Update Garmin Nuvi 50

March 3, 2014 8:54 AM

I have a Garmin Nuvi 50. It has free updates. The memory is full. My google-fu needs help, all that I could find was information about deleting extra voices. That's not enough. It seems to me that the proper step would be to delete the old maps and then upload the new maps but I don't find anything that describes that. Please help.
posted by notned to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

I think what they expect you to do is purchase an SD card so that you have enough storage for extra maps. The Nuvi 50 does have a slot for that right? Check this list to see what the maximum size is that your Nuvi can handle and you should be able to put the map update on that.
posted by jessamyn at 8:59 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]

A possible solution is to load only the data for the region you live.

I just moved from Seattle to the greater Boston area and when I tried updating my maps, there was no space.

So what I did was to only update the information for the NE part of the US since I knew I was never going to be driving across the country or into Canada.

I hope that helps :)
posted by rippersid at 9:03 AM on March 3, 2014

Jessamyn's got it, I think. I was in the exact same situation last year, and I deleted everything I could with no luck. After Googling around and even calling Garmin, the repeat answer was "buy an SD card." So I got a 16GB one for around $10, and it works swimmingly.
posted by AgentRocket at 9:55 AM on March 3, 2014

Response by poster: Follow up. So is any SD card the same as any other? A quick look on Amazon had 8GB for $4 but it mentioned a lot of nuvi's but not mine.
posted by notned at 10:35 AM on March 3, 2014

My take is that if it fits in the slot and it's brand-name (i.e. not some sketchy knock off made to look like a real SD card and selling for next to nothing) it should be okay. Might want to get a second one that you can keep backups on.
posted by jessamyn at 11:37 AM on March 3, 2014