Beware Garmin GPS 72

[Marc Theriault]

John,

I think, the two cables are join together. The gps must have a old gps to serial(computer) connector and the other cable must be serial to usb connector. The serial port on the new computer is not always present.

It's just a supposition.

Marc

[Joe Myerson]

Yes Marc, the two cables do join together.

That's because the standard cable that cames with Garmin's older GPS units is designed to hook to a computer's serial port. Newer computers have USB ports, rather than serial ports.

Garmin offered to sell me a USB-to-Garmin cable, for about $70. Instead, I found a Serial-to-USB adapter on the Internet for $9.95.

I probably wouldn't have used a low-priced adapter if I were taking my computer onboard, but I enter most of my waypoints from my desktop.

Good luck, everybody. I haven't tested my GPS or GPSmap units yet, but at least I've got the cable.

--Joe

[SurryMark]

I recently did an article for a motorcycle publication on a TomTom GPS unit. I was reluctant to badmouth the product but first one unit and then a replacement failed, in different ways. TomTom's final response was "we're sorry you had trouble with your GPS." TomTom has some great aspects, and must have many satisfied customers. In my case the worst that happened was that I was without directions way back on Maine woods roads, on normal rural roads in western New York, and in Queens, NY. (It would have been much more uncomfortable if I were threading a boat through the rocky and foggy passages off Stonington, Maine.) The only point in writing about TomTom is that it appears that any of these things can fail for "normal" reasons, and on top of that the companies may be willing to play the odds.

[Joe Myerson]

I did buy the el-cheapo serial-to-USB adaptor, and it did not work.

It turns out that you must have the correct software driver. So, I ended up ordering the Garmin brand USB hookup. It does work (and cost about $60).

On another front: I started getting the blank screen with two vertical lines on my screen again at the end of the 2008 sailing season (in October).

I contacted Garmin. They have still not come up with a software solution. However, by disabling WAAS, I could get my GPSMap 76 to work again. The GPS 76 did not seem to be affected at all.

--Joe

[winthrop fisher]

in all the years i was selling all marine products.

as the garmin 72 was not one of there better products,

as far as selling them 72 that was very few over the years,

i would sell you sum thing better for your money.....

Garmin's GPS 72 is on sale for less than $100 at West Marine and other places right now, and I just found out why. I bought one. It is defective.

Nevertheless, they're still selling them, so if you're in the market for a cheap back-up GPS, beware of the GPS 72.

The problem arises when the GPS receives WAAS signals. The screen goes totally blank except for a thin blue line running from top to bottom.

A tech support rep at Garmin told me they are aware of the problem and are working "frantically" to correct it. He said if I register the unit, they will inform me when a software download is available that will correct the problem.

This, of course requires a special cable from your PC to the GPS. When I asked who would pay for that, the answer was that I would have to.

The temporary "fix" is to selected "WAAS disabled" from the menu, so that WAAS does not kick in.

Incidentally, after waiting for 10 minutes to speak to Garmin's tech support, someone picked up the phone and put it down again, cutting me off, so I am not very kindly disposed to a company I have supported faithfully for many years.

The service is poor, the product is shoddy. There's no point in my returning it and getting another GPS 72 in exchange, because they all suffer from the same disease according to the man I spoke to, and they don't know how long it will take to fix it.

However, if you find yourself with a blank screen when you really need help, here's what to do:

(1) Remove a battery and then replace it.
(2) Press "Page" twice
(3) Press "menu" twice
(4) Scroll down to "Setup"
(5) Scroll down twice to "WAAS"
(6) Select "Disabled"
(7) Press "Enter"
(8) Press "Quit"

You will now find that all your stored data has disappeared--waypoints, routes, everything--and the factory defaults will have come back. But you will at least receive satellite signals and get a position even if it is not WAAS-corrected.

Cheers,

John Vigor

[paul marko]

To add my two cents, I just down loaded Garmin's latest version 4.0 on my GPS Map 76 (previously it had ver.3.9, unit purchased 03/2006).Then, I called tech support to see if the WAAS problem had been fixed with this latest software update, the response was "NO" but they were going to fix it. All I needed to do is register the unit and they would send me an updated fix for the WAAS.( they said the same thing two years ago)

All I can surmise from my exchange with Garmin, is they have good intentions but little interest in making the software fix. At any rate I like the unit I have, but it will always be used with a good "DR" plot.

(ps. the down load left all my existing data, waypoints etc. in the units memory)

Paul