[prkaye]

I got my Garmin Aera 500 last night and after playing with it for a little while I love it. The interface is very intuitive, easy to get to important information, the display looks great, and the included moutning options are flexible and easily modifyable.
Two questions:

1) When I connect USB from a computer to the connector on the power mount, I get the standard startup screen and then the error "wrong USB port". I've tried a couple of computers. When I use the USB port under the battery cover, the display shows it in the USB-computer mode and the computer sees it, but I don't seem to be able to enter normal useage mode from here. So, it seems there is no way to power the device from USB and use it normally while being powered by USB. Anyone else find this?

2) The manual does not seem to be explicit about how you get database updates onto the Aera. They point you to the website for downloading the updates, but I couldn't find any function on the device for loading these updates onto the device itself. How is this done?

 

[Brantel]

1) The USB port for connecting to the computer is under the battery cover. The other port is not a true USB port and will not work with the computer. That port is for the weather antenna. The USB port is only used for updating firmware and transfering files. It is not intended to power the device during normal use.

2) The database update utility on the Garmin website will transfer the files to the Aera and then tell you to restart the Aera. When you do, the bootloader automatically loads the updates. It happens when you first turn it on.

 

[prkaye]

Thanks Brantel!!