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Garmin Montana Screen Repair


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Be really, really careful with the big screen on your Montana. Mine broke (just the thin clear plastic cover broke) while I was peeling off a Zagg screen protector.

 

I just got off the phone with Garmin support, and they want $160 plus my cost of shipping it to them to repair it. THIS IS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. They are going to replace one thin plastic sheet over the display (the display itself is not broken, and they are going to stick it to me to the tune of $160.

 

No more Garmin touch screens for me. The Oregon 450's screen was awful, and the Montana series is fragile and so full of bugs as to make it very frustrating to use.

 

Be careful with that fragile screen.

Edited by michaelnel
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Be careful with that fragile screen.

 

I can understand your disposition having to pay a chunk for a repair. But there hasn't exactly been a rash of Montana series screen breakages and I feel your assessment may be a bit unfair.

 

Your warnings about the removal of any Zagg product from a touchscreen device are much appreciated and it could have happened to anyone. However I wouldn't call the screen on the Montana "fragile". Of course you can't drop it off a building, or run over it with your car (or apparently place undue pressure while removing a screen protector) but the toughness of the screen is as much as could be expected with reasonable, normal handling.

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Michealnel, did you contact Zagg about this?

 

There haven't been a rash of Montana screens breaking, that's true -- but there aren't that many of this model in the wild yet to judge by. On the other hand, there are LOTS of Zagg screen protectors in use. Zagg doesn't warn about possible screen damage when removing one, and I've never heard of someone damaging a GPS screen that way.

Edited by Portland Cyclist
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No I did not contact Zagg. I didn't buy it from them (I bought it from a member here) and they don't support the Montana. I warned the people here, and on several other boards. That's all I'm going to do about it.

 

I'm just sick of this thing. It has never worked right since the day I got it, and I really don't see any clear benefits at all over the combination of my Nuvi 1690 and a 60CSX and my Android smartphone.

 

The Nuvi is a way better car unit (it's internet-connected), and the Android does an equally good job of paperless caching, and the 60CSX is more accurate and way better under tree cover. I'd have the Nuvi in the car anyway, and I'd have the Android with me because of all the stuff it does.

 

When it gets back from Garmin, it's going back to where I bought it. I don't need the aggravation of being an alpha tester for Garmin while they screw me.

Edited by michaelnel
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I've never heard of someone damaging a GPS screen that way.

 

I've never heard of removing a zagg shield before. Once you get it installed (to your liking) it's usually just an afterthought. The installation doesnt leave much wiggle room for error though and you can't monkey around by touching it and moving it around. I'm not saying that's what happened here (I've seen the pictures of the installed shield) all I'm syaig is that for anyone else out there, you have to be very careful when you install these things so you don't end up trying to remove it later. Think "once and done".

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Be really, really careful with the big screen on your Montana. Mine broke (just the thin clear plastic cover broke) while I was peeling off a Zagg screen protector.

 

I just got off the phone with Garmin support, and they want $160 plus my cost of shipping it to them to repair it. THIS IS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. They are going to replace one thin plastic sheet over the display (the display itself is not broken, and they are going to stick it to me to the tune of $160.

 

No more Garmin touch screens for me. The Oregon 450's screen was awful, and the Montana series is fragile and so full of bugs as to make it very frustrating to use.

 

Be careful with that fragile screen.

What was wrong with the Oregon's touchscreen? I just got mine, now I'm worried. Does Garmin recommend the use of a screen protector? I have other touchscreen products and I don't have screen protectors on any of them. All screens seem okay. I'm not a big fan of touchscreen per se as I don't really like the greasy prints I leave but I think the screens are durable enough to handle that without a screen protector.

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What was wrong with the Oregon's touchscreen? I just got mine, now I'm worried. Does Garmin recommend the use of a screen protector? I have other touchscreen products and I don't have screen protectors on any of them. All screens seem okay. I'm not a big fan of touchscreen per se as I don't really like the greasy prints I leave but I think the screens are durable enough to handle that without a screen protector.

