Version 5

[Swooper]

You can imagine how pleased I was to receive the version 5 update from Garmin.

Followed the process through etc but notwithstanding I only bought the SP III deluxe just before Christmas, I am still being asked for $150 for the unlock codes.

I thought that as my purchase is only 6 weeks old I would have been eligible for a free upgrade.

Question is:

Is it worth $150?
What experience has any one else have in a similar situation?

Look forward to your comments.

 

[John Armstrong]

Worth it?

Depends on if V4 is good enough already? First impressions are that French and some Spanish towns are much better mapped. If you're going to Prague then it'll be V5 you'll need.

 

[Swooper]

v5 or not v5?

I must admit, having just taken the family to Disneyland Paris this weekend, V4 was well up to the job including non motorway work.

Chanel tunnel was interesting in that as soon as satelite reception was recieved again we jumped c35 miles - If nothing else good for the fuel consumption figures


Any other comments or feedback?

 

[Howard Millichap]

I've just had confirmation from Garmin that I'm entitled to the "free" upgrade to V5. They didn't mention having to pay again. Just to re-register and follow the instructions on the "unlock" page. I guess that's when they'll ask for my dosh
We'll see.
I haven't had a chance to use the V4.01 abroad yet. I recon that with the amount of new roads the French seem to be building an upgrade might be worth it. Although most of the old roads should still be there.

 

[Howard Millichap]

I just recieved my "free" "Upgrade" CD V5. I installed some of the areas onto my laptop (I don't have enough free space for all areas). To unlock I tried the code supplied with my V4.01 CD and it worked. So it was free.

 

[CoolCarbon]

For those who didn't know..............I have been reliably informed by Herr Dutchcap that those who Bought the BMW Navigator from their friendly B*W Dealer are entitled to the upgrades free.........adinfinitum........now thats a deal to be reckoned with.

If you consider that 1 upgrade willcost some $150 or there abouts, after a few of those, the B*W Naviy will look like good value.........!!

CC

 

[Dutchman]

For those who didn't know..............I have been reliably informed by Herr Dutchcap that those who Bought the BMW Navigator from their friendly B*W Dealer are entitled to the upgrades free.........adinfinitum........now thats a deal to be reckoned with.

If you consider that 1 upgrade willcost some $150 or there abouts, after a few of those, the B*W Naviy will look like good value.........!!

CC

Whilst it's great that owners of the BMW Motorrad Navigator (& the Garmin SPIII Deluxe) will get free MapSource upgrades......I have to say that this Version 5 that everyone is so excited about, is worth all of $5......I would be extremely miffed if I'd just shelled out $150 for the modest improvements made over V4.....unless, of course, I was off to Czechoslovakia or Sweden this year.....

Herr Dutchcapnederlandmeister.....

 

[judge]

Whilst it's great that owners of the BMW Motorrad Navigator (& the Garmin SPIII Deluxe) will get free MapSource upgrades......I have to say that this Version 5 that everyone is so excited about, is worth all of $5......I would be extremely miffed if I'd just shelled out $150 for the modest improvements made over V4.....unless, of course, I was off to Czechoslovakia or Sweden this year.....

Herr Dutchcapnederlandmeister.....

PHEW!! That's a relief for someone who is so confused by all this cafuffle surrounding upgrades and doesn't 'think' they're entitled to a free upgrade and hasn't even unlocked Europe yet cos of the horrendous costs involved - its good to know I maybe not missing out on much

 

[Greg Masters]

...MapSource upgrades......I have to say that this Version 5 that everyone is so excited about, is worth all of $5

I don't think that anyone at Garmin is describing this as a upgrade - it's an update.

Frankly, just looking at the maps on the PC will not show you if road and junction attributes have been updated. Certainly I've found that a road very local to me, which was shown and routed as a through-road on version 4.00 has now been corrected to a dead-end on v5.00. As I posted earlier, some towns in Spain (I showed Cáceres) have got massively upgraded mapping. Prague and the Czech Republic have already been mentioned as entirely new.

Is the update it worth $150? You'll each have to answer that for yourselves, but I can't quite see the point in spending £1k on the dog's knees of a gizmo, but then running it on old data!

Greg

 

[Dutchman]

I don't think that anyone at Garmin is describing this as a upgrade - it's an update.g

Update/Upgrade.......what's in a word....?

Either way V5 is an absolute waste of money for those already in possession of V4 and I certainly don't subscribe to the theory that having the 'latest' is necessarily the best way to go.....

Thanks, though, Greg for correcting my use of English, which, of course, is NOT my first language!

 

[Greg Masters]

Update/Upgrade.......what's in a word....?

My Scots/English and Dutch/Dutch (Double-dutch?) universal translator is hors de combat at present!

Update to me says that the data has been adjusted for the effluxion of time - ie brought up to date.

Upgrade to me means to have improved the base-level. Actually, I think that Garmin have done this, but it's not their selling point.




Greg

 

[Dutchman]

My Scots/English and Dutch/Dutch (Double-dutch?) universal translator is hors de combat at present!Greg

Yabbutt......yer Bollox seems to be workin' just fine..........!

 

[John Armstrong]

$150?

As Autoroute 2003 is costing about £40 and appears that it will use similar data to the V5, and that Autoroute 2002 seems to use the same data as V4 its a pity that you can't use the autoroute in the GPS! Especially as the same people (Navtech) seem to have their name to it.

But as the V5 upgrade didn't cost me anything I'm not too upset.

 

[Howard Millichap]

Re: $150?

But as the V5 upgrade didn't cost me anything I'm not too upset.

Please tell us how?

 

[John Armstrong]

Re: Re: $150?

Please tell us how?

By following the yes / no etc screen prompts on the upgrade / update CD-ROM. Having an unlock code for the whole of Europe which came with the SP3 deluxe was probably a great help. To be pedantic I ticked the box for the charge @ $0.00!

Due to Gregs advice, and laziness, I hadn't registered the SP3 / Mapsource on-line either till after the V5 had been shown on the Garmin web-site.

Hope this helps?

 

[MikeO]

This subject is being discussed in 2 places on the same forum. This is a copy of a post I put on the 'Garmin City navigator' thread, which may help to answer some questions about upgrades and whether you pay for them or not...

I Emailed Garmin for some guidance on upgrading the City Navigator to V5.00; thought this reply shed some light on the costs/exclusions.

MikeO




Hi Michael,

We are only offering free of charge updates for units purchased/registered after the release date of our updated data, as specified on our website (15th Jan), which is 4 weeks before we expect to have the new product ready for shipping.

The upgrade cost for the European City Navigator product is US$150 for products registered before the release date.

Our data source, Navtech, supply map data to greater than 70% of the in-car navigation systems, many of whom have to have their data/updates on a region basis (rather than all the European regions like our system) and their current update costs are about 149 Euros per region, so for all 7 regions are 1043 Euros. We therefore think our upgrade price is very fair when
comparing to this.

If you have any other queries, please do not hesitate in contacting me.

Regards,

Tony Broad
Service/Support and MIS Manager
Garmin (Europe) Ltd

 

[Howard Millichap]

Cracked it!!

I've just got an unlock code for zilch. The trick it seems is if you registered your v4.01 AFTER the lauch of v5. If you did you get v5 free. Exactly as described in the letter from Garmin post in the previous post. Yipeeeeeeeeee!