Garmin nüvi 650 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

For the most part, we are satisfied with this unit. This is the first GPS system we have purchased. We used it recently to travel across the United States. No matter where we traveled from a large city to a small town in the middle of nowhere, the GPS unit was able to find where we were and give us directions. Loved the capability of finding stores and restaurants where we were.

Only complaint is that directions are given for "proper" highway numbers, where as street signs give the name of the street. For example, the GPS might say turn on US 150, but the street signs say Henderson Street.

Very satisfied and would recommend this product.

Bought it for my wife as a gift. Taught her how to use it...real easy. She left it attached to her windshield. Someone busted in the passenger window on her brand new car that night and took the unit. They knew what they were doing. Make sure you register and secure yours. GPS theft is a nice little business unit of the black market. I'm sure it showed up on e-bay soon after. Just thought you should know. Insurance didn't pay a dime for the unit. Really wish we still had it.

Works great. Improvements: More than one stop before final destination and could shut off new route calculations when I know my route is better.

Product is all that I expected for the model and price range.
Simple operation was very helpful at start up.
Size makes it ideal for travelling and installing in other vehicles as well as fitting into computer case.

I could have gotten over the bulky antennae if it weren't for the fact that in many instances, it tells me to turn toward the Federated States of Micronesia (which are in Australia). I live in the DFW area, these are major streets and highways and having to look at the screen to see what it should really be saying was very unsafe. I returned it and will stick with my unsafe but free mapquest.

This GPS gave me a quicker route to work that I would never have figured out myself. It recalculates pretty quick. I actually bought this for my fiance, but used it for myself the first day. :) He drives a lot in Atlanta, GA and it has helped him. The only "downfall" is that is seems like it takes you around the world to get you just across town. That can get a little aggravating, but it does get you there. Sometimes quicker than you expected. All in all, I am happy with it.

I love the wide screen. Very helpfull.
I got a great price from Amazon.

This unit is easy to use, easy to read, fits in your pocket, and really saves the day when driving through unfamiliar areas. We took ours on a 4,000 mile cross country vacation and it saved the day many times. No more need for paper maps or even trying to read hard to understand directions. Verbal directions are easily understood as actual street names are identified. This GPS System has a lot of addition features for those who like to track total distance, average speed, miles to destination, etc. We liked it so well, we bought a second one for our daughter.

I returned the highly recommended Garmin GPS because there was no manual to explain the unit for me.

We used the Nuvi in unfamiliar New Jersey and returning to our home state in Colorado. I like the display and functionality when driving, however it did not have the latest names for streets and in several cases did not even have the street we were on (not that new, either). I still haven't found how to revise settings (e.g. what constitutes home). In South Dakota it sent us to a Kentucky Fried Chicken that had been closed for years! I also do not like the irritation in the navigator's voice (recalculating!) when we turn off the main route for gasoline or something to eat or to see a sight. I have updated the software from the computer, but still it is behind on new developments. Other than that, we found it invaluable for our trip.

This is one of the few items we actually returned to Amazon over the last 10 years. The 650 appeared on one of the "Deals of the Day" for a very-good price. We had been researching GPS for a while and we knew this Garmen rated in the top. However, one comment that a previous reader said about not enough bang for the buck stuck in my mind and I researched more AFTER the order.

The previous reader was correct: This stripped down 650 did not compare well in value, even against the 660, if you consider the extras of the 660. After further research on our part and we ended up with the Magellian 4250. 'Maggie' we call her is loaded with extras like blue tooth, voice recognition, hardware included, etc., and we are well pleased with her. Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

I truly do love this product! I had been advised by several friends to
avoid two other brands, as they were difficult to use. Garmin as a brand
came the most highly reccomended by the most people I had spoken to. So my
only decision was which Garmin to buy. I chose the 650 because of the 4.3 in screen and the fact that I live near the Canadian border, and wanted
maps of Canada as well. I had also decided that I wanted street names
spoken. It was easy and intuitive to use right out of the box. I practiced close to home just to get used to it and then a week later took
it on my first trip. It was wonderful. I highly recommend a Garmin. I
feel spending a bit of time comparing models and deciding what features you may need or want will stand you in good sted. I love the 650 and would reccomend it in a heartbeat.

