3 Reasons to Sell Garmin Today

My mobile plan (at&t) allows me to have replacement phones every 1 and half year. I have no intention to spend additional money to buy more expensive phones which makes me feel really bad when I have to have it recycled so often. This is my main reason to keep cell phone simple.

Who among us has not seen this first-hand on the streets? More than half the time you see somebody do something really clueless while driving, you look, and it's somebody holding a cellphone. I want to scream at them, "Hang up and drive, before you kill somebody!" Evidently, everybody but me is really bad at multitasking while driving.

And you can add Chicago, Illinois to your list of places where using a cellphone that is not hands-free can get you a ticket. It is enforced, though like speeding, the vast majority of people doing it don't get ticketed.

I would like to see a ban on all non-emergency use of cell phones by drivers, handheld or not, for the reasons in Bob's study. At the least, anyone in an accident while using a cell phone can be presumed to be at least 50% at fault until proven otherwise.

As a owner of a Palm 800w, the GPS works very well, the directions are more on the mark then my Nuvi 750, but I couldn't use it all the time, the screen is to small and the voice is not really load enough. I does come in handy if I'm with someone and they don't have a gps, and you need direction.

I have seen several comments about using the cell phone while driving. What I find interesting is that we believe it is dangerous to drive and use the cell phone as a GPS, but not the stand-alone GPS device. If you believe we should eliminate all use of the cell phone while driving, then why do you think your stand-alone is OK? Do you not believe the GPS can be a distraction?

When I used the iPhone as an example of how the GPS in the cell phones might replace the stand-alone GPS, I also mentioned using a mount to hold the cell just as I do my Garmin. If I used a mount to hold the cell phone like the Garmin, I would not be holding it to talk on the phone. I would then have to use a bluetooth, or put it on speaker phone as I already do with my Garmin. Many cell's now come with voice activation, so to use the cell in the car, with a mount, would in fact be no different than when I link (bluetooth) my Garmin to my phone now allowing me to use the Garmin as one multi-tasking device, GPS & cell combined.

Deborah

use or not use of mobile phone as navigation aid is purely personal preference.
I think, either way works perfectly.

I feel that a lot of the ire and scorn cast on the mobile phone GPS hybrids is rooted in a basic misunderstanding of the technology involved.

Just like today, a home computer has a DVD burner player and can play a DVD on the screen, or play an MP3 on the speakers every bit as well as a single-purpose Home-Theater DVD player or Audio device (yes, you can get computer audio every bit as nice as high-end audio these days) a mobile phone is soon going to do GPS better than GPS-only stand-alone devices do today, and perhaps even more than the ones they are competing with in the future. That's because of economies of scale. everyone is going to have a phone, and the lifespan of these things is in the months -not years so they are progressing very fast while a lot of people here seem to scream when they don't get a new free map upgrade from Garmin after a year or two. The GPS lifespan is ages longer than phones, and that is going to mean that phones will progress way beyond the stand-alone GPS units very soon.

That, and the fact that the map and POI sets will be online and free through Google maps and such which will push the expensive and slow to update (once a year and poorly at that) Garmin and other brands.

The phone-based GPS is coming. Garmin knows it. That's why they are trying to make all the money they can now. And it's why they will try and get into the phone side of things too before it is too late.

I still wouldn't buy any Garmin stock. They are a mature company and future technology will see new companies pass them by. In the future, there will be many fewer IBM's and Microsoft. And Garmin sure as heck isn't one of them.

I think Garmin has a lot of to do to maintain their share but it will . I tried a Blackberry navigation system it just wasn't the same. That being said I think for the amount money Garmin systems sell for they should be more powerful, faster, and do a lot more. I like the bluetooth cellphone feature and don't care to take my GPS system with me, like I do my cell phone.

