SPIII GPS for £150 !!

[walti]

Recieved mine yesterday and spent over 6 hours continually installing the mapsorce and then uninstalling it as it wouldn't work. Finally thought I had it sorted but get the followimg error message when I click on mapsource after it opens:

At: 5/3/06 5:17:52 PM (UTC)
OS: Windows 98 SE
Processor: Pentium, RAM: 129476 KB
DSK_FIRSTBOOTRECORD.CPP-268-4.10

Sent emails to Garmin but note states it will take 5 to 7 days for a reply.
Tried to contact Garmin Europe and now been on hold for exactly one hour!

Totally p!ssed off with Garmin and wished I had never bought the damn thing. Would be willing to sell it on to anyone else if this is what support from Garmin is like.

A familiar story!

Having run through this thread, I've installed the update and am programming the memory card...

Just off out so will try to use the unit to find my way to work!

 

[navig8r]

The 128 MB card will work fine also with V8 but the V8 map segments are bigger than in V7 so it sometimes may be difficult with V8 to select exactly the areas of interest and fit them into 128MB.

Don't worry too much about that. After upgrading to V8 you still have access to V7 so you can use V7 when you are short of memory.

My recommendation is to not buy 256 MB cards to the SP3. If you need this much memory you should consider buying a more modern unit. Buing a SP3 for £150.- and using it as is gives a good value for the money but further investments are probably not a good idea.

Don't upgrade to CN8 on on the original gps or you won't be able to use the both versions on a second unit you may want to unlock..I know to my cost.

Dave

 

[worthy]

Help....Can't get to grips with the instructions. I have plotted a route on mapsource, put it onto the card, inserted the card into the gps.......but how do i get it to calculaute/ plot the route......

 

[PanEuropean]

Recieved mine yesterday ... but get the followimg error message when I click on mapsource after it opens:

At: 5/3/06 5:17:52 PM (UTC)
OS: Windows 98 SE
Processor: Pentium, RAM: 129476 KB
DSK_FIRSTBOOTRECORD.CPP-268-4.10

Totally p!ssed off with Garmin and wished I had never bought the damn thing. Would be willing to sell it on to anyone else if this is what support from Garmin is like.

Sid:

You might want to stop for a moment and reflect on exactly what you have said - it doesn't sound too reasonable to me.

You have just purchased a second hand, 5 year old GPSR from someone other than Garmin, you are getting an error message that has NOTHING to do with the GPSR or the Garmin software (it is caused by the configuration of the computer you are installing the application on), and you are pissed off at Garmin because they aren't waiting at the other end of the phone to help you out?

Jeepers, think about it this way: Try buying a secondhand computer - maybe a five year old 486 - and then calling Microsoft and telling them that you are having troubles installing Windows 98 on it because of some entirely unrelated external problem (e.g. the power keeps going out at your house). Oh, and while you are at it, tell them that you expect them to send you a complimentary update to the lastest version of Windows at the same time, because you 'just bought one of their products'.

In that light, is your attitude towards Garmin Europe's customer support reasonable? Heck, I bet that when you do get in touch with Garmin, they will probably do everything they can to help you out, free of charge. Name one other company on this planet that will do the same for someone who has bought a 5 year old, second-hand product.

Michael

 

[PanEuropean]

And, one final comment on this whole business of whomever is selling these SP III's for ₤150 each:

Where the heck is that vendor when you need support? If I bought a 5 year old used car or used motorcycle, and had difficulties getting it up and running the same day I bought it, who do you think the most appropriate person to contact would be? BMW in Munich, or the used car dealer I bought it from?

This whole thread about selling used SP III's is NUTS, plain and simple. Fer' Pete's sake, all it does is prove PT Barnum's observation that there is a sucker born every minute. The SP III is obsolete, period, full stop. If you already own a SP III that you purchased some years ago when it was a current product, and you are happy with it, by all means continue to use it. But, to buy a SP III today, when there is current product out there that you can buy for not much more money (I'm not talking about 2820s or BMW Navigator III's, I'm talking about Quests or GPSMap 60's), is absolutly foolish and a perfect example of 'false economy'.

If you want to get the 'deal of the century' and buy one of these SP III's for ₤150 from the vendor who is so enthusiastically and unabashedly plugging his wares here, maybe you ought to ask that vendor to provide you with the necessary support to get you up and running to your satisfaction.

Michael

 

[markrich]

EASTERN EUROPE

Can those who have bought this unit please tell me what the coverage is like in central and Eastern Europe? Namely Poland and the Baltic states. Appreciate that the detail won't be as good but are the main roads and cities listed?

Marky

 

[Septimus]

Can those who have bought this unit please tell me what the coverage is like in central and Eastern Europe? Namely Poland and the Baltic states. Appreciate that the detail won't be as good but are the main roads and cities listed?

Marky

Wotcha Marky
Welcome aboard.
I've just had a look at MapSource and the Baltic states appear to be pretty well covered. Poland just has, what appear to be, major roads although even these seem to be pretty comprehensive.

How're things in Sodbury?
Lived there 'til March last year. A fine place if you've a thirst

 

[markrich]

Yes. It does seem that every third building is a pub in Sodbury. It's very hot and sunny here today and that gets me thinking about travelling

This GPS unit seems to be fine for me and my 650GS if Poland and Baltic states are covered. I want to go on a trip and and as I have been in this part of the world many many times I would love to return and take my bike with me.

map24.co.uk can give me printed routes and it's not a long journey for a couple weeks break but the GPS thingy at this price would be a good option especially if the map detail out of the box is detailed enough. The Garmin website seems to have no info at all on this part of our continent and noone ever answers the phone when I have tried calling for info.