 

I think he was referring to the visibility of the Oregon 450's screen. As far as toucg screen go, I'm of the opinion that it depends on your use. Me personally don't like worrying about being carful not to scratch. I'll be sliding the map around with worm-poop, elk blood, mud, bug spray, gloves, etc on my hands and fingers. Eventually, what's not made of diamond or Zagg material will scratch. Even with fine dust particles and random miniscule dirt particles, you will eventually wear on the screen. All it takes is a good Zagg install and you basically forget all about those fears. Unless you just don't like the feel of the Zagg, which is slightly grabby and squeaky at times. All I do is rub my finger across my forehead (to grab a tiny bit of grease) and my finger slides along just fine.

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i've placed and removed my screen protector 5-6 times ( on Montana ) until I put it correctly; no problems here, screen is perfect

 

I don't believe you did this with a ZAGG brand screen protector. The adhesive on the ZAGGs is many times stronger than on most protectors, so much so that the act of removing a fully cured ZAGG will so stretch the ZAGG that you can't put it back on.

Edited by michaelnel
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i've never heard of removing a zagg shield before.

It does come up in the forums here once in a while, either for repositioning if you don't get the first application right, or to get a damaged one off to send for replacement, or if folks just don't like it. There are a few items in Zagg's FAQ on this:

 

- Can the invisibleSHIELD be removed? http://www.zagg.com/support/faq.php#3_19

- How do I remove the invisibleSHIELD if I need to? http://www.zagg.com/support/faq.php#3_12

- Does removing the invisibleSHIELD leave sticky residue? http://www.zagg.com/support/faq.php#3_21

 

As for actually breaking a screen by removing one? Unfortunately, the OP found it can happen. Larger touchscreens might have relatively more flex across their top layer than smaller ones, and the larger surface area might mean more force is needed to peel a Zagg or other film off. So maybe this IS more likely to damage a bigger screen. It's something Zagg and device makers should think about -- if it hasn't already been brought to their attention. Not necessarily to "fix" a rare problem, but at least to warn about it in their instructions and FAQ.

Edited by Portland Cyclist
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i've placed and removed my screen protector 5-6 times ( on Montana ) until I put it correctly; no problems here, screen is perfect

 

I don't believe you did this with a ZAGG brand screen protector. The adhesive on the ZAGGs is many times stronger than on most protectors, so much so that the act of removing a fully cured ZAGG will so stretch the ZAGG that you can't put it back on.

 

ZAGGs must be used on gass-type screens with "capacitor touch" ( like Iphone etc. ) NOT "resistive touch"

Edited by andregixxer
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i've placed and removed my screen protector 5-6 times ( on Montana ) until I put it correctly; no problems here, screen is perfect

 

I don't believe you did this with a ZAGG brand screen protector. The adhesive on the ZAGGs is many times stronger than on most protectors, so much so that the act of removing a fully cured ZAGG will so stretch the ZAGG that you can't put it back on.

 

ZAGGs must be used on gass-type screens with "capacitor touch" ( like Iphone etc. ) NOT "resistive touch"

I'm not taking sides on this one, but...I'm scanning the Zagg webpage now with no luck, do you have a citation for this?

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i'm not find this on Zagg webpage, but the adesive-solution result in strong stress for non-gass surfaces..glue (et similia) based solution are usually used with glass surfaces only like IPad, Iphone ecc (capacitive touch)

 

For my montana i've used standard cellular screen protector and installed it underwater for a "bubbleless" installation ^^

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After a quick google search I noticed no one else has had this issue....in fact the only hit I got was this thread again. I have owned many zagg products and this story doesn't seem right. Either its a defective unit, or it was dropped at some point and the removal of the zagg product exacerbated the crack.

 

If it its a defective unit, I would fight with garmin about it...call every day until its fixed for free.

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ZAGGs must be used on gass-type screens with "capacitor touch" ( like Iphone etc. ) NOT "resistive touch"

 

Zagg markets a screen protector for the Oregon series and Dakota series, both of these units have resistive touch. Perhaps Zagg doesn't know these units have resistive touch?

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I have owned many zagg products and this story doesn't seem right. Either its a defective unit, or it was dropped at some point and the removal of the zagg product exacerbated the crack.

 

I couldn't care less if you believe me. What I said happened is what happened.

 

People get pretty brave behind their keyboard on the internet. I doubt you'd call me a liar to my face.

Edited by michaelnel
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When I took my zagg screen protector off of my orgeon 450, half of my screen quit working. When you take to screen protector off it really pulls on the touch screen, it's kind of scary. While it didn't rip apart like to montana screen, I still had to send it in to garmin for repair.

