Garmin Map Update of 2009 City Navigator North America NT Reviews

• Solid Update from 2005

  
  By A2T135XHAH82S4 on 2008-05-25
  I have a different perspective on this Garmin 2009 North American Map Update than the other reviews I have seen thus far. My wife and I have a Garmin Street Pilot 2720 that we purchased in 2005 and we love it. We started to consider getting a map update about 6 months ago, not because we were having any particular problem with getting around on our rather frequent road trips, but because we thought that the newer version would be a little more accurate and have some other features that our old 2005 Maps did not. Honestly, the only issues we had with using our 2005 Map was an occasional street that was not recognized or a restaurant or gas station that was no longer at the location cited on the Street Pilot...again, the Garmin always got us back on track and to our destinations. We drove from Omaha, NE to Albuquerque, NM and back only last year with no problems whatsoever (even with all the new construction going on in Albuquerque the last few years)...and we spent a week driving all around Albuquerque and the surrounding areas.
  
  Anyway, we decided to get some updated maps as it has been about 4 years. We then found out that Garmin discontinued the Street Pilot 2720 from production. This had us a little worried. I e-mailed the Garmin technical support and they assured us that the 2009 Maps would be compatible with our device. So I purchased the disc for about 8 bucks less on Amazon than from the Garmin site (I decided to go with the disc purchase option instead of risking downloading the huge program from the Garmin website to my computer).
  
  The install of the disc maps to the computer and then to the Street Pilot 2720 was a breeze (though I had to install the original drivers from the Street Pilot 2720 to the computer as I had never bothered to check for any updates to the Street Pilot). The whole process took about 90 minutes. I was feeling pretty good.
  
  The next day we took the Street Pilot 2720 out and drove around Omaha for awhile to see if some of the newer construction and roads were included on the 2009 Map update...they were all there (Qwest Arena and Convention Center, Some new roads, etc). The problem was that the audio/voice feature was not working. When we clicked 'speak' on the Street Pilot we got a message that said "Incompatible Audio Version'. We were NOT happy.
  
  I went back to the Garmin website and checked for any updates to the Street Pilot 2720 and downloaded some additional audio voices from the website to the device. Though the Garmin website did not cite any updates for the American Voice (Jill) I downloaded it anyway along with a couple others (British male and female and Australian accent). When we went back out with the Street Pilot 2720, the audio features worked great with turn by turn instructions, etc. I do not know if this was my problem for not updating the Street Pilot 2720 sooner or a 'glitch' with the new Maps 2009 program for the 2720...either way I am glad that all is working well.
  
  Things we like about the updated 2009 maps (realizing again that we are comparing to 2005 maps that were loaded on the Street Pilot 2720 when we bought it in 2005 and not to more recent versions):
  1. There are more points of interest (it appears) in this version, including grocery stores, restaurants, museums, hospitals, everything...a lot more items seem to appear with you search for these than I recall on the older 2005 Maps version.
  2. The maps are updated with newer streets (duh) cited---again, the only real reason to get this update anyway.
  3. There are alternate voice features (different accents, etc). This does not seem to be particular to the 2009 maps, but we wanted to mention it anyway. The American voice (Jill) is a little 'harpy' and we found the British voices much more appealing...it just seems when Jill says 'recalculating' she seems quite irritated with you.
  4. I think some of the icons have been changed, for example the museums and perhaps some other icons.
  5. Still seems quite fast with calculating routes and getting you back on track if you alter from the planned route.
  
  Overall we are very pleased with the product. Recognize that I am comparing the 2009 version to my rather old 2005 maps, however, so if you are considering updating from 2008 to 2009, you may want to check out other reviews. I am also quite happy (with the exception of the above-noted audio issue) with the 2009 Maps Update and how it works with the Street Pilot 2720.
  
