Garmin Nuvi 52LM Portable Vehicle GPS

Received it in very good time. Everything was in the box except the manual which I downloaded from Garmin.com. Installed Garmin Express and installed 32 gbyte Micro SDHC card. Both the card and GPS shows up on "My Computer" Screen. Didn't need the manual to set up the GPS. Very easy instructions to follow. Some features I needed to read up on to decide what to do but the basic setup is mainly common sense. Updated the maps immediately using Garmin Express. Does take a long time depending on the speed of your Internet connection. I was downloading at 435 Kb/s and it took close to two hours to download and install in the GPS. I use the GPS mainly as a compass. I have the map always pointing North, and my vehicle is a green arrow head. If the arrow head is pointing straight up is Due North. Straight down, Due South, 90 degrees facing right on the screen, Due West, and Finally 90 degrees facing left, Due East. Very accurate as far as directional data. Better than an expensive compass that may not work at all in your car due to electromagnetic interference. You do need to be outside for the GPS to pick up the satellite signal. Had for one day so far. very happy with purchase. Will update if I have any future problems, at least, within the next year. Update 12/29/13: Found out that if you don't input any address or location and just hit "View Map" the GPS tells you the direction you are traveling just like a compass. One glitch I noticed when I went on a trip to Orlando, The map says left turn but the audio says Right turn. No deal breaker because I just take a quick glance at the map arrow to determine which way to turn. The map is very accurate while the audio instructions needs to be patched so that it follows the map's direction accurately. This was after I uploaded the latest map from Garmin website. Otherwise, works like a charm. One thing I noticed on the trip to Orlando, The fastest way may not be the cheapest way. The GPS kept trying to get me to turn on the Florida turnpike even when I was traveling down or up I-95 which has no tolls. But it still got me to my hotel in Altamonte Springs without any trouble. At home I use it strictly as a compass to let me know what direction I am driving. Still very satisfied with the GPS. Update: July 2017 - The GPS has been working great all these years of use. I use it when I go to a new address or as mentioned earlier as a compass. I also use it as a Address book. I have it in my car permanently covered up so no one will be able to know I have a GPS installed and try and break into my vehicle to steal it. The only CON I have is the Display now has three vertical stripes on it. Obviously it needs to be replaced. The stripes are very narrow but very noticeable. But it is not enough to cover up enough of the display where I can't read it. Garmin I believe charges around 80 or so dollars to repair your GPS no matter what is wrong with it. If the Display continues to get worse to the point it interferes with me reading it, I will probably purchase a newer better model since this model cost me $130.00 in 2013. If I would have paid more than $200 for it, then I would turn it in for repairs since it would be worth it.

