Garmin nüvi 650 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

This product has alot of glitches in it like not putting a business in the right place. It tells you that you have arrived at your designation but really you haven't yet.But the time of arrival is right on. The speed in it is like miles an hour slower then what you are doing.

This Garvin NUVI 650 is new to me but I have previously owned a different make. The 650 is far more easily used. I have only used it twice locally within 60 miles once and in town once. Next week I will use it to travel to Albuquerque, a distance of about 250 miles. I will use it there to find restrants etc. And the following week to travel to Longmont, CO., a distance of about 350 miles. It will be tested more thoroughly then. I love the ease of use and the fact that it quickly recomputes. Choices are simple and to the point. After initial setup satellite acquition is quick. Colors are bright and voice is easily understood. I live in a rural area of Co. and all new roads are not available. That is the same for Longmont as it did not recognize the road where the motel was. It was easy to just enter the town. A great product! I love the wide screen too.

Excellent GPS unit. User friendly and outstanding display. Directions right on the money, except for one area in GA that is, apparently, not on the map. I'm a happy owner of this equipment.

We have had a NUVI 650 for a couple years. Its great. She got us thru several tricky place (LA freeways!) Tells you in advance of your turns so you have time to get it the correct lane. Used it on a major road trip and it only got lost once in Flagstaff where there was a lot of road construction. Be careful though. We had it programmed for the shortest route when we were traveling thru Utah, and it said to turn onto Bumble bee Lane. It was a shortcut that turned into a dirt road, that went thru farming! Did get us to the freeway however, we reprogrammed it for quickest route after that!

I like the big screen. I like the graphics. It works well. I would have liked a little more information in the box. I also have a part that I don't know anything about - where it goes, what it is for, etc. Overall it is good, just can't give it five stars.

Bought the Nuvi 650 for all of the features it included at a price just under $200.00 including super saver free shipping. Had read other reviews and comparisons to the 260W and the only complaint I had seen was that the volume on the 650 needs to be almost all the way up to hear the turn directions. That is pretty much true, but the volume is loud enough to hear as long as you don't have the radio turned way up or the windows open. The wide screen display is very bright with good resolution. Easier to view than the standard screen size. The satellite reception is fantastic. I believe the flip up antenna is better than the built in antennas on other units. It has fairly quick satellite acquisition time and I get satellite reception before I even leave the garage. Overall for the approx. $200.00 price, I am very satisfied with the Nuvi 650.

I am dissappointed in this gps as I wanted it in miles and it is set on kilometers. Please let me know how to change this. Thank You.

We purchased the Garmin as a gift and for ourselves. We have used ours twice for trips. Connects quickly to the satellite and easy to use. Once it did not give us a good instruction...told us to get in left lane and there was a right exit so we missed it. Otherwise it has been accurate.

This is the first talking GPS product I have used. It works great!
Have only used it around town, but Girdy usually takes me by the most direct route right to the door of the location. Easy to operate.

The only problem we have had is that Girdy interupts my wife and she doesn't like that.

Looking forward to trying it out on a long cross-country trip.

Works great.Money well spent.No more paper maps and looking up adress's.Also very easy to use.

This REALLY takes away all of the stress from traveling in unknown areas. Great unit.

Windows down, volume at max 100%....and I cannot make out what the directions are telling me. Had to return it.

It's a little bit late to indicate direction, so it's very often to pass over original way to go when the address and streets are not familiar with me.
Except this, everything is good!

This is a good unit for the price. The map Updates available through Garmin.com do take a while to download (even on a high speed connection), however once downloaded, was very easy to install.

This product has saved my like. It has saved me hours of frustration avoiding traffic and the sense of security of where I am going. The product is high quality and very accurate.

I have had other GPS devices that can't compare to this item, very easy to use and not confusing. I am very happy with this product.

We also have a TomTom, and this beats it hands down. It is great! It has current maps and is very accurate. It has great software as well.