  
  

• Not very useful if you live in the north-east, but pretty accurate in the south

  
  By A2XVGWUS07HZ8V on 2008-05-11
  I bought my CD last week and have been visiting popular as well as remote places to see if anything's changed. For anyone who has to deal with space constraints and such (me, for example), the mapping data is about 1.4GB. Installation does take some time, presumably due to the increase in mapping data and time required to build increasingly diverse index files.
  Sadly, NT2009 does not seem to be as big an update from 2008 as the latter was from NT8. There are quite a few major/popular POIs (like banks and restaurants) that are still not present. In fact, there is a BoA branch that's suddenly changed location in the '09 database. Over the past couple of years, there have been a couple of exit changes on I-84 but none of them are reflected in here. There are a couple of streets near my gf's house that were renamed a few years ago but have still not found their way into the Garmin DB (haven't checked NAVTEQ though). At the risk of belaboring my point, I'll stop right here. :)
  YMMV though as many friends, relatives and members on online discussion forums have found solace with NT2009 in places such as FL and AZ. I will be in GA/ATL all through May and shall update this review in a couple of weeks.
  
  Overall, if you're eligible for a free update, go for it. However, if you live in the N.E. and have to shell out $55-odd, I think your money is better spent elsewhere, assuming you have NT2008 already.
  
  P.S.: If you have an older system (like the c3xx), you can fit the entire mapping data on an SD card. If you have a 1GB or smaller card, select the areas you most want via MapSource. For example, removing PR and Hawaii easily saves 70-odd MBs.
  
  Edited on 05/28/08:
  After spending a few weeks traveling through GA and NC, I can't find any location that isn't mapped in the latest version. One or two gas stations in the ATL suburbs (Alpharetta to be more precise) show up on the opposite side of the street (maybe it's bad interpretation logic in Garmin's hardware and has nothing to do with cartographic data) but hey, at least they aren't completely absent! Overall, the south-eastern U.S. seems better covered as compared to the north-east.
  
  

• Don't see much difference

  
  By A2DO8B41AI21V1 on 2008-05-09
  I've had the Nuvi 660 since it came out back in 2006 and finally got around to updating the maps with this release. The hotels that were not in my old version are still not in it including the Hampton Inn Camden Yards. Restaurants in Charlotte, NC that have been there since 2006 are not in there. I haven't yet seen a difference yet.
  
  

• The jury is out on this one.

  
  By ACRB4W6XP17X3 on 2008-05-16
  Unfortunately for me I bought my update strait from the Garmin web site and it cost me 69.99! (I thought the early bird got the worm not got ripped off.) They STILL have not moved two local schools that were built in SE Michigan and opened for business 5 years ago. And I did as they said and have reported those changes to NAVTEQ [...] where they say they get a lot of their information. I searched on the Upper Peninsula and there are more POI's but still a lot missing from the Lake Gogebic area.
  I tell you, we use to use the Street Atlas programs from Delorme on our lap top with a GPS adaptor...the last version we had gotten was Street Atlas 2005 and it seemed to be a lot more reliable. Although I really like my NUVI 360, I don't feel Garmin really cares about the quality of their mapping product or the dissatisfaction of their customers. I think this product was rushed out before it was ready.
  
  
  

• This Update Erases All Stored Data

  
  By A3UDFN02MBZXCD on 2008-06-18
  It's not mentioned anywhere in the instructions, but this update will wipe out ALL data stored on your GPS. It would have been nice if they had let you know so you could at least write down your stored addresses, etc.
  
  
• Read This!!
  By A1ZG02TIQYPF2Z on 2008-05-16
  I recently purchased the Nuvi 760 and just last night I noticed I was eligible for a free 2009 map update. So, of course I took advantage of it, spending a few hours updating everything. Once finished, I noticed some places that were new that appeared on my POI. So I'm thinking...cool, got a free update (not really free after paying close to $400). Went to sleep that same night, woke up and took a client out to an unfamiliar area and noticed my Garmin wasn't working. I tried taking it off the bean bag holder and powering it up that way...no power. I tried hooking it up to my computer...no power. Basically, the unit is DEAD. I find it too much of a coincidence that I just loaded the 2009 map update and now it doesn't work (working fine before). I called Garmin and they want me to send it out to them since it's still under warranty. So I did. We'll see what happens, but I would think twice about purchasing this until it's been on the market longer.
  
