Garmin nüvi 50

14 years of uninterrupted operation. Maps, speed + red light camera POI easily updateable if you know how & where to regularly get them for free... My Nuvi-50 (4Gig SD card installed) has been operating continuously since a 2012 sale purchase from Harvey Norman. I bought 2 units in 2012, one as a spare. GPS now sits on the car windscreen under… Read more

a custom clip-on 'taxi' shade to protect it from constant sun and UV exposure, and to shade the touch display. 1st unit was not shade protected and eventually UV broke off the top power button hinge. 2nd installed unit has the clip-on shade and has lasted with no heat related issues since...

All good as of today 19-5-2026... ...my ancient Nuvi 50 is now updated to CNAusNz.2027.10 with Mar-14-2026 Cyclops POI, Topo Aus Lite v6, BlueChart - HPC024R and separate regional 20m contour lines gpi... Plus, 'Arnie' PIGtones voice and custom Subaru car map icon.

Simple, reliable and has saved me potentially $1,000s in redlight, speed camera and delays. Never had a software or firmware issue in 14 years of operation. The only times I got fined is when I did not pay close heeding to it's loud audible warnings!!!

Does not suffer from battery, bluetooth, Google and designed obsolescence issues like more modern similar products. Made in Japan.

100% reliable unit and amazing build quality!

Great while it could be updated – Great while it could be updated. When this unit was sold it went with the guarantee that I would get free maps for the life of the unit. A promise now broken. I am now told that this unit is to old to get map updates. SO MUCH FOR GARMIN GUARANTEES. Show details

Nice gps but beware f free maps – I bought it on 29 th July 2012 from JB Hifi to use in NZ . Worked well again in August 2013 when I got my son to register it for free maps and update them prior to going. Worked well. In December 2014 he update it again for free and used it in NZ again. When he tried to update the maps last week Garmin would not update the maps only the… Read more

software. I called them and was told I wasn't entitled to free maps . They said I had paid previously to update which isn't true and have to pay for an update. So much for free maps for life.

Didn't last as long as expected – Bought in Sept 12, but only used from Oct 15 onward. Stopped working recently so got it checked by specialist retailer who confirmed it was a write-off. Garmin offered reconditioned replacement for $84.60 delivered, but mine returned to them at my cost ($10). Bought Navman for $119. Unable to update.

Great unit - reliable – In comparison to some of the poor reviews here, mine has been fine. I've had it for 3-4 years and its been nothing but reliable. The maps are accurate and the voice and prompts are fine. It sometimes calls turnoffs too late but I'm sure the others do as well. With any satnav, still watch the road and read the signs. Nothing is perfect. I now… Read more

use the Garmin in conjunction with Google maps on my smartphone, as Google maps shows live traffic and alternate routes. And Google maps HAS tried to send me the wrong way up a one-way major thoroughfare.

Will Garmin's Nuvi 50 GPS Kill You? – The latest map is 2013.30 which was released in 2012. Forget all the lifetime free map upgrades up to four times a year. You can't trust the speed limit alerts and the speed camera database is almost 3 years old. The Garmin Nuvi 50 suggests you go the wrong way up one-way streets. Sooner or later the Nuvi 50 might kill you if you… Read more

trust it rather than ignore it.

There's no use complaining. Garmin don't reply to customer support requests.

I called Garmin and they suggested I buy a map that gets mailed to me on a micro SD card.

The fact Garmin still advises its free Lifetime Map Guarantee should be taken up by the ACCC.

It's a shame I had no choice but to give it 1 star. A GPS is only as good as it's maps and Garmin's failure to provide free map updates is dangerous!

great buy – i bought my Garmin 3 yrs ago at Harvey Norman's for $88 i had a hiccup where it froze on me, took it back to Harvey and they sent it back to the Garmin manufacturing. They decided to replace the whole unit, and I haven't looked back. would like to know where i can get a manual book on how to upload maps. thanks

Top Product - pity about the maps shortcomings – I purchased this Sat Nav for $137 (including NZ delivery) New Zealand dollars on-line from JB HiFi in New Zealand. I was impressed - the maps are clear, the directions good and it is very quick to show an alternate route if I deviate from the route shown. Top marks here. It is a pity that so many small towns are left off the maps so if you are… Read more

trying to find a small town buy a paper map. One or two errors in the maps also but nothing very serious has so far come to light. One or two rather odd inclusions in the maps to, obviously compiled by someone who doesn't have much idea of what these places are.

It is a pity the Garmin people don't have an email address you can send a note of errors or omissions to. I was surprised when I phoned the call centre that they were not interested in the map inaccuracy I wanted to report. In fact I never got the chance to tell anyone, instead a rather pushy foreign accented woman insisted I upload a new map even though my sat nav was brand new and I had just uploaded the latest map a few days previously. Unsurprisingly the error was still there in the new map.