My two cents worth.
Yes there are phones out there as phones or PDAs that have GPS systems on them but the point has been made elsewhere here about size. To make it useful as a car system it needs to be a reasonable physical size and that is probably just a little large for the phone/PDA market so the GPS car market will probably not reduce until we get a phone gps system to link to a fighter pilot heads up display type system (and who gets there first will make a killing in sales).
The other point on supplying a GPS system is that with advanced user expectations the file size increases AND the base cost of production and update of the data also increases. Both factors are going to push the GPS enabled systems (phone or car) to the higher cost end of the market. The only way that cost will reduce is if there are enough players producing for the market to get real competition and for those players to find ways to reduce their software costs.

http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2008/11/why_dedicated_gps_devices...

The link that you provided states perfectly why.

I'll keep my Nuvi separate although the Nuvifone looks cool. I agree that Garmin should lower its prices. You can get a laptop computer for the price of the 7x5 series.

Citing an article from a GPS funded website to try to bolster your argument. Classic.

Wow... I'm selling mine now. Any one want my stock or my Zumo? LOL... as if. Perhaps as technology evolves, maybe Garmin will evolve too? Nah...

You better recheck your source that they are a GPS funded website because whomever it is, is just plain wrong. Please provide the link that backs up your claim that they are a "GPS funded website". They in fact have the most complete and unbiased reviews of any site on the internet.

This is a direct quote from the gpsmagazine.com website about page:

"All our reviews are painstakingly researched and free of any advertising influence. We accept no free samples. If a manufacturer sends us a free product, we return it. GPSmagazine has no agenda other than the interests of consumers."

Link to my source including a review of the gpsmagazine.com website by the Independent review site ConsumerSearch : http://www.gpsmagazine.com/about.php

Well stated. The systems are evolving and there are those that will adhere to their choice of system. While some look for an all purpose device, still others will prefer discrete devices for flexibility. With increased function comes increased processor and memory power requirements. Add to the battery drain the applications such as video and music, and the strain on the supply begins to mount rapidly. With all your functions concentrated in a single device, the probability of a system failure reducing your options to zero rapidly approaches a point where one has to consider what is and what isn't a critical component. I, for one, prefer not to have all my connectivity subject to a single point of failure.

rjrsw - ok, let me clarify my statement. gpsmagazine.com is funded by the gps industry. How's that?

The site can claim to be impartial, but how is the site funded. By advertisements. And who are the majority of the advertisers? Just look for yourself.

So don't tell me that the site is impartial when the discussion comes to whether GPS devices will survive.

This coming from a poster that has:

A. Told people to stop posting comparisons between NON Garmin Products (GPS Passion) in which the Tim (Site Admin) pretty much told you was once again speaking for himself and not everyone else. Check out your treatment of Egale at the site below on page 3. You never seem to cut anyone any slack. In fact, did'nt Keith say he was sorry he wasn't perfect like you?
http://www.gpsreview.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8963&start=4...

B. Direct quote "How's this for an example you should be able to understand. Give me your address. I'll come over to your house and crack the screen on your tv. You'll still be able to use it, but its going to look funny. And I'll eventually get around to replacing the screen for you, when I feel like it."
How would that make you feel?"
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17696

WOw, you sure can be violent when challenged.

Here you wanted the "Class action suit" against Garmin.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17208?page=2

C. Laughed at many posts because "he" thought only his opinion mattered or was the single correct answer. (i.e. the title of your post above)

D. Been demeaning and condescending to many for the opinions that they have expressed. (That would be too many links to look up)

E. Posted sarcasm time after time, including this one when you yourself were being presumptuous for asking if I was presuming the 700 series will be culled. Then the sarcasm as always at the end of your post.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17696

F. I'm not saying Garmin has never made mistakes or taken too long to fix things, but you take it to the extreme, almost like you were an employee of TomTom or some other GPS manufacturer. I'm thinking because you're so hateful of Garmin in about 90% of your posts, and yet in other posts you tell people they should buy or will love the Garmins if they purchase one.
In the beginning your posts seemed to be helpful and sincere, but as of late you have got to be the most negative poster of all the forums I visit including this one. I will admit you have some good info but your delivery could use some adjustment.

