Garmin DriveSmart 50LM 5 inch Sat-Nav for Cars Satellite Navigation System with Full Europe (including UK) Lifetime Map Updates and Smartphone Link Traffic

Great product, gift from my dad before a European road trip.Advice with the benefit of hindsight:Do a map update before usingDo your settings before usingNot doing so led to it routing me on a ferry across a Swiss lake - only it was 11:30pm, there were no ferries and I ended up with a 2hr drive retracing steps to then take an alternate more sensible route.Forgot to reset “ferry” option after driving from UK-Italy this summer, then ended up with it again routing me across Lake Maggiore by ferry. Fortunately this time ferry was running, but the ETA was out by an hour & journey much slower & more expensive than an alternate driving route would be.

Not had a chance to try it out yet as it needs to be charged for quite a while before I can use it. Can't understand why the only method of charging it is by plugging it into the car. However this is my third Garmin (the last one froze after 18 months) and I do like the way they present clear instructions. You are told in plenty of time which lane to take, when to turn, etc. It doesn't bother me that the voiced instructions of a foreign street name sounds a bit peculiar, but it is being said as it sounds in English. I like the idea of voice instructions, but haven't tried that out yet. All in all Garmin is my favourite make of Sat nav. I'm an old age pensioner and need simple instructions.

I left the US world leader Garmin at 2013 after many years’ of use their midrange and upper models, and joint to small Dutch company TomTom with the GO LIVE 820.The reason give up from Garmin was when stopped produced nuLink products (Inner sim card like 5000 TomTom series) and for less comprehensive traffic alerts.Recently I checked again Garmin website and read that is cooperates now with “Inrix” instead of "Traffic Master" who TM covered only traffic in motorways and A roads.I downloaded in my android Inrix app and surprised when saw traffic delays even in my small town as never were there before with Garmin devices.I thought could give another go with Garmin cause always was my best choice compare with tomtom, and bought drive smart 50 LM (Not digital Traffic but via Smartphone Link). Took off from dashboard TomTom GO LIVE 820, GO 40, GO 400, GO5000, GO 5100 and stick the Garmin instead.Results, although Garmin have made a huge improvement regarding traffic, tomtom still keeps the lead for traffic alerts and fastest routes at the moment. Morel likely UK has more TomTom users than Garmin, therefore is more accurate. I’m guessing in US Garmin holds the lead.Having lots of experience from both companies and for more than fifteen years I realize that Garmin knows better what drivers needed and offers more comprehensive models than tomtom.For those who decide to buy Garmin 50 LM or 50 LMT-D both is an excellent choice and offers plethora of convenience. More likely is for the ones who use GPS for leisure than business people, but if your drive in rush hours tomtom is better choice.One more thing. For the ones who hates to see connected cables between GPS and charged sockets read the following.Best place to attach you GPS device is the right lower part of your windscreen or better the right end of the top of dashboard with attached disk.By choosing this option, you can hide the charging cable between dashboard and door, follows inside the dash panel underneath the steering wheel, then inside the gearbox panel or between gear panel and carpet. In most cases is an easy job.By using USB cables the devices not switched to data transfer mode as happened before, but bear in mind the 50 LMT-D model won’t receive Digital Traffic if not connected with the original charging cable. At this event, you can buy one more original charging cable to extend the length by connected the two cables as one.Good luck

This would be a great little unit, if it worked. The screen and directions are clear and the routes are logical. The complex junctions display is a particularly good feature.Unfortunately, after using it a few times over a 2 week period, it now refuses to even turn on. Whether plugged in to a power source or not, pressing the 'on' button does nothing. Returned.

The media could not be loaded. In the beginning, I had some difficulty updating the maps. The update crashed a couple of times and it took a really long time for the device to reboot while connected to the pc, but after update was finished, everything looks good!

Bought this after having my old trusty Garmin Nuvi stolen. As this is a far more modern unit, I was expecting it to be LOADS better...but it's not. Yes, it does have some nice features & a nice display...but it's navigation is sometimes appalling. Has a tendency to send you down some VERY obscure roads ....which I find surprising as this product is made by the same people?? Navigation settings don't seem to suggest why this unit is more prone to sending you off on a magical mystery tour either!Despite its cost, I rarely use this & now tend to use Google Maps on my phone more often (as it has free live updates, & is FAR less likely to send me down a country roads only suitable for a horse & cart!!)

We've used Garmin and TomTom for years now. Happy with the purchase as we knew what we were buying and as a gift to replace an old model for a daughter. Mostly 5 stars - but Garmin mapping occasionally decides on a funky route so local knowledge can be a bonus. Tried to take us up a mountain in Germany which we knew was not going to happen. However, software is only as good as the data that is provided. Excellent voice commands and that has been brilliant. Connecting to the Garmin online update service has not been without its frustrations though - hence until they sort out a more reliable interface for updating especially on Windows, it only warrants three stars on "Easy to Use". Apart from that, it is a good piece of kit.