Interesting, but it seems every time I buy a newly released Garmin GPS, it take two years of updates for the device to work correctly. I still have some issues with my Garmin Montana. If Garmin was smart, they would just port their GPS Software to Android and be done with it.
Dave,
Garmin did that with the Monterra. I recently purchased one and it is very slick. But, it has fatal flaw. If you do a factory reset on the Android side, it will wipe part of the Garmin side, and wreck the unit. I know, as I am awaiting the Monterra replacement back from Garmin. The other big downside is that it is an end of the line technology for Garmin, as they will not be upgrading this product line. So you do have the ruggedness of the Garmin, so it will likely last a long time, but you will be stuck on Android 4.04. This means that many apps will not work, now and eventually.
But, I have my fingers crossed that my replacement will work out. Lots of reasons. First, having an android operating system with swiping and pinching means that it is faster for me use, than say the Montana, which I also have. If you are an android user, you can really move around quickly. I did load Oryx maps on mine, and those work well. Gives me google maps, garmin maps, and other third party mapping. It has a music player, and fm receiver. Camera and video. Gmail and other android maps. Basically, everything the phone can do, except make a call. Well, you can call over WIFI, so it has some capability, including email.
My hope is that this will work out, as it means when I go offroad, I can store my phone, and use the unit for all mapping, navigation, music, photography, hunting and shooting apps, in a completely ruggedized unit. My guess is that Garmin decided the headache with staying on top of things in the android world was not worth the effort, but conceptually it is a dandy unit. I played with mine for a week before sending it back, and I loved it. We'll see how the replacement does, with no factory resetting.
Craig
