yehawdude

I've been a big fan of various Garmin units over the years, mostly because of an aviation influence, but my Garmin of choice is quickly becoming the Nuvi 500. I have had very bad experiences with previous TT units, grossly outdated maps and horrible customer service. That being said, I think that Garmin does better in the US, and TT does better in Europe, or so my European friends say. TT is based in Europe, correct? I believe their emphasis is on accurate European maps and better service... Garmin does the same for the US.

I just got my Nuvi 500 after sending back my Oregon for a refund (very disappointed for the high $$ tag). The 500 has an Off Road function that does remove the "lock to road" feature. And switching to this mode is as easy at tapping an icon on the main menu (to go from auto mode to walking mode). So far, the 500 has worked flawlessly. I haven't experienced the powering off problem as above. I wish it came in a widescreen format, but I suppose that would be too big/squarish to hold while geocaching. Auto mode works wonderfully... even downloaded the "Elfred" voice from Garmin. IMHO, I'd completely recommend the 500 for someone who needs a good geocaching GPS AND something made for easy use in the car.

Has anyone tried the Nuvi 500? It supposedly is made for Geocaching... supports paperless caching, has topo maps, etc. Too good to be true? And it's only in a non-widescreen version, as far as I can tell. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=13424#