I really enjoy this product and like the fact that I can take it with me in any car and even use it when i'm walking somewhere (has walking feature). I also like the fact that you can stick new maps in it if you're traveling out of the country. A friend of mine took hers to Italy and it was very helpful for her when they she trying to get around.

I have owned this GPS for about 3 months now. Its great! Very fast and accurate. My only complaint is that it is a little slow to pick up the satellites upon startup.

It was tough choosing -- but I opted for the "cheapest" of the 600 series. Realistically, I don't care about Bluetooth, traffic, FM transmitter, carrying case, etc. I just wanted a good, no frills GPS -- and it's great at that job -- big screen, bright, normally very accurate -- and addressed most of the issues that I had with the earlier 320/330 Street Pilot series (which were no slouches). I used the money that I saved (and ocassionally Amazon does have this unit on sale) to buy the bean bag mount -- which is also excellent -- doesn't block view through windshield -- easy to remove from the car, etc. As far as I'm concerned, Garmin couldn't do much better value-wise than the 650 + bean bag mount.

The only reason i haven't rated it a perfect 5, is due to the fact that at times, even when completely still and in plain view of the sky, the GPS unit will take 1-2 full minutes to lock on to the satellite. At times the routes provides make no sense.. and seem unnecessarily long. That may be a problem with all Garmin units, so i can't fault this specific model. I upgraded to the 2009 Maps a couple days after buying it. I wasn't even aware they had come out with anything beyond the 08 maps. But that's my fault for not keeping myself updated. so all in all, i will stick with 4/5 stars. Only because i wouldn't call it perfect.

The Garmin is incredibly easy to use right out of the box, and very handy for finding your way around. The only negative: sometimes the device has trouble locating the satellite, so you have to wait (or drive around the old-fashioned way).

This GPS works great for directions and is very easy to use. It is highly recommended.

This nuvi 650 was my first GPS. Got the first one and it had a dead pixel. Amazon was amazing and cross shipped a new one to me and it was here the very next morning. I wish that the volume on the GPS would get louder as you cant hear it with windows down or music turned on. Other than that it is absolutely fantastic. I have had nothing but good experiences with amazon! For the price, you cant beat this 650 w/ free shipping.

This GPS has the potential to be way better with some hardware and software adjustments. I returned it in place of a IPAQ 310, let me say the screen alone sold me on that one, its super clear compared to the Garmin. Garmin has some nice navtec maps and guidance systems but they need to make their hardware more feature rich like a 800x600 led backlit screen, games, blue tooth, web browser, wifi more built in store space etc. I mean I know it sounds a bit weird to mention all this stuff but that's where small portable electronics are going, phones, cameras, a lot of media devices have converged these features into one neat box, all that differs is their hardware and software implementation. HP I believe implemented masterfully, directions and navigation on the Garmin are great but I want more!!

I strongly recommend this product for people with the same requirements as me: just a navigation unit. I specifically did not care for the hands-free option or radio transmitter option - just a good navigation unit. Hands-free is great, but I don't want to have this in the car all the time. Radio transmitter is a great idea - but as in other ones I tried before, this one (so I've read) is no better. The quality just does not cut it for me. Bottom line: wide-screen, reliable, easy-to-use, awesome price, free 2009 maps, etc. What more could you want?

Note: I did extensive reading on other units before buying this one. Some are pretier and may have a few extra bells, but when it came to overall quality (not even price), this seemed to be the best choice.

PROS:
Wide screen
Bright display
Good text to speech
Cool add-ons (like speed camera markings)

CONS:
A bit dumb at navigation sometimes (tells you to take I-13 business instead of I-13)
Only charger is an in-car charger
Crappy GPS Windshield mount
No free updates online
No pouch to store it in

Bought it for my wife for trip to LA. She loved it and was never lost in LA. Real nice big screen. The spoken street name is reason we chose this model. Other features.. blue tooth, mp3 player and other "bells-n-whistles" are features that we don't need/care thus were not factors in selecting the gps. Great price and was delivered early too!

I received a Garmin Nuvi 650 for Christmas and purchased one for my son-in-law's birthday. We are both thrilled with our new direction getter.
I am happy to recommend this product.

