Review: Garmin nuvi 50LM GPS from Staples

I can’t tell you how excited I am to bring you this Garmin Nuvi 50lm review! We’ve been talking about getting a GPS forever and every time I review a Kia, I start griping to Hubs about not having a GPS. Now he doesn’t have to listen to my moaning and complaining anymore thanks to Staples. I can distinctly remember taking a trip to the Birmingham Zoo with Sweet T and getting lost on the way. There I was parked under an overpass in goodness-knows-where Birmingham, calling Hubs for directions to the Zoo for him to look up on Google Maps. Ridiculous! Now I don’t have to worry about being in that position again.

We received a Garmin Nuvi 50lm to facilitate this review and I couldn’t be happier with it. There were a few things we were looking for in an aftermarket GPS.

• Lifetime Maps
• A Large Screen
• Touch Screen

Our Garmin Nuvi 50lm fits the bills first of all with FREE lifetime maps. As much road construction and changes as we have just in our area I knew this was a must. There’s nothing worse than embarking on a road trip with your handy atlas (which we also keep in the car) to discover roads and routes have changed! We ran into this problem during our trip to Tennessee to visit our midwife. No fun. So the first thing I did after opening our new GPS was to register it and download a map update.

It took about 30 minutes to complete and the battery was able to charge most of the way during that time.

Secondly, the large 5″ screen makes it easy to read on the road. No eye-squinching here! I took this picture in full, blaring sun and you can see the screen is still easy to read. Touchscreen is pretty much a given these days, and I’m pleased with the layout and and touch sensitivity of this screen

The Garmin nuvi 50LM GPS went above and beyond our three requirements. Now that I’ve covered those, here’s a few features of the GPS I never knew I always needed.

Speed Limit – Ever drive 10 miles under the speed limit “just in case” until you pass another sign posting the actual speed limit? Now you don’t have to wonder.
Current Speed – The numbers turn red when you are over the limit. Just additional way to keep you accountable besides your odometer.
Compass – I’m terrible about North South East West directions. If you can’t tell me right or left I’m lost. This is especially useful for us when driving to a geocache where we don’t have an actual address for an end destination but have to follow coordinates.

Strong Suction – My new Garmin isn’t going anywhere unless I want it to!

Power choices – You can run the Garmin nuvi 50LM GPS from your car’s cigarette light socket or USB outlet if you have a newer model of car then we do. Also the GPS will run up to 4 hours on a fully charged battery.

We’ll be using the destination feature on our next trip out of town. Here’s to never getting lost again!

The Garmin nuvi 50LM GPS is available at Staples and retails for $169.99.

Full disclosure, Staples provided me with this Garmin GPS. The words and opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own. To see the full line of Electronics visit Staples.com.