I bought the garmin nuvi 270 (used) its preloaded w/2008 europe maps..Garmin website says I cant get any free upgrades. Will the 2008 maps be enough?Or pay for upgrades? I am going to Italy, Slovenia and Croatia..
1456735
The countries you mentioned should not be an issue. The only time you may see major differences that matter are in countries like Ireland, Spain and in some areas of the UK where they have built a lot of roads in the last few years. My recommendation would be to have a paper map as a back up in case you find some differences. Italy paper maps are on Amazon, however if the others are an issue print Maps.Google of the area you plan to travel in. The 270 is one of the easiest ones to use. I would definitely pre-load destinations in the USA as much as possible. We always take paper maps anyway because sometimes there are road choices that might take you a different way. Remember the "fastest" and "shortest" option can really change your route, be sure you know which one is selected. Good Luck. P.S. before you buy new maps check out the price of a new unit with updated maps. Maps use to be very expensive.
370326
Well, now are free IF and only if you send by mail some ticket that the sellers are supposed to give you. Some times RM will say that they haven't received your mail.. You wouldn't know this until is too late or when trying to update after the first year. Plus, live traffic is not included.. You must buy additional stuff from them. Try Garmin 760
378471
the person who said he was never offered european updates must have not asked when he had his european maps loaded. Mine is now 7 years old, much abused and may have just failed today. The reason that I am visiting now. It doesn't have enough internal memory to handle both map sets, but there is a slot for a memory card. Plug one in and all will be well. I get off the plane turn it on and it asks for the other set. I say yes and it happens.
960279
Navigon continues to officially sell maps in Europe, but no longer officially supports North America. As a matter of fact, they ended hardware sales and support in North America years ago...friend laid off as a matter of fact. If you're tech savvy, there are unofficial, generic maps available that are supported by this unit, but you'd need to look up which file type and then download it to a flash card. I started using Google Maps on Android and traffic is only tradeoff...Google Traffic isn't quite "fully baked" yet. Stand alone GPS era has just about passed into history. :- (
252905
You can buy maps for europe and asia from garmin.com. If I understand correctly, you can buy them pre-loaded on a card and just swap it for the North America one. But they are in the $400 price range!
2016663
G Malley, V2008 is the new version number they use from 2008 and after. v8 is the old map. So yours has the latest map. Great news Rebecca, thanks for sharing the news. I am glad that Garmin does listen to customers' complain so they change the policy. That's what a good company should do.Cheers
1414020
As far as I know you can download new 2008 map version from Garmin site for free. Btw. consider Costco.com for 650 ($299 before taxes).
1217393
Yes, with the current maps the Garmin Nuvi 370 works great. Very simple to use with easy to use menus. You do need to make sure you get the Europe maps which includes the UK. As another reviewer said spring for the lifetime maps updates. We used ours several years ago on a trip to Scotland and Wales and it worked fine. Following the directions got us where we needed to go even driving on the left side of the roads!
568707
I called Garmin on July 13, 2007 (yesterday) regarding the updates for my then Garmin Nuvi 680. (I have since returned the unit to Amazon)---Anyway, I was told the updates would be available in a few weeks and would not be free. The cost was available, but I assume it will be the $75. Evidently there are mixed responses either from Garmin, or from Garmin Owners as to what will be "free" and what will be available for a fee due to Garmin Customer Service not having a standard anwer to this question when you finally get a hold of someone there (30 min. wait on the phone). So, until it happens no one will know for sure.
342291
I called Garmin on July 13, 2007 (yesterday) regarding the updates for my then Garmin Nuvi 680. (I have since returned the unit to Amazon)---Anyway, I was told the updates would be available in a few weeks and would not be free. The cost was available, but I assume it will be the $75. Evidently there are mixed responses either from Garmin, or from Garmin Owners as to what will be "free" and what will be available for a fee due to Garmin Customer Service not having a standard anwer to this question when you finally get a hold of someone there (30 min. wait on the phone).So, until it happens no one will know for sure. I called Garmin on July 13, 2007 (yesterday) regarding the updates for my then Garmin Nuvi 680. (I have since returned the unit to Amazon)---Anyway, I was told the updates would be available in a few weeks and would not be free. The cost was available, but I assume it will be the $75. Evidently there are mixed responses either from Garmin, or from Garmin Owners as to what will be "free" and what will be available for a fee due to Garmin Customer Service not having a standard anwer to this question when you finally get a hold of someone there (30 min. wait on the phone).So,... » Read More I called Garmin on July 13, 2007 (yesterday) regarding the updates for my then Garmin Nuvi 680. (I have since returned the unit to Amazon)---Anyway, I was told the updates would be available in a few weeks and would not be free. The cost was available, but I assume it will be the $75. Evidently there are mixed responses either from Garmin, or from Garmin Owners as to what will be "free" and what will be available for a fee due to Garmin Customer Service not having a standard anwer to this question when you finally get a hold of someone there (30 min. wait on the phone).So, until it happens no one will know for sure. « Show Less
639392
Call Garmin again ... and again. Not everyone in support knows what they are talking about. Their guarantee states you have 60 days for the latest maps. Also note that Garmin has been messing up lately with these upgrades (not sure why).Just a note on the maps. There is nothing "magical" about new maps -- they may or may not make much difference in many areas of the country. I know people who have had a Garmin for several years and never updated the maps. And just because it says the maps are "new", doesn't mean they won't have missing roads or errors.
