin nüvi 500/550 Crossover - CLOSED
