Hi all, I want to apologise first, because my first post is a complaint. I really wish it wasn't.
I know, the sat navs Garmin produce and the related software are a very complex hardware/software combination.
I appreciate that Garmin has to accomodate for different uses of their devices and I appreciate that Garmin is a big corporate company and it cannot always be easy and linear for a product team to "shape" and release a feature the way they intended.
I currently own a range of Garmin device, one of which is a Zumo XT that I purchased when it came out last year. Generally happy with the unit, big step ahead from the older Zumo, but the software, Basecamp, Express, is currently (at least on Mac with Big Sur) unusable.
This essentially renders the Zumo XT to a very big and very expensive A to B sat nav.
Where are we:
Problem: as the result of the launch of Big Sur for Mac in November 2020 (more than 6 months ago) Basecamp became extremely buggy and slow.
As of today, doesn't seem any fixes have been released.
There is two different releases of Basecamp (App Store and from Garmin's site) with no apparent logic to it. Tried both at various stages.
The same for Garmin Express. Crashes, doesn't load the devices. Doesn't launch if something is already connected via USB.
As a result of the latest firmware update Garmin doesn't allow users to install the City Navigator Lifetime maps on their computers anymore. This is a sudden change of policy. Searching online it isn't clear if this is a bug or intended behaviour.
I spoke with Garmin Support than confirmed, indeed, that it is not allowed anymore to install CN LM maps locally (on your computer) and that you have to connect the GPS unit and read the maps via USB.
This is not a viable option.
This, plus the other bugs and incompatibilities introduced in Basecamp in recent months make route planning near to impossible, and an incredibly slow process.
I'm leaving for a short trip in three days and I'm struggling to have the Zumo XT recognise correctly the routes created.
This is a screen recording of what happens on my computer.
I tested this on two different Macs both running OS X 11.2.3. The version of Basecamp in this video is 4.8.11.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoJxAH45AeM
You can see:
- basecamp being extremely slow redrawing the screen in 2D mode
- the time it takes for the software to recognise the GPS when connected via USB
- the unacceptable speed of maps being read over USB
- screen refresh/redraw issues
The last maps I was able to install on my Mac were 2021.1
Yes, I am aware there are a lot of shaping points, but the unit should handle those.
My Zumo XT has 2021.3. If I upload those routes (created on 2021.1) to the sat nav, this happens:
I've had this error before and, if I remember correctly it is due to mismatching maps between Basecamp and the unit.
But, as you can see above, when I connect the unit to basecamp and try to recalculate the routes using the 2021.3 map files. Nothing happens. I left the computer for hours to no avail.
In the current state, what Garmin advertises as "Built for every adventure" simply doesn't work.
"Use the maps via USB" is not a viable option as you see above.
Using a disk image (the "virtual drive" as I saw it referred to here) is a hack, not a solution.
"There is bugs with Big Sur" is not an acceptable answer as Apple releases the operating systems in advance to developers (and non developers too) and despite that, more than 6 months after the new OS release, Basecamp is still almost completely broken.
Like others I see writing in this forum, I invested a fair amount of money (and time) between unit purchase, learning to use the software, extra cables, mounts, additional maps and other things. I "bought into" the Garmin universe because I trusted Garmin as a company, but at the moment I'm left with the sort of experience that I wouldn't consider acceptable even for some cheap product acquired via some dodgy Kickstarter project.
I'd like to know from Garmin what actions they are taking and an idea of the timelines.
Thanks.
