SPIII GPS for £150 !!

Bin Ridin said:
I thought the cd was free but the unlock was $75 or so ? No ? How to upgrade for nowt, please?
Its all HERE but basically as long as you've registered the unit after 1st Jan 2006 ie the release date, then Garmin will upgrade to Version 8. :thumb
 
Bin Ridin said:
Just received SP3 kit,
installed CN7 maps on supplied 128mb card,
unlocked for second Garmin unit (276C unit I also own),
installed CN7 maps on 128mb card which I bought separately.

Was thinking of doing something similar with a 60cx/60sx....

-Rob
 
Help

My screen on the Streetpilot has changed.....It used to show the background as yellow and now it is black. The roads are red and the towns yellow so I am asuming that the screen is still "colour".......Any sugestions or is the unit starting to fail? Has anyone had a similar problem with these units? :nenau

Does it need to be sent back I have only had it about 5 weeks and am relying on it for my trip to France and Spain in 3 weeks :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
worthy said:
My screen on the Streetpilot has changed.....It used to show the background as yellow and now it is black. The roads are red and the towns yellow so I am asuming that the screen is still "colour".......Any sugestions or is the unit starting to fail? Has anyone had a similar problem with these units? :nenau

Does it need to be sent back I have only had it about 5 weeks and am relying on it for my trip to France and Spain in 3 weeks :confused: :confused: :confused:

Errr... No.... ;)

That'd be the night view.

-Rob

edit:

From the map screen, press the menu key, select map setup, then colour mode, I'm guessing this is set to 'auto'.

At nightfall with auto selected the SPIII display changes to night view, which is what you described above. It's in that ring bound lump of papers that came with the SPIII - commonly referred to as 'the manual' ;)
 
Cheers Rob. Did not find it in the manual at first glance.............Just saw on second reading..........
 
Just spoke on the phone to these people wont accept phone orders although the internet says they will???!! :confused: ....and wont give any estimate of delivery, none in stock expecting some more at the end of the week but you have to get order number off the net to get your place in the que....no money taken until despatch......have ordered one but not holding my breath a very vague/miserable member of staff I spoke to (must have been the cleaner passing through...cant possibly have been from "sales" :eek )...will keep you updated with any progress
 
headphone

Tried to use the nokia headphone, but the lead not long enough. Any idea where I can get a headphone with a long lead to plug into the gps.....tried Maplin with no luck
 
robD said:
My SPIII arrived yesterday afternoon (sans RAM mount), I had it all working/installed/unlocked a couple of hours later.

The unit is an upgrade from my gpsIII+, I already had the latest mapsource installed (6.10.x) so the SPIII City Nav was an upgrade install of that, on my ancient w2K laptop - The unlock wizard worked perfectly - which makes me think XP may be an issue in some people's problems.

Want a 256mb card? I found this one....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=9717386151&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

One's on it's way as we speak :)

Even using v7 City Nav, the entire UK is something like 160mb of data.

-Rob
Have you got the data card from ebay yet? If so is it OK.................
 
Anybody got a spare Garmin/Ram/Touratech mount they want to sell?

The £150 offer was just weeks after I brought a used SP3 from this very forum, but have never got round to sorting out how to mount it!!

I dont need a BMW mount, as I dont (yet) own a BMW!!

:D :D
 
I've got one you can buy - I've just upgraded to a 2820, was going to FleaBay it anyday soon.

If you have a look at www.inline-4.co.uk you'll find contact details
 
Have been offered one of these refurbished SPIII's from GPSW for my birthday. I currently use TomTom Navigator 5 on my O2 Xda Exec and am happy with it, except the fact I have to use an Otterbox to keep it waterproof. Like the 3D maps and layout.

Is the Garmin a superior product overall for Sat Navigation and is it worth my while saying yes to it?

Would appreciate some feedback from new users and old alike.

