My almost 25 year old GARMIN GPS III still works great. Anyone have an older GPS that still works ?

 

It's been a long time since I posted here but here goes. I got back into GPSs as my son is geocaching as a boy scout. I just ordered him an eTrex Touch 35 for $159 (no Topo just the base map but I'll download free topo maps). Hopefully it was good buy for him.

Anyway the trip with boy scouts made me take out my trusty Garmin GPS III which I bought in 1997 and it works just the same as the day I bought it. That is just amazing almost 25 years! Full disclosure I did replace 10 year Lithium battery just a few years back.

What is the oldest GPS you have that actually works ?

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eTrex Touch 35, Nuvi 1350LMT, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 260, Garmin GPS III, Basecamp

I don't miss the 1.44 MB memory

My oldest was not that old: it was a III+. I have no idea of where it is. I don't miss the 1.44 MB memory and loading maps a county at a time.

Ah I was envious of those

Ah I was envious of those who had GPS III+. You can update the maps! The Garmin GSP III is stuck with 1996 1.03 Americas Land Data Basemap. The last software update for the GPS III was v. 2.10 in 2000 but apparently basemap updates were never included.

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eTrex Touch 35, Nuvi 1350LMT, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 260, Garmin GPS III, Basecamp

Oldest GPS.

My oldest GPS is the nuvi 755T bought in early 2009 ... still works good. I did replace the battery a few years back. My daughter currently has the 755T and uses it occasionally.

I also still have my DeLorme L20 USB puck. I think I purchased it about 2006 or 2007 and used it with a laptop and StreetAtlas USA software before I bought the nuvi. Back in the day, I actually took a couple of family vacations using the L20 and StreetAtlas as my navigator. I haven't plugged the L20 into a computer for a long time, but I bet it still works. Not sure if there are Win 10 drivers for the L20 or if the StreetAtlas software would still install on Win 10 though ... would have to dig out a USB CD drive to try it. Those maps would be pretty old now.

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

SA2015 and Topo will still

SA2015 and Topo will still install on Win 10. I was running it on Virtual Machine on my MAC. It will run on Win 7, also, which I have now, instead of Win 10.

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Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

GPS 12

I just got rid of the handheld GPS 12 which dates from about 1999. It worked fine but the date/time were incorrect (due to the GPS satellite system) and it was near impossible to update the firmware to correct the date/time.

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John from PA

I have a Garmin Zumo 450

I have a Garmin Zumo 450 motorcycle GPS which was released in October of 2001 still mounted on my 2003 motorcycle and it works. Compared to today's GPS it does have a little bit of a lag but it still find where I want to go.

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. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

Older GPS that still works

I have a 250W that is still up to date and works great from 2006.

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The Home of BLUMARU HOUNDS

Still Have a 660

My 660 is still up and running. Use it for every trip with the motorhome. One map update a new battery, and screen display.

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

I have a 660 who’s

I have a 660 who’s interface to power and traffic radio interface Died years ago. I found with a different USB Cable (See faqs here for pinout) I could still run GPS via the USB Jack on the side, though without Traffic Radio, as interface died. With that info that I could still run it, I then changed the battery, and I still do map updates on it to this day!!

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A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

I have a Garmin GPS 48. That

I have a Garmin GPS 48. That is about 24 years.

Yep

Old Garmin Vista (b/w screen) and Nuvi 350 still work after all these years. Funny, the problem now with the Vista is getting the old USB to Serial adapter to work on Windows 10 so I can use the Vista's serial cable to transfer data to/from the Vista. Some drivers won't work with Windows 10. Use to run a VM (virtual machine) of Windows 7 so I could use one of the old serial adapters because I couldn't get that adapter to run in Windows 10, due to proper drivers.

Probably should get around to dumping the latest maps to an SD card for use in that 350 at some point just for giggles. smile

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Nuvi 2598 | Nuvi 350 | eTrex Vista | eTrex 30x

I bought a StreetPilot 320 back in...