1004704
If you are buying used .2010.If you are buying new call garmin and they will update maps to 2014 free one time. You will need a USB mini plug adapter to download to your computer. We have used this unit many times in France uk Scotland and Italy. Perfect? Of course not. Excellent? Yes.
1974511
I purchased a Garmin Nuvi in December of 2012 and there have been NO UPDATES to the "free" lifetime maps as of January 2015 .... ripoff!!!
976341
You can get maps for Europe, I'm not sure about lifetime updates. But my advice is don't bother. Garmin is produced for the US. In Europe it's almost worthless. It got me lost all the time. I switched to TomTom, which is European and doesn't work very well in the US, and the accuracy there was almost 100 percent. Garmin is especially bad in European cities where the streets are very close together. In Spain I haven't noticed a single taxi driver who uses Garmin or who uses anything other than TomTom, for that matter.
639389
I just got off the phone with "Adam" from garmin. He told me (and confirmed it before answering) that if you buy a Garmin 360 you can get a "complimentary" 2009 map upgrade IF it is not already including. Which map included depends on packing date. The point to remember is you MUST REGISTER YOUR PRODUCT WITHIN 60 DAYS or you will have to pay for the update. I hope this helps.
1237516
I bought the Nuvi 360 about a month ago. Since then there have been various software updates, and I also updated the 2008 maps that it shipped with to the 2009 maps for free. So far I'm happy, and as many of the Garmin units seem to share software updates, I don't think it being discontinued is an issue. Despite it being originally launched a few years ago, the software and maps bring it up to date. Although the trend seems to be towards the wide screen units, I quite like the compact size of the 360 and it offers bluetooth that many of the similar sized current models do not have. Plus the price of the 360 is very good due to it being discontinued - currently slightly better than what I paid just over a month ago. Considering most Streetpilots have been discontinued and how compact the Nuvi range is, I would suspect the 580 won't be manufactured much longer either anyway.
1217391
Elaine, we have the Garmin nuvi with North America and Europe (mixed anglo-american marriage); although my husband has some issues with it (over 65 anti technology) he is able to get through it. I love it because it not only has the feature of maps, but also the choice of several (e.g. close restaurants, hotels, gas, etc.) that you can utilize when you travel to unfamiliar territory on both continents. Try to get one with Lifetime maps update; it will save you money in the long run....just 'play' around with it to become familiar; and if you have children/grandchildren; they will be able to figure it out and teach you! (Thank goodness for a techie nephew!)Hope this helps -- Elaine, we have the Garmin nuvi with North America and Europe (mixed anglo-american marriage); although my husband has some issues with it (over 65 anti technology) he is able to get through it. I love it because it not only has the feature of maps, but also the choice of several (e.g. close restaurants, hotels, gas, etc.) that you can utilize when you travel to unfamiliar territory on both continents. Try to get one with Lifetime maps update; it will save you money in the long run....just 'play' around with it to become familiar; and if you have children/grandchildren; they will be able to... » Read More Elaine, we have the Garmin nuvi with North America and Europe (mixed anglo-american marriage); although my husband has some issues with it (over 65 anti technology) he is able to get through it. I love it because it not only has the feature of maps, but also the choice of several (e.g. close restaurants, hotels, gas, etc.) that you can utilize when you travel to unfamiliar territory on both continents. Try to get one with Lifetime maps update; it will save you money in the long run....just 'play' around with it to become familiar; and if you have children/grandchildren; they will be able to figure it out and teach you! (Thank goodness for a techie nephew!)Hope this helps -- « Show Less