Newbie says ~ Merry Christmas & Seasons Greetings (Long Post)

 

Good evening everyone. Found out about your site from Garmin Telephone support.

About 3 weeks ago I purchased a 3490LMT as the TomTom 2535 WTE I bought last August for a European driving tour was starting to act up again. Technology is great...when it works. TomTom's voice recognition is next to useless. In any event, I'm a firm user in Red Light & Speed cameras so I thought let's try a newer Garmin.

After the initial learning curve while idling in the Best Buy parking lot, I was surprised to learn that there were none of these features. What to do, what to do.... so I drove home without them. Noticed it was very slow to lock on target. Took almost 5 min of hwy driving to lock. Strange. After updating the map, surprise # 2 ~ No speed limit information. How is this possible when the TomTom does it right out of the box and this thing doesn't. Call # 1 to Garmin said "work in progress." Five minutes afterwards, Call # 2 said "It's digital" can't be done but you can download a POI loader blah blah... I tuned out after he said "Can't"

I don't do well with the word "can't" so I set out to scour the web for a hack. About a week later, while at Costco, I walked by the Garmin display... 3790 & thought, must be an updated version. Bigger number = more up to date & only $299. Save a hundred bucks and get a better unit...No brainer. Got home, started reading about the most important thing... Red Light & Speed camera... yep does it, great, download and off we go. Almost.

Turn it on...Hmmm. Yep, Icons look better but there's fewer of them. You can't adjust the dashboard like the 3490. Why does it take sooo long to lock on a signal? Where's my TomTom??? To make a long story short, both went back & picked up a 2370T. It too went back. While the 2370T has virtually the identical setup to the 3790, the voice recognition (can you tell I embrace technology?) wasn't up to par. I asked for diesel and it gave me weasel. I'll just live with the 2535. Sure it's huge and cumbersome in comparison, the voice recognition is nowhere near as good as the Garmin, but at least it locks on target 15 seconds later.... Then, a brainstorm hit. I once again called Garmin to complain about the crappy units I had and what they were going to offer me to keep me as a happy camper. The 1st call, they put me on hold and forgot about me. The 2nd call, during off-peak hours took 35 min to answer. Finally, what started at 10am ended around 3pm with a very well informed gentleman I can only assume was in the USA. He said "Nothing I can offer you, but... he did tell me the differences in great detail between the 3790 and the 3490 & how to get the red light camera's and speed zone info. "just d/l this installer and head over to poi factory etc etc.." WOW!! There really is a Santa Claus!

The next day, I headed back to Best Buy and pick up another 3490LMT, updated the software and turned it on. First thing that came to mind was that it looked different compared to 3490LMT #1. I'm wondering if there was a software upgrade in between because the traffic thing works (green vs grey). It locked on target faster than the TT and is generally easier to use. The voice recognition, is very very good. It can tell the difference between Kanata and Canada, weasel & diesel, Casino and Esso. So I think I'm going to keep 3490LMT #2 & add it to my collection. The 2535... I'll probably sell on eBay unless this site has a classified section... and the poi loader? Already done, made a donation, downloaded & installed the info and looking forward to trying it tomorrow as well as meeting the members of this group.

As for the "can't" followed by the "Nothing," THAT will be the basis of my telephone call to Garmin International. (I've read the forums, there's lots of pissed off Garmin users) You can write emails and letters all you want, they get tossed. Forget customer service. They are the just the gate keepers. Dr. Min Kao is the guy you need to call. #486 on Forbes list of self made billionaires with a net worth of 1.6B. He probably doesn't even know there's a problem...

Welcome, and Merry Christmas!

walter00 wrote:

The 2535... I'll probably sell on eBay unless this site has a classified section...

First, welcome to the site! I hope you enjoy your time here. It sounds like you have had an interesting experience, hope it all works out in the end.

You have an interesting suggestion here regarding a classified section, I don't believe one exists but think it would certainly be a very useful feature to have.

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Streetpilot C340 Nuvi 2595 LMT

Lock time

All new never-used-before units require a few minutes to DL the satellite almanacs, and ephemeris tables to lock on. They tell they unit where it is located.

You did have a bit of a time on the journey (heh! pun intended), but you're sorted now, congrats!

Welcome to the best forum on the 'net.

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

remember to have fun lol

remember to have fun lol

welcome

Let me add another welcome. We look forward to having another active user here on the site to share their troubles and successes.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

happy holidays to all !!!

happy holidays to all !!!

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A GPS can take you where You want to go but never where you WANT to be.

@Walter00

Welcome to the site. You will enjoy your time here. It is addicting and we have a lot of knowledgeable members.

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Nuvi 2460LMT.

Welcome and ...

thanks for sharing

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RKF (Brookeville, MD) Garmin Nuvi 660, 360 & Street Pilot

Welcome to the Factory

Welcome to the Factory, Walter. Hope you find everything you need, if not ask as our customer service will aim to please.

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All the worlds indeed a stage and we are merely players. Rush

Welcome Aboard

Welcome to POI Factory, Walter! And how cool is it that Garmin refers their customers here!

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The Moose Is Loose! nuvi 760

That's

quite the story. You have a lot more patience than I do. Anyways welcome aboard, if you need help do not be afraid to ask, there are a ton of very knowledgeable people on this site who are quite willing to help with problems, big or small.

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2597 Sometimes I wonder..."Why is that Frisbee getting bigger?"...and then, it hits me.

Welcome

Welcome

Welcome to the Site

You will enjoy the useful information found on this site.

Welcome

Have fun here there is a world of information on this site.

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

Welcome to the site

Enjoy and have fun.

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With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

Follow-up to the 3490...

With it being boxing day...all day, what better way to spend a few hours putzing around the stores...hmmm tomtom 1435TM, only $119... Gee.

Hows that classified ad section coming along?