garmin nuvi 250

dubman25

hi,i just purchased a new garmin tonight but im not really sure were to download?and how to?also what i can????cheers people:D

Kimbot

Its all in the manual.

Goto www.garmin.com and register.

dubman25

cheers.does that have everything i need to download???like cameras and all that

coylemj

Do NOT register it. if you register it now you won't be able to get the next map update for free. Garmin will give you nothing if you register it now, there's no data download for new users, your unit has all the data you need.

Wait to register when the next map update becomes available, then register it as having been purchased the day you register it and Garmin will give you a map update for free.

There are very few static speed cameras in Ireland, just a few scattered along the N2 and N3 and a few around the M50 so don't waste your money paying for any Irish data, they're all 'mobile' traps and all you'll get for your money is a big bunch of waypoints which will make your unit beep at you about 200 times between Dublin and Cork.

dubman25

im living in west dublin and it doesnt pick up alot of places so whats the best thing to do for that??

coylemj

There's two things you need to do:

1. Check the version of the maps on the unit. Click the spanner icon on the main menu, then 'Settings', scroll down to and click the 'Map' button, then click the 'Map Info' button. This tells you the map version, it should be 'City Navigator NT 2008' - the '2008' is the important part. If it is not 2008 then it's probably V9 and you're on a back level. The solution to this is that you register the unit on the Garmin website and you can ask for an upgrade which you'll get for free. They will send you a DVD with an unlock code, you connect the Nuvi 250 to a PC, load up the DVD and enter the unlock code when you're asked and the maps on your unit will be upgraded.

2. On the same screen as the 'Map Info' button, there is a 'Map Detail' button where you can select how much detail (most to least) and this determines how much data is displayed. In the city centre thie 'most' option can fill the screen with too much detail (loads of restaurants for example) but you can experiment to see which option best suits you.

dubman25

coylemj wrote: »

There's two things you need to do:

1. Check the version of the maps on the unit. Click the spanner icon on the main menu, then 'Settings', scroll down to and click the 'Map' button, then click the 'Map Info' button. This tells you the map version, it should be 'City Navigator NT 2008' - the '2008' is the important part. If it is not 2008 then it's probably V9 and you're on a back level. The solution to this is that you register the unit on the Garmin website and you can ask for an upgrade which you'll get for free. They will send you a DVD with an unlock code, you connect the Nuvi 250 to a PC, load up the DVD and enter the unlock code when you're asked and the maps on your unit will be upgraded.

2. On the same screen as the 'Map Info' button, there is a 'Map Detail' button where you can select how much detail (most to least) and this determines how much data is displayed. In the city centre thie 'most' option can fill the screen with too much detail (loads of restaurants for example) but you can experiment to see which option best suits you.

great il have alook 2mrw.thanks.also wana ask...if im looking to go to such a place it wants me to enter a house number so how do i enter somewere without it being a house number????ie...a pet shop a few mins up the road from me

dubman25

just checked and yea its the 2008 model.was also advised NOT to register now so what difference will it make if i do now???also i havent downloaded anything onto it

DannyBuoy

dubman25 wrote: »

just checked and yea its the 2008 model.was also advised NOT to register now so what difference will it make if i do now???also i havent downloaded anything onto it

I think you missed coylemj's point about registering, if you register it now you wont be entitled to a free map upgrade when the 2009 version comes out in Dec(?), if you hold off registering until then, it'll be assumed that you've only bought the unit and it came old maps, therefore entitling you to a free map upgrade.
As regards the house number, just leave it blank and go to the next option, it'll return all numbers in the street you have chosen.

dubman25

ok thakns.is there anything i should download on it to make it better??

Saruman

Will they not look for some sort of proof of purchase?

DannyBuoy

Word is they don't, they ask for a purchase date, but it's up to the individual what to put in there. I haven't done it myself but it's come up before in older threads.

coylemj

They used to ask for proof of purchase, you had to send the original sales slip back to their place in the UK but they gave that up as probably being too labour intensive.

