Garmin Drive 51 USA+CAN LMT-S GPS Navigator System with Lifetime Maps, Live Traffic and Live Parking, Driver Alerts, Direct Access, TripAdvisor and Foursquare data (Renewed)

Garmin is the best in GPS navigation. I've tried other brands but nothing compares. You don't need instructions because it's so easy to understand

Older car doesn't have the greatest tech; this definitely does the job. I like it when paired with my cell phone for hands-free calls, and it's good to know about map updates.

The Garmin Drive 51 USA LMT-S GPS Navigator System with Lifetime Maps and Traffic Updates seems to be a great value. It is intuitive to program using the on-screen keyboard, which is a feature on every Garmin GPS I've owned. The voice recognition programming works fine IF you are in a quiet car or place. Don't speak too fast and speak clearly and the Voice Recognition programming works fairly well. There are a lot of features that are available that can be user optioned. The unit is quick to respond to voice (if that's an option you choose) but I still prefer using the keyboard to enter addresses. I have always questioned to validity of the Traffic feature on ALL GPS units. It rarely seems to be accurate and, of course, it only pops up around metropolitan areas to begin with. Those are usually locations where traffic is going to be heavy anyway. I own a few Garmin GPS units but this one has one thing that bugs me (and it's trivial in nature). The suction cup mount on the others I use stay affixed to the windshield until I physically remove them. This particular suction cup mount doesn't stay mounted for more than a day or two. It looks perfect but refuses to stay stuck to my windshield. I'm going to order a replacement as they are relatively inexpensive. One other fact I have noticed is that the unit gets rather warm to the touch while being used. I have heard this from other users of this particular model GARMIN unit but doesn't cause any problems. I recommend this unit to anyone considering a GPS unit!

Took it on vacation to Utah. At first, I was annoyed that Garman refused to allow me to enter any information or request a destination if car was moving! I get it! But, I was the passenger. Then when we got home, I saw that it takes voice commands. And, does it well!! Don’t really care for Google Maps because it doesn’t store locations like the Garman. What can I say? Guess I am kinda old school.

So why am I giving this a 1 star when it's not bad? Overall the GPS is OK, but I have two complains. It seems a bid slow. Going from one end of the city to the other when I avoid the toll road it takes a LONG time for it to find the route, but I'm usually OK with that with Garmin as they don't put too much processing power into their unit. My biggest gripe is their traffic. This is a LMT-S, which means it should have lifetime map and traffic, but which it does. However, those clowns at Garmin did NOT provide a cable capable of receiving traffic over the air. So you will NOT have any traffic data unless you install an app on your phone and pair it via Bluetooth with your Garmin and run the app when you want traffic. Well if I wanted to use my phone for traffic or navigation why the hell would I spend hundred dollars or more buying a Garmin? I could use Google map for free. Fortunately for me I still had my cable from my last used Garmin I bought that died on me. Once I used that cable it started receiving traffic over the air. Hey Garmin, spend 50 cents extra and provide a traffic capable cable. Really, really idiotic.

Garmin customer support mans the phone lines with knowledgeable people. I should have called them BEFORE I ordered this Garmin Drive 51. When it arrived, it had no phone function. I think I saw one review on it that said it had phone function. When I called Garmin, they said the Drive Smart series all have phone and lifetime maps - two things I wanted in a gps. I also wanted to display elevation constantly and they said all their units would do that. This info was difficult to determine via their online descriptions. I ended up with a refurb Drive Smart 66 and I'm happy with it though it does some quirky things occasionally.

Battery is charged and charges when it should.

The device works great, when you first get it you need to plug it in to let it charge to full then update the software on it, afterwards let it acquire satellites and then its good to go.The device came with the power cable for the car and to connect it to the PC and both of these work correctly. There are no features you loose from aftermarket cables and there is no voice recognition which you should know if you read the product information unlike some of the other reviews on this.I do recommend getting a SD card for long term, I updated it and the internal storage is now 50% full off one map update.I also recommend getting the sandbag stand for it, the suction cup one that comes with GPS systems also fails due to vibration.