2003 or 2004. Used it quite a bit and then handed it off to my brother-in-law. He used it for several years and then bought a Tom-Tom for newer maps. He didn’t like the Tom-Tom so he went back to the Garmin. He died about 4 years ago, but as far as I know, it was still working. It was sold at the estate auction so I don’t know if it is still working or not. The one that I replaced it with is my Nuvi 350 and it is still going strong today. I think that I bought it in 2007 or 2008. Somewhere in that time frame. Still looks and works as if it had just come out of the box.

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

GPS 12

Have had a Garmin GPS 12 for I don’t know how long. Still turn it on about once a year. Seems to still work. Hard to believe that’s what I used to use to navigate by on long distance trips.

need to check after second rollover

I have one that is about five years older. It is a Magellan which I bought after it came back to the USA after spending a few months not getting the box opened when it was sent over to the Sand Box for the little unpleasantness with Saddam's boys which briefly saw almost anything that looked like a GPS unit sent to the theater.

The still working part is the sticky bit. My unit was one that could not get a fix after the first GPS week number rollover in 1999. I've been meaning to check to see whether it is happier now that the second week number rollover took place in 2019.

I also owned a GPS III, but no longer have it about as I traded it in to Garmin to upgrade to a GPS III+. Both were enormous advances over my ancient Magellan.

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personal GPS user since 1992

GPS II+

I have a working Garmin GPS II+ which looks exactly like the III+. The only difference is less memory and a lower resolution screen.

I bought a GPS III when they were first introduced. I took advantage of a Garmin free upgrade plan and traded it within a month for the newer GPS III+ which I still have. I also have several GPS V's left over from an early eBay project. When WAAS was introduced, the GPS V receivers required a firmware update to function properly. Many V owners didn't know this and sold their units on eBay as parts only or defective. I bought around 50 or so at a low price, loaded the new firmware and resold as working units. I made a few bucks for very little work.

My oldest working Garmin is

My oldest working Garmin is 3597. I am not sure which year it was released. May be in 2014 or earlier?

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Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

Mine is...

Mine is a 76S, even bought a roof top antenna so I could use it in the car. Then upgraded to a Nuvi 260.
Still use the 76S when I go fishing, It has charts installed now.

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Nuvi2797LMT (2) Nuvi260,Ford Sync3 Navigation. Captain Cook was a Yorkshire man too.

1490LMT

Lot of Garmins, but oldest is 1490LMT. Still working fine except some minor crack, even the display is not responsible any more some point, but still be ok for antique gps tool smile

I should add ...

soberbyker wrote:

I have a Garmin Zumo 450 motorcycle GPS which was released in October of 2001 still mounted on my 2003 motorcycle and it works. Compared to today's GPS it does have a little bit of a lag but it still find where I want to go.

That I still update the maps with each new map. Put whatever will fit on the unit, then use mapsource to copy the entire map to an SD card. If I remember correctly I had to purchase lifetime maps for it, and later the Zumo 550 I added to the collection.

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. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

I still have my Nuvi 200

It's my oldest, purchased in Dec 2007. Still works, still have lifetime maps on it.

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Matt

See Below

Look at my signature area. I've owned 11 different Garmins to date. I still have the 2610 and 60CSx laying around. I probably should dump them. I still like the 3490LMT for its size and it's still being supported w/map updates but I do in fact prefer the Drivesmart features. The 7-8 year gap between models definitely has some upgrades.

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Garmin: GPSIII / StreetPilot / StreetPilot Color Map / StreetPilot III / StreetPilot 2610 / GPSMAP 60CSx / Nuvi 770 / Nuvi 765T / Nuvi 3490LMT / Drivesmart 55 / GPSMAP 66st * Pioneer: AVIC-80 / N3 / X950BH / W8600NEX

Another GPS 12

I still have my old GPS 12 too. Hopefully it still works, as it has not been used in a few years.