Try to smile a little and enjoy life more, after all, its not all that long.

Be Well

If GPSmagazine.com is funded by the GPS industry, I'm sorry.

Not all their reviews are that glowing, so I didn't know. It just seemed like a GPS site that allows advertising, like many others.

If you go to their store, all the merchandise seems sponsored by Amazon.

I just thought it was an interesting article for the forum to see.

I wasn't pro or con on this issue, I'm neutral.

The ads, that you are talking about, are by and from "Ads by Google" and they and they alone decide which of Google's paid advertisers will appear on any particular site so the site itself has no direct contact or say in who Google will show or advertise.

This is a quote from the Google Ads site and it explains how the ads are programmed.

"What are Ads by Google?
Ads by Google are contextually relevant advertisements that appear beside related content on the page. The web publishers who display Ads by Google are part of the Google AdSense program, and the ads come from Google's base of AdWords advertisers."

Not sure what you mean. I'm gonna live forever.

With the prices of gps units falling like crazy, yes I will never need to pay $500 for a gps. As far as returning to printing out directions, not a flippin chance I'm going back down that road again. How prehistoric!

I own an Apple iPhone. They are no threat to GPS units.

I won't tell you It's probably Impartial since you didn't want to know. Thats not even close to being an accurate statement. Ads are from Google AdSense.

You might want to look this over so you can get a handle on how it works. I would have given it as a tinyURL but their server was down:
http://services.google.com/feedback/abg?url=http://www.gpsma...

Bob

Bob, can you post a working link? The URL in your post is NG. Thanks!

http://tinyurl.com/5oazec

there you go try that one.

Bob

This thread is funny. It seems a lot of people really have no imagination or can see very obvious trends.

In a point in the not-too-distant future, cell phones will become SO POWERFUL that doing the job of being a full-featured GPS device will be trivial for them -like how your computer does the task of being an MP3 or video player in a trivial way. Not a challange at all to the hardware.

So, if you've already got such a device in your pocket, why would you waste money on another device that merely duplicates those functions?

Does anyone here have a stand-alone non-portable MP3-player sitting on top of their computer?

The future is coming.

You may be right but I still like my Nuvi. Whatever comes in the future, I will deal with. Also, I have found that when products are consolidated, something is usually lost in the process so that we trade convenience for loss of helpful functions.

ABI Research published a report on how we use GPS and PND and found some interesting relationships:

Age Does Make a Difference in Navigation Device Usage

The online survey, which was conducted in August 2008 and included responses from 750 in-car navigation users, was focused on navigation form factors, use cases, navigation feature usage, and brand satisfaction. Among the age-related differences observed:

· While portable navigation devices (PNDs) are, across all ages, the most commonly-used type of navigation device, mobile phones or PDAs with navigation service are much more likely to be used by those under age 35.

· Significantly higher percentages of those under age 45 use one- or two-way connected PNDs.

· Significantly higher percents of younger users download location-based search and traffic information.

You can read the full report here: http://tinyurl.com/5trwlp

That info was perfect timing, I was wondering about that myself. I noticed how some here were set firm, we like the system just like it is and it better stay the same, and others were open to the changes. So I wondered about the difference in ages and how that might be effecting this discussion. Now, I can see it obviously does play a part.

Deborah
Houston, TX

I don't follow Garmin, never considered buying its stock, but everything else aside, I like their products. The nuvi 660 is my first and only GPS, and I think it's pretty good.

I do follow RIM, own the stock (bought and sold it over the years but finally went all in at around $46--yes, losing thus far but have been up and down). I consider myself a fanboy of BB and uncharacteristic of me I placed an order for the Storm on Friday. Being a new acct. the price was a joke, as well as the monthly voice and data plans. Less than what we'd look for two years ago for voice alone on a cell phone.

But would I consider using the Storm as a GPS? No, don't feel there's any reason to. One thing that comes to mind is a monthly recurring charge....

Back to the stock, it would have done a person well to sell anything and everything this year. If there isn't five years to wait, there may be no good stock picks today....

