Battery Life

...is going on 3 years and the battery is like brand new, in holding a charge. Batteries are temperamental. You can ruin them by heat, cold, deep discharges, too many cycles of recharging, bad luck, and who knows what else. Talk to Garmin about battery replacement. See what they charge for parts and labor, and what a new unit would cost for the features you want, and that should tell you what to do as to repair vs. replace. Ditto on life time updates, based on what you decide to do with the battery.

GC

Garmin will change the battery for an exorbitant amount. Or you can change it yourself for less than $30. If you search this site you will find a couple of threads giving detailed instructions on changing Garmin batteries.

Edit - here's the first one I just came across. http://www.poi-factory.com/node/2562

I had occasion to swap in a new battery for a co-worker last week. Around $30 (they got the battery mail order) and about ten minutes for me to do the swap. Having the right tools is essential.

The battery on my two-year-old 750 quit holding the full charge about a year ago. Now, it doesn't hold charge for more than a couple of minutes.

Fortunately, I use it plugged into the power outlet all the time.

One reason I'm considering the 800 series nuvi. They have replaceable batteries.

My 760 was about 5 months old and it quit holding a charge..I emailed them and they sent me a Return auth.so I am sending it back..looks like I got a bad one.

My new 765T only goes about 30-45 minutes on a charge, certainly not the 3 hours Garmin claims!

its sad that they milk it out of you by not allowing you to change the battery yourself

I have had my Garmin (200 series) for a year and a half. The battery wouldn't charge for a while (even left it plugged in for 3 days), but after a road trip, it seemed to charge back up.

Well that is one thing my unit has not performed in. Battery life is bad. My unit is about 18 months old and will not hold a charge. How stupid is it to tell customers that heat is not good for the unit. IT IS A UNIT FOR A CAR, AND IT GETS HOT IN THERE. Oh well, the replacement is $30.00 DIY. Garmin wants $110. That will not happen.

1st search the threads on this site; there are a number that address batteries that don't seem to take a charge, but many have followed the procedures outline in these threads to restore the battery to a good functional state.

If the device is still under warranty, and attempts to revive the battery have failed, I would not hesitate to call Garmin to get an RMA to get it replaced.

If the device is out of warranty, then the cost of repair vs. the price of a new unit comes into play. If you decide on a new unit, then it seems to me that there is little lost to attempt the steps to DIY the battery replacement as mentioned above. In most cases you need only a correct size torx screw driver and a plastic case cracker. Stout thumbnails will often do, or the edge of an old credit card. You may be surprised how easy this can be done and then have the satisfaction that you beat the system and saved the price of a new GPSr!

Garmin isn't the only one who makes devices with no user replaceable battery. Check out the iPhone. They really want us to buy a new one every couple of years.

I get about 2.5 hours on a full charge on my 785T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXXzsi9Ures

I am not sure where you can buy the batteries though?

Search this site. I remember reading a post on POI-factory that told of the place on the web you could order the battery, and how to change it.

I watched the video and I do believe even I can do it.

Worth a try!!

I sometimes go for days with using my GPS. I was wondering how that was going to impact the life of the battery? Thanks

The battery indicator at times, shows power going off in 30 minutes.
The replacement unit Garmin sent me a month ago lasts for 60 minutes. Both units can run for almost two hours at 40% bright. Too bad about the new pop up telling us the battery is low. Messes things up.

Looks like only a bad indicator, not a bad battery for me. I wish I could get rid of the pop up.

Try here:

http://www.batteryship.com/htmlos/htmlos.cgi/batteryship/cat...

I presume a BFH is not required?

Previous posts have reported that BatteriesPlus stores -- http://www.batteriesplus.com/ -- have installed batteries purchased from them, presumably free -- no waiting, and no shipping charges.

Here's the link to the BatteriesPlus POI's:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/14538

I have had mine for over 18 months. Battery still doing good. I use it mostly connected to the car cord BUT i do let it run off the charger when i am working with POI;s etc. and seems to hold out pretty good. (knock on wood)

The battery in my 660 has held up also, but I know it is only a matter of time. It really ticks me off when I think of how many $$$$$ I have spent on replacement rechargable batteries for all sorts of devices. At least those were easily replaceable. The Nuvi... not so much.

Still get about 3 hours on my 260W and will try to change it myself when the time comes.

They just like you to 'think' you can't change the battery yourself. As others have posted swapping batteries is very simple. There are 'how to' videos on youtube and elsewhere. The batteries are available on eBay.

Cheers

My 765t would only last 15-30 minutes on a full charge, I called Garmin's tech support & they replaced the battery for me under warranty. It's been working great ever since.

My c530 is almost 3 years old and I have not noticed any significant decrease in battery life.