How good is 2009 map update from Garmin?

Well, I was very pleased to see that the street I live on is included in the new update. The problem is that the street, which has existed for at least 5 years now, is labelled with the wrong name! What is even funnier is a new road that is not even open to the public in our subdivision is also included. It's not even been paved yet and no houses have been built on it! Oh yeah, it too has the wrong name.

I've only used my nuvi once since I updated the maps yesterday, so it's hard to say for sure how good the update is. But it is an improvement over the old since the old ones showed me going offroad when I'd turn onto my street!

Go to navteq and report the wrong name, they hopfully will correct it next update, maybe.
http://navteq.com/

You can also report it to Garmin here:
http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/errorForm.html

I would report it in both sites.

Bob

I have reported these discrepancies to both Garmin and NavTeq. I reported these a year ago as well when my street wasn't even on their maps. The only maps I can find that have these correct is from our local chamber of commerce. Not that big a deal as it is a residential neigborhood. But if someone is trying to deliver something to me, I'd like them to be able to find me.

if you get a free upgrade, then it doesn't hurt to have one, but i don't think it that much of a difference ..!!

1- You guys must live in the middle of nowhere.
2- If you don't know how to get to your house you're in trouble anyway.
3- Boohoo, grow up, wah wah wah!
4- DL the free update.

I welcome any comments as to how frequently one should update their maps if they live in an urban area like Washington, DC. Thanks.

My street was included on the 2009 updates but they got my street # on the wrong side.....I'll go head and report it but dont know as to when this will be included.....We'll see.

I bought my 660 in December, but only registered a couple of weeks ago - Can I get an update?

In 2007 I-355 in Chicago was extended about 12 miles to connect from I-55 to I-80 and it is now shown on the 2009 coverage map. This alone would make it a worthwhile upgrade for all northern Illinois users.

I live in a mobile home park, I am not here either (neither is the 50 year old park). Oh well, but I always seem to find my way home.

Duplicate post?

There is a main street that runs for about 6 miles and carries thousands and thousands cars and trucks every day and low and behold it is not on the map. It has been there for at least 50 years. What gives with that???

This just goes to show why I like the thought of quarterly updates from Navigon! Don't have to wait a whole year and I just download new maps every three months with updated data. All for the coat of $70.00 for 3 years of maps 12 updates in all.

Garmin sure could learn from this!

Bob

I travel a lot in NY, NJ, DE, CT and noticed some errors in 2008map
thought that new update should resolve this errors and that it would add some new pois, but...
I compare 2008 and 2009 maps and found out that there is nothing new for my region
For what I have to pay (for some new roads in Alaska)?
It's real robbery, isn't it?
I suggest them making updates every month to gain more money

Instead of moaning about map errors here in this forum, send your corrections to:

http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/errorForm.jsp

It's the only way these problems will get corrected in a timely mannner.

Dear W,

Some folks are also moaning about buying an update that does not address the errors in their neck of the woods. One should not have to buy a pig in a poke.

david

No one made you buy the update. I posted an update to NAVTEQ over 2 years ago and just got a confirmation email stating the update was added. I checked the 2009 Garmin map update and it did not include the update.

Oh well I might buy the map upgrade 2010 next year if my updates have been added. I really wish Garmin would post the new map in their browser immediately instead of months after releasing. Argh.

You don't have to buy it sight unseen. You can preview the actual 2009 maps online on the Garmin site.

I myself was not going to purchase the update unless I saw that a couple of roads in my area had been updated. One in particular was an Interstate highway extension, a pretty big deal. I checked it out using Garmin's site and it was on the 2009 map, so I bought the update. Much to my surprise and pleasure, many other roads in my area were updated, too. And many POI's were updated, too.

That's just the way it works. Some areas will get significant updates, and others will be untouched. To find out if it's worth it to buy the upgrade, check the maps out on Garmin's site.

I just updated to the 2009 maps, and noticed that the GPS goes crazy once you get on the Wilson Bridge. With previous maps they had me driving over the water, with this new map because of the recent realignment on 95 north, it doesn't know what to do.

I noticed a few additions for may area (Baltimore) but not a ton of them.

I went ahead and bought 3 copies of the updates since I have a 2730, 7500 and a 76CSx but only loaded the updates on the 2730.

Not sure if it's enough of a change to justify loading it on the other two units and I am considering selling the other two upodates.

It's a lot of money to buy updates each year for 3 units.

Tim

Around Rock Hill, SC/Clover, SC and Gastonia, NC several interstate exits have been updated among other changes. In addition, several road name corrections have been made. The update is very worth while for the area around here. This area is rapidly growing and hard to keep up with all the changes.

Just updated last night. I have noticed minor changes around the Southeast Tenessee area. That being said, they still don't have steet numbers correct on several streets in my neighborhood. (25+ years old)

Dear John,

Thank you; I appreciate the help. I went and looked there. The map did not tell me which streets have changed from two-way to one-way, which is the problem I encountered on a street in the downtown area of Brooklyn (NYC). I am not sure by which criteria to judge "significant" but it was not fun to take a peculiar set of turns to put me back on track.

david

Once you register your unit on my.garmin.com, you can then look right there to see if you qualify for a free update.