I have a sprint mogul loaded up with TomTom Navigator, and an Arkon mount for the car. It has worked flawless since I got it, and the screen is plenty big enough. Why would I need anything else? I always have it with me, and it's never led me the wrong way. Why spend another 300+ for a navigation unit I can forget to pack when going on vacation?

I've used Garmin and Navigon units, and don't see the additional benefits.

Bottom line, you only need the voice to give directions on which way to turn on what road. That's what the BlackBerry does, that's what OnStar does, and that is what your wife has been doing for years as she reads the map.

The real magic of GPS is that it know where you are and will tell you how to get to where you want to go with details. The map on the display is a nice feature, but not really necessary.

The best system is in your car, fully integrated with the stereo, bluetooth, and power, but think about why you don't see cars with built in cell phones. That's because we want to take our cell phone with us. There will always be the market for those who want to take their Garmin with them.

I am excited to clamp my Garmin to my handle bars this summer and hit the bike trails. Now, in addition to knowing my speed and how far I've traveled, I'll know how much further I have to go, and what time I can expect to get there.

I think there will enough of us to keep it going. I think this is the most exciting product since the cell phone. Think of the stories people told in the early days of the cell phone, how they were saved because someone had one. Think of the times you would have been better off if you would have had a cell phone.

There are exciting stories today of how people are saved because they have GPS, and of those who are still lost and could use one.

GPS is catching on. Go to a wedding, and when you travel from the church to the reception there are two kinds of people, those with GPS, and those without.

I'm on my third year of GPS, and I took a lot of flack the first year, more questions the second year, and this year one by one my friends and family are showing up with their own new GPS unit.

Just as all cell phones support bluetooth today, some day soon all cars will have a bluetooth enabled navigation system as standard equipment.

Accidents have been caused by tuning the radio too. I think anything you do while driving is a hazardous distraction of equal proportion. I think the difference is in how much attention you pay to that distraction.

At one extreme, most change adjust the radio very seldom. At the other extreme the cell phone is a constant distraction when your engaged in a call. The GPS is somewhere in the middle, closer to the radio. If your next turn is 14 miles ahead, your going to pay full attention to your driving for the next 13.75 miles. That last .25 miles will be hazardous, but at least your slowing down for your turn.

But it's always been that way when we don't know where that turn is. Have you ever followed someone who slows down to check the name of every street looking for the right street name?

I have a Samsung INNOV8 and a Nuvi 760.
My samsung has 32GB of Flash storage, My Nuvi has 18GB.
My samsung has an 8 MegaPixel Camera with dual LED flash and movie mode including 120fps high speed and 30 fps VGA resolution with sound. My Nuvi has none.
My samsung has a GPS with AGPS enhancement and Garmin Mobile XT with USA/Europe Maps. My Nuvi has GPS with USA/Europe/Bluecharts/Mex/Aus/WorldMap/Topo and can receive FM traffic + route dynamically around with it.
My samsung has an optical mouse. My Nuvi has a touch screen.
My samsung has a tiny screen. My nuvi has a 4 inch plus widescreen.
My samsung can make calls from home and my car as well as walking around. My nuvi can make calls only from my car (bluetooth pairing with the samsung).
My samsung has no windshield mount, my nuvi has a windshield mount.
My samsung can play 8 gigs of DivX movies and 12 Gigs of MP3s. My nuvi plays 12 Gigs of MP3s.
My samsung has no interface to my car. My nuvi uses FM radio to interface to my car.

i think im keeping my nuvi. and my samsung.

Remember back in the day when we used a map to find our way?

Looking into the future I see a day when when we hear a story about a teenager sitting next to their car crying because their navigation system failed to work, and now they are lost.

I agree, the potential is there, but not available today. It's still a high tech way of using a prehistoric method.

Look for a new POI file to be posted shortly, "Places in the USA and Canada here you can still get maps".

You make a good point, I'll say that the two technologies compliment each other so there is no reason to carry both units when they can be combined into one.