  
• $600 GPS system and Maps were out of date from start
  By A7DZT0W9YNZIK on 2008-05-28
  I live in Austin, TX and the roads are constantly under construction, but GARMIN is so far behind in mapping that it's just pathetic. When you pay 500-600 for a GPS system it's not unreasonable to expect FREE map updates for at least a couple of years....especially when they are SO out of date. GARMIN is at least 2 years behind in mapping Austin roads...and now they want us to pay $60 for an update that should have been included. I hope I-phone and or Google crush these greedy people!
  
  
• Danger!
  By ABZLFL9N5TI4R on 2008-06-23
  We purchased this update for our Nuvi 360 primarly because it was missing many local points of interest, such as gas stations and restaurants. The good news is that this update has many of the missing points of interest in our area (NE US). Unfortunately the new map also has critical inaccuracies, with some two-way streets incorrectly labeled as one-way and some one-way streets incorrectly labeled as two-way. The effect is that the new routes proposed by the 2009 update are horrifically flawed. Instead of going from point A to point B by some short and reasonably direct route, our Nuvi 360 tells us to go in the most circuitous route imaginable, even doubling the required distance. It's so bad that we have stopped using our Nuvi and would gladly pay Garmin another $60 to undo the update. Install this flawed product at your own peril!
  
  
  
  
• NOT YET
  By A1PI06RRMZG3MV on 2008-05-20
  After seeing that one reviewer's GPS died after the update, I have to agree and WAIT until Garmin has had this update out for a while. The hotel I work at for the last 5-years, doesn't exist in the NAV08.
  
  
• Okay, if you're driving a Hummer!
  By A32MA2S9ANZDG2 on 2008-06-15
  I've notice one interesting thing about the new software, compared to last year's version which came installed on my Nuvi 350. To route to a National Forest recreation area about 45 miles away, which contains one of my favorite hiking trails, the old version used predominately a combination of freeways and two-lane paved state highways. The new version routes to the site using a combination of freeways, county roads, and National Forest roads, some of which are two-rut dirt roads,barely passable in a two-wheel drive passenger car. This is the case even though I have unpaved roads checked under avoidances on the GPS device. I think this inaccuracy possibly could be dangerous.
  
  I agree with other reviewers that the degree of update between the last version and this version does not make the update worthwhile, even without this potentially fatal flaw.
  
  
• A Very Good Map, But So Was Last Years
  By AOZ81M20OXY7Y on 2008-07-10
  Garmin uses the maps from Navteq. They are very good, among the best digital maps available. This years map is better than last years map, but only marginally so. And the POIs (Points of Interest) have been updated, too, but don't be surprised when you try to find a Wendy's Restaurant listed and find it was closed 12 months ago. It happens, not frequently, but it happens.
  
  New streets, even those that opened a year ago, may not have been added. That is the nature of the Map business. They can only work on certain areas of the map, and they may have not been able to get around to the road change in the area in which you are traveling. But many of the new streets have been added.
  
  All in all, this is a better map than last years, which was a better map than the one the year before, which was a better map ... well, you get the idea.
  
  If you need as accurate a map as possible for your Garmin, get this one. And if the map in your Garmin is more than couple of years old, get this one. But you may not need or want to upgrade from your 2008 map ... wait a year or two. Besides, you may decide to purchase a new GPS with better features 6 months from now.
  
  I've rated this 5 stars because it is that good compared to other digital maps on other GPS systems. But it is not perfect, and you may not need it.
  
  By the way, while the installation is not difficult, it takes an hour or two to actually install, so be prepared. Don't expect to start installation and be on the road with it 10 minutes after you start. It ain't gonna happen.
  
