Garmin nuevi 650 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator | 
 enlarge | Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $749.99
Buy Refurbished: $199.90
You Save: $550.09 (73%)
New (41) Used (2) Refurbished (11) from $199.90
Rating:  236 reviews
Sales Rank: 73
Platform: Not Machine Specific
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Display Size: 4.3
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 4.9 x 0.9 x 2.9
nv:Type: Receiver
Inputs: USB
Touch Screen: Yes
Voice: Yes
Expansion Slots: SD Card
Battery Type: Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery
Battery Life: 7 hours
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: Nuvi 650
Model: Nuvi 650
UPC: 753759070755
EAN: 0753759070755
ASIN: B000OH63MI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Personal Travel Assistant comes preloaded with maps for U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico | | • | Super-bright, 4.3-inch widescreen display for improved viewing, day or night | | • | Includes automatic routing, 3D/2D map viewing, and turn-by-turn voice directions | | • | Built-in travel and entertainment tools include digital music player, JPEG viewer, currency converter, and more | | • | Measures 4.9 x 2.9 x 0.9 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 6.2 ounces |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
With a gorgeous widescreen display, the Garmin nuevi 650 GPS Personal Travel Assistant is your answer to the call of adventure. A sleek navigator and a keen travel assistant, the nuevi 650 is preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator NT road maps for the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. This map database features nearly six million points of interest (POIs), including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions, and the data is provided by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping. Step up to the nuevi 660 if you want to take advantage of Bluetooth connectivity, an integrated traffic receiver, and an FM transmitter. 
The nuevi 650 features a colorful widescreen and is preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator NT road maps. | 
The device includes many entertainment and travel tools. | 
A 4.3-inch display with a touch screen interface makes it easy to select destinations, play MP3s, and more. | This preloaded navigator brings all this fantastic map data to your fingertips with a super-bright, 4.3-inch widescreen display for improved map viewing, day or night. Use the touch screen interface to select destinations, look up POIs, and play your favorite MP3s and audio books. The device comes ready to go with automatic routing, 3D or 2D map perspective viewing, and turn-by-turn voice directions that speak street names. It also supports configurable vehicle icons. These fun, customized car-shaped icons come in a variety of colors to add a personal touch to your vehicle's position on the map. With this GPS system on board you'll be prepared to steer clear of traffic with an optional FM TMC traffic receiver. If you choose this add-on feature, The nuevi 650 will receive alerts about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. The nuevi 650 includes many "must-have" entertainment and travel tools, including digital music and audio book playback, a JPEG picture viewer, currency converters, and more. All these great features make the nuevi 650 a complete Personal Travel Assistant. Note: Optional software for language translation, detailed travel guides, and savings programs allow you to customize your nuevi to fit your travel needs.
What's in the Box
nuevi 650 GPS navigation system, preloaded City Navigator North America NT data, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, dashboard disk, USB cable, and quick reference guide.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Great GPS! Now shipping with 2008 maps January 5, 2008
Ronald M. Cronovich (Henderson, NV)
41 out of 41 found this review helpful
Before the Nuvi, the only GPS I'd ever used was a Garmin hiking GPS, which I purchased in 2004. It wasn't extremely easy to use, and installing maps on it was awkward. So for the longest time, I didn't bother looking at automotive GPS units, especially Garmins.
My parents recently got a Nuvi 650. They're in their 60s and not extremely technologically savvy. Yet they were able to use it right out of the box, spending minimal time reading the (very short, well-written) "getting started" guide that comes in the package. They are retired and spend every winter RVing around the country, so the Nuvi is an extremely useful device for them.
My wife and I got to see their Nuvi 650. We were impressed with how well designed the interface is. It's very intuitive. The screen is big and bright and easy to read in any light. We and my parents experimented with the auto-nav features and found it did a great job navigating us through complicated routes.
I got the bug to buy an automotive GPS and did my research. A recent Consumer Reports issue (Dec 2007, I think, also available online) has a great review of automotive GPS units. Four of their top 5 are Nuvis (the other is a TomTom).
I ruled out the TomTom because the suction mount it comes with isn't as good as the Nuvi's mount.