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When I took my zagg screen protector off of my orgeon 450, half of my screen quit working. When you take to screen protector off it really pulls on the touch screen, it's kind of scary. While it didn't rip apart like to montana screen, I still had to send it in to garmin for repair.

Before I stick it on my Oregon 450, do you think a "WriteRight" screen protector is okay to use. I bought them for my iphone and ipod touch and used them but ended up removing them. Just a personal preference thing. But, they removed easy enough. I bumped into a fellow geocacher today, who uses an Oregon 300 and really wished he had originally used a screen protector as his screen was really marred over the years. So, I'm thinkin'....

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<br />
I have owned many zagg products and this story doesn't seem right. Either its a defective unit, or it was dropped at some point and the removal of the zagg product exacerbated the crack.
<br /><br />I couldn't care less if you believe me.  What I said happened is what happened. <br /><br />People get pretty brave behind their keyboard on the internet.  I doubt you'd call me a liar to my face.<br />
<br /><br /><br />

I think you may have misunderstood. I never called you a liar. Like i said, the unit could be defective, or perhaps could have dropped during shipping.

 

Man people get tough on the internet..... ;)

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I've installed alot of Zaggs on various equipment including a dozen GPS units.

 

With Zaqgg you know right away if the installation was a success. If you see major bubbles, dust, creases, and other anomalies under the screen protector, the install was a failure. Remove it shortly after install and it basically slides right off.

 

What I don't understand is why, after a successful install and using it on the screen, would anyone take it off? I've never seen any wear or tear on any of my Zaggs, the things are pretty much indestructable. I just can't figure out why anyone would take one off that's been successfully installed without any anomalies.

 

I'm merely asking a question, don't take my tone to be anything different than that. I'm genuinely curious.

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ZAGGs must be used on gass-type screens with "capacitor touch" ( like Iphone etc. ) NOT "resistive touch"

 

Zagg markets a screen protector for the Oregon series and Dakota series, both of these units have resistive touch. Perhaps Zagg doesn't know these units have resistive touch?

 

With standard screens protector it's impossible to break the unit

 

1. wrong product

Or

2. uman error..

 

.i don't believe in a Montana's defect

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I've installed alot of Zaggs on various equipment including a dozen GPS units.

 

With Zaqgg you know right away if the installation was a success. If you see major bubbles, dust, creases, and other anomalies under the screen protector, the install was a failure. Remove it shortly after install and it basically slides right off.

 

What I don't understand is why, after a successful install and using it on the screen, would anyone take it off? I've never seen any wear or tear on any of my Zaggs, the things are pretty much indestructable. I just can't figure out why anyone would take one off that's been successfully installed without any anomalies.

 

I'm merely asking a question, don't take my tone to be anything different than that. I'm genuinely curious.

 

I have a Colorado 300, put a Zagg on it. Upgraded to a 400t, pulled the Zagg off of the 300 and installed it on the 400t. The Oregon’s came out. I bought a 200 and put a new Zagg on it. Upgraded to a 400t, pulled the Zagg off the 200 and put it on the 400t. Then the 550’s came out. Now the same Zagg is on the 550.

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... When you take to screen protector off it really pulls on the touch screen, it's kind of scary. While it didn't rip apart like to montana screen, I still had to send it in to garmin for repair.

More I think about it, the more I can believe it. Also that a larger plastic layers touch screen would be more susceptible to this kind of damage, as it'll be subjected to strain over a larger area when you try to remove the film. The screen are probably tested for scratch resistance, impact, wear and so forth -- but having something glued across the entire surface and then pulling it off? May not even be in the touchscreen or device manufacturer's testing protocol. But it should be in Zagg's.

 

I wouldn't call this a Garmin "defect," exactly -- more an unlikely and unforeseen way to damage the screen. But it might be something Zagg and/or Garmin should warn people about. Something along the lines of Zagg modifying their instruction sheet about installing and removing the film, or maybe Garmin saying not to use such products, at the rick of damaging you screen in a way not covered by the warranty.

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No physical damage to a Garmin screen is covered by warranty. If the screen is damaged, you pay the "Standard Repair Charge" (which is $160 on the Montana) unless you want to just toss the unit in the trash.

 

BTW, I didn't call it a defect. I said it's fragile, and it is.