Great product, it works exactly as advertised. I can'y believe how intuitive it is. It probably saved my marriage(NOT REALY)but Ithink you understand my point. Buy the friction mount, it is worth the extra few dollars and it will not slide off your dash. All of the other positive reviews you may have read are 100% correct, this is a great navigating tool.

I'm overly satisfied with my nuvi 650 but it could use some serious updates.

- The graphics quality is pretty bad. Line discontinuities, low frame rate, ugly icons. It might be the same on other GPS receivers but in the age of high technology, like the iPhone, this graphics looks very outdated. Garmin should hire a decent designer and a better software engineer to iron out these issues.
- I'm quite satisfied with the audio quality and the display contrast/brightness. Actually, I use the display on 40% brightness because on any higher setting the bright image is too distracting for me. The built in speaker is loud enough for me.
- The directions are good and the ETA is usually very accurate if there are no traffic jams.
- Build quality is very good. Looks sturdy.
- It usually finds the satellites within 15-20 seconds in my neighborhood in spite of the high rise buildings.
- I was very disappointed to discover that it doesn't show the speed limits and doesn't warn me when I'm speeding. I thought it's a basic feature included in all GPS receivers.
- It has so far found all the points of interest I was looking for. Seems to have a large POI database.
- The keyboard is terrible. Come on, this is the 21st century, people got used to the qwerty layout. Please don't try to force us into the alphabetic layout! It takes 3 times longer to type because of the insane keyboard layout. It should at least be an option.

All in all, the hardware seems to be excellent but the software looks very outdated and at places totally not ergonomic. It could use some new software features as well, like the speed limit warnings.

So far it has worked out great. Fast, easy to use, and priced right. I admit I'm not a hardcore GPS user, but for my first purchase, I am satisfied.

Excellent product; very simple to use; accurate as advertised. Just wish it had these two improvements:
- An ability to mount to dashboards without having to use the adhesive mount. It would make it easier to see, use, and hear if it was on the dash and closer to the operator
- An ability to save destinations for future use.

It would be hard to live without my Garmin...it's moved me across the country and helped me get around my new city. Highly recommended!

The Garmin Nuvi 650 is one of my greatest joys when it comes to useful gadgetry. It has taken all anxiety out of driving, especially at night. No need to ask for directions or strain one's eyes with a map.
It is so easy to set up. California doesn't permit it on the windshield, so I have it right on the dash board. Installation takes two seconds. When I leave my car, it is easy to pop the Garmin into my purse. And it is so easy to program! Whether it is an address, an intersection or a store or building, it will find it for you. It is simply amazing. Best of all, it talks to you: "in 300 feet turn right on Shimel Rd." Suppose I miss the road, it patiently says, ""recalculating route," and then tells you how to proceed. It beats any backseat driver.
I dislike to get lost at night, especially since road signs are hard to read (I'm 76) and so have declined many dinner parties because of the driving hazzle. NO more. Thank you, Garmin, the best gadget I ever had!!
Roswitha McIntosh (author of The Madman & His Mistress--History in the making)

Pro:
Easy to set up and operate.
Comprehensive list of places of interest, shopping, dining, gas, etc...
Bright easy to read display.
Portable.
Excellent price

Con:
Windshield attachment comes off [I bought a bean bag for the dash and it works fine}.
Voice sometimes misspronounces local streets.
No instruction manual {download from Garmin website}.


Overall I am very satisfied with the garmin 650

my technologically-challenged family had no problem using this GPS. You will find it easy to use as well.

I just drove from Aridzona to Wisconsin and although I have driven back and forth many times it was very comforting to have the "navigator" always on duty. It did an excellent job except one area where it was not up to date but that was not a problem. It also made the trip more interesting with an active map. Will be a big help finding places that I have not been to bdfore.

Device provides excellent service with plenty of options. Voice provides polite, good and timely directions. Screen is easy to read and use. I highly recommend this product.

Works great, even finds most of our obscure places - a little confusing on some town intersections - so watch your signs don't assume it's right!