I considered the Nuvi 660 (which adds bluetooth and a traffic receiver, but is a lot more expensive). The traffic info requires an extra cost subscription (after a free trial period). The bluetooth wasn't attractive to me for these reasons: 1) I will only use my GPS for road trips and occasional visits to an unfamiliar part of the city I live in, yet I use my cell phone all the time. 2) My car stereo already has built-in bluetooth features and, after trying them out, I ended up not using them.
I ruled out the cheaper Nuvis for two reasons. Some of them have smaller screens: 3.5", whereas the 6xx series has a 4.3" screen. Second, on some cheaper units, the voice directions do not include street names ("turn left in 500 feet"), whereas on the Nuvi 6xx series, the voice directions tell you what street to turn on, as well as how many feet or miles or whatever.
So I settled on the Nuvi 650.
Before making the purchase, though, I was concerned that this particular model was introduced 3 years ago - a long time for a technological gadget. More importantly, I worried that the maps on it would be from 2004. I emailed Garmin customer support, they replied in 24 hours and said that Nuvi 650s are now shipping with the latest maps - the 2008 City Navigator North America NT mappping software. If, by chance, I happen to get a unit that doesn't have the latest maps, when I register my unit online I will be able to order a free update to the latest maps.
Based on this, I ordered a Nuvi 650. Sure enough, it came with the 2008 maps.
Despite that this model was introduced 3 years ago, my wife and I find it very well-designed and it meets our needs very well. As others here have noted, the auto nav is not always 100% accurate - but that's true with any automotive GPS. You always must travel with a good atlas, and of course, your cell phone.
The Nuvi series is great: there are lots of different ones with different features, something for just about everybody. Some reviews of the 650 complain about this or that feature missing -- fine, then look at the Nuvi line -- there's probably a Nuvi with the feature you want.
Nuvis are easy enough to use right out of the box, for people who don't like reading manuals. But for those that do, it's worthwhile to spend 20-30 minutes reading the manual and tinkering with it.
If you plug it into your computer using the included USB cable, it shows up as a drive in Windows explorer. You can drag and drop your favorite photos onto the photo folder of this "drive", and then view them on the Nuvi as a slide show. You can pick one of them to be your splash screen, which you see when you first power up the unit or plug it into your computer. You can drag and drop your favorite MP3 files to the Nuvi, and play them on the Nuvi's internal MP3 player. The Nuvi has an audio output jack (which takes a standard earphone sized plug), so you can play the Nuvi's sound through your car stereo if it has an auxiliary input jack.
You can change the auto icon that represents your vehicle on the map; there are quite a few to choose from on the garmin website. You can change the voice that gives you directions; the English speaking voices include an American female (the default) or male, a British female or male, and an Australian female or male. My wife likes the British male voice the best. If you're multilingual or traveling abroad, you can switch to one of many foreign language voices.
Since the Nuvi 650 is not the latest and greatest, shop around and you should be able to get a great deal. We got a fantastic deal from c o s t c o d o t c o m. (Trying to avoid the censor.)
One last tip: The Consumer Reports article I mentioned said that thieves love to break windows and grab GPS units (and iPods, etc). The article said that you should not only take the unit with you when you park somewhere, but also remove the windshield mount - some thieves will see it and assume you left your GPS in the glove compartment, and break your window to find out.
Amazon Rocks! January 5, 2008
Carole T. Bush (Western PA)
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
I bought my son the Garmn nuvi 350 for Christmas by mistake. He preferred the 650. I make lots of purchases from Amazon and have returned very few items. The 350 was packed up & sent back the day after Christmas, involving a quick drop off at the UPS store. Return postage was free & my account was promptly credited when Amazon received the item a few days later. I received emails every step of the way. The 650 was ordered on Christmas day, but it was on backorder at a fantastic price. Amazon indicated that it would be delivered on or before Feb 7, but it arrived yesterday in record time and my son is now enjoying his new "toy". These experiences may me a loyal Amazon customer!
Everything I Expected June 29, 2007
B. Kackman (Milpitas, CA)
45 out of 47 found this review helpful
I had a Garmin Ique 3600 that I've been happy with for several years. My father-in-law began talking about driving from California to Oklahoma this summer. I told him he needed a GPS for the trip. So I began my research for a GPS that would be easy to use and not a complete fortune. When I got done researching I decided on the Garmin Nuvi 650. He didn't need the Bluetooth or traffic tracking capabilities of the higher units, but a larger screen than the 300 series would be a benefit. I convinced myself that I needed to test drive the unit before recommending it for him to buy (okay, rationalization to get one for myself because it seemed to be a really nice unit that my family would appreciate as well).