Another review for the Garmin nüvi 52LM 5-Inch Portable Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps (US) sold by etrader2008. This is a Garman product which had been discontinued for a more up to date product. Packaging.... There was no box or packaging or instruction manual. I am assuming this was a returned item or it was a refurbished model. The items were each wrapped in a bubble wrap sheet and then placed in a shipping box somewhat loosely. All arrived in good condition. Shipping.... This item is NOT eligible for International Shipping Weight.... The actual weight of the unit is 6.04 oz but does feel heavier and shipping weight is 3 lbs which must be a size minimum charge. Included items.... were the Garmin Nuvi 52LM 5 in portable vehicle GPS display, a window stand ( suction cup type ), a power cord for the vehicle cig lighter, and a usb cord for charging and computer updates. Battery.... is a Lithium Ion cell which is included. This is a High Tech cell that should outlast the unit itself. Maps.... include Preloaded with City Navigator® NT North America - Lower 49 States... When shopping for a GPS unit you need to pay attention to this particular item. They come with many different flavours of maps and you will need to confirm you are getting the one you need. Maps support.... Lifetime maps¹ (indicated by “LM” after model number on the box) Operation.... was good. I am replacing a Garman GPS model that was stolen so I was looking for something that would work and as nearly match the unit that I had at a reasonable cost. This is not exactly the same unit I had but it is a close second and it operates flawlessly. Satelites.... are found quickly, as a matter of fact, I have not had any kind of delay due to lack of a satelite signal. Maps.... are clear and easily read. The course is simple with a line down the road that you follow and the Garman is happy to use voice to tell you where to turn and will tell you if you miss your turn and will redirect you to get you back on course. Touch Screen.... is easy, simple and effective for this size screen. Dare I say it is MORE RESPONSIVE than my laptop touch screen. Lane Assist.... will give you a large image of your turn off with clear obvious directional arrows to help you make the correct turn. The GPS voice will begin giving instructions well before you approach your turn. The large inset of the turn off with the arrows directing you is particularly helpful when you are on a multi lane highway that has multiple turn-offs at the interchange. Voice.... prompting turn by turn directions is good. The voice is programmed to speak the name of the street that is on the map which is hugely helpful. I did have an incident where the highway would have a name that had been changed from an older name and the GPS voice was directing me to the OLD NAME of the highway. This can be a problem for anyone that is not from that area and aware of the name difference. But the overall response and direction capabilities is very good. Even with the incorrect highway name, I was still directed onto the correct highway. Suction Cup Mount.... Is a common device that attaches to the rear of the GPS body and the suction cup will attach to the windshield glass. The Mount has a lever action that makes attaching the suction cup to the glass simple and quick and works perfectly... My older unit had the same mount with the same Suction Cup Mount and I had limited success keeping the attachment to the glass with the said suction cup. No amount of glass cleaning or suction cup surface wipe down seemed to have any effect to improve the problem. DO NOTE that all GPS units come with the suction cup mounts and they are basically all the same. If there is a weighted dash mount, I would suggest getting that for your GPS unit. My View..... of this particular GPS is very good and was a fast replacement for my unit. I use most of the functions and enjoy the speedometer and the "speeding" warnings when the speed number turns RED.... THIS PARTICULAR UNIT does not warn you of Speed Cameras at intersections but then we are all good drivers now, aren't we!!? The mapping is accurate and follows the path you are driving smoothly. Voice is clear and sometimes repeating to keep you on course. The display gives clear arrow instructions at busy interchanges. It is convenient to just turn it on and view the map when driving if you want to know some cross streets in an area you don't have prior knowledge of. The touch screen is very responsive and the key pad responds well. RECOMMENDATION.... Being a discontinued model this the Garmin Nuvi 52LM 5 inch Portable Vehicle GPS has all the functions you would need to get you from point A to point B. It is a responsive device and the voice is loud and clear and tells you what you need to know with a map visual on screen. For a functional device that is going to give you the basics of a GPS unit, this is a good unit to pick up. WITH THE UNDERSTANDING that you are NOT getting the Top of the Line Garman GPS but a highly functional unit, I would recommend this unit. R

I got this GPS as a gift for my 70 year old mother. It was her first GPS. What she likes: It warns you about which lane you need to be in to make turns and notifies you in advance with sufficient time. It shows you in advance what the next road is that you will be taking. What she doesn't like: When the driver makes a decision to go another route because through experience she knows better, the GPS takes too long to agree with you. (Of course, a GPS is trying to get you on the route it calculates is fastest and will keep trying to get you back on it until it calculates the present course is faster. And the GPS isn't always right about what way is faster. Common sense and a familiarity of the area or map is always a good idea to use in combination with it. For example, sometimes the GPS will recommend we go down a road with several lights rather than go a little out of our way over to the expressway. And if it is rush hour, it would have been better to take the expressway rather than get stuck at all the lights). We also own a Garmin, our second. We had one when we lived overseas and bought a second when we moved back to the States. We've had good experience using them and highly recommend this brand. It really is nice to have navigation and we've not had issues with inaccuracy. Garmin maps are fairly easy to follow with some minor difficulty if there are multiple "turns". If there are several different right turns at multiple angles sometimes it is hard to tell which one but these problems occur infrequently. Being able to save locations, determine how far to the next turn, find restaurants along your route or at your destination are great features to have.

