BirdEye Download is Faster!

Please disregard, it was an error. I got all excited for nothing. Almost 8 hours downloading a 308 MB map overnight and 90% done. On thing is certain, BirdEye download requires planing. It's not for the impulsive.

Please disregard, it was an error. I got all excited for nothing. Almost 8 hours downloading a 308 MB map overnight and 90% done. On thing is certain, BirdEye download requires planing. It's not for the impulsive.

My system: Toshiba U300 P15, Vista SP2 with all patches, 2Gb RAM, 250Gb, 7.2kHDD, Intel Graphics (latest driver) with 256Mb Graphics Ram, Res set to 32bit @ 1280x1024 display.

Despite Garmin telling me on the Phone the BE will be down for maintenance (2 days ago) and that it should be up and running by the end of the day, its still not working at all! Once I select an area the download indicators come up but there is absolutely no activity. This is now the THIRD day.

Coupled with the poor performance of BaseCamp with all its issues I am now seriously considering requesting a refund of my Birdseye Subscription. BaseCamp and BE are clearly not ready for market. Moreover, the quality of the BE mapping in many areas is VERY sub-standard and is becoming a controversial point I've noticed. I was unable to reach Garmin by phone throughout the day yesterday, as their phone lines were constantly busy. I wonder why?! lol

Since you haven't listed your location in your profile I have no way of knowing if you're in another country. But I have been downloading BirdsEye imagery constantly all week and none of the downloads have failed. I have a total of 20 files, each in the 200+ MB size range and they all look nice. It is slow, but no slower than I would expect for a service like this - especially considering the modest subscription cost. I am a happy customer.

Please disregard, it was an error. I got all excited for nothing. Almost 8 hours downloading a 308 MB map overnight and 90% done. On thing is certain, BirdEye download requires planing. It's not for the impulsive.

As more and more people have signed up to BirdsEye the download speeds have crawled to an almost stall, especially where I am. It was no longer practical to download anything and therefore I am left with no other choice.. I have submitted a refund request to Garmin.

Therefore BC and BE will no longer be used on my system until there is a better solution. I hope in the future the service improves dramatically along with BaseCamp and then maybe there will be happier users across all OS versions and system types. I will keep a close eye on its development.

The System I used: Toshiba LapTop U300, 2Gb RAM, Intel Graphics (350Mb), VISTA HP 32bit (in case u missed that in my other threads?! lol)

You should get that refund. Please let us know if you don't.

I requested a refund and was told that since I had already started the download that I no longer qualify for a refund! What the!? I own four Garmin devices but this issue with Birdeye, the lack of a fix and the way Garmin Support treats their customers leaves me with a very negative feeling about the company. I've made my final purchase from this company!

I requested a refund and was told that since I had already started the download that I no longer qualify for a refund! What the!? I own four Garmin devices but this issue with Birdeye, the lack of a fix and the way Garmin Support treats their customers leaves me with a very negative feeling about the company. I've made my final purchase from this company!

VIKINGR1: Did you call them for the refund? I spoke to them on the phone and I had no problem getting my refund.

If you havent already called them, I would suggest you do ASAP.

Disapointment

I wish I'd read this forum before I asked for a Garmin eTrex 20 for Christmas. I have spent the best part of three hours trying to download a BirdsEye Select map of my area from basecamp. I have got as far as download 10.7% complete and that's it. And nowhere obvious to get help from.
I have also read the negative comments about Garmin customer support with some concern. This is new to me. I run a MacBook Pro on Mac OS 10.7, so I'm used to a very high level of user support from Apple.

I think you may be listening to the wrong people. I am a moