Our Garmin etex Venture HC failed us when we were really counting on it.

[James86004]

Today we were driving around the area northeast of Florence, Arizona, looking for some specific mines. We had the USGS 7.5 minute quads for the area, but they are pretty out of date when it come to the roads in the area. Just when we came to a particularly confusing set of roads, the GPS shut off. When we tried to turn it back on, the welcome screen would appear, then it would shut off again. New batteries did not fix the problem. We were so disgusted. We eventually found the right road, but we lost so much time in the process that we ran out of daylight to do anything.

When we got home, I tried to power the unit with the USB cable, but got the same result. I looked on Garmin's website, found the instructions for resetting the GPS, and now it works fine. We did lose all out waypoints and tracks for the day. I took the opportunity to upgrade the firmware in it from 2.90 to 3.30, which hopefully will fix this particular bug.

 

[1leglance]

that's a bummer...
but at least I knew when I opened your thread that it wasn't about how you followed it off a cliff like some of the recent stories

glad it is better now!

 

[Driver-Navigator]

That's a pretty big jump in the firmware, so I'm guessing you were about four updates behind. That might result in a fair number of unresolved bugs waiting in the software.

I've seen a few inexplicable shutdowns with Garmin handhelds. With the earlier firmware in my 60Cx, it had the occasional metdown when autorouting and in the 'recalculating' process. The updates seemed to have cured that tendency and it hasn't been an issue for a few years now.

Bugs and issues are not unique to Garmin handhelds either, I have plenty of stories from Magellan and DeLorme units as well. GPS are wonderful but I prefer to have fallback options on hand.

 

[Dave Bennett]

I've had similar issues with Garmin, not to mention all the proprietary $$$ software. I'm done with them.

 

[James86004]

I had zero issues with my GPSMAP 76S, too bad someone stole it. This one was 3 updates behind, but we have only owned it for a few months, so I never really paid attention until now.

 

[mmccurdy]

I've seen a few inexplicable shutdowns with Garmin handhelds. With the earlier firmware in my 60Cx, it had the occasional metdown when autorouting and in the 'recalculating' process. The updates seemed to have cured that tendency and it hasn't been an issue for a few years now.

I had a 60CSx that got stolen from the center console in my rig when I parked in SF overnight

I had the same issue with random resets during auto-routing and downloading large-ish data sets from a computer. Some of these I was able to track down to invisible and undocumented limitations (number of waypoints, number of turns in a street route, etc.) but others remained annoying as long as I owned the unit.

I replaced the 60CSx with another Garmin, a 378 chartplotter, and man it's night and day. Transfers work perfectly, street nav works perfectly, no more weird/inexplicable shutdowns, and really fantastic functionality overall.

Now that you mention it though, I wonder if it was a firmware version issue with my 60CSx all along...

 

[redbeard]

I've had similar issues with Garmin, not to mention all the proprietary $$$ software. I'm done with them.

That's one reason I haven't purchased a higher end unit. I'm now contemplating one as I've been finding free versions of all the maps made by users, such as found on http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/ or http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_main.html

 

[Dave Bennett]

A small netbook with GPS puck is a better solution than most off the shelf units with their expensive proprietary software BS. A netbook can be filled with maps, sat imagery, etc for free or next to nothing (I just bought DeLorme's Streets 2009 for $20 on eBay) and it serves many other uses in the cab or in camp (music, movies, journal entries, wi-fi, etc) unlike the one trick pony Garmins and others.

I have less money into my full blown netbook system than I had into my eTrex CSX with the Garmin maps - and I have turn by turn on road nav as well as great topos courtesy of Overland Navigator.

The best part of it all is the EASE OF USE! :costumed-smiley-007

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

I have an ancient Garmin c320 Street Pilot which I have fooled into loading various topo data from various websites. Works great! Bought it used about 3 years ago on eBay.

Garmin software is not more proprietary than any others nor expensive. Mapsource, Map install, web updater, etc. and nRoute are all free although the latter is not supported any longer.