This device is very good and accurate.. I wish it comes with an AC power cable, but still good with the car charger and USB charger.. easy to set up and handle.. Go to Garmin website and register right away, you might get a free map upgrade like I did :) also you can download other cool little cars for the road mao :P.. Unit doesn't come with detail manual but u can download it at the Garmin website.. I bought the leather case separtely for $13.

this unit does everything I wanted.

Easy to use.

Clearn directions.

Nice screen.

A good choice to buy.

I was looking for three must have features in a GPS. A 4.3" screen, text to speech and full North American coverage including Canada. The Garmin Nuvi 650 offered these must have features at an attractive price. The 4.3" screen is a must and the text to speech is not perfect but amazing clear. It recognizes Canadian Postal Codes which are more specific than 5 digit Zip Codes. One plus on the Nuvi 650 is the fold out antenna which allows better satellite reception. I consistently receive full signal strength indoors! Lack of an AC adapter is not an issue. You can charge the unit via the supplied USB adapter or the DC car adapter.

I highly recommend immediately registering the unit at the Garmin website while it's connected via the USB adapter. The first thing it did was update the firmware in my GPS to the latest version. These firmware updates are free for the life of the unit. The next thing it did was offer to update my 2008 mapping software to the latest 2009 version for free for the first 30 days. Both of these updates were effortless and I was assured I had the most current version of all firmware and mapping updates available. This is a major advantage of Garmin over its competitors.

Garmin has the most intuitive menu system. A novice can be using all of its powerful features immediately. I did a quick check of all the local Points of Interest (POIs) in my area and was amazed at the depth of the database. I discovered things in my local area that I didn't even know existed. It's reassuring to know that anywhere I travel the POI database is both extensive and current.

As a general observation, these GPS units are a marvel of miniaturization! The incredible amount of information stored in this tiny package is absolutely astounding! I can't imagine traveling without a GPS guiding the way. The Garmin Nuvi 650 is an excellent choice for someone not needing all the bells and whistles but still insists on all the must have features at an outstanding price.

This is just the item if you do not care about bluetooth. Fast, clear and easy to remove and store away when not in use.

This one is good. However, others do better in the following area...
1) intuitiveness of User Interface, key information about trip, insertion of Via-Points and review of directions and review of trip map.
2) Upgrades to the Mapset bought with GPS.

It is little bit expensive when you compare with similar models of others.

This is a great GPS. It has a beautiful clear wide screen. It works well 98% of the time.The suction cup for the winshield does not hold well.As soon as it gets hot and sunny out it lets go.My main beef is when you are looking for a Supermarket,gas station, resteaurant etc.that is suposed to be loaded in there. I would not trust it,some places in there where closed years ago.There is a shopping center that was built 3 years ago,The pizza shop and smoke shop is in there,but the large supermarket is not in there. I guess non of these things are perfict.

Overall, I have been impressed with the Nuvi line. I have had three different Nuvi's and a Magellan 760. I returned the Magellan 760 and bought the Nuvi 350, but later returned it for the 360 because of the Bluetooth, which did not work well for me. Finally, I've settled on the Nuvi 650. It is relatively lightweight and can fit in my back pocket of my pants. I have had this Nuvi for about 8 months. The Nuvi has a nice set of functions. It excels at strong satellite reception and the main function, route generation. Most of the time, the directions it provided were accurate. I recently took it on a three week road trip to the Eastern part of the US (I'm from Phoenix) starting in Baltimore going as far south as Atlanta then back up to Baltimore. For the most part, the directions were accurate except a time or two when looking for a hotel and Costco. I recently updated my map to the 2009 version. It seems to have a lot of the newer areas in Phoenix, but of course, not all of them. There were some addresses the Nuvi couldn't find for houses that have been around since the late 1990's. Not sure if that is because a couple of those addresses might have been on county islands. I purchased the dashboard mount for the Nuvi, which works very well. Below are my pluses and minuses for the Nuvi 650:

Pluses:
- Nice screen size
- Strong satellite reception, even indoors
- Touch screen was sensitive to light pressure
- Relatively small and lightweight
- User friendly
- Love all the different languages and car symbol options

Minuses:
- Wish it was able to remember the last 2-3 previous cities so you don't have to type in the city each time (although it does have quick spell) when you type in an address
- Voice sounds a bit robotic (Magellan 760 sounded more life like)
- Acquisition time sometimes seems to take a long time if your starting location is different then when you turned off the Nuvi, especially if you're in another state!
- Wish it had a case

This is a fantastic product. It is intuitive and easy to use. Much easier than trying to read a map while driving.

