Dear Garmin (I know you read this forum) >>>

I still use my Nuvi 350 just about all the time now.
It is as stable as a rock. My 760 tends to re-boot at times and my son's 1490 is just crap.
Newer just do not mean better any longer from Garmin.

Well before completion of the Garmin's Navigon acquisition completion.

Fact: From the article, as noted above, repeating for emphasis:

Garmin is free to sell its navigational services elsewhere, such as in mobile applications stores, but Asus says it will have the exclusive right to preload Garmin’s software on its phones.

Garmin can, and does sell an Android app: It's called Navigon. Garmin owns the company now. Navigon's app is Garmin's app. Go to Navigon's web site. Look real hard at their logo. It says "A Garmin Company".

I'm not wrong Bob, you are.

You guys are differentiating between the creator of the software (Navigon) and the owner of the software (Garmin). True it's one company now, the blood, sweat and tears go to Navigon.

After all the problems and the dummying down by Garmin of my 1490, I decided to fish my old 260 from the back of the draw and take it for a spin today. OK, it does not have the latest maps but it navigated just as well, if not better than the 1490.The unit has a nice solid feel to it, the case certainly feels a lot more robust compared to the newer units. It doesn’t have "lane assist" or "junction view” which are both reasons that I moved up to the 1490. This lived up to its specs until the last map update when, for whatever reason, Garmin shrunk the junction view feature to shadow of its former self.
Lack of internal memory is the reason that Garmin give for the shrinkage in the junction view files but no mention of this limitation is mentioned on any of the packaging or specifications on their web site.
In the past I have not hesitated to recommend Garmin products to friends and relatives, even recommending the 1490 to colleagues at work, but since all these problems with such a simple thing as a map update, I will be a lot more circumspect in my recommendations.
Garmin manufacture some really high quality aviation and boating units, but, somewhere between the 260 and the 1490 they seem to have dropped the ball , automotive units are now built to a price and not to quality.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 350. I was going to upgrade to the latest and greatest Garmin, but I realized they no longer have MP3 players, nor do they have an audio output to send to my speaker system in my car. I need both in order to fully enjoy my Garmin. So looks like I'm stuck with my class Nuvi 350 for another 5 years.

As far as using your smart phone as a navigation replacement, that's a joke. Another nice thing about my Nuvi is that it is kept in my car and is always there directing me while I'm driving. Having to fumble with my phone to load it up everytime I get in my car, is just too much hassle. It needs to be it's own seperate appliance to be truly useful.

Never said it wasn't a garmin product, just said it isn't Garmin software. It's Navigon software.

Why would I have to go to Navigon's website if it were Garmin software? why is it not available from the gamin site?

ok, yes Navigon is owned by Garmin. just like Navigon once owned NAVTEC.

However Navigon navigation software was written by a Company called Navigon.

And Garmin navigation software was written by Garmin.

And both a Garmin company.

Now it's up to you to prove to me, That Navigon software was written by Garmin.

I have a Couple Navigon GPSr's, the software in both the PND and the Android application are open architecture software. I don't remember Garmin ever having open architecture anything. And chances are you never will because of it's proprietary nature.

Notice:
the open Architecture Android is missing from the GArmin App list

From Asus Mobile General Manager Benson Lin:

“We are moving from a co-brand to a brand cooperation, and we will use Garmin’s solutions in our new Android phones exclusively for a couple of years.”

Please continue to support your discontinued units for least a year.

...

I've said all I need to say above. Done.

I've been devoted to Garmin for past 7 years, my favorite one was StreetPilot 2820 which still working until today and got lifetime map update. I own many different Garmin nuvi such as C330, 750, 765, 1490, 3790 and none of them built solid like StreetPilot.

My next GPS unit would be Magellan because they seem made it better than Garmin. I have the Maggelan RoadMate app on my iphone and it more better than Gamin StreetPilot app.

I don't know where you get the impression Garmin does not own its Android solution, but nothing in the article supports that impression. All that quote does is confirm that Asus gets to preload Garmin software in Asus phones for a couple of years.

In Canada, It is even bad.

This thread has some great comments about Garmin and it's lack of customer care, weak product line, too many units, and poor definition of company direction. I noticed that the software and map people get blamed for most of the problems but it seems to me that the Garmin upper management has lost focus and direction. Maybe it is time that the board of directors clean house and set an new direction for Garmon that includes better products, fewer products, and good old customer support.

Kind of like our Government!

I agree; the stand-alone street GPS will be taken over by the gps in your smartphone.
So the mass-market exponential growth of these units is fading.
I'd concentrate on the smaller-segment/high profit marine and aviation markets. There are excellent 3-d features and graphics that this market is willing to pay $2000 and up for.
I still have my receipt and American Express Warranty Guarantee from May 14, 1993 for my very first Garmin ($999.00) that was black and white with no graphics whatsoever. If you couldn't read lat/long, compass course or vmg you were out of luck.

And, I'm still using that unit to feed position data to a graphic plotter. Are any of today's gps units going to be in use 18 years from now?

I"d concentrate on those markets as well as licensing the software & mapping systems to the phone people and car companies.

I remember...
Radio is dead because of talking pictures
Radio and movies are dead because of television
television is dead because of the Internet

and the list goes on and on

Using your paradigm, this market will also disappear not necessarily because of smartphones, but because the same consumers burned by the decisions in the automotive market don't want to be burned in these markets either. That's not to say there won't be a market, but some of those contemplating the installation of a marine or avionics system may carefully weigh their options when selecting a supplier. When others begin to see that there is a fair amount of profit in these segments, Garmin will face increasing competition and that will mean prices (and profits) will decrease.

It may be that because my 2460 was my first Garmin that I look at it from a different perspective. I came off a series of TomTom GPSs. I have driven over 7000 mile with my 2460 since I got it this spring and it has made some dumb suggestions on some of the routes but over all it was a big improvements over what I was use to.

We may not be the norm either because we still have real maps available and my wife jumps in to check questionable routes. We also just blindly follow directions at times to see where it goes and those are some fun diversions and never got us lost or in a dead end situation. The TomTom got us into a few dead ends that had to be backed out of during our follow blindly mode.

Jim...

Garmin may be getting too comfortable.

Garmin is scared out of their shorts in the PND segment with people making greater use of smartphones, and other portable multipurpose devices capable of functioning as PNDs. They've made some gains in that with their Navigon purchase. Comfort is not something I believe Garmin is feeling these days.

No question. I just wish it was a bit better in the hardware area on the more expensive models, or had a warranty that guaranteed quality.

Garmin seem to use us iron out the faults with their products, when they release a new product there's heaps of problems, as they get older the problems stop and the frequency of the updates slow down too.

I would like to buy a GPS in the new Etrex range wich they just released, but I'm going to wait awhile, give it 12 months, then have another look at them. You keep an eye on the Etrex's it will be fair bet there will be lots of problems to start with.

Very happy. Maybe it doesn't have some of the bells and whistles that some other models have, but it's been pretty good and I have lifetime maps that I keep getting. Can't see the sense in spending more money on a new model.

waiting for reply...not holding my breath.

Garmin support personnel don't even know their own units. They say that the JCV file will not work from the SD card. Garmin can't fix problems, the only thing their good at is removing or crippling features. I won't be surprised if they don't cripple the ability to run the JCV file from the SD card.

As far as their marine line, with all their many units they can't hold a candle to Lowrance or Humminbird. I don't see side scan or down scan available on any of them. That is the only features going in sporting marine. Garmin has always been an also ran in that field.

I took a trip from NYS to Skokie Il. last year and used printed Mapquest only. This year I started with a nuvi1450 and it twice took me off I90/94, both north and south of the loop. As a test I had the 1450 program a run into midtown Manhattan and the routing was completely unfathomable.

OTOH: MY wife & daughter used it for a week in the Mystic Seaport - Newport area and found it invaluable. But that is only because they plotted their route via Mapquest first, then let the Garmin handle the mundane details.

Garmin is a very arrogant company who thinks they can do no wrong.

These are great comments. I'd suggest using tools like Twitter to post your comments. It'll get their attention. Either that or hit them in their pocket books and stop buying their products.

Already have. My 765T is the last Garmin device I expect to purchase unless there is a significant improvement in their QC and their devices. Right now, any new device I might buy has fewer features than my 765T (of course the Bluetooth stinks on it but that is another story).

Many businesses have learned that one unsatisfied customer will talk about his/her experience and sour many friends and relatives to a business's products.

Instead these businesses will go the extra mile to satisfy a customer, even if the customer doesn't have a great case in the complaint.

If it costs little to make the customer happy, they do it. And get an excellent reputation.

bought a tomtom xxl540, not really impressed with it, has some features that I like, everyone was saying how good the smartphone gps was, tried copilot 8 and 9 really not impressed with it. Found a couple of things I didn't like, e.g. maps are not up to-date, I live in a relative new area, about 3 years old, the last 2 updates for garmin, and the last update for tomtom have it completely, the copilot maps did have any part of it, the Google maps has a small portion of it, what is even more annoying copilot will not allow you to go off map, before the garmin(765T) had the area in the maps, it would still follow me off road not copilot.

One unhappy customer will tell at least 12 people of their experience. One satisfied customer tells only about 4. Now, do you know why you hear more bad about a company than you hear good?

My first unit with Garmin was the Nuvi 650. Every unit I bought since then has been problematic one way or another.

I love my 765t and can't imagine getting another gps. I really hope that Garmin continues to support it.

I posted this on another thread but it fits better in this one.

If you have been with Garmin for awhile you could see the decline of software quality control start when Garmin announced their intent to jump into the smartphone market. They put their best and brightest onto this project and with dollar signs in their eyes turned PND QC over to new hires and interns which lead to such memorable moments as the near simultaneous bricking of a huge number of the 7x5 series, then said if you did the 5 minute fix yourself you would void your warranty so instead you had to be without while it was sent back to them.

Garmin should have killed the Nuviphone project about 30 seconds after Jobs announced the iPhone now had GPS and a new App Store, and started an App like their competitors did. So QC is most likely to stay status quo at best or get worse, while those "Best and Brightest" are assigned to catch up in the APP market the PND will remain in the backseat.

Looks like I won't get another GPS when my Nuvi 350 dies...hello iPhone....

I like using the Nuvi 350 when I'm on roadtrips or going to places I'm not familiar with and like to use it and keep it in my car...it is useful and with smartphones, what if you get into a roaming area or out of data coverage area? This is where the nuvi GPS excel...

Depends on the app you use. If you use an app that needs the data connection, you're SOL. But if you use an app with the map stored on the device, you're perfectly fine.

they suggested I check my avoidances settings...did that before posting this and e-mailing them...and making sure the latest map update was checked...already did that but refuse to buy the newer maps as I foresee only more problems, They totally ignored the black dot problem!

Waiting to see how they reply to my reply.

My 760's battery doesn't work, it is big problem. Is your battery of 760 still work?

My 750 battery was terrible for the past several months. I finally bit the bullet and bought a replacement battery. It's working well and the replacement procedure wasn't tough at all. If you want to keep the 760, a new battery will do wonders.

Well, I'm keeping my 350 until I die!!!

Fred

was an intentional move on their part! The CS rep that replied claimed that they received feedback from customers that the screen was "too busy" and they took the action they did to make the icons all black dots.

IDIOTS!

Time will tell who has a Reading problem you or myself.

Garmin bought Navigon for a reason. They had to enter the Android App market, and they can't with Garmin software because of Ausu's exclusive rights, like they did with Apple and windows phones. The Navigon Android App is the best solution for Garmin until their deal with Asus expires.

Navigon's app is now branded by Garmin, However it is not, and is far from the propriety software Garmin writes and every one expects.

So time will tell, how long it will be for Garmin to release a true Garmin written Android app. Not that it isn't already written, it just has to shelved for a while.

It seems that a lot of companies put out devices and then stop support. I have a Palm PDA which just went black for no reason and Palm has stopped supporting the model and cannot help me. I also have a Maxtor backup drive (company was bought out by Seagate), which is not backing up my data correctly and there is no company support. It is really frustrating.

I have shown you posts that say it is true.

Now you show me something that say's it's not, there has to be something you can find stating that Garmin is not prohibited from selling the software independently of an Asus Smartphone. And the Partnership split let Garmin off with no obligation to Asus. That should be easy for you since, That is clearly untrue as you say.

For some reason your over looking the word Exclusive!

Since you seem to think I can't read, let me give you one more thing to ponder before you go out on your trek to prove me wrong. (which you won't)

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/garmin-navigation-to-be-a...

You will find that you are the one with the Reading Comprehension problem, and only read what you want to be true. So let me clear up the below statement for you!