I keep my GPS as up to date as the website will allow and have never had an issue. Having said that, a friend has had one issue with his Nuvi but Garmin stepped up and replaced it. All products have some issues, built by humans and I haven't met a perfect one yet. Then again, I have never met an Alien either!

I am thinking had you updated it regularly or before your trip this incident probably would not have happened.

Lastly, always back up all your data before and you won't loose much when the system crashes.

TACODOC's comment about a net book or equivalent with a GPS puck is a great idea! I use my Acer Aspire One with the C320 plugged into it and I get the best of both worlds. Also, always keep paper maps nearby, why temped the Gods?

 

[daverami]

A small netbook with GPS puck is a better solution than most off the shelf units with their expensive proprietary software BS. A netbook can be filled with maps, sat imagery, etc for free or next to nothing (I just bought DeLorme's Streets 2009 for $20 on eBay) and it serves many other uses in the cab or in camp (music, movies, journal entries, wi-fi, etc) unlike the one trick pony Garmins and others.

I have less money into my full blown netbook system than I had into my eTrex CSX with the Garmin maps - and I have turn by turn on road nav as well as great topos courtesy of Overland Navigator.

The best part of it all is the EASE OF USE! :costumed-smiley-007

Quick question Dave,

What do you use for a laptop mount?

I installed a full RAM mount setup for my netbook, and while it works fine, it's quite bulky in my opinion. Just trying to figure out something useful and plain.

 

[Driver-Navigator]

A small netbook with GPS puck is a better solution than most off the shelf units with their expensive proprietary software BS. A netbook can be filled with maps, sat imagery, etc for free or next to nothing (I just bought DeLorme's Streets 2009 for $20 on eBay) and it serves many other uses in the cab or in camp (music, movies, journal entries, wi-fi, etc) unlike the one trick pony Garmins and others.

That's a wholly subjective statement. Besides being my vehicle GPS, my Garmin handheld is mostly used for hiking, backpacking, SAR, geocaching, and other uses that are not appropriate for a netbook.

Garmins aren't restricted to the $ proprietary maps either. I do use their city and topo maps, but I also use a variety of non-Garmin topo and offroad trail maps.

Having used a Garmin 60-series almost daily for about 5 years now, the ease of use thing doesn't really apply either, at least in my case. I can run through almost any function I care to on autopilot by now.

YMMV.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Quick question Dave,

What do you use for a laptop mount?

I installed a full RAM mount setup for my netbook, and while it works fine, it's quite bulky in my opinion. Just trying to figure out something useful and plain.

I'm still in the brainstorming process for a proper, space saving mount. I'm thinking some 3/16 or better sheet aluminum, cut/bent/molded to bolt to existing bolts in the center stack, keeping the netbook mid-cab as opposed to offset towards the passenger side.

 

[Dave Bennett]

That's a wholly subjective statement.

Subjective? Absolutely.

My personal experience with Garmin and their software (USA Topo) was wholly unacceptable IMO.

I'm expecting hate mail from the Garmin zealots now for deviating from the norm...

To each his own I guess.

.02

 

[daverami]

Subjective? Absolutely.

My personal experience with Garmin and their software (USA Topo) was wholly unacceptable IMO.

I'm expecting hate mail from the Garmin zealots now for deviating from the norm...

To each his own I guess.

.02

I like my Garmin GPS but it has it's place. In my truck, I have been doing much experimentation with Overland Navigator and OziExplorer. I really like them both. Like Dave said, Overland Navigator is fun and it's easy. I just wish I had a touch screen, although it's fine without one.

I don't have a puck yet, but just use the Garmin to get the signal to my netbook. I like being able to use it as kind of a dual purpose item, in the truck and when I'm out of it on a hike or something.

What works for one person may not work for another. To each his own for sure.

 

[daverami]

I'm still in the brainstorming process for a proper, space saving mount. I'm thinking some 3/16 or better sheet aluminum, cut/bent/molded to bolt to existing bolts in the center stack, keeping the netbook mid-cab as opposed to offset towards the passenger side.

I like that idea too. Just figuring out where to mount it. I think I saw a post that had some pictures of a setup similar to what you are saying.