Marky

 

[Bateman]

And, one final comment on this whole business of whomever is selling these SP III's for ₤150 each:

Where the heck is that vendor when you need support? If I bought a 5 year old used car or used motorcycle, and had difficulties getting it up and running the same day I bought it, who do you think the most appropriate person to contact would be? BMW in Munich, or the used car dealer I bought it from?
If you want to get the 'deal of the century' and buy one of these SP III's for ₤150 from the vendor who is so enthusiastically and unabashedly plugging his wares here, maybe you ought to ask that vendor to provide you with the necessary support to get you up and running to your satisfaction.

Michael

Michael - A couple of points re your comments above and earlier. These are refurbished units that comple complete with an official Garmin Newly Overhauled Warranty. This unit should therefore be as good as new and if it isn't, I would expect the same level of support whether my purchase was £150 or £550.

The problems described in this thread seem to be related to the installation of CityNavigator 7. It is a very simple fix that required a quick update from the Garmin site to resolve. However, the Garmin site does not provide any accessible instructions to help a user resolve this - instead you are forced to phone tier 1 support people and spend ages waiting on the phone. I would have had the same wait on the phone to get through to support regardles of the product I had purchased.

I am delighted with my purchase - it is a relatively inexpensive introduction to GPS, though I have been frustrated with access to the garmin Support. This thread has been far more useful, including your tips and tricks.

 

[Bateman]

How do I fix the RAM Mount to the unit?

I have been told that I need to unscrew the mount from the beanbag and attach that to the plate on the ram mount. I thought it would simply be a case of screwing it in but I can't figure out what goes in what hole and where to screw and the screws seem to small for the holes in the plate....Story of my life. Any advice please?

 

[PanEuropean]

I have been told that I need to unscrew the mount from the beanbag and attach that to the plate on the ram mount. I thought it would simply be a case of screwing it in but I can't figure out what goes in what hole and where to screw and the screws seem to small for the holes in the plate....Story of my life. Any advice please?

Here's a photo from my installation of the SP III on my motorcycle back in 2001. Note carefully the routing of the speaker cable in the top photo - it is designed to be held in place by little openings in the back of the bracket.

There are also some great photos on this thread: Street Pilot III for 1200GS - mounting tips?

Getting rid of the unwanted swivel-base


The bracket (less swivel-base) attached to the RAM backing plate
It's helpful to use a tiny bit of thread-locking compound on these 4 bolts.


How the bracket then holds the GPSR on the moto

 

[PanEuropean]

Michael - A couple of points re your comments above and earlier...

Hi Bateman:

I agree with what you have said. I guess I was just a little pissed off at the tone of Sid's post on the subject, and that frustration carried through to my response. Maybe this was because I met quite a few of the Garmin support staff from the UK yesterday at the EBACE convention, and we discussed support of the motorcycle riders - one person told me that they quite enjoyed providing support to the moto riders, because they always had unique and interesting questions.

Anyway - sorry.

Michael

 

[evenflow]

help!

Just got SPIII package.
Had a very frustrating morning trying to install mapsource.
The process goes ok until disk 3, then towards the end it comes up with,"Wrong volume in drive please insert disk 1". Then on insertion of disk one it says "internal error 2721 ISRebootpatchhandler".
I've tried and re-tried unistalling and re-installing to no avail, so at the moment I'm buggered if I know what to do next.
Anyone else had this one?

 

[evenflow]

Whoops sorry, spoke too soon. Seems that the fix was...go and have coffee, eat an apple, fix the ram mount on the GS, then try again. This Worked!
So if any one else has this problem and you've already fixed the ram mount on ya bike...your Shagged!
Now all I have is the problem of the unlock code which says that it failed and I have to reload the wiz and try again...do I Ignore this and go onto the other problem that requires Hew's fix or Have I to solve the unlock problem first?

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

Jeez, I just ordered one....still, what a challenge!!!!
I think it is critical to have the latest Mapsource loaded 6.10.2 b4 you start.

 

[evenflow]

ARRGH!Tried to carry out Hew's fix and I'm back to My orignal problem. Disk three causing problems again. Gonna give up for now try again tomorrow.
Just for the record.
When carrying out the Hew fix:-
1. I presume that when you uninstall mapsource you do both of them.
Theres two little mapsource icons appear on the population list when you go to uninstall.
2. After removing the said files and re-booting, My computer comes up with
the default file as C:/GARMIN not C:/program files..etc, as it says in the fix.
Anyway, I still have to fix the first problem again before I get to this again!!!

 

[Septimus]

Well, I've just come back from a cracking ride. Getting lost on purpose and then letting the SPIII get me back on track. Great fun

I hit a couple of snags while I was setting the software up but one phone call to Garmin Europe (sorted over the phone [by going to Garmin.com and downloading the latest verion of MapSource]) and one late night e-mail to tech support at Garmin.com (answer in my in box first thing next morning) sorted any problems out with well explained, step-by-step answers.

So. Thanks to Ram Man for the heads up. Thanks to GPSW for the quick delivery and thanks to Garmin for steering me through the setting up process

Right, the rain's stopped. I'm off out again

 

[walti]

I'm being a numpty!

I've got the SP111 I've got the Software installed, and updated, and unlocked, I can download maps to the memory card, but don't seem to be able to download waypoints and routes....

I can't see anything obvious that I'm doing wrong, any ideas?

 

[walti]

I'm being a numpty!

I've got the SP111 I've got the Software installed, and updated, and unlocked, I can download maps to the memory card, but don't seem to be able to download waypoints and routes....

I can't see anything obvious that I'm doing wrong, any ideas?

 

[Zed Zed]

mapsource

to all i had a problem with unlock code
one email to Garmin tech support and was sorted the next morning
excellent service
kev