Breaking Up With Garmin
 16 years
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I have had a 4 yr relationship with Garmin products that seems doomed to an ugly breakup. As with most of these situations it stems from a series of small things building up to the end.
My 1st Garmin product was a Forerunner 205. I did not buy the 305 b/c I alread owned a $200 HRM. Only to find out that I could not add heart rate info to Training Center forcing me to keep 2 logs one with Heart Rate Info and one with distance/pace info. I contacted garmin to see if they could fix this issue and never received a reply.
My 2nd Garmin was a Nuvi 350 which I had to send back after only 3 weeks b/c the power switch failed leading to quality control questions.
My 3rd product was a Nuvi 750 which I can cut some slack b/c I was an early adopter and have been pleased at how the updates have fixed some of my issues with this unit. although the unit not coming with a case seems pretty cheap consider the theft rate on GPSr units and the need to remove them and carry them with you. I also purchased a set of maps for NZ for this unit, at the time I ordered them Garmin was out of the CD so I bought the SD card which nowhere on the Garmin site specifies that they are not compatible with Map Source making my track logs from my trip useless.
The only thing keeping me in this relationship is the Customer Service. but after seeing Tele Nav on my Wifes Tilt I may be looking at greener pastures
There may be hope
If I may quote a former President, I feel your pain.
I will say, though, that every GPSr (heck, every electronic device) has some "issues." Having come to Garmin from TomTom, I'm a pretty happy camper. The problems I'm seeing with Garmin are small beans compared to the problems on the TomTom. And whenever I read the Magellan forums, I think: there but for the grace of God... I can tell you that neither of those companies has as good custom POI support. Though TomTom does have the feature that you can search both your internal and custom POIs at once. I wish Garmin would implement that. But the TomTom POIs are just one short line and an optional phone number. No room for notes, address, etc. Magellans can only have 10 extra categories active at once, each with max 1000 POIs.
Some of your problems seem like there might be a solution. Are you sure you can't just copy the map off the SD card into the MapSource folder? I don't think MapSource requires an unlock code, so it *seems* like it should work. I know that's a big assumption.
And of course the case issue is just a money problem. Kinda cheap of Garmin to leave out the case, I agree. I have a feeling that they may have cut back on accessories because the profit margins on GPSr's aren't so great these days, and accessories have very high margins. Cases, cables, etc. are the "french fries" of the biz.
But hey, do what's right for you. And email Garmin and tell them how you feel. They won't change without feedback.
Don
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You can't use the pre-loaded SD cards with MapSource. And you can't copy the data.
Breaking Up With Garmin
Mourton Says:
I have had a 4 yr relationship with Garmin products that seems doomed to an ugly breakup. As with most of these situations it stems from a series of small things building up to the end.
My 1st Garmin product was a Forerunner 205. I did not buy the 305 b/c I alread owned a $200 HRM. Only to find out that I could not add heart rate info to Training Center forcing me to keep 2 logs one with Heart Rate Info and one with distance/pace info. I contacted garmin to see if they could fix this issue and never received a reply.
My 2nd Garmin was a Nuvi 350 which I had to send back after only 3 weeks b/c the power switch failed leading to quality control questions.
My 3rd product was a Nuvi 750 which I can cut some slack b/c I was an early adopter and have been pleased at how the updates have fixed some of my issues with this unit. although the unit not coming with a case seems pretty cheap consider the theft rate on GPSr units and the need to remove them and carry them with you. I also purchased a set of maps for NZ for this unit, at the time I ordered them Garmin was out of the CD so I bought the SD card which nowhere on the Garmin site specifies that they are not compatible with Map Source making my track logs from my trip useless.
The only thing keeping me in this relationship is the Customer Service. but after seeing Tele Nav on my Wifes Tilt I may be looking at greener pastures
‹ Nuvi 680 used to display text messages. nuvi 680 update issue ›
They say grass is greener on the other side of the fence but I Would Not Go There If I was You if you do you will find out it is not greener
Auggie SP2720 , SP C330, Nuvi 650, Nuvi 785T,Dezl 770lmt America Moves By Truck
Nuvi 750
I have a Nuvi 750, and was also disappointed that Garmin did not include a case with the unit. I sent them an e-mail indicating my disappointment, and they UPSed me a free case for the device. I love GPS navigation, and I've been around the block with Magellan, TomTom, and Lowrance, and I've come back to Garmin, who (IMHO) has the best product line, and best devices for the money. I even have a thousand dollar on-board Honda Navi unit with Navteq maps, and it just doesn't compare favorably with my Nuvi 750. Mapping updates for the on-board system cost $185 plus tax and shipping. Updates for the Nuvi can be had for $70 to $80.... Is there a perfect unit out there? Nope.... Does Garmin come the closest? I believe it does....
Joel
"Sometimes, when I look at my children, I wish I had remained a virgin". Lillian Carter (Mother of Jimmy Carter)
Thank you
Thank you, Joel. I shall send them an email too.
david
nüvi 1490T, V1, Sanyo PRO-700a, maps, sunglasses, hot co-pilot, the open road
No case for 750??
When you spend hundreds for a Nuvi 750 and there is no protective case with it, it is annoying. My Nuvi 660 comes with a leather case. But it is without a strap or belt loop. So it is kind of inconvenient. I end up using a case for a different device. The device was dead and had a proper burial at the local landfill. AAGH!! It pays to be packrat(?) junkie.