My Garmin GPS V is really great, It's Garmin itself I'm coming to hate.

[+Renegade Knight]

I love my Garmin GPS

The V I'd like to express.

I love the software it came with.

And the upgrade that came out forthwith.

City Select To help me rout.

Except I live in a rural area, like a lout.

When I asked them about the upgrade

They made me feel like my dog...when I had it spayed.

I tried to read their upgrade policies.

But found that I did not posess enough degrees.

To read it and and try to understad understand,

Why the upgrade price is enough to force me to sell my land.

To try to own City Select 4.01

Has been nowhere near any fun.

So if any of you should know who might sell,

4.01 other than garmin, please tell!

I'd unlock the entire land.

Cause I live next to a borderland.

Yes garmin's support makes me choke.

And their pricing causes me to go broke.

But it's what I have and own.

I will use it, but not bow at Garmins throne.

Because my GPS V is great.

But the Garmin company just grates.

 

Wherever you go there you are.

[+apersson850]

Seems like the experience you get depends upon what you buy and who you meet.

I've got a Vista, bought in the US, with MetroGuide Europe (which is sensibly priced, at least in the UK).

Firmware upgrades are for free. When complaining about a hardware problem, Garmin simply replaced my unit with a brand new one, at the end of the warranty period.

Their support in correcting errors in the firmware has been as quick as anyone could expect, as far as my experience goes.

 

Anders

[Alphawolf]

Cute! Mind if I copy this and post it on my sales counter? It might not help sell Garmins, but it should be shared!

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[+Renegade Knight]

If you want to post the poem on your sales counter be my guest. Garmin did send me a very nice email telling me the update CD was free but the code to unlock it costs the bucks.

 

My gripe is simple. $$

I paid more for my GPS V (4 months before the GPS V Deluxe came out) Than the GPS V Deluxe cost when it came out. With electronics this is normal and doesn't bother me.

 

What bothers me is the software upgrade. They want to charge me 100 bucks for the same software that the GPS V Deluxe comes with. This is really a punishment for those of us who got the GPS V and kept Garmin in business. The software cost which is only available as an upgrade should be nominal. After all I already paid a premium for the GPS compared to the V Deluxe.

 

As for the poem...It was a dark and stormy lunch and I had too much time on my hands. Too bad I can't edit it and take out the typo's.

[Alphawolf]

I am in exactly the same boat. I sell the dadgum stuff and do you think they would give me a break on the upgrade? yeah right. I can't count the thousand of dollars worth of Garmin products I have sold for them. I did tell them however, that they are meaking it real easy for me to want to sell Magellans!

 

"Never take a sunset for granted. Stop what you are doing and enjoy it. You never know when it may be your last"

[+EtrexRose]

Ive seen unlock codes for these programs, do they work? That would save some big money even though its against the law for people who dont like to pay for map updates.

[peter]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mr. Rose:

Ive seen unlock codes for these programs, do they work?

---

 

The unlock codes are supposed to be keyed to the serial number of the GPS receiver with which they'll be used. So the unlock codes available on the internet should be essentially worthless. They'll let you run the program and see the maps on your PC but won't allow a download to a GPS with a non-matching serial number.

 

I try to avoid programs with copy-protection arrangements so I bought MetroGuide which doesn't have any unlocking issues.

[+The Minnesota Cajuns]

Think about it this way. I saw the price on the Garmin V when it first came out. It was $499. I just bought a Garmin V Deluxe for $499. It has been out for many months. Now here comes the explanation on why they give you the whole CD for the same price as the people whop first bought it had to pay.

 

Back when it came out you got one territory to unlock and the unit for $499. If they were to offer that package today (just the one territory unlock), you would be able to buy it for $399. The cheaper price comes from a variety of possible factors, including cheaper parts, cheaper manufacturing process, and is basically just the way the whole electronics industry goes. The prices go down over time. So, if they still made the one territory unlock Garmin V package, you would get it for $399, but they don't offer that and instead offer the Deluxe version which is $100 more, which just so happens to be the price to purchase the fully unlocked CD. So, what they are doing is keeping the price the same and giving the consumer more than what someone who bought the initial release.

 

Early adopters always pay more than those who wait. You get the thrill of being the first to own and also enjoy the product for longer. THis happens with Palms, computer video cards, hell, any computer parts. When I bought my GeForce 4, it was 400 bucks. You can pick them up for much cheaper now and I only bought it back in May or whenever it first came out.

 

Anyway, my point is you shouldn't feel bad about it and writing a poem or printing out the poem and posting it at the counter isn't really going to make you feel better in the long run. Just know that every other electronics consumer goes through the same thing as you.

[+Renegade Knight]

DJ,

 

I think you missed the point. True enough early adopters pay more than those who buy later. And I'm perfectly happy wiht that. I got a lot of use out of the GPS over the summer.

 

The part I'm not sure you see is the software upgrade penalty.

 

For arguments sake lets say my summer of using the GPS was worth the price difference.

 

The Deluxe has better software. That's the crux. To update to the better software I pay another 100. This is on top of my early adopter penalty. The GPS unit iself is identical.

 

Still Garmin did respond with a reasonable answer to my email and I've asked for permission to pose it here to close out the thread.

 

In a nutshell, they said they have to pay a royalty every time they sell a GPS with the software and another one when they sell the upgrade. The profiteers are the companies that provide the software. This would put every GPS company who doesn't develop their own software and maps in the same boat.

 

Wherever you go there you are.

[+The Minnesota Cajuns]

I may not have communicated my point well in the last post. My point was that we did pay $100 more than what the theoretical price for the Garmin without the full map would have sold for. If you could buy that version currently, it would be $100 less than the current price for the Deluxe version. However, people cannot. So, your version is now worth $399 and you have to pay the $100 to get the Deluxe version software which basically means your total package would then be worth $499. Now, since you already paid $499, in order to get the Deluxe version's software, you would effectively be paying $599. And THAT is where the early adopter fee comes in. You paid $100 more than the late comers paid, but you got to use it more. Just like all those people who bought an X-Box for $299 before it dropped to $199 and included two free games and the new controller.

[+Renegade Knight]

Disco, You are right and now I understand what you are getting at. I appreciate your patience explaining it. It doesn't make that 100 any easier to dig up but it does make it easier to swallow, in a metaphorical manor of speaking.

 

Wherever you go there you are.