Thx
 
rugbug said:
Have been offered one of these refurbished SPIII's from GPSW for my birthday. I currently use TomTom Navigator 5 on my O2 Xda Exec and am happy with it, except the fact I have to use an Otterbox to keep it waterproof. Like the 3D maps and layout.

Is the Garmin a superior product overall for Sat Navigation and is it worth my while saying yes to it?

Would appreciate some feedback from new users and old alike.

Thx
First - The Garmins are not superior in a general sense. But nothing beats a Garmin on a motorbike!

Second - An old SP3 is not a good choise if you want the "best". The very low price may motivate the purchase if money is a big issue or if you are a beginner who want a low cost first introduction to the GPS world. Later models as Quest, 60Cx, SP2720, 276C, etc are much better!
 
HMR said:
...Later models as Quest, 60Cx, SP2720, 276C, etc are much better!

I agree with HMR. No-one should be buying SP III's now, with the possible exception of highly experienced GPSR users who are purchasing one for a special purpose - for example, to give to parents or kids who will rarely travel more than 25 miles from home base, and who won't often be using the auto-routing function.

If you are a first-time buyer and you want to get a GPSR, but can't afford the price of a new unit, look at purchasing either a Quest (1 or 2) or one of the earlier SP 2xxx units, for example, the SP 2610. The 60Cx and 276 are also fine units, but they are sort of 'special purpose' GPSRs, rather than being 'pure automotive' GPSRs. Unless you have done a lot of homework and research, and know exactly what you want, it's best for new users to stick to purchasing the 'pure automotive' GPSRs if you intend to use them for car and moto use.

There is a discussion going on about low-cost SP 26xx GPSRs at this link: 2610 for £359.

Michael
 
Thanks fellas. Looks like it'll be my TomTom 5 to Switzerland next month then!!!

Quick PS though: wasn't the SPIII the unit BMW were using on their bikes a couple of years ago, and if so, why has it now become so obselete it isn't worth sniffing over?
 
Rugbug:

The speed of technology advances in consumer GPSRs is pretty much the same as the speed of technology advances in personal computers. If you would feel comfortable buying a used, 2001 vintage laptop or desktop computer as your 'first machine' - then I suppose a 2001 GPSR would also meet your needs. However, if you think it would make more sense to buy a more recent computer (assuming you were shopping for a computer) - then the analogy carries over unchanged to GPSRs.

All the same factors that affect computers affect GPSRs - processor speed, memory capacity, storage capacity, and reductions in size and weight.

A person who has great experience working with and deploying computers might be able to save a few bucks by purchasing a used, 2001 model computer to do a specific task (e.g. function as a proxy server), but it is unlikely that anyone would buy a 5 year old machine to use as their primary device.

Michael
 
I think a lot depends on how much you need to use it. I bought an SP111 a couple of weeks ago, and took it on my alps trip. It was useful for finding petrol stations and letting me know exactly where I was all the time, but everything was typically so well signposted that it was more a comfort thing being able to glance at the screen. Even the smallest of passes were well signposted and I rarely had to use it. However, when I did occasionally get lost, it did its job well - routed me to small obscure places etc. It is slow - but it didn't bother me waiting 20 seconds for it to recalculate a route. I probably couldn't justify paying twice the price for something I only use 3 or 4 times a year. I plotted all my routes on it in advance and barely needed to refer to them to actually know where I was going.

Obviously if I do a great deal more travelling into unknown places, I may consider a faster one.
 
Having had £1500 worth of VDO dayton when they were new, (went back with company car) and now having bought the Garmin III I would say that the difference in rerouting times are minimal, the ease of use of the VDO by remote was a questionable benefit therefore the 'sense' of buying this system for the miles most people do is a no brainer!!!

FOr those who wouldnt have something this old(?) :rob (still got same 1 year warrantyas new models) I can only assume you buy new bikes cars tv's etc when the models come out and budget is not an issue to you.

Buy one play and have fun they are a piece of cake to use and pigging helpful when your lost or in need of petrol somewhere new!!! :thumb
 


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