Out With The Old, In With The New
My Magellan Roadmate 760 GPS Receiver was giving me trouble for the past few days. The connectors that supplies power to the unit kept coming loose. I couldn’t find where the loose parts were but it was driving me crazy. When I plugged the unit in, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. I would need to disconnect the unit and try it again. Most of the time, things work after two or three tries. However, it progressively got longer and longer. Rather than take a chance on the unit never turning on, I decided to get a replacement unit, just in case.
The GPS I got was the Garmin nüvi 360. The 360 is basically the same as as the Garmin nüvi 350 but with a Bluetooth receiver so you can connect your cell phone to it for hands free calls. The nüvi is way smaller than the Magellan GPS. The 350 is barely bigger than a pack of playing cards. Despites the small size, the nüvi 360 is extremely powerful, has a 3.5″ color display (just a bit smaller than the Magellan 3.75″) and packs a ton of extra features, like a MP3 player.
My favorite feature of the Garmin nüvi 360 is it’s battery powered and fits in your pocket. That allows me to program all my destinations into the unit while at home and call them up in the car. A car power adapter is included. Without external power, the 360 can last up to eight hours on its rechargeable battery.
I purchased the unit at Futureshop in Markham, Ontario for $599.00 plus taxes. Then I get home to check the TTZ Media price index and see that I could have got it for a lot less. Oh well. I can always use it, review it, and then return it after I get back to Vancouver. 
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GPS with Bluetooth and an mp3 player, eh — sounds like a pretty nifty toy alright. Let’s hope this one doesn’t go cuckoo anytime soon LOL.
Reply to this commentlol, let’s hope not!
Reply to this commentDoes it drive for you as well?
Reply to this commentFor a few bucks more, I’d be happy to chauffeur John around myself (I’d accept the old GPS as a down payment, too).
Reply to this commentjohn is pure evil
(return the gps after return…evil…)
Reply to this commentFor awhile, the Nuvi was the Top GPS sold on Amazon. Pretty cool “toy”.
Reply to this commentJohn… Is this the first time you have had to pay for a gadget
I would have thought you could have given a contact a call and they would have shipped it for free.
Reply to this commentHe needed one right away though!
Reply to this commentThe Nuvi 350 @ Costco is
Reply to this commentThere’s no doubt you’ll return it. You’re so evil, after all!
Reply to this commentYou can actually return the product? so ‘evil’
A return no cost policy? … here, once sold, it’s considered not returnable. Unless it has defect from factory
This GPS however looks much cooler
Reply to this commentYeah, that actually happens — I don’t think a lot of the vendors appreciate it (Futureshop, be nice now), but return and exchange policies do allow it.
Reply to this commentFlexible returns policies have been around in England a while now. When I was working in a shop the customer would scream and shout, but they would not get a refund. Then a US company purchased the company I worked for and suddenly a 10 day return policy was put in place with no questions asked. The only time we would not refund was if something was damaged. But, they would call the company support number and they would tell us we had to refund it anyway.
It was open for abuse but we generally didnt see that much more items returned.
Reply to this commentOverall, a flexible return policy encourages more sales, so at the end the figures make up for the losses of “open box” re-sales, in which case the vendor loses money.
When you think of the degree of retail markup on some products, it’s not surprising. Overall those policies do help consumers.
There are a few major computer outlets in Vancouver… Futureshop, Londondrugs, and then there’s ATIC.
Atic is the nerdy lil computer shop where they have shit for cheaper, but because their return/exchange policies can be a hassle, i never go there. I’d rather pay extra at Futureshop or London Drugs and know that I can return or exchange it without a hassle if there’s a problem.
Reply to this commentIn Canada, futureshop has a 30 day no questions asked return policy (except on opened software). So you can literally buy a 60 inch plasma tv, use it for a month and then bring it back and say : I don’t like it.
Now that I think about it, I think futureshop just recently changed the policy to 15 days on certain items.
Reply to this commentIt’s always been 14 days for computers, lcd monitors etc. And TVs too i think.
Reply to this commentIn europe is the same thing. 14 days trial period.
Reply to this commentWhat are your plans for the old unit? Looks like a good idea for a new contest. “Win John Chow’s broken GPS unit!”
blabEditor
Reply to this commentThat’s a good idea there, BlabWire
Reply to this commentWinner then sell it on ebay “Bid for John Chow’s broken GPS unit! - Get a piece of evil
“
Reply to this commentThat’s a pretty cool looking gadget. I’ve been a little skeptical of those GPS units, but I like the visual interface on that one. The 3/4 view looks quite nice.
Reply to this commentIf you do a lot of traveling in unfamiliar areas, a GPS unit is invaluable!
Reply to this commentEspecially when no one around speaks any English and you’ve been passing the same street corner one too many times — yes, a GPS device could be a traveler’s best friend.
Reply to this commentgotta love the GPS
Reply to this commentHaven’t tried an in car gps.
Reply to this commentI want a car GPS however I always test it out to see how good it is and see if they can find the name of the road my work is on since no gps picks it up its so weird.
Reply to this commentwell that was a really bad buy John, you could have it from Amazon for $459 including shipping and there will be many other retailers who offer it even cheaper for sure. but hey, you obviously get money for spending some extra
Reply to this comment$459 — is that overnight shipping? I think John needed/wanted the GPS like ASAP…hence the evil plan of simply returning the thing after he’s done with it LOL.
Reply to this commentHey, John, you could offer it as a prize for one of your contests here. You can imagine how many people would struggle to get it.
Reply to this commentMy friend bought a GPS when he drove to New York. Without GPS he will be completely lost in big apple. It’s a great help. I plan to have one.
Reply to this commentI’ve started using the Garmin GPS units (Nuvi and StreetPilot) recently too. Great stuff and customer support has been excellent.
Reply to this commentYeah, great customer support — for any product or service — is a definite bonus.
Reply to this commentI never felt the need of a GPS. I’m always lost, but this is because I don’t focus when driving. I’d rather buy myself a driver with GPS
Reply to this commentHey John, we got the same unit.
unfortunately it doesnt seem that this thing does support alot of routes which are from portugal
anyway, dont get lost in toronto!
Reply to this commentNow i am thinking it might be a good time to get a GPS.
Reply to this commentIts always a good time to get a GPS! (if you have the cash)
Reply to this commentI’ve never used a GPS…
Reply to this commentI just got Windows Streets and Trips for my laptop. It came with the GPS locator. It’s pretty cool. Not bad for $130.
Reply to this comment