I use a Garmin 360 and I think it is the most useful piece of electronic gadget I have ever spent my dough on. (The only other device I use more often is of course, my HP laptop but that’s company gifted).
Nuvi 5000 is the latest in the series of Garmin navigational GPS products to hit the market. 360 to 5000, sure sounds like a hell lot of difference but trust me, its only numerical. There is only so much you can go as far as core technology goes. Here by introducing newer models, they are only making spec changes and not introducing a totally new concept.
Comparing with the nuvi 360 that I have, the only way nuvi 5000 or another GPS would out strip it in technology would be if it has a more robust satellite receiver.
Points of Interests (POIs), live traffic receiver, maps, all these can still be updated later on whenever a new update is available in the market.
Some cons with my nuvi 360 – sometimes it takes inordinately long to load the route map initially when you boot it up. Worst case scenario, I often have to reboot it and hold it up my arm facing the sky so that it loads faster. Also, while driving down the streets of Manhattan it would sometimes lose the signal cuz of the high concentration of tall buildings around.
But the benefits far out weight and i am quite satisfied with it. Over all I think it has been my best investment to date. I have a few other gadgets but this one was literally life altering.
Anyway, coming back to nuvi 5000, one reviewer has this to say about this device
With fuel prices hitting record highs, it’s more important than ever to get directly to your destination without having to drive around aimlessly. This is especially critical if you drive a larger vehicle like a truck or an RV, which doesn’t get good mileage to begin with. With a big rig, it’s also important to have a sizable display that won’t get lost on a large windshield or dashboard. Garmin’s big-screened nüvi 5000 is designed specifically to meet the needs of such drivers.
I totally agree here. Gas prices hitting record high, it makes sense to drive straight to the place you want to go rather than fooling around. And with bigger vehicles, meaning less mileage, its even more imperative to not lose your way.
Garmin 5000 is specially designed keeping in mind bigger vehicles. Since this model has a big screen, it wont get lost in a vehicle with a bigger wind shield.
Spec Data
* Type: Portable
* Turn-by-turn: Yes
* 3D View: Yes
* Display Type: Touch
* Dimensions: 5.65 x 3.71 x 0.8 inches
* Flash Memory Type: SD/MMC
* Preloaded maps: Yes
* Waterproof: No
* Speakers Included: built-in
* Power: Adapter, Battery
* Supports MP3: Yes
* Multi Segment Routing: Yes
PROS
Large, auto-dimming screen. Multisegment routing. Text-to-speech conversion. Video input for a backup camera.
CONS
Lacks Bluetooth phone interface, integrated traffic receiver. No battery.
My nuvi 360 has a bluetooth and its really really useful. In fact, while driving and using the GPS, if I have company, they usually get more fascinated and awed with the ability to receive and make hands free calls through the GPS using bluethooth than the GPS itself!
