Garmin nüvi 650 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

Reviews

1. Haven’t got lost yet

   by Keith Wright

   We use this GPS when we travel even to locations we know. We use the speed and time info most. Works well

2. Great product

   by Roger E. Ekstrom

   My forth Garmin and my best so far. FM traffic a waste for Chicago area. No coverage in outer suburbs-(Crystal Lake) Check map before paying for subscription. I would have liked a traffic lane feature for the expressways. I will get it next time.

3. GARMIN 650

   by I. Steinberg

   THIS IS NOT A CURRENT UNIT BUT IT HAS BUS AND TRUCK NAVIGATION. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT BUS SELECTION IS FOR SCHOOL BUSES NOT MOTORCOACHES.

4. Check other brands

   by B. Dougan

   I have five Garmins. I registered all my Garmin’s, yet when I request help (about 5 times)I have never received a response. Maybe you should try another brand.

5. Non Replaceable Battery

   by Duane

   The GPS has worked extremely well for me since purchasing it in June 2008. Recently the battery will not hold a recharge. I followed Garmin advice and completely discharged the device and recharged it. The new charge lasted for about 5 minutes. I was then advised to send the GPS in for a battery replacement for $99. I would have expected a battery to last longer that 21 months.

6. touch screen failed after two years

   by WinterMaple

   Bought in 2007, have been quite well except that sometimes it told me where to turn kinda last minute… but this is not too much a problem.

   Wouldn’t complain at all… until recently touch screen just stopped working all of a sudden. Tried reset, reboot. Wouldn’t work. Called Customer Service, said it cost $99 for me to send it in and get a refurb one. Worst thing is, the agent i spoke with sounded relentless and harsh. He went like “you should just go get a new one that has more of an updated map”. And i know! Except that I thought i could call for a better solution.

   No garmin for me. Ever. Touch screen sucks!!!!!!

7. Could be better

   by P. Pietryka

   It’s ok but has some usability issues. One thing I CAN NOT stand is not having a QWERTY keyboard layout. Also, satellite link time is annoyingly slow. Having to pay for map updates is lame. Speaker could be better.

8. Only worked for two years

   by Jeremy

   I got this as a Christmas gift two years ago (2007) and loved it, though I really would have preferred the internal antenna. I like the charging connection being separate from the USB connection, as it makes attaching and detaching the device from the dashboard mount easier than having to unplug a cable from the back in addition to removing it from the mount.

   My problem came almost two years to the day after I got this unit. I wasn’t a constant user of the unit, using it primarily when I was traveling to other states or to local parts of town in which I had never traveled, so it’s not like this got used and abused; rather, it was always in one of two places: my dashboard or the center console. I had a few occasions in December 2009 when the touchscreen just stopped responding. I figured it was a battery issue and therefore tried plugging it in the cigarette lighter adapter in the car as well as charging it by USB on my computer. It seemed to work the first couple of times, but then two weeks before Christmas, the screen stopped responding. I tried recharging it again to no avail and began looking for others that had this issue. I came upon a GPS repair site that said Garmin devices with serial numbers beginning with “14V” were prone to this problem, and that the touchscreen would never work again without a replacement. Seeing as how replacement touchscreens cost half the price of a new device with similar functions, it is not worth the cost of repair.

   I’m just glad I didn’t buy the lifetime map subscription, since it would have only gotten me one year’s worth of updates. I honestly expected more out of Garmin, since my father had an old Garmin V GPS from the late 90s that’s still going strong. The difference between them? His can’t be rendered useless by a bum touchscreen since its input is done with physical buttons.

   All in all, the device worked great while I had it; I’m just majorly disappointed that I essentially paid $150 per year to own this and could not get any further use out of it without paying for a costly repair.

9. Great GPS but waaaaaay over priced this year

   by James Krebs

   This is an outstanding GPS that I bought for my mother for Christmas last year. I’ve owned the the Nuvi 350 for years and as long as they continue to offer maps for it, I will not buy a new one. The 650 basically is the same but with a wide screen. I’m not going to review the product further since I purchased it as a gift but I felt compelled to post a review when I saw the price of this unit compared to my last year’s purchase. I bought the same “new” unit last year for $198.00 and I see that this year it is selling for $499.00. I’ve also noticed the Nuvi 350 is being sold for $359.00 when last year it was sold for $159.00. Granted, mine was purchased directly from Amazon, LLC. and these are being sold by third parties but for those who may be price conscious, it may be of value to know that these are actually Garmin’s older units. They were first introduced when I purchase the Nuvi 350 four years ago. The newer units are half the price and use the same maps.

10. DO NOT BUY GARMIN

    by Boone

    Garmin-
    
    I am writing this letter in response to your company’s failure to address my complaint, and to inform you that as a paying customer, you will never do business with me again.

    Last winter I bought a Garmin Nuvi 360, a gps unit guaranteed to navigate me through any town and city in America. However I can say that this unit has gotten me lost as many times as it has gotten me found.
    
    On more than one occasion I found that the unit did not recognize the road I was driving on. The most annoying instance of this happening was on the interchange a few miles from my home. The unit never did recognize this interchange (though it has been there for 10 years) and was constantly re-routing me all over the place. There were also many times in which the unit would tell me to drive down a road that did not exist, and many times in which it did not recognize the road that I was driving down, displaying instead a blank field with my car driving through it.
    
