Itala says:

First, I would like to say that I really like my Garmin nuvi 5000. It is the first GPS unit I have ever owned. It is very easy to use and the large screen is very visible in all light levels. However, there are three areas where I feel the unit falls short. First, it needs a rechargeable internal battery that would allow it to be used disconnected from the automobile, even if only for a short period of time. The battery life would be extendable by having a way to switch off the screen and allowing the unit continue to operate. Second, the unit needs a better manual that goes more detail about the working of the unit. For example, it tells you how to add favorites locations to your unit’s memory, but it does not tell you how many locations you can have, nor does it tell you if an SD card will add space for more. The third and biggest problem with this unit is the lack of a good internal antenna. My experience has shown that the unit is not very good at acquiring satellites as it is designed. I have experienced the following problems using the unit mounted on the beanbag holder (Garmin’s Portable Friction Dashboard Mount) on my car’s dashboard: When parked in my driveway with a clear overhead view, it can take more then 2-3 minutes to acquire a good signal lock; Pulling out of my garage and driving down suburban roads at less then 40 miles per hour, it has taken more than 10 minutes to get a good lock on the satellites; Once when driving down an Interstate highway with a wide open sky view, the unit lost signal and took several minutes to re-acquire the satellites; and at other times it has showed it poor design of the internal antenna. To try to solve this problem, I purchased the external Garmin antenna. This antenna is designed with a magnet to attache to the car roof and plug into the back of the unit. This works very well and solves the problem of satellite acquisition, but makes for a messy dash. However, I found that if the antenna is just placed horizontally on the dash behind the unit it works just as well. This brought me to conclude that the unit should be designed with an attached flip up antenna, as come commercial unites have, to improve satellite acquisition. I gave it four stars, because with the added antenna, the unit works great and I would not want to give it up.

Musetta says:

I have used a Garmin GPS 60c for years and decided it was time to get something easier to see and work with. This sounded ideal as I drive a Freightliner Truck towing my Travel Trailer. But the truck noise made using the FM connection mandatory. (There goes my books on tape). But the worst is the poor navigation. It could not find my mothers address (it did, but it showed her address as the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America and my Mom lives on Cape Cod) and other common places (such as Goodyear Tire Centers, Flying J’s, Rest Areas other than ones on major interstates and Camping World) I called Garmin. I just bought this and they wanted me to BUY more maps. Navteq supplies their maps and the maps for MS Streets and Trips (which almost always finds addresses), so it is a Garmin problem. I just bought the Dash Express for about half the price. Lifetime free automatic updates, LIVE traffic and routing, LIVE internet search and user made favorites as well as many awesome features. I’ll review it after I actually use it. Sorry, Garmin, get modern and more customer friendly….the world of technology is quickly out-distancing you!