Edited by michaelnel
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I'm just sick of this thing. It has never worked right since the day I got it, and I really don't see any clear benefits at all over the combination of my Nuvi 1690 and a 60CSX and my Android smartphone.

 

I think most of us already got that :) Your personal war against the Montana is well documented.

 

I'm sorry to say you had a bad experience. Although nobody can accuse Garmin of providing excellent software out of the box, my experience so far is excellent. Good enough to sell my 62S. The montana is a bit heavier, but about as big due to the size of the antenna on the 62s. Also the montana is just as accurate, and in addition to that provides a better viewable screen and an actually usable JNX experience. (Self-made BirdsEye images.)

 

Also, Android is great. c:geo on the sensation is... sensational :) But when in areas where there is no free internet or 3G coverage at all, the phone fails to work.

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ZAGGs must be used on gass-type screens with "capacitor touch" ( like Iphone etc. ) NOT "resistive touch"

Not sure where you got this idea. Zagg was selling their film long before capacitive screens really caught on, and they sell size-specific sheets for lots of resistive touch screens.

 

I think what Michael ran into is unusual, but perhaps understandable to a point. The larger the screen area, the larger the unsupported area being pulled on during removal, and the bigger the piece, the more the flex with pressure. As an analogy, it's a whole lot harder to break a 1 x 1" piece of glass than it is a 1 x 1' piece of the same thickness.

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What I don't understand is why, after a successful install and using it on the screen, would anyone take it off? I've never seen any wear or tear on any of my Zaggs, the things are pretty much indestructable.

I have one on my TomTom 740 that is showing its age. It's not bad until you get the sun at the wrong angle and see the scratches from a year or so of use. Panning seems to be the big factor as lines that traverse most of the screen are the most evident. I will be replacing it one of these days - which brings us to Michael's issue in a more specific way ...

 

Zaggs are being used on a TON of automotive GPS units with 4.3" and even 5.0" diagonal screens, and if mine is any indication, must be being replaced periodically. Yet I've never heard of anyone swapping out a Zagg on one of these units complain about the touch screen layer breaking as a consequence. It's not like the Montana is the only large screen device out there - far from it. So either David's Montana screen (and perhaps all) are more fragile than others, or he was exceptionally unlucky.

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My Montana arrived at Garmin this morning. Hopefully they will turn it around quickly. They'll probably just take a new one, install the latest bug-ridden firmware and ship it.

 

And, your point is? Would you rather it sit for weeks (or months) while they fix your exact unit instead of shipping you one they have ready to go? :rolleyes:

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The point is, I think it is unlikely the unit will come back with fewer bugs than the one that went out to them.

 

What do "bugs" have to do with the fact that you broke your screen, rendering it completely unusable and subsequently requiring you to send it in? You sent it in for the SCREEN, not "bugs". That's on you, bub. :laughing:

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I raised hell at Garmin about this by sending email to every garmin.com address I could find. One of them was Investor Relations, and a woman who is Director of Investor Relations emailed me back saying she was passing it along to the Director of Support.

 

The same day I got a call back from one of the Managers in Garmin Product Support. He apologized profusely for the way this was handled and issued me a FULL credit for all of the charges they had billed me for ($173.60 including tax). He said that as far as he was concerned, the plastic cover breaking while a screen protector was being removed indicates a defect in the product. I accepted his apology and am now awaiting the return of my Montana. Nice to know that if you get past the front line people there you can get to someone reasonable.

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I raised hell at Garmin about this by sending email to every garmin.com address I could find. One of them was Investor Relations, and a woman who is Director of Investor Relations emailed me back saying she was passing it along to the Director of Support.

 

Glad you got it worked out. As for the above, it's amazing when you hit them in the "money pocket". I've done the same thing with the Investor Relations sections of websites. The local Gateway computer store (notice how they're all gone now?) tried to jack me over with an extended warranty. The computer died about two months before the warranty expired and they kept it forever. They finally told me they couldn't fix it because it was "too old" (it was only a 2 year warranty) and that I had to come pick it up because the warranty was now expired. They'd had the damned thing for over two months and it expired in THEIR custody. So, emails to all the big wigs on the Investor Relations page got me a call back from some executive vice president of "who cares" who told me they'd send a brand new top of the line system from the previous year, which was much better than what I had. That was in 1999 and the last "big box" computer I ever owned. I build all my own systems now.