Along with a map, Nuvi 650 helped us to navigate a roadtrip from Florida to New York. The only difficulty is it wanted to route us on backroads insted of the most direct way, But if you have a map and know about where you want to go you can bypass this. Did help with detours and city driving. Would buy it again.

The product is great. We used it on a trip and it was more than expected The only problem was when I received the unit it had the wrong cable for the car charging unit. If it wasn't for a friend who had the same unit and I was able to borrow his cable the unit would have been useless on the trip that I purchased it for. I am also a little disappointed with Amazon. I sent the wrong cable that was shipped with the unit back over two weeks ago and haven't received or even heard anything about being sent the correct cable.

im a truck driver in i used every day. is not perfect some time when I'm on the road is showing the is on the field. or if you turning on a curve is show the you are driving on the field. on address on some of them is off to much especiall on small towns. i will buy it if is only for city directions.

This is a nice unit. We epecially like the audio aspect so that we don't have to constantly watch the screen. Positives are the size, the ability to zoom in and out, the brightness of the screen, the simple controls and the mounting system. Although we've only had the unit a short time, the accompanying pamphlet is fine to start with but more information is necessary as you progress to different situations. Case in point, storing favorites. We also do not like the fact that no directions are given when temporarily veering off course, such as a rest or restaurant stop. No indication is given as to which direction to take upon resuming course. Again, an instruction manual might fix this problem. We understand one is available online, however who has a computer with them in their car?

Overall this unit is an excellent value. We were able to update the latest map and are amazed at the ongoing text to voice. It gives us a great deal of confidence now when we are in unfamiliar territory and we like the restaurant/motel telephone numbers and direction feature. If an instruction manual were included, we would rate it five star. John

+ Wide Screen
+ Decent Display
+ mp3s, Photos (Of course, you don't need this in a GPS (imho) )
+ Variety of voice selection

- Sometimes it does not show the best possible route (especially to a countryside - It let me to drive 35 miles where as I should have gone there in 15 miles - Bad experience )
- Few new address are not in the Map (I guess I should update it over the internet)
- I'd love if this is in black :)
- No Lane assist (OK, for this price you shouldn't expect that)

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Reviewer [A3MMOEOWGX37FI] | Date [November 19, 2008]

I have shopped off and on for two years for a product I love. The 650 Nuvi is one of the easiest to use. For those of you considering the smaller version, look at the size of your fingers. When typing with the 4.3" screen keyboard, you don't hit two buttons at once. I've shopped and compared. This model is for the technology savy as well as the one who want something simple to operate. You will not be disappointed, I'm not.

I bought this model after having been in the vehicle with friends using this model. I really like it, very user friendly and easy to set up. Would purchase again.

Great product for areas you have no idea how to get to but to use locally it will never find a shortcut. I actually have to trick it to find my way home sometimes so it will recalculate the right direction. Maps are not updated completely. In fact went to a local Wegmans which has been there for at least 5 years. Thank goodness i knew where it was because the Garmin said it was swamp land. lol

I have used the Garmin nuvi 350 and bought a 650 and the only difference I've noticed is the 4.3 display. It has handy features like favorite. Also, Use the touch screen interface to select destinations, JPEG picture viewer, look up POIs, and play your favorite MP3s and audio books.

I like the Garmin 360. However, I set the address to travel to a high school in a town called Lucas and it took me to an old dilapidated barn on a farm. Luckily the street was correct so I headed in the other direction and came upon the school after driving about a mile. So, I'm a little gun-shy now but will continue to use it as it has taken me to other locations OK.

I have been using my Garmin nuvi 650 for about 6 weeks and I must say that it took me only a few hours to totally fall in love with it.
Thank you! A++++

I could only give 4 stars because it did make two mistakes. It once told us to turn left and it should have been right. The other was more serious as we were in St. Louis and it told us the wrong road. These were the spoken directions, thankfully the displayed directions were correct and so we were able to see where we needed to go. The routes chosen are not always the most direct either which we also discovered. Overall we were happy with the divice.