Keep in mind though, that it's not always that simple. Back in the day we would imagine a future when TV would be available on a watch, but instead we are buying 46" LCDs to hang on our wall.

GPS will always be a visual technology, and in a visual world we want a thin wide screen.

It's been done and regularly updated by MrKenFL. It's called RestAreasCombined and it has all the welcome centers where state DOTs hand out maps, tour books and all kinds of other goodies. Some even give away coffee to weary travelers and provide that "necessary" room.

I agree. Garmin has to adjust its pricing. It is way too high.

In a pinch, I can read my emails on my phone but I still prefer to read them on my computer screen. Same for the GPS. A phone with GPS might be convenient but I would still prefer my Nuvi. Not only that, GPS on the phone incurs an additional monthly fee. I would rather not have the added expense.

With some smart phones such as the iPhone, people already pay a monthly data fee for unlimited access. I do think that fee is way too high, but for those willing to pay it (and there seem plenty) then the GPS use costs nothing more. And it certainly does have a lot of extra utility that the Garmins lack. Size of an iPhone my be close to that of my nuvi, and screen resolution in dots may be even much better than my Garmin GPS, so the better platform for the task argument might go to the smartphones too.

I'm certainly a nuvi user, knew of the smartphone options but didn't choose to go that way. But as these devices become more and more popular, particularly among the exact segment of the population that would be most likely to be Garmin customers, Garmn and other GPS device makers will feel the pressure. People who have a GPS are not going to choose not to get a smart phone because their GPS already does one thing that phone can do, but smart phone owners certainly may choose to not get a GPS, and not pay for yearly map updates, when they can do about everything that the GPS does on the device they already carry at all times.

a GPS needs to be as big as possible to give the user the clearest map. a cell needs to be as small as possible to be easily portable.

laptops are still around when desktops are fast and more powerful. this is the same diametrically opposed requirement. my laptop has dual core, my desktop as octa core. my laptop has a 3D accelerator but i have two in my desktop. my laptop is portable, my desktop weighs 40lb.

GPSes are going to be around regardless. you simply cant have one device which does everything properly, when the requirement are diametrically opposed. when they are similar, its ok to replace two devices with one but not when theyre completely opposed. you can replace a landline + wired handset with a cellular phone or a fax machine with a fax modem+scanner but not a printer with an ebook reader. aint gonna happen.

Good point. I like the way my cell phone syncs up with my nuvi making it work like a cell phone. They make for a nice combo.

Zurk - sorry to tell you this, but even Garmin sees the future. That is why they are trying to develop the Nuviphone.

WOW, I thought you were making that up, so I googled it. It's out there, and I found it. Nice unit.

What is more better, a phone with GPS that does navigation, or a GSP navigation unit that can make phone calls?

Well, if it's a GPS that just can make phone calls or a smart phone that can be a GPS but can also do other things that a smart phone does (like the iPhone), and operating costs are comparable or not the issue, then I would think the smart phone that can be a GPS is more gooder. But if the Garmin gps/phone turns out to be another smart phone with all of those capabilities then it might be a different issue and mostly a marketing question. Still, since Apple is marking all of the extra utility rolled into one unit, offers a wide array of things from the iStore and Garmin is likely to be far behind that, I think the units like the iPhone will have the edge. Not having the kind of riches it takes to keep feeding the Apple iPhone habit I'm not going to be going that way, but a lot of people are.

If you look back at my first posts, I still think the in-dash Navi will be in most, if not all, vehicles just like electric windows, power locks, automatic transmission, CD player (tape player, FM radio, Aux. plug), etc.

The cell phone, specifically the iPhone, was just an example I used of how technology is going to, I believe, eliminate the portable Navi in the future, not tomorrow, but eventually.

I believe one of the things we love about our current GPS units is the ability to upgrade the POI's, maps, etc. Well, obviously that is why we are all here. I believe that the future in-dash units will have some method for us to do that. USB, bluetooth, wi-fi, something. Only time will tell.

Deborah