  
• Worth it for me
  By ALGIG0BIXVGE5 on 2008-06-02
  The ability to upgrade your GPS is one of the things that make it a great product. For $60 per year, it is like getting a new GPS each time.
  
  Upgrade was easy. Only problem was with the amount of traffic on the Garmin site. This was a problem since the GPS must be connected to your computer which in turn must be connected to the Garmin website. If any of these connections fail, then the upgrade fails. This means that you start the procedure over again.
  
  
• gps owner
  By A2J1PH0ZLSD4SM on 2008-05-29
  Only able to update one of my 3 gps units that I own due to copy protection on the product. It may be better to wait and buy a new better GPS with the updated software and sell the old ones. Maybe this time I will look into other gps companies!
  
  
• "New" street 2+ years old and STILL not in Garmin!!
  By A1IMKE3TTQKDM9 on 2008-06-21
  Argh! I'm in the northeast, so I guess I should have read other reviews before shelling out my $$$, but I was SURE that I didn't live across the street from a lovely green park, as shown on my nuvi 660. I wish!
  
  
• Why p/n different?
  By A35NLB4KXXX7RR on 2008-05-29
  The Garmin website lists the 2009 update as " DVD: City Navigator® North America NT 2009 Map Update" with p/n 010-10989-51, but it's shown here as "Model: 010-10989-01". Why the difference in part numbers? Which should I buy for my Nuvi 350?
  
  
  
  
• Garmin 2009 North American Map NT
  By A2LUF6DKYG8NIF on 2008-06-20
  I am somewhat disapointed with the product, it is supposed to be a 2009 update, yet it does not have streets in it that have been finished three years ago.
  
  
• Disappointing update
  By ADHB1OOA3EXAG on 2008-06-20
  We moved to McKinney, TX, a rapidly growing area North of Dallas, 7 months ago. Many of the new streets (about a year old) were not on the original Street Pilot 330 we'd bought in August, 2007. We expected those streets to be on the update, and they weren't. For our location the update was not worth the cost.
  
  
• Favorites get Wiped Out with 2009!
  By A2ER9D4DSH5YDF on 2008-08-18
  Just upgraded to 2009 City Navigator for North America (for my StreetPilot 340). First I had to run it through Firefox vs. IE (firewall issues); got this tip from Garmin support. Second, I discovered that this upgrade wiped out all of my saved "Favorite" locations...ugh! This did not happen when I had upgraded to the 2008 version. Contacted Garmin support (again)...they indicated that there is no way to recover those faorites: from Gramin support " Thank you for contacting Garmin International. This will sometimes happen if the operating software is very old in the unit during the update. With this unit due to it not being mass storage there is no way to back the favorites up to a computer." No mention of this potential issue was included in any documentation (BTW, I did this directly from the Garmin website).
  So why would we want to upgrade?
  
  
• Garmin N. America Update Works For Me
  By A5MZ6KZA5E6RS on 2008-06-10
  I waited to buy the 2009 Map Update because of the poor reviews on the 2008 Map Update. I travel about once a month and have been using it for a couple of months. It seems to have changes that have occurred over the last 3 years, but has sent me to places that are not currently there. I also noticed that it routes to places more efficiently. The original map would send me on a route that would look good on paper but not the way to go due city congestion or some other reason. The lastest map update has seemed to fix some of those problems. Overall I am pleased with locating addresses and routing.
  
  
• Dont Waste your Time or Money
  By A1OFSU0F8KWDA8 on 2008-08-03
  The 2009 update purchased for my Nuvi 260 wiped out all of my data and maps, and then produced a popup error indicating the application had failed when attempting to load new map data. I tried multiple computers and different usb cables. Wasted hours only to render a previously working gps unit inoperable.
  I can't believe that as mature as this market should be by now that Garmin cannot produce a simple map upgrade that works.
  
