Garmin Nüvi 500 Does Double Navigation Duty

Los Angeles (CA) - Do you own multiple GPS systems, depending upon whether you need road maps or topographic details at any given moment ? Garmin’s got a new GPS unit you’ll want to check out if you want to cut that GPS clutter down - the Garmin nüvi 500.

The Garmin nüvi 500, priced at around $500, is reportedly a rugged GPS unit which is equally comfortable on the trail or in your car. It functions as a multi-mode device, flipping between outdoors or driving modes by touching a "usage mode indicator" located at the top of the 3.5" display’s home screen. This marks perhaps the most unique feature of this product.

The nüvi 500 comes preloaded, according to Garmin, with detailed street and topographic mapping for the lower 48 U.S. states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. You can navigate standard ways, or make use of the GPS unit’s Garmin Connect Photos feature to choose from geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community to provide photo navigation by land or water.

In what may be an added bonus, the 500 also "comes preloaded with the Historic Route 66 map guide developed by MAD MAPS. This route spans from Chicago to Los Angeles, while highlighting specific points of interest associated with Route 66 along the way." I suppose if I have time to kill I might do that someday.