    Another extremely annoying glitch was that the unit was constantly confusing the northbound interstate with the southbound, telling me to go southbound when I had programmed it to take me north. Eventually I learned that the unit was not to be trusted, and I should follow my gut when it seemed that it was taking me down the wrong path.

    Of course after calling Garmin customer support they told me that I should have downloaded the map update within 60 days of activating the unit, and 120 days was too late. Never mind that an older map set should still know the difference between north and south. I looked up the price of a map update, and it was $99.99, one unit per download.

    To cap it off, yesterday I had the Garmin mounted on the windshield suction cup, and it broke free as I was getting out of the car, landed outside the vehicle, and now the screen is cracked and I cannot use it at all. I’m not sure whether to be disappointed or relieved.

    DO NOT BUY GARMIN! THERE ARE MANY GPS OPTIONS OUT THERE, AND GARMIN IS THE WORST OF THEM!

11. Works, for about a year!

    by C. Crain

    Bought this model approx. 1yr ago for my wife who drives everyday for her job. It worked fine until it hit the one year old mark. Now the screen does not recognize any touches. Recalibrating does not work either. Given Garmin’s repair rate for this unit is about $95, we will be buying another unit, just not a Garmin!

12. Good, but not perfect

    by Online Shopper

    I purchased the 650 because my son had one, and was very happy with it. My previous GPS was a Magellan, but it burned up in a car fire. I like the wide screen and the sensitivity of the 650’s touch screen. But, I was not happy with the fact it had no Bluetooth capability, and it did not show elevations, both features which I used a lot on the smaller — and cheaper — Magellan. I did not find the POI screen easy to load, but did find the capability of loading custom POIs one that was definitely a plus. I have loaded highway rest stops and the Costco locations, both which I use all of the time when I am on the road.

13. The Techno Ignarant Wife Loves It

    by Brent Sawyer

    Garmin never disappoints me. This machine is easy to use. Customer service is awesome. Website support is great. You can’t go wrong.

14. Satisfied

    by K. Neal

    I bought this for my husband as a Christmas present last year and he LOVES it! He takes it every where with him especially on business trips. He told me he can’t believe he didn’t get one sooner!

15. I love my garmin.

    by Christopher Huff

    I absolutely love this product. This is the first gps that I’ve ever owned, and it has simply been extremely useful in navigating from place to place. I used to have to look up maps on google anytime I went anywhere. Now I just plug in the address, or even just the name of the place I want to find, and go.

    There are a few negative things that I would point out, though. First, it often does not take you the most direct route. I suggest that when you always zoom about and look at the route that it wants to take you, because might be surprised that there is sometimes a more direct route that you can plainly see on the map. Second, it sometimes takes a few minutes to acquire the satellites to determine your current location, especially when you’re moving. Third, it would be helpful if the business locations that you can look up were more complete. It doesn’t always have the place I’m looking for in there.

    Now, keep in mind that I live in a small town, so some of these things may be due to that fact. Despite these drawbacks, I’ve found this to be an extremely useful tool, and is definitely worth every penny we paid for it.

16. garmin 650

    by Teri M. Breckenridge

    The gps got to me in 4 days it was in perfect conditon. I have used it more than I thought I would and it works great. It is so easy to use my 12 year old daughter can work it without reading any instructions.

17. two defects

    by Luay A. Alrammah

    It has two defects:
    
    It does not show the speed limit on different roads, and it does show graphically which way to turn on next (left arrow or right arrow). Both were very important to me so I had to buy another GPS (TomTom) to cover these needs and even it was cheaper.
    

18. Lifespan – 1 year

    by Ed Garcia

    7-8 months after purchasing this item from Amazon I started noticing the touch-screen was not responsive after a few hours of usage. After a bit over a year the screen stopped working all together. I have tried every Garmin forum under the sun for a fix, no luck. So here I am stuck with a product 13-14 months old that does not work and no warranty. I would not recommend this product.

19. Family of Five Favorite!

    by Traveling Mom

    I bought this GPS for my husband for Christmas and can’t imagine traveling without it. We just traveled to Myrtle Beach from Philly and back using it. It gives you detours when there is traffic, provides food and lodging information, plays music and displays your pictures from your san disk! What an awesome GPS!!!! The directions are spot on! You can even download your own icon such as a police cruiser!!!! Five stars from this family of 5!

20. First time user.

    by ephany77

    My job has me on the road to many different places for extended periods. After the first time a GPS was a must. After a year and a half I can’t imagine leaving home without it. The freedom of always knowing where you are and how to get to your destination takes a lot of stress away, allowing you to enjoy trips and explore without concern. With that said there are a few flaws and glitches that need to be considered.
    
    For long trips, reviewing a map to verify the garmin’s route is a must. The only options are the shortest route or fastest route. Often this leaves out interstates and other highways since the software does not take into account traffic lights, stop signs or city centers. It assumes you will maintain the posted speed at all times.
    
    The business search function is very handy, but requires the yearly updates to be purchased to remain useful. The only free updates are additional graphics and software patches.