  
• It has it all.
  By ARXLJKKEGBV4B on 2008-06-03
  This has all of the North American map updates I need. I only hope they will privide updates throurgh 2009. This should be considered a subscription and not a single purchase.
  
  
• Garmin North American Map Update for 2009
  By A16G9AWG8DPLDN on 2008-06-21
  I installed the North American map update for 2009 and all went according to plan. The only problem was that the update was too big to fit my Nuvi 650 so I unloaded things like foreign languages and jpeg files and others that I never use and then I was able to complete loading the s/w. It is hard to tell how much data was updated unless I select problems I had during past trips which I submitted to the Garmin people using the proper form to request a change to errors.
  I had submitted 3 last year and after loading my update and checking, all 3 of the errors remain in the mapping system. One case in point is that I want to go to an address in Jacksonville, FL from Tampa Bay area. I selected fastest and shortest route and I was routed up I-75 to intersect with US 301 and then north to I-10. From there the route takes me through downtown Jacksonville back towards the south and ultimately to my destination. Time is approx 5.5 hours since I have driven that way before I-4 was completed.
  The easiest and best is take I-4 to I-95 to FL9A to my destination. Actual time is about 4 hours. I can't understand what is so difficult about giving me a shorter route on all Interstate and limited access roads?
  Otherwise all works okay.
  
  
• Disappointing!
  By A1GIH5FCOOCJQI on 2008-08-27
  I recently bought an software update to Garmin's GPS for its product, Nuvi.
  
  This 2009 Software update (I had the 2008 Software) did not have major roads (Interstates) that have been open since before 2008. I was disappointed that this was the case and think the money was not well spent.
  
  
• almost complete update!
  By A1TS5K6H3QN7QG on 2008-06-27
  An almost complete update for our Garmin Street Pilot unit. We just took it out on a roadtrip to Montana, and nearly everything was updated! We found restaurants, attractions, etc. Only our condo complex (built in 2006) wasn't in the unit's memory- we "plowed through a field" every time we went home!
  We love the unit, and the updated maps were great!
  
  
• Like a new GPS
  By A1LY7Z60TNV629 on 2008-07-02
  Just like buying a new area map, my Garmin now shows newly constructed roads, dead ends, etc that were not on the old version. I've got more confidence in my GPS now.
  
  
• Garmin 2009 map update
  By A25P08S56W7IM0 on 2008-07-04
  CD map install works well with easy to follow onlinne instructions. The update does takes some time as the program warns - took over an hour on my Vista PC. CD version preferrable to download and Amazon's price was better than purchasing through Garmin. Update requires key code that is specific for your Garmin unit. Can't buy one update for multiple units...that's one quibble - you have to buy a full update for each unit; there is no discount or multiple unit purchase option.
  
  
• This was the first time I purchased a GPS map update, and What A MISTAKE!
  By AQKWD41NO9EKG on 2008-08-15
  Garmins maps are inacurate as is it when it comes to <5 year or newer construction. My Hope was that this update would reflect that, especialy at the extrememy prices they charge for a simple software update. Save your money, it is not worth it.
  
  
• What's new?
  By A1KTOEWHQIPIE3 on 2008-08-15
  I have failed to see any difference between this product and the original "maps." Waste of my dollars.
  
  
• Garmin 2009 update
  By A3VVQBJFJ047CF on 2008-06-07
  I had some difficulty downloading, but I am basically computer illiterate. Was happy with the outcome though. I do like the way it's stuctured so you can download only what you need so there is not a waste of space on the memory, for example, just the 48 U.S. states is all I loaded, because that is all I will ever use, if that much. The price was certainly well below the others and appears to be a Garmin product. Who knows anymore these days, who, what, where, when and why. It was delivered promptly also in perfect condition.
  
  
• Easy to install
  By A2C4H5HBENNEEQ on 2008-06-15
  Easy to install. But I can't see the difference. I wish it would of had new design to the maps. Like while your driving you see on the map stores, gasoline station, etc.
  
  

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