I'm P***** off with Garmin ...

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PetiteFleur

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Sort of boat related, I have two Garmin GPS's on board and they have been very reliable over the years.
However I also have a Garmin nuvi 1340 satnav for the car - I downloaded map updates last night and now it won't work! Spoke to Garmin and unfortunately "This product can no longer be repaired ..."
They said no known problem when downloading updates but have offered a reasonable discount on a new model from their website.
Googled the problem and it won't even restart to factory settings ...
 
I've got a nüvi, last time I updated it had insufficient memory so had to install a memory card. It works fine now but I've lost the soothing ladies voice and now have a rather gruff male instead.
 
ghostlymoron said:
I've got a nüvi, last time I updated it had insufficient memory so had to install a memory card. It works fine now but I've lost the soothing ladies voice and now have a rather gruff male instead.
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I am also pe**ed off with Garmin for discontinuing the memory card for my plotter. Luckily a fellow forumist has got me out of a hole.

Are Garmin any worse than other companies in discontinuing support for earlier models? Mine was about 8 years old
 
davidej said:
I am also pe**ed off with Garmin for discontinuing the memory card for my plotter. Luckily a fellow forumist has got me out of a hole.

Are Garmin any worse than other companies in discontinuing support for earlier models? Mine was about 8 years old
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Nope... Navionics and CMap have done the same thing with chart card formats over the years. The good thing is now SD card has emerged as the standard. Bit like the V2000/Betamax/VHS thing for those that remember video tape.

It's too easy to get "sucked in" to a run-out deal as manufacturers change tech, although I think it was worse in the mid 80's-early 2000's than it is now. Always worth with marine kit checking the date of the on-line manual, and make sure it's not 5 years ago!
 
The others aren't any better. I have a TomTom SatNav bought several years ago before free map updates were included. I am happy with it and originally paid for updates a couple of times. Given that they are selling new sat navs with updates for life for £100 surely they could allow people to buy a licence to allow free updates at least for as long as the device is supported,
 
Gladys said:
It's too easy to get "sucked in" to a run-out deal as manufacturers change tech, although I think it was worse in the mid 80's-early 2000's than it is now. Always worth with marine kit checking the date of the on-line manual, and make sure it's not 5 years ago!
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Thanks Larry !! No body pointed out that the technology was changing after that model = other than touch screen which we did not want

Don't worry _ I can just blame Graham
 
PetiteFleur said:
Googled the problem and it won't even restart to factory settings ...
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It won't if the software/firmware corrupted during the update. It should be possible to wipe it completely and copy everything over from another sat nav though. Anyone you know have a 1340 ? Not sure what my old one is at home, will ask the wife to look.

EDIT : Just checked, it's a 1490 unfortunately.
 
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Have you tried pressing and holding the power switch for 10-30 seconds?
That sometimes provides a reset facility.
If it is 8 years old, chances are the Li-ion battery may be knackered, worth taking apart and checking perhaps?
 
There are a lot of web guides about resurrecting nuvi's that don't seem to respond, it can get quite technical and also rely on trial and error. Quite often there is a button sequence you hold to get it to start up in an engineering mode. I had one which became inordinately slow at loading maps on start up. The solution was to get into a secret menu and delete a cache that gets very large over time. This brought back full performance on mine.
 
When I got mine, I had only one free update and had to for subsequent ones. A couple of years later I was able to buy a 'lifetime updater' for 50 quid or so. This seemed a generous offer from Garmin. I don't know who's lifetime it is, mine or Garmin's . My unit is expandable you can put photos and I think music on it (not sure why you'd do that). The battery is shot these days but as I only use it in the car, this doesn't matter although I think it's easy to change.
davidpbo said:
The others aren't any better. I have a TomTom SatNav bought several years ago before free map updates were included. I am happy with it and originally paid for updates a couple of times. Given that they are selling new sat navs with updates for life for £100 surely they could allow people to buy a licence to allow free updates at least for as long as the device is supported,
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I am also unimpressed with Garmin as my daughter's Gamin 102 tactical compass (18 month old) for her Laser has separated from it's housing - a clear case of faulty manuafacture and they refuse to even reply. I have a CP, GPS, handheld GPS, one of those wrist thingies and 2 satnavs from Garmin but i will avoid them in future.
 
eddystone said:
I am also unimpressed with Garmin as my daughter's Gamin 102 tactical compass (18 month old) for her Laser has separated from it's housing - a clear case of faulty manuafacture and they refuse to even reply. I have a CP, GPS, handheld GPS, one of those wrist thingies and 2 satnavs from Garmin but i will avoid them in future.
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I find that odd, as i'v always had very good support from Garmin. Not sure how you contacted them, but you could try calling them on 0808 238 0000 or emailing marinesupport.europe@garmin.com
 
Garmin threatened to take me to court for breaking copyright laws in offering a blue chart vision card for sale,ntours etc. one I bought with a huge amount odf integrated electronics, but never used. It was not a chart cartridge but an extra data car with more depth com. I'm now out of boating but if I go back in again it will not involve anything Garmin even thougg I liked the hardware. I emailed them about the harassment I received from their lawyers following my small advert on amazon USA for a use card at $70, but they never bothered to answer. Garmin (USA at least) SUCKS!
 
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