 

NEVER give up when a corporation tries to stick it to you as the customer... Another thing that works is buying a new "whatever" and returning the old one IF and ONLY IF the company won't make it right. They'll get their own junk back eventually and they can either eat it or repair it as they see fit.

Edited by sviking
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I raised hell at Garmin about this by sending email to every garmin.com address I could find. One of them was Investor Relations, and a woman who is Director of Investor Relations emailed me back saying she was passing it along to the Director of Support.

 

The same day I got a call back from one of the Managers in Garmin Product Support. He apologized profusely for the way this was handled and issued me a FULL credit for all of the charges they had billed me for ($173.60 including tax). He said that as far as he was concerned, the plastic cover breaking while a screen protector was being removed indicates a defect in the product. I accepted his apology and am now awaiting the return of my Montana. Nice to know that if you get past the front line people there you can get to someone reasonable.

I'm impressed with your persistence. However, I suspect you netted less than $10/hr for your time. Congratulations are in order.

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I'm impressed with your persistence. However, I suspect you netted less than $10/hr for your time. Congratulations are in order.

 

Guess you don't understand the concept of MAKING THINGS RIGHT, eh?

 

Did you also factor in the $500+ cost of the unit that was basically unusable if he did NOT try to get it repaired and reimbursed? :rolleyes:

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Did you also factor in the $500+ cost of the unit that was basically unusable if he did NOT try to get it repaired and reimbursed? :rolleyes:

 

Had he not persued the issue it would have cost him $170 not $500. Why would anyone factor in the cost of the unit when calculating reimbursement vs time spent getting it? Highly illogical captain.

 

Anyway, I'm glad the issue was resolved and the outcome was to your liking. I'm pretty sure Garmin has the resources to cover it and it won't cost them more than a few bucks for a replacement screen.

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I'm not trying to punish them. I just no longer want to own a Montana. But I really don't know why you care, it has no effect on you one way or the other.

 

BTW, I just received the replacement and went onto the mygarmin site to switch the map and birdseye registration over to the new serial number, and after entering the new number and hitting "continue", it goes to a page that says:

 

"Sorry, our site is down for maintenance. Please check back soon!"

 

:laughing:

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Had he not persued the issue it would have cost him $170 not $500. Why would anyone factor in the cost of the unit when calculating reimbursement vs time spent getting it? Highly illogical captain.

 

I was talking about him not getting it fixed at ALL, if he decided not to pay their ridiculous "Garmin tribute". :rolleyes:

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All this extremely informative information is moot anyway, since Michaelnel unequivocally said that he is now going to return the GPS to where he purchased it. See Post # 4 this thread.

 

Read the thread yourself. It's not moot because he still NEEDS to get it fixed first by Garmin before returning it. Do you really think the retail store would take back a GPS with an obviously broken screen? Most likely not because they'll think he just dropped it.

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BTW, I just received the replacement and went onto the mygarmin site to switch the map and birdseye registration over to the new serial number

 

If you're just going to return it...why? :blink:

 

I'd see if you can leave those subscriptions "open" and link them to a different compatible unit, should you so desire...

Edited by sviking
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I loaded up some maps and gcs and wps and took it for a walk. Super screen, very sunlight readable.

 

Heavy and cumbersome. Locked up on me three times in an hour, once to where I had to pull the battery pack out to recover. Compass is wacko, pointing backwards and every whichaway when turn by turn routing is on, and when direct routing is on the map rotates around for no reason while I am walking in a straight line for blocks at a time. Same old stuff. Garmin shipped it to me with firmware v2.40 on it but I didn't bother to update it to 2.50 or 2.60 because I know from previous experience they have the same problems, and 2.60 is actually worse.

 

I used my smartphone at the same time and it worked flawlessly.

 

I reset it to factory defaults, removed the maps and wps and gcs, and it's now packed for shipping and sitting by the door waiting for UPS to pick it up Monday morning.

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I'd see if you can leave those subscriptions "open" and link them to a different compatible unit, should you so desire...

 

That's what I decided to do, leave it open. Although I doubt I will buy another Garmin GPS in the near future.

 

Oh, from your posts I got the impression that the 62s was the holy grail... :rolleyes:

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