For years my friend has been trying to convince me to buy a Garmin. I would rather read maps and know where I am. I did notice that whenever service people came to my house, they never asked for directions, not even the cross-streets, anymore. When asked if they need directions, they all say no, they will just tap my address into their Garmin. I thought if all these repairmen and delivery men rely on the Garmin and because I am going on a multi-state road trip I finally took his advice. And I love this Garmin!! When I took it out to the areas around here that I am familiar with (basically a 90 mile x 100 mile area of rural and suburban and city roads) I found lots of new roads and ways I had never tried before. I just set it to my 90 mile destination, but would purposely turn off the road I was being directed to. The Garmin just keeps naming other roads to get back to the main highway. It was fun to try these new backroads and I loved how the GPS lists the name of these backroads. Out here most of the backroads are rarely posted with signs--you have to pre-map them out to know. Besides showing the names of the roads, I am impressed how Garmin labels exactly what the speed limit is and exactly when you have entered a new speed zone. Also, very impressed by how it times entering road ramps and tells you just at the right time to enter the ramp, after having given a little warning first. Only thing I did not like, when I was in the state capital, Garmin told me the incorrect name of streets 2-3 times. The directions were always correct, but the names of the street the Voice said and what was printed on the Garmin was different than the street signs I was seeing in town (2 or 3 times). It also was not a matter of saying it was Highway 30, but in town would be called 'Washington Street"---no these were short streets ( a few blocks long) in incorporated areas of the state capital.....Otherwise --this is easy to use and I am very glad I have it. Also, my friend told me not to buy the extra stand. He said it takes up too much room for stashing in your glove compartment, and potential sticky fingers looking for cars with GPS, don't really notice the empty Velcro strip. Instead he told me to order a few pieces of Velcro tape and place the Garmin right near me on the dashboard. It is ok if you need to cover a part of your vent, or CD slot, etc because you just pull the Garmin off the Velcro to access what you need. I used about a 2 inch piece of Industrial strength Velcro, that I bought on Amazon. I put the smooth backing on my Garmin and the fuzzier backing on the dashboard. Caution: be sure you have the Garmin plugged in before you position your Velcro, because the cigarette lighter plug-in goes on one side of the back of the Garmin and effects how you position it for the Velcro. So now, around home I not only know where I am, I know more and more of the back roads and alternate routes to learn even more of my home area. And this will be super on the road trip to new areas. It makes driving more fun to find these new ways to go.

Having been born with the dreaded condition NSOD (no sense of direction) a GPS is essential if I'm ever to end up getting to where I need to go. My last GPS was the Garmin 3790 which was excellent - however it froze up and died on exactly the 29th day of use which allowed me 24 hours to return it to Amazon. As I researched a new GPS I found it more complicated than putting the specs together for a computer. Reviews are incredibly mixed on each model. All of them have plenty of pros and no shortage of cons. I decided to call the dedicated number for GPS units on Amazon. And doing so was an excellent experience and one that I highly recommend to anyone frustrated over which unit to buy. Amazon also has consultant Reps for computers, cameras, televisions and so on. These folks don't work on commission - so there's no vested interest on their part in the recommendations the make it's a zero pressure approach and really an under estimated service - but a very valuable one. After going through the applications I was looking for i.e.: map updates, voice recognition, large screen etc - I was steered to the Garmin 52LM. At the low price of $145 I was at first skeptical as the 3790T was $300 As I prowled through all the GPS units on Amazon the 52LM had the highest percentage of positive reviews - I was sold. Quick Specs: * Preloaded Maps * Card Reader microSD * Interface USB * Voice Street name announcement, * Navigation instructions * Included Software Garmin City Navigator North America NT, * nüMaps Guarantee * Antenna Built-in * Internal Memory Flash * Speed limit warning * Junction view * Emergency Help * Lifetime map updates * Custom POIs (points of interest) * Built-in speaker * Gorgeous Display * Trip Computer let's you Avoid toll roads * Connector Type is USB * Battery - Lithium ion Included Accessories; USB cable Suction cup mount Car power cable This unit offers tremendous bang for your buck, I miss the photographic quality of the street maps of the 3790T but considering how beautifully the 52LM performs it's one issue that's easy to get past. The voice directions are crystal clear, set up is effortless and the large screen really makes an enormous difference. You can spend more - however if your looking for a solid non problematic GPS that's going to get you to and from where you need to go, warn you of traffic delays, provide alternative routes and is absolutely effortless to set up and update - You'll be hard pressed to find a better GPS at any price. Highly Recommended.

