Garmin won't support Unlocking old device charts

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by bob_77903

When you people figure out how to cruise for free, let me know...

Uh... We're talking about navigation, right? So you want to know how to navigate in U.S. waters for free? It's really easy. Install OpenCPN (open souce--meaning free--software), and then download free charts from NOAA. Connect a USB GPS device (available on e-bay for as little as $15-$20). Voila! You're done. No cost for the charts or the software, and any cheap computer that you already have will work fine.

Let's see you do that with Garmin. Okay, so it's not completely free, but it's darned close. Compared to the hundreds of dollars that Garmin will charge you for the charts alone, it might as well be free. It is absolutely highway robbery that Garmin thinks it's okay to charge several hundred dollars for charts that they downloaded for free, and that we can all download for free anytime we want.

[BambooSailor]

I had bad experience with Garmin few years ago. I ordered and paid for then new version of their charts for my handheld unit. They sent me an old one instead, which I was not very happy about, with promise to send new ones later. So, I installed old charts, went cruising and when came, I received new charts, but did not installed them immediately. When time came that I was going cruising again, I tried to activate my new charts, but activation failed. I called Garmin and was told that the version I have is already old and I need to buy an upgrade. I tried to explain to their customer rep that I do not care about how old the version I have is, it is the one I paid for and they are the ones who did not send correct product on time. They clearly did not care, wanted their additional $100 or so for product I have already paid for and just wanted to install it. I knew I was treated like a garbage. I swore I would never buy another Garmin product. And I kept my promise. When time came to install all new set of electronics (chart/gps/radar/fishfinder, etc.) guess at what company I did not even look at? I was afraid something like this threads started will happen to me, again, but this time it would cost me 20 times more.

[knots2u]

As mentioned above we here in Canada and everywhere outside the US have no choice as our governments don't offer charts for free. ENC charts for the West and East of Vancouver Island for instance are $1200 from the Canadian Hydrographic Society.

My Garmin handheld used charts on CD Rom which were updateable over the net for free until one day when they were no longer supported or available. I was looking for a chartplotter but was reluctant to buy a Garmin. When I mentioned this to the electronics sales person at my local marine supplies he told me that he'd only recently found out that Garmin's policy is to manufacture a product for five years after introduction and to support it for a further five years. If you buy something at the end of its shelf life (or even beyond if you buy a new but discounted old-stock item) you'll only get support for five years or less. A really good reason to buy something that uses Navionics or C-Map charts or the free NOAA charts if you live in the States.

[captainKJ]

Nobeltic made the same mistake and they have never lived it down.