Garmin nüvi GPS - Micro SD card - what type to get?

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,054
1,693
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My Garmin nüvi 1350 and 1450 both only come with 2 GB storage. What this means is that with the latest Canada/US maps, they won't fit on these anymore. My options are to do regional-only maps (which are OK), or else to get an appropriate sized microSD card for it so I can install all of Canada & US (and lots of other stuff).

So, I did. I bought one 4 GB Kingston Class 4 microSD card for each of them last year. Maps installed fine, but unfortunately, destination searches by name took a lot longer after that.

I bought Class 4 because they generally have superior random search speeds than Class 10, and because I thought there would be no real need for high sequential speeds (which is Class 10's forté). But I guess I was mistaken, since searches are slow now. I reinstalled the regional map using the internal storage only, and searches are fast again.

Anyone here have good results with other SD cards with Garmin nuvi GPSes?

P.S. Yes I have a smart phone, but using the dedicated GPS does have advantages, not the least of which are FM traffic support, being always plugged into power, and having no data requirements (for my wife who has a more limited data plan).
 

Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
23,720
1,502
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I use my Lumia 521 as GPS (also serves as backup phone and media player) with maps downloaded for offline use. Have a 32 GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card in there. I usually look at just the rate read/write speeds and not class, as well as benchmarks when I can find them.

Never had any speed or other issues with SanDisk cards, though there are some good Samsung ones as well.