Empty box

After posting here about my ancient Magellan which died at the first GPS week rollover in 1999, I intended to find it, put in batteries, turn it on with a view of the sky, and see whether the ancient firmware by some accident resumed working after the second rollover.

I found the box easily enough, but it is empty. So either I discarded it years ago, or it is buried in my mess someplace. All I can report here is that the box reports that it was a Magellan GPS Nav 1000 Pro model 31000. Six AA cells gave it maybe a two hour battery life, so to power it for navigation on vacations I rigged up alternate means. The first try was a box full of hospital-discard NiCd cells. That was big and dangerous. For an eight-week trip in 1994 I used 12V Lead-acid cells, and made a nightly routine of charging in the motel room. As the unit would only hold a couple of hours of track points, I carried an HP palmtop with a program that let me download the track points.

In short, it was painfully incapable compared to a GPS III, but I got a ton of fun out of it.

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personal GPS user since 1992

Wow so many great stories

Wow so many great stories and functional GPSs. I remember the old Magellans that were built like a brick. I'll have to check ebay out for a used one.

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eTrex Touch 35, Nuvi 1350LMT, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 260, Garmin GPS III, Basecamp

I have two Garmins older than 10 years.....

and they both still work great.

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

Street pilot

Son was doing some delivery work with relatives shipping biz. He kept calling me on phone asking me to look up address on map so he knew how to get there. I bought him an old Garmin StreetPilot, very expensive at the time as I remember. Not sure of the model number. Little roundish, smallish screen, type. After you learned how to use it, it worked good. Last time I saw it, it was working, been a few years. It came out I think sometime around 2000. Amazing, like that watch commercial, they just keep ticking!!!!

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Dudlee

Street Pilots were very well

Street Pilots were very well made and if the batteries are replaced many will work decades later. Not many electrics are build like these old GPSs.

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eTrex Touch 35, Nuvi 1350LMT, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 260, Garmin GPS III, Basecamp

Nice to know that old

Nice to know that old Garmins are still working. I bought my first and only Garmin as used in 2015; Dezl 760 from a truck driver. I use the automotive mode since I don't drive trucks. Running good. It sometimes doesn't match with the Google maps route, but overall a very reliable one.

older gps

I think my oldest one is a delorme earthmate from around 1995 (big yellow thing that plugged into a RS-232 serial port). I'm embarrassed to say I still have it, and can only assume it works as it's in a box in the basement. Guess it's time to do a bit of housecleaning!

My Oldest GPS

My oldest GPS that I'm still updating is a 1390T. Slow as crap to enter anything but it still works fine.

Delorme Earthmate was so

Delorme Earthmate was so cool in the day! I remember my roommate had one and we installed it on roof of his car with Street Atlas on my laptop. Late at night we ran around in a car allover the campus grabbing Waypoints and trip points for all the campus buildings and walkways.

In the Sun Sparc lab I spent hours writing a custom X11 program to view the waypoints on a static jpg just so we could look at the local walking trails on our Sparc workstations!

Ahh fun college nerd times....

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eTrex Touch 35, Nuvi 1350LMT, Nuvi 350, Nuvi 260, Garmin GPS III, Basecamp

Mine is Garmin Nuvi 670

I still have my Garmin Nuvi 670 of 2007 that I love but the latest map installed is Canada 2016. With a 2 gig maximum SD card memory read limit, I just cannot install the whole North America map any more. I changed the battery once. This is a great GPS with all the functionalities. I particularly like the great position accuracy when WAAS is activated and the one hand mount capability. I bought the Garmin Nuvi 3597LMTHD, but I still prefer the Nuvi 670.

My oldest device is 3597

My oldest device is 3597 which is still operational. All other older devices don't work due to battery issues.

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Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

Still have an old 3760. Some

Still have an old 3760. Some pixels on the edge have died, but still working. Has the powered mount and quite thin, so it serves as a good backup.

Still Have

A 765T and I replaced the battery last year.

My 660

Fired up my 660 yesterday and it still does what it did when I bought it, with only one map update.

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T