I am single person who just moved to Calfornia. I bought this for several road trips to around Pacific Coast Highway 1 and to Yosemite. I had resisted buying a GPS for a long time because I really like maps and I like figuring out where to go using a map. However, I thought it would be dangerous to drive along Highway 1 while looking at a paper map, so I got this GPS. 1. The first place I programmed it to go to was a Howard Johnson's in my city. I didn't know there was an HJ even. My Garmin took me to a Best Western. Maybe they are now the same place, but I did not see an HJ anywhere in the vicinity. So it fails the first time I use it. 2. Before even leaving my city the Garmin flies off the dash board and lands on my geer shift. Crap. I put it back on while I'm driving and it starts to tell me to turn left in a direction that I knew must have been wrong. 3. The second place (a state park) I program it to go to, it takes me to the wrong entrance where a police officer is waiting to escort me back to Highway 1. I ended up going in the opposite direction then on Highway 1. 4. It works for most other places, but it could not find the Henry Miller LIbrary. 5. On my way back home along Highway 1, the Garmin kept on flying off the dash board. it finally landed on the other side of the car and I just left it there. I did buy a different mount and that helped. It sometimes took me to the right place, and I was very thankful for it. Other times, it gave me crazy routes. I used both google maps and mapquest on my smart phone on a drive through SF, and it gave me a route completely different from google maps and mapquest. While driving through SF, the road signs were telling me to take a certain road to San Jose, while Garmin was telling me to take a completely different road. Weird! I went with my gut and followed the road sign. Another time, on my way back from Yosemite, and it told me to take this windy, crazy country road in the middle of nowhere. Google Maps and Mapquest told me to keep on the highway. My instincts told me that something was not right and I followed mapquest and it turned out MUCH better. I think I would have had a lot of problems if I had followed my Garmin those 2 times. I learned that you need to not blindly follow this GPS. You need to do some research with paper maps and online maps. I like that it tells you the time of arrival, your speed and how much further to your next turn. It is bright and easy to see. Since I am single and drive around a lot by myself, I wish I had spent more money on a better GPS especially something that allows me to choose alternative routes. This one does not let you and it is a pain. I think if you often drive with someone else, that other person can double check with their phone and lead you in the right direction, and you can go with a cheaper model. I am glad, though, that I purchased it because having it is much better than holding a piece of paper in one hand and reading it while driving. It lessens one's anxiety. So really it is better than nothing.

http://gpstracklog.com/compare/garmin-nuvi-comparison-chart Notice in the above chart there is no multipoint routing. Which means you go from start to finish and cannot add points in between. Not as bad as it sounds because anywhere you are on your trip, on the current map you can see points of interest and look all around by changing zoom levels or asking for nearby points of interest to where you are. You can then go back to the route you are on and continue. This Garmins, like all of them, will reroute if you miss a turn or stop or take a side trip. Go back to your route and it will change to get from where you are now to you original destination. Still it would be nice to make a start and a destination and then add other waypoints inbetween that you know in advance you will probably be visiting. To do that you need an advanced Garmin (see the link above). So, lets say you travel along on a 6 day trip , you are going to make may short hops to restaurants and places every day. All Garmins will get you back to your route by recalculating, even basic ones like this 52LM, you don't have to do any programming it is all automatic. But if you decide to suddenly take a 500 mile sidetrip to visit a National Park that you did not plan ahead, just kill your map. And tell the garmin where you now want to go. It already knows where you are and will map a route to the National Park in a few seconds. And when you are done, kill the that loaded route and make a new one to your original destination. Easy enough to do. But with an advance GPS you could just add a waypoint to the original route at any time. To me either method works very well so we don't miss advance features. PROS: The garmin maps is tops. The garmin menus on the GPS display is tops, easy to navigate, no manual really needed. The routing on Garmin And TomToms are way above their competition Magellan, Cobra, etc. You not only get City Navigator North America NT (the latest version as I write this in April 2015 is 2015.4)... ... but you get Base Camp and the above map (CNNA NT) installed on Base Camp on your computer or laptop. Yes the map update is quick. You connect via USB your 52LM to your laptop, and by checking a box it will also install BaseCamp and the full maps set on that laptop you are connected to. No passwords or verification or hassles it is all quick and automatic. As far as I'm concerned having a laptop with BaseCamp, with the CNNA maps in it, is better (much better) than having dozens of paper fold out maps on a trip. BaseCamp is easy and very intuitive and powerful. So, you really get two things, an auto GPS and a set of computer maps and software to run it. And free maps updates forever for both forever. Magellan or Cobra cannot compare to a Garmin Basecamp mapset. City Navigator on DVD is expensive and older version bring big bucks on Ebay. Here you have it all free with this purchase of a 52LM. ----------- The 52LM device itself we find a joy to use and the window mount strong and secure. Because it is a Garmin, lots of other mount options are available. Because it is a Garmin, there are sites on the web where users have add on point of interest which you can download and add to the map. For instance all locations of a certain chain of stores. Hundreds of these add-on POI sets are online for download into a Garmin map. Not nearly as many as other brands.

Good quality

A very good device, nice big screen and clear layout.

this item refurbished,this item no new,never gift refurbised

No Canada maps, item is refurbished, no instruction manual and did not come in the original box (blank box) has described.

Fab. Easy for the wife to use

Does not have map of Canada on it! Customer service from seller is pathetic|!!