Product is intuitive. Good value. Easy to store waypoints. I prefer the 3D view, but its easy to switch from mapview. Reception is fairly good even in
the city.

I did a lot of research and chose the Garmin Nuvi 650 due to reviews stating the better mapping on Garmin, the wide screen, and the text to speech feature. Amazon delivered quickly at a great price. I've enjoyed the GPS even more than I expected. I like just having it on the map without a destination so it allows me as I drive around to see upcoming roads. I also like how it tells me the projected time I will get to my destinations. On the down side I had a little trouble with my first cross country trip in which there was a detour and in another town where the map data was evidently behind in updating to match new highway construction. I recognize these as minor issues easily overcome, and probably experienced with any GPS device, but just demonstrate there is no substitute for human intelligence. The one thing I would change about the Nuvi 650 is it would be nice if there were a mute button or a physical sound adjustment dial. Occationally when I get off track on an acquired destination the repeated instructions to get back on track can drive me crazy and I just want to hit a button to make it stop! Overall great device that I really enjoy and wouldn't take a trip without! Thanks Amazon!

Excellent GPS unit. I bought 3 for each of my kids for Christmas and they have already been put to use. My daughter in the Air Force used hers driving from Ft. Meade MD to Beale AFB, CA. My son in the Navy drove from Dayton, OH to Everett, WA and my other son uses his extensively within the state of Ohio. All three of the kids swear by this GPS as one of the best they've seen, ease of operation and super accuracy. You can't get lost even if you tried. The Garmin 650 is a great, great GPS unit and very affordable. Recommend it to all whether you drive locally or cross country like my kids.

I have found this to be a good product for the money. The only problem I have found is that it is a bit slow in reporting the next intersections in urban areas.

I read a lot of the reviews before buying and found them helpful. Most of the pros and cons are already stated but a few things that I would've liked to know ahead of time are:

Pros - Bought this for $200 new on Amazon and to get any other Garmin that has Text to Speech and the other features that this has is nearly double the price. After using the text to speech function I would not buy a nav without it. It is much safer to have the street names said instead of having to look down at a screen and read street names while driving. Also, the satellite reception is much better then my Nuvi 200 was. Much better. If I turn it on a couple minutes before I leave my house it already has reception before I get in the car. If I wait until I am already driving, it never takes more then 5 minutes to pick it up. My Nuvi 200 was probably 10 minutes prior to leaving and sometimes up to almost a half hour if I'm already on the road.

Cons - The charging system is different from most of the Garmins. You have to plug the charger into the mount and the mount into the nav. I thought it was missing the charger but that wasn't the case. I'm not sure if it is a con or a preference but I thought it would've been better is it was designed for use through the mount or directly as many people do not use the mount.

I am very happy with the Garmin Nuvi 650. For $200 this is a great deal and to find a widescreen text to speech reliable navigation system comparable to this is $300+. I would highly recommend this item.

I have used this unit now for about 4 months and generally really like it. It is easy to see on bright days, it acquires signals quickly and generally gets you there easily. It does not always pick the best route but if you deviate to a preferred alternate road it recalculates quickly. I would like to see more programable route functions for long trips across states or the US. Not being able to avoid certain routes or to select certain routes is disappointing. With the unit as it is now for long trips, one must use a map and just go off course to get to selected areas or re-progam the unit frequently. It would be much nicer to just sit a at computer lay out the route and download it into the unit. My biggest problem with this unit tho is the windshield mount. It began to fail within a few days and now will not stick to anything- so in 4 months it has become totally worthless. It has been cleaned and no obvious problems with the cup can be seen. Now the unit has to be jury rigged to the dash somehow. They definately need a better suction cup set up than the one that comes with the unit.

I live in the suburbs outside of Washington DC. THis is the only navigation systems I have owned and used so I cannot compare it to others.