The commercial reality is that if a retailer is stuck with Garmin stock when a map update is announced, they won't be able to shift that stock unless the customer can be assured that they will be able to upgrade to the new maps for free. Garmin's policy is that if you buy a unit after the update is announced (or I think up to month before - to prevent a decline in sales as the annnouncement is imminent), they will give you the update for free. Since there is no way of verifying this without asking you for the sales slip, it allows people to hold off registering the unit until the next map update is announced whereupon you register the unit, say you purchased it that very day and you get the map update for free.

steve584

I haven't registered my unit either, waiting to see if I can get the free upgrade as well! However I have updated the software on the unit but I'm not sure if that will affect the chances of the free upgrade.

dubman25

steve what have you put on it that you didnt get on it??

coylemj

Upgrading the s/w doesn't affect the maps and as far as I know Garmin don't track the serial number so even if you upgrade the s/w today, I don't think that will prevent you from registering for the first time in 6 months and claiming that you purchased the unit the previous day.

With some Nuvis you can download the upgrade s/w as a standalone EXE file which you then run to upgrade the s/w. On the 2xx series you can only do an online upgrade via webupdater.

dubman25

any idea whats the best site for poi"s???like shooping centres and more things on my map...

brayblue24

OP-no intention of hijacking your thread here but tje posts here are from people who obviously know what they are talking about..

Question. How do you download different cars etc. I have registered (it's a 250W) but it won't allow me download anything. A workmate reckons I should have got an unlock code on a yellow piece of paper (he showed me his but his nuivi is a year old). Is this still the case or am I missing something??

DannyBuoy

brayblue24, go here and download the zip file to your pc, extract it locally and you'll have all the current vehicles. When you connect the sat nav to your pc look for a folder called Vehicles, just copy in the vehicle you want from your extracted list of vehicles. Dont copy all of them, apparently the unit can't cope with that many.
When the one you want is copied over and the sat nav disconnected go into the Settings, Map, Vehicle of the sat nav and choose the one you want.
There's a good range of vehicles in the zip file, personnally I just prefer the default arrow, some of the others take up too much room on the screen.

dubman25

what else is worth downloading onto the 250 rather than cars???

Saruman

I came across a download to change the voice to the one they use in startrek (complete with sound effects). There is a video on youtube. the guy charges about $4.50 for the download.
Not as good as the ones you can get for the tom tom but the Garmin is just a more serious device.

dubman25

is there a good site to download poi s thats free and easy??

dubman25

I was on the m50 today and my sat nav didnt even pick up the speed static cameras any ideas how to upload these??

dubman25

surely there must be good poi"s that can be downloaded onto my nuvi 250???

dubman25

anyone??

dubman25

doesnt seem to pick up well known areas either

construct06

can an mp3 player be installed on this device?

is the software the big difference between the 25o and other garmins eg. 350 and upwards which have mp3 players? surely, as it has a speaker and sd card slot it would be easy enough to install an mp3 player? no?

can 3rd part apps be installed?

coylemj

You would not want to play mp3 files through the Nuvi speaker, the quality of music is pretty poor because it's a small speaker and the 2xx models don't have headphone sockets.

In answer to your questions as to whether 3rd party apps can be installed, the answer is no, Garmin don't facilitate this by publishing APIs.

winediva

I recently bought a nuvi 250 and for the most part am very pleased. This is my first gps and seeing that the manual that comes along isn't very detailed, I am having a few problems.
The latest one is this:
I live in Pennslyvania but will be visiting New Hampshire and Boston in a couple of weeks. I fly into Manchester Airport and will be driving to Boston. I only want to simulate the route between the two locations. I have found and saved both but can't seem to map the route between the two, it only maps from where I am now. How do I do this?

DannyBuoy

winediva, when you find the location you want to start from, there should be a button at the bottom that says "Set Location", that will set your start point to that location.

winediva

I am still stuggling with finding the route between two locations, one of them NOT where I presently am. I found both locations and saved them to favorites but when I say go to, and select the location it takes me from where I am now.
I guess I need step by step instructions.