Garmin is free to sell its navigational services elsewhere , such as in mobile applications stores.

Duh
such as in mobile applications stores like windows, apple or anyone but Android.

SO,
Garmin does not offer a Android version of their software. Asus owns the exclusive rights for the next few years to Garmin's Android anything branded Garmin.

Let me see your links, I have gone out of my way showing you links.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20101026PD210.html

http://androidcommunity.com/asus-grab-garmin-app-exclusive-o...

You have shown me nothing, except a penchant for declaring opinions as facts.

The Digitimes article is only available to paid subscribers so that link is useless. The Android community link only restates what your original link from 2010 said. The Endgadget link adds nothing new.

Now, it is your opinion that the agreement between Garmin and Asus prohibits Garmin from doing anything with its own software. The very link you presented to start off this debate in fact contradicts that opinion, as I have already mentioned in my first reply. The added links you provided added nothing to the debate because none of them contradicted what was provided in that first link you provided.

I don't share your opinion, and I am not going to waste my time searching for evidence to support my opinion. I don't have to, because you did the work for me, by linking to that 2010 article. Even if there was (further) evidence to support my view it would be pointless to show it since the weakness of your argument has revealed itself in a time-honored fashion.

In order to lend added credence to your argument, you have taken to trying to disguise your opinion as fact, even going so far as to say that your words are factual. The articles are quite clear in the facts they present, however your conclusions are not. At least one of us recognizes the difference between opinion and fact, and accepts that not everyone is going to agree with a given opinion.

Enjoy talking to yourself. I'm done here.

My 255 does the same thing - routes me off highway one exit too early, after going through the surface streets, I only found that my destination is only 100 yards by the next exit.

I guess Garmin knows the PND market is shrinking, and they cannot afford to invest more resources to improve it, it does not make business sense any more.

Seriously? That's just plain stupid on their part. With all the traveling I do, I rely on the icons. I just shake my head at this move...

People who have problems with a product normaly try to find a fix for it and ask for everybodies advise. I was like that with the 3760T when it was having problems, now that I have found fixes or work arounds for the problems I don't talk about the 3760T at all, I just use it now, and its proved to be good GPS.

I bought an extended warranty from Best Buy when i got my 1300T almost 2 years ago. It was working good, but I had not kept the software up-to-date. The pixels went bad on the screen and it had white lines going across it, so I took it in and got my free replacement. So I connected it to Garmin's website and updated the maps and software. Now the screen keeps freezing up and I have to power off and on for it to start working again. But since its new, I don't know if its hardware or software. I have the 5.40 software, but I haven't seen complaints in this thread about the screen freezing. Has anyone else had this problem?

I do not believe smart phones will replace PNDs mainly because of screens. But for Garmin to be healthy, they need to do two things. First they need to do what they are doing better. Second, they need to look for ways to add more functionality to their device in signiicant, not trivial ways.

Routing has a lot to do with maps and I have had one annoying similar experience on highway 74 in NC where the Garmin (I think it was my 760) wanted me to go on silly secondary roads all the time. But have you noticed how much nicer it is to be offered three routings on Google Maps? Why can't Garmin give us options? This is probably a major change but it sure would be more meaningfull.

I also hate having the nuvi take several minutes to be functional. The legal disclaimer is particularly stupid when you make the device such that it is not functional for minutes. How many people sit there at idle waiting for their GPS to start up before driving off? Why can't you just come on when the car starts? Flash memory is really fast and doesn't require much if any electricity. Why is it necessary to mess around?

The ecoRoute HD is a good example of trying to add meaningful functionality. I think they should have a hard wired connection option instead of depending on bluetooth connection but it is a good thing to try. I don't want or need more mpg info but some might buy it for that. I would like the additional information on the car and the ability to read check engine codes without dragging out my reader. Smart phones are unlikely to do this.

I also believe removing MP3 playback is a mistake. I bought a 765t to back up my 760 and 885t so I can have one fail and still have a GPS for each vehicle. I have remote microphones and semi-permanent mounts in each vehicle and I like using the nuvi for music playback.

If Garmin keeps concentrating on only navigation and things like how thin their device is I think they are in trouble. If they will keep pushing to be the best navigation solution plus add some meaningful functionality with new models, they can go on forever.

Jim