Jezz what zoo. I spent almost 3hrs today updating my Garmin 1450T to the NuVi Maps lifetime membership.
It took 1 hr & 47 mins just to download the humongous files only to find out that they were too large for my unit. Then another 1 hr to go back, cull out what I didn’t need and reload to the lower 49(?) only.
You would think the programmers would at least set the system up to scan the max amount of space available or files that can be downloaded. Then give the options of what areas or sections you want.
There is a tremendous amount of redundancy to this operation that should/could be culled out for a more user-friendly update. One being the selecting that you agree to the user terms. I had to do this each time a reload come up, some five to six times.
I realize that my DSL speeds (1952 kbs) are not the fastest on the block, but I feel for those trying to do this on a dial up modem. It would take a week to get it done.
On the good side, there were a lot of glitches or hiccups that were corrected or eliminated and the unit doesn’t “search” for an indefinite period before completing a function.
The cost for the Lifetime update directly from Garmin is almost $100. Considering what I paid for the unit in the first place, plus the time spent doing an update, is close to border-line un-economical.
* This post was
edited 11/13/11 03:12pm by grey`eagle *
'04 F-250 PSD TV
'04 CF28CK Cruiser
Now enjoying mother earth at ground level and one mile per minute.
All of the above are the reasons I switched to TomTom and never looked back. Never again will I spend an hour on hold for tech support.
1937(BAD BOY)pontiac,all steel,chevy 350,dyno=405hp,650 holley double pumper,ps,pb tilt wheel,heat & air,
700 r4 tranny,headers,3" exhaust with flowmasters
just a good ole southern redneck country boy
When I got my Garmin 465T it had all of North America maps installed. Several updates later all that would fit on the device was all of the US and Canada. The other day I updated and all that would fit now are the lower 49 states. I sent an email to tech support and asked why the space was decreasing and forcing me to select smaller maps. I haven't had a reply yet. Will post when they sent a response.
Robin Brumfield
2011 Dodge 3500 DRW CC
2012 Jayco Eagle SuperLite 31.5RLTS
352 wrote: All of the above are the reasons I switched to TomTom and never looked back. Never again will I spend an hour on hold for tech support.
I have both Garmin and TomTom and have dealt with tech support on both. Much prefer Garmin to TomTom. As an added benefit I've found Garmin knows how to get me there; with TomTom it's hit or miss.
Have to agree with the original poster about checking for storage space available before trying to copy the file, but Garmin isn't the only SW Vendor guilty of this. The programmers in Redmond have done that for years in their systems while the programmers in San Jose always seem to check first and tell you the problem up front. Guess it's really true that they "Think Differently".
One thing you can do is plug in your Garmin to your computer, then go into the file system and take out all the foreign language files. Their GPS systems are designed to be used worldwide and come complete with many many languages. You don't need those files. The update is only the map data, and the instructions are only put into your unit from the start.
Also, if you had added any extra vehicles or other goodies from their download site, choose only those that you really need.
It seems they have the ability to give you enough space to just make it fit and lifetime updates is only good for the lifetime of the unit to have enough space to hold the update.
Also do a google search for updating your unit. You may find some interesting information and maybe some u-tube instructions like I did for my unit.
Mike and Carole
2007 Snowbird 9'6" Super Slide
2005 16.6 Double Eagle
2000 F350 7.3 SC 4X4
previously 8'10" Snowbird Camper
2006 Triple E Regency 27 foot SXL SOLD!
Robin1953 wrote: When I got my Garmin 465T it had all of North America maps installed. Several updates later all that would fit on the device was all of the US and Canada. The other day I updated and all that would fit now are the lower 49 states. I sent an email to tech support and asked why the space was decreasing and forcing me to select smaller maps. I haven't had a reply yet. Will post when they sent a response.
We had the same problem on our aircraft some twenty to twenty three years ago when we first started using GPS for serious navigation.
When we first started with the updates it required three of the old type 3.5 disks. Then it progressed to five disks then eight, etc.
When it got to ten disk, they split the service areas up to various geographical regions. i.e. North American, America, Europe, Asia, Pacific, etc. For those of us flying international, it would drive us nuts trying to figure out which regions overlapped at what point, in order to load only the data we needed.
The reason was that with each new update come 1000's of new way-points.
The Universal Navigation systems that we were using couldn't update the hardware fast enough to accommodate the massive new data that was coming out each month.
I highly suspect that is what is happening with these Tonka Toy type GPS's that are on the market today. Loading data for an aircraft navigation system is one thing, loading data for the Garmins, Magellan's, Tom Toms' is entirely different.
Offline