The Garmin has worked very well. I don't know if it always takes the fastest route, but they have all gotten us there without hassle. I say this because I have used it on trips where I know where I am going just to try it out and found that the Garmin took me a way I normally don't go. This may be because it truly is better or because I have local knowledge that makes me go a different way. One example is a trip around the "Beltway" or 495. The Garmin wanted to take us through the city - I opted to go around the city. I'm sure without traffic the Garmin route would be quicker... but not with DC traffic.

I love the "text to speach" option - the garmin actually says the names.

i drive for Eco Cycle in Boulder CO. most of the places we go are already known. some arent. there is always something new in the world of recycling and always a new place to go get the stuff. there was one time i was so lost that i had to call the customer to come and find "me". i wasnt that far away, i just was'nt familiar with the area and exactly how to get there. usually when we get a new account or a special pickup, we'll do a mapqwest or google map printout to get me there. they always will show the highway and town and address im going to.
DUHHHHH????
i got that part.
BUT, its not fun trying to look at a blurry piece of paper from a printer with directions so small you cant see em and shift a 10 speed freightliner at the same time
where i get lost is in the short game.
thats where the gps comes in.
finding a specific address.
i love you mapqwest and google maps for getting me to the ballpark
thank you garmin for finding my seat.
the 650 is a no frills gps. all it does is get you there.
thats the whole point.
my new nuvi 650 came brand new in the box. has the 2008 maps already on it from amazon. thats most likely good enough.
but NO, i had to get the free 2009 maps.
i went to the garmin website and downloaded my free 09 map upgrade
took 1 1/2 hours to download with a 6mb dsl connection.
that didnt bother me, i made dinner and watched a movie.
tried to put it on the device and failed.
im pretty stupid at computer stuff.
i can email, ebay, and look stuff up. thats about it.
so the next business day i called the garmin help line and talked to the lovely glenda. the 09 maps wouldnt load because of a "space" issue on the 650 itself. this turned out to be a fun project though.
after deleting about 99 percent of the preloaded languages on the unit,
we finally got it done. so now im good to go.
the machine is easy to use
easy to see
and will get you real close to grandmas for thanksgiving
if not inside the turkey itself

I normally don't write reviews, although in this case, it's worth my time. I will caveat this review by stating up front that this is my first GPS unit and I have nothing else to compare it to.
Well, we've had this Garmin Model for about 8 months and LOVE it. You already know about the obvious stuff that GPS does, so I won't get into that, but if you think you still don't need one, check this out. We stopped in a rest area on an interstate about 1 in the morning and used the Garmin to find a hotel within the next few miles. It listed about 15 with address and phone numbers. We called several until we found one that had vacancy. Then we set the Garmin to that address as a stop along our current route. What a gas and time saver! We've used to find preferred gas stations (to get our discount); stores while traveling, restaurants, etc. I can't say enough good things about this Garmin. It works great as a GPS unit, but the extra features that I described here are awesome and we love it. We plan to buy this same model for our parents for Christmas.

I've not used it extensively yet, but it seems to do everything correctly. The brightness and size is very nice, and the ventilation grill holder for mounting the GPS on the car is awesome.
The one complaint I have is that the instruction manual (I can't call it a manual) is extremely skimpy and really does not say anything about how to run this gizmo. I wonder if Amazon.com forgot to send the real manual with the product. I just got some lose pieces of paper that does not say much. I had to experiment to make it work.

great product - have a little trouble with the touch screen: touch works but slightly off the spot to be touched

I have used my Garmin 660 & a 650 (650 was tested for my Grandson in the AF) for several trips close to home, from central Florida to Charleston, SC, and to Seymour-Johnson AFB, and had little or no problems. However from Goldsboro, NC to Raleigh, it kept trying to get us off the US 70 highway to a different US 70(???). May have been a new road, but was on the paper map I had as backup.
Very recently (10-22) I was on my way home from West Virginia, and driving south on US 52 entering Bluefield, W VA, the unit was telling me to turn left on US 52 in .2 miles, then 100 yds. But I was on a bridge, crossing over many railroad tracks (below the bridge) and there wasn't any way I could turn left; or right. The units remained very confused for several miles, and would only show the cross streets after I'd passed them. This was very aggravating as there was a lot of construction in the area, and I have limited knowledge of the area. Finally getting to I-77 south bound, the unit seemed to find where it was, and worked fine the rest of the way home. (Except thru the tunnels in W VA and VA.)