I purchased mine for about $460. When it arrived, I was up and running within 15 minutes. The menus were intuitive and easy to figure out (good because there is only a printed quick start guide...you have to access the digital manual using the USB connection and access the file located on the Garmin with a computer). The satellite acquisition is pretty quick (really quick compared to either of my GPSs from a couple years ago). In fact, I was able to lock on satellites from inside the house! The voice commands are clear and you can choose from a male of female voice and from several different languages (which my daughter enjoyed, but following the directions in Italian, which we don't speak, was challenging although not impossible). The suction cup mount that came with the unit is adequate if you clean the windshield where you intend to mount the unit and slightly moisten the suction cup. I purchased the bean bag friction mount which is easier to use in different cars.
I am very happy with the unit and had no problem recommending it to my in-laws who are not really tech savvy. My mother-in-law had the unit operating in less than an hour and they used it to get around town that afternoon. That's a testimonial in of itself!
Garmin vs. Magellan July 30, 2007
Pavel Zelinsky (Boulder, CO United States)
37 out of 40 found this review helpful
Definitely Garmin 650 wins over Magellan 4040 with the same screen size. I tried both side-by-side. Faster recalculations. Better used interface:
- larger characters
- shows more POIs on one screen
- scrolls by screens (4 POIs), but Magellan scrolls by one POI
- shows information you actually need:
--- name of the next street you will cross (Magellan shows street you are driving on)
--- expected arrival time
--- etc.
- Menu is more intuitive
- in general Magellan was I bit late with turns notification than Garmin
Like Having the Yellow Pages for Every City With You (But Better!) December 30, 2007
Linda Sabel (Mt. Calvary, WI United States)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I did a tremedous amount of comparison research (including Consumer Reports, GPS review web sites, and Amazon reader reviews) before deciding on the Garmin 650. I was looking for a GPS that had a 4.3 inch screen, spoken street names, was reliable and accurate, was pocket-sized, and wouldn't cost me a fortune. Amazon had the 650 for a great price before Christmas so I bought two, one for my 60-something parents (who had never used a GPS before) and one for myself. After doing a brief run-through with my parents on how to use it, add favorite locations, etc., they were off and driving! They have had no problems with the 650's easy-to-use screens. The arrival time is always right on, and the spoken directions are clear and given with enough lead time that you can exit or slow down for the coming turn with no problem. The spoken road names make it absolutely clear which road you should turn on and it eliminates the need to look at the screen to see the name of the road. Due to its small size (slightly larger than a deck of cards), when we arrive at our destination, I remove the 650 from its mount and slip it into my purse.
The other thing I really like about the Garmin is the extensive Points of Interest listings (such as restaurants, hotels, hospitals, amusement parks, Post Offices, etc.). It is like having the Yellow Pages for every city with you at all times but better! If you want to go to a Point of Interest, the 650, unlike the Yellow Pages, will tell you exactly how to get there. This is very useful when you are somewhere unfamiliar and are looking for a restaurant, for instance. You simply scroll through the restaurants in that city (you can search by type of food to make it quicker to scroll through), choose the one you want, and hit "GO" to get the directions. The phone number is also included in the listing, so you can call ahead to make reservations if you like. You can also enter the name of a favorite store, and it will give you all locations of that store near you, mileage from where you are, etc. This came in handy at Christmas when I was looking for a certain item and couldn't find it. Rather than driving to all the stores and/or calling information for the numbers for local stores, I simply searched for stores near me and called them from 650's Points of Interest listings. What a time (and gas) saver!
Garmin also has the "Garmin Garage" available on their web site. You can download different vehicles to make your road trip more fun, such as a convertible sports car, an SUV, a boat, a Christmas light, etc. We downloaded a blue-nosed reindeer for our Christmas trips. It's a fun little extra, very simple to download and install, and totally free.
Overall, I would recommend the Garmin 650 wholeheartedly for anyone due to its simplicity and accuracy, plus it is a lot of fun! However, I would recommend buying the Bean Bag Mount that Amazon sells separately rather than using the windshield mount that comes with the unit. The Bean Bag Mount is much easier and quicker to use.
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