Responding to Alrom45, I also found that Garmin's 2009 North America Update for my Nuvi 660 was severely lacking in updates. At a cost of $75.00 this is very disappointing. Had I known about this site before ordering, I would not have made the purchase as all the info I have been looking for (and is missing on the Garmin/NAVTEQ maps) can be found here.
Garmin should be doing a better job of keeping their mapping information up to date - and without charge.

Cajun

Arr! Have to pay to get one!!!

Once, if the update is free. Otherwise save your money on updates and get a new model every 3 years.

Updated C550 without any issue

It seems you can download a free update if you haven't or recently registered your garmin within 30 days.
If it was prior to 30 days, it'll cost you.

I updated and don't see much difference, but then again, it wasn't really off that much to me.

**IMPORTANT TO NOTE - I only upgrade my maps every 2-3 years as it takes all the mapping services that period of time to do the job normally.

This strategy mitigates the over priced map upgrade Garmin puts out, plus it reflects reality, unless you are some sort of uber road warrior who needs absolutely the latest map, like emergency services, once every 2-3 years is more than frequent enough for a consumer to upgrade.

First I went to BestBuy and bought Garmin 2008 City Navigator NT Map updates ($40) on dvd, silly me, thinking that something marked 2008 in June would be the latest release.

WRONG! Thanks again Garmin for the deceptive marketing/naming scheme for the product line. I took it back and leveraged this fact to get BestBuy to refund the amount towards the 2009 version, which they had in stock in the back of the store(!).(Shame on BestBuy as well). $79.99, yes more expensive than from Garmin's own site, but only way I could get my money back from the 08 version towards the 09.

The installation process went smoothly but slowly, I did not expect it to have to perform such a massive download from the Internet, guess Garmin has not caught on yet to the smaller patch upgrade model the rest of the software industry uses.

I will say the experience updating with 2009 was better than 2008, as when I ran 2008 on the c340, it wiped out all my waypoints as part of the process. When I ran 2009, it preserved them, so Garmin gets one credit for improvement.

I highly recommend EasyGPS to back up your waypoints before upgrading.

Will see how the new maps work. I also just ordered a Nuvi760 from Costco, curious to see which maps are loaded!

You are supposed to get a "free" 2009 upgrade, but when I registered mine I was offered an update but it sure wasn't free. I called Garmin, they were nice enough, and "couldn't understand" why I couldn't download the 2009 update, which takes several hours BTW, but for "only $10 they would send me the update. The update was "free" the $10 was for shipping and handling. I did get the update in a few days which was nice. I could have opted to wait 2 to 3 weeks for there software department to generate an update number... but what the heck it’s only $10 or 2 gals of gas….

BTW the update you just purchased will not work on your new unit....

I just ordered and received the Nuvi 760 from Costco.com and it had the old 2008 map on it. I registered it a couple of days ago with my garmin and it said that I could BUY the dvd or download it. I called Garmin and they said that the unit I just bought and received had had a satellite contact back in January. HOWEVER, they said they would get it straightened out and make sure I got a free map udate in a week or so. Strange.

The 2009 map is much more accurate in my area--Nevada City, Ca. It has our dead end road shown correctly, our address on the correct side of the road.

I wonder if Costco got a buy from Garmin for reconditioned units? The price seems unusually low for the 760. Not saying they are reconditioned but now days you just never know.

When I was on the Garmin site at my Garmin, I checked my 760 product details and it had a listing of "date satellite first aquired" and the date was 6 months prior to my date of purchase... None of my other units have a listing of date satellite first aquired... And I also couldn't download the update, I had to have a disk sent to me.... Anybody else notice this???

Amen! - BTW Like the name!

Yes, the exact same thing happened to me when I purchased the 760 a week ago.

same thing happened with me. Called and have the problem fixed. Had to fax in the receipt

I have read most of the comments on the quality and accuracy of Garmin's updates. Perhaps some of you who were very flippant in your comments have not thrown away $75 to $100 on a worthless update. I have also been a financial victim of Garmin's non-updated updates. I like my Garmin GPS, but in all honesty it must be said that Garmin is terribly lacking in customer service. They seem to be saying that they just don't care. May I suggest that Garmin should list the changes and/or additions that have been made in any update so that their customers can decide if they need it - before they are bilked out of money needlessly spent. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico and there are five Costco's here - some since 2001. Not one was listed on my 2007 Nuvi 660 or on my August 2008 ($80) update. I asked Garmin for a refund. I never even received the courtesy of a professional reply. Perhaps when you're as big as Garmin you don't have to care what your customers think. So, no - an emphatic NO - to ever paying for an update from Garmin. It is sites like poi-factory that really give value to a Garmin GPS. I only wish I had known about sites like this before I threw away my money on a Garmin update or wasted my time trying to reach someone in Customer Service.

Next time, if there is one, try before you buy.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=33379&pvID=34692#cov...

thanks