Getting a new GPS unit - can I download the map s/w to another unit?

A

Albin

Joined
Aug 31, 2001
Messages
642
I currently have a Garmin Nuvi 260W; it's about 2 to 21/2 years old and the mapping software is outdated.

I'm getting a new Garmin Nuvi 1200 for the wifey unit via an incentive program here at work.

Updated mapping software from Garmin is at least $100, about $120 if I want to get 3 updates a year. It's almost cheaper to just buy another GPS unit.

In any event, is there anyway to download the mapping software off the new unit and then transfer that new software to the old unit? To my computers, the Garmins are treated as if there are just another harddrive.

Thanks for the help.

Al
 
This is why I specifically caution against Garmin. The receivers are less expensive to purchase, but they SOAK you for map updates.

$100 per year for maps!?! Outrageous!

Mercedes Benz charges about $250/year for their map subscription... and they have the Mercedes logo on them so you have to pay about three times the going price for them (I love my Mercedes, BTW, but I don't have the navigation option) (the last time I rode in a dealer courtesy car from the local Mercedes dealer, three things struck me: 1) The abject professionalism of the driver, 2) the utter quiet of the Blue Tech diesel engine... leve it to Mercedes to do diesel right, and 3) the Tom Tom GPS receiver stuck to the windshield. I commented and asked why a brand new MB purchased by the dealer to use as a courtesy car wouldn't have the navigation option. "Oh, it does...," the driver answered with a hint of embarasment as he punched up that screen, "But I can never figure out how to use it and it always seems to route me in the longest possible way." So, even Mercedes dealers don't buy Mercedes map updates.)

Garmin? They have no prestigious logo to mark their products up 3x. $100 for maps is outrageous.

When I got my new Tom Tom to replace my old one which was seized as evidence and destroyed in forensic examination (long story... don't ask... yet) , when I logged in to get the intial update and to register, I was offered three years of quarterly updates for $49. 12 updates for $49... just over four bucks each. That's a reasonable price. So, I took that deal.

Oh, and had I had a subscription for my old unit -- it had expired about six months beforehand -- I would have been able to transfer it to my new unit via Tom Tom's website. This is only reasonable. Nobody should buy a three-year subscription for a unit which could break or get dropped or stolen... or seized and disassembled.

I like Tom Tom. I'm -- involuntarily -- on my second one.... And this is the cheap one too.

I paid $99 for the unit. So, get a Tom Tom.
 
FWIW, I've had (still have) both TomTom and Garmin GPS. I purchased the TT as a refurb for a backup. The difference in customer service is stark. Try calling Garmin and you'll wait for an hour or more to get a rep. They're kind of like the Heckler and Koch of GPS, don't really like you or care about customers. The TomTom came with old maps from the reseller. A call to TT was answered in < 1 minute. The allowed me a complete update for free, after a pleasant conversation. YMMV, but I'll never get a Garmin again.
 
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