Despite my gripes I am very happy with my Nuvi 50. (I will be travelling with 'proper' maps when I head out into rural areas.) It works well and in the more populated areas should be excellent for getting around unfamiliar territory. Clear maps, good directions. Easy to follow. A few annoying and silly errors and omissions in the mapping software

GARMIN!!! are you people reading this? – This unit has only lasted 6 months, The right side of the touch pad is not working at all, I misplaced the purchase receipt so the store wont honor the warranty, This gps used to tell me I was 100 meters left of where I really was, It also showed me as being 80 meters under sea level. NOT HAPPY AT ALL. Thsis was my first gps so I have nothing to copare it to. everything

Garmin Nuvi50 – The first car GPS we have had. $88 delivered by mail from JB Hifi. Amazed at the product and technology for that price. Been in regular use for last 2 months, has not faltered. User friendly and wish we had one earlier when travelling in Melbourne or interstate. Adapts to a new route if you go off the 'go to' route initially given to you. Looked yesterday to buy another one but don't see them at $88 anymore.  Show reply

Garmin Nuvi 50 GPS – Dont bother. Have had 2 of these and both have frozen within first few days of use. Garmin have replaed the first one but i get the impression there is a problem with this model after surfing the net and reviewing others who have had problems with this unit. sending the second one back for a refund. Would not recommend this as it has let me down… Read more

when i most needed it in heavy traffic and unfamiliar territory. Thumbs down good size screen no use having a big screen when its freezes when you need it

Hard to do better for the money – My introduction to GPS's. For someone who doesn't need or want all the bells and whistles this little unit does the job. No need to worry about going the wrong way as it soon pulls me back on track. Speed camera location alerts have probably saved me a coupla times as I didn't even realise they were located at some pedestrian crossings… Read more

here in Adelaide.

For $88 on special with lifelong free map updates you couldn't go wrong. Free lifelong map updates. Verbal overspeed alerts have been left off the latest model.

very poor – purchased this unit 3 weeks ago.i live in a major town and maps were in accurate where i live and could not get customer support on the net mant of times as there server was busy and could not contact them by phone so i mailed the unit back to them with much pleasure. not accurate and no customer support

Can live without it – Didn't realize till I got home from shop I needed to go back to buy usb cable. Then discovered that I had to download alerts..free for i month then $30 to buy. Tried to download free trial but being in my early 70's found it impossible. Garmin downloaded it via my computer and still didn't work. Have returned it to shop as "Karen" pronunciation… Read more

of streets impossible to understand eg Mc Conville St==Micon vill st, Watson St = Wahson St,

Bargara Rd =Buggerrra Rd.

It is no wonder she gets lost, had we not known where to go it would have been a disaster.

Also unless you know the No of the street house it doesn't appear like Navman to allow you to goo to the middle of street and let you work out were you need to go from there Size of screen Even garmin couldn't download safely, school etc alerts they should be part of the initial deal

Not very useful for Australia – As an owner of three other Garmin GPS units I had high hopes of this one. It comes with a lifetime upgrade, which is great, I also have this upgrade with one other Garmin unit and its really good. So whats wrong with this unit..... Well, I`m a rep on the road and do 1000s Km a week and guess what, I wear sunglasses. The new units have an awful… Read more

color scheme, white roads on a kinda grey/green background which is near impossible to see in sunlight with the sunnies on. ( My other units have dark roads on a white background which are really easy to see ). The colours can`t be changed. The color scheme in Australia is different from the easier to read versions used in some other countries.

The map supply company has been changed as well, from Telstra Sensis to Navteq. The Sensis maps have always had some faults, but compared to the Navteq maps they are brilliant. For Instance where I live in SE Qld with the Navteq maps there are whole chunks of new suburbs missing ( and read that as areas at least 2 years old )together with things like parks and rivers etc which just don`t show.. So for me the very reason I purchased it, that is to get new maps for new areas which I have to visit for business on a bigger screen , is a pointless exercise. So I`m back to using an older unit because at least it still updates with Sensis maps and I can actually go where I need to. Not recommended. It only got the one star because I have to give it something. It was around $100, and a 5" screen. As above, useless if you wear sunnies and want to find newer streets in your location.

User friendly GPS – Needed a new GPS that was straight-forward, inexpensive and easy to use. The Nuvi 50 meets all of these requirements, coupled with a lifetime (of the GPS, not yours) map. In particular, my wife wanted a simple to use GPS that just got her from a to b without a whole lot of bells and whistles. I was able to get just the model, with the large screen… Read more ·  2

so it's easier to see, for a very competitive price at No Frills, who delivered very promptly and did a follow up inquiry to make sure everything was okay. Easy to use - intuitive, large screen, competitively priced