Garmins with "Map View" selection in "Recent"

SlumberKing

I've just begun using Garmins in the past couple of years. I have 3 now... a Drive 50 LM, a Nüvi 57LM and a Drive 52 M. Each has it's own distinctive user interface. How do we refer to these different UI? By the hardware designation (Drive 50 , etc). Could I upgrade my Nüvi 57 to the Drive 52 layout? Does each category (Nüvi, Drive) have unique versions (50, 52, 57) or am I being too logical. (I figured out the LM and M and 5x is screen size).

I find the "Map View" of recent addresses very helpful for visualizing how to make multiple stops efficiently. Is this a feature with all "Drive" designated Garmins?

alanb

Each generation of Garmin device has its own set of UI characteristics. In general, you can't upgrade a device in one model group to look and act like a device in a different model group.

Boyd

"In general"? I think it is just flat-out impossible to change the software that runs on any Garmin automotive device. Can you provide an example of when this has ever been possible? I sure can't think of one.

Now, quite a few years ago, people found complicated ways to hack devices so that a cheap model would run the software from an expensive device. This was a popular topic of discussion over at GPSPassion. But it was purely a hack that wasn't supported by Garmin and there were many "gotchas" that could make your GPS completely unusable. I have not read about anyone doing this for many years. Frankly, I don't think anyone cares enough to devote the effort anymore. The dedicated GPS market is all but dead today and so is GPSPassion.

On the DriveSmart 61, if you press Where To > Recent there are two tabs on the right side of the screen. The top one shows a list of destinations and the bottom one shows them on a map. I suppose that's what you mean by "map view on recent"? I actually never noticed that before.

alanb

Boyd, the only one I can think of was one of the first trucking devices … I think it was the nuvi 465. There was a lower end model (maybe something in the nuvi 2x5 series?) that you could load the 465 software to with some kind of hack. I don't remember all the details, but can recall reading about it in some forum back in the day (probably in GPSPassion).

sussamb

Some Zumos too can be made to run alternative software designed for other Zumos