Garmin nüvi 650 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

A great GPS unit. I used it on a trip and found it very helpful. The larger screen is nice. The unit is easy to use and has good graphics. I like the way it annouces the street name. An excellent buy.

I bought the Garmin Nuvi 650 for my wife. One of the things that I liked about Garmin is that the unit did not come with the latest maps, but there was a free upgrade for the 2009 maps once I registered my GPS. It also came with suction cup attachment for the car. I thought I was going to have to purchase that seperately.

I originally purchased a Mio Moov 310. When I received it I was frustrated trying to type in addresses and find POIs. Uncertain whether it was because I was new to the technology or the unit I ordered the Garmin 650 to compare. It arrived yesterday. WOW. This unit is so easy to use. I haven't fully tried it out yet so I will update my review with pros and cons when I do. I particularly like that the car charger connects to the mount so that it's always charging when you mount it. No need to remember to connect the charger. The Mio did that as well but not quite as easily. Basically, anyone new to GPS technology will be happy with this unit and you can't beat the price for what you get.

I just arrived in this country and got me first car, dont know the roads or nothing, got the nuvi 650 and o my god life is so much simpler !!! its definitely worth the money, dont even think about buying anything else !!!

Although I like the Garmin (when it works), I feel that the software is not up-to-date. With this being a recent purchase I should not have to purchase an update at this time. I would have liked to know the date of the software in this model before my purchase but was unable to find it and just took a chance and purchased it. I returned the first Garmin for out dated software but this one seems to be the same. Overally, good product for the price, and better than other brands in the same price range.

I've only used this twice, but like it already. The maps are easy to read, and the text to voice works nicely. We're about to take several trips, and will rely on it more then. You have a choice of voice inflections, and we chose an Aussie sounding female, which is cool. We also downloaded some custom fonts from the Garmin website, such as a silver convertible for our pointer. The 4 inch screen really makes a difference when viewing, and the automatic adjustment for night lighting is a welcome feature.

The things I don't like about it are: there is no AC adapter included, nor is there a case included, which should be for this price point. Also, if you plan on downloading maps from the Garmin website, make sure you have a few hours (yes, hours!) to spare, as it can take over 2 hours. The included manual is sparse and incomplete, but the complete manual can be downloaded for free at the Garmin website (again, you must download and print to get what really should be included).

I am extremely pleased with the larger screen. Unit is extremely accurate. I was very impressed with the instant changes the unit makes when you do not make the turn or when you decide to go another way.
I highly recommend this unit to anyone The unit prompts you twice before you need to make a turn well in advance

We had a wedding in Virginia. My husband and I had to fly separately on our families free miles because we couldn't afford two tickets. Ron flew to Philadelphia to visit his family before the wedding. I flew to Virginia to be with my family. That meant Ron had to drive from Philadelphia to Fredricksburg, VA by himself. He has driven like that, by himself before, but never with time restraints. The rehearsal dinner was Friday evening and he had to be there to take the pictures. We specifically bought the Garmin to navigate for him through Baltimore and Washington, DC. I am usually his co-pilot. He was able to call me on his way down and give me an estimate of when he would arrive. It was great! We could find the location for the wedding easily and quickly. He was very pleased with the ease of operating while he was driving. We are very happy with this product. The bonus was that Ron could even upload his music for the trip. The large screen is a bonus for the near-sighted wife.

I ordered the 650 and they automatically upgraded me to the 660 with Bluetooth at the same price. What's more, the product is brand new, not reconditioned as I expected it would be. I'm Happy!