Garmin Nuvi 5000 Review:
The nuvi 5000 was designed for RV and truck drivers, whose distant windshields can make a small screen hard to see and even harder to reach. The large, touchscreen interface on the Garmin Nuvi 5000 works with voice-prompts, turn-by-turn directions, route calculation, and automatic rerouting. The device will save up to 10 routes, specify via points and preview simulated turns on screen. A track log feature shows the user’s previously traveled route on the display, and drivers can avoid certain roads and areas by adding rules to the device’s routing program. It features a substantial 5.2-inch color display, an FM transmitter, MP3 player and lots of entertainment features for fun on the open road. The Garmin 5000 comes with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps and millions of points of interest (POIs) such as hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, ATMs and more. Touch the color screen to enter a destination, and it takes you there with 2-D or 3-D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road, and its 3-D digital elevation map view gives you fair warning of grade changes. The nuvi 5000 also accepts custom points of interest, such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.

This NTSC composite video input is designed to accept input from a backup/safety camera, for example. You will need an AV adapter cable to that accepts multiple inputs to jack a video device into the single composite port on the Nuvi 5000. Through the menu system, you may select how the Garmin 5000 switches to video mode when an AV cable is connected. On the down side, the Nuvi 5000 lacks an internal battery, so it must be plugged into the vehicle’s power port to operate. Lack of an internal battery precludes out-of-vehicle route planning and use while walking a city street, for example.

Garmin 5000 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 Garmin Nuvi 5000 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.

Garmin Nuvi 5000 Features:

See Even More

With Garmin nuvi 5000’s large, clear display, you won’t miss a thing. View map detail, driving directions, photos, play games and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 5.2-inch display is easy to read and gives you an extended view of your surroundings. Garmin nuvi 5000 also includes a composite video input so you can connect it to a rear-view camera for backing up safely.

Navigate With Ease

Garmin 5000 comes with preloaded City Navigator® NT street maps and millions of points of interest (POIs) such as hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, ATMs and more. Touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road, and its 3D digital elevation map view gives you fair warning of grade changes. nuvi 5000 also accepts custom points of interest, such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.

Where Am I?

In the event of an emergency, nüvi’s “Where Am I?” feature helps find the closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection. Also see your exact latitude and longitude coordinates.

Plan Ahead

Garmin 5000 includes advanced navigational features to take the worry out of traveling. With route planning, you can save 10 routes, specify via points and preview simulated turns on the Nuvi 5000’s wide screen. In addition, nuvi 5000 automatically sorts multiple destinations to provide an efficient route for errands or deliveries. It also displays speed limits for highways and Interstates. A trip log provides an electronic breadcrumb trail of up to 10,000 points, so you can see where you’ve been on the map.

Go Beyond Navigation

Navigation is just the beginning. nuvi 5000 includes many “must have” entertainment and travel tools including MP3 player, audio book player (subscription to Audible.com required), JPEG picture viewer, gamesand more. With Garmin 5000’s wireless FM transmitter you can hear audio, including voice prompts, MP3s and audio books, through your vehicle’s stereo. It’s also compatible with FM traffic alerts or MSN® Direct content (receiver and subscription required). It comes with Garmin Lock™ (an anti-theft feature) and configurable vehicle iconsthat let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map. Optional plug-in SD cards let you add additional features to enhance your travel experience including language translationand detailed travel guides. Our SaversGuide®provides information on nearby merchants offering discounts to customize your nüvi.

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