I drive for a living and my GPS system is useful and very efficient 90% of the time. Sometimes with new and existing developement areas, the streets aren't detected by the GPS system. Overall it's very user friendly and has a lot of helpful features. The screen size, durability, and added features makes this product well worth the money.

Great unit, accurate and quick. Great screen, things move smoothly. Text to speech is a little robotic sounding and mispronouces street names here and there. Its a great unit, but has been surpassed with newer technology. However, for the price range it is in now, its a steal!

I love this device, very user friendly and i can't find any negative about it. Great price when I bought it and two thumbs up!

I bought the 650 for my mother after owning the 660 for about a year. I found I didn't use the Bluetooth or FM transmitter features at all and figured she wouldn't either. I find the navigation to be very good but less accurate than the Magellan NeverLost systems I've used in rental cars. The Nuvi frequently wants to route me off the highway and thru towns that I know will be much slower. Also, it doesn't take into account traffic lights and stop signs, so you can't trust the estimated arrival time it displays.

I use it in the car and on planes to listen to podcasts I've downloaded to it, so the dual use is especially wonderful. I found the photo viewer quite poor in that it doesn't reliably display the pictures full-screen. Also annoying is the warning screen that pops up every time you turn the unit on, whether or not you're moving. No other type of electronic device warns you not to use it while you're driving; it's just stupid, clumsy blather.

Another poor design aspect is the fact that when you lock the interface to avoid accidental touches, the Nuvi displays a static message that it's locked--even when you are navigating. Instead, it should just display the navigation or audio controls with the screen darkened to save battery life. There are plenty of times that I would be happy to use the thing in darkened and locked mode but the display is useless. Last, the Nuvi should still work while it's charging or connected by USB like a cell phone does, but instead it displays a static image.

Purchased this GPS about two months ago and have taken it on several trips. It picks up satellite signal much better than my previous GPS. It is very easy to use and self explanatory. The battery life seems to be very adequate. I have already found a few businesses that no longer exist that are listed. It would be nice if you had a free update for one year. This GPS is small enough to carry in your pocket if needed.

This GPS fit all of our needs "Almost" perfectly on our recent trip to Canada and Maine. At one point in Canada, instad of directing us to a shopping market, we ended up in front of 4 garbage cans in a depressed area. So, we named the unit "Mata", short for Mata Hari as it had betrayed us. This was really the only time though, and we grew more and more dependent upon it and it's ability to locate all kinds of information for us such as available lodging, fuel etc. It didn't contain ALL lodging possibilities but enough to give us a good idea as to whether or not we would be able to stay someplace. We enabled the chime to sound when a turn was upon us and we enjoyed having "Mata" mention street names and distances. I would definitely recommend this unit.

Incredibly accurate navigation; user interface is mostly intuitive and and user-friendly. Excellent, bright display (that automatically dims and changes contrast at dusk/dawn). Used at length from the mid-Atlantic to Ottawa, and it has rarely suggested a wrong turn (and recalculates and recovers nicely when it does).

Minor interface issues:
-There is no map scale indicated (except in the "turn details" view and when browsing the map, such as after you enter an address).
--Although manually entered "favorite" locations will accept phone numbers as part of their data set, you can't do so at the time you enter the name and address information. Instead, you have to repeat your steps to return to favorites, and then enter the phone number.
--When connected to a Vista machine, isues with Vista and current browsers; close the error messages and you should be fine (the blame here almost certainly lies with Vista anyway!).

These are minor annoyances that detract little from the overall usefulness of this device.

You can't go wrong with this unit if you don't need Bluetooth.

Less forgivable:
a carrying case, printed manual and household AC adapter should have been in the box from Garmin (and in these days when GPS units are high theft they should have considered a friction/beanbag mount too...avoids the telltale "high value item was stored here" notification circle on your windshield.

You can't go wrong from a technical point of view, but leave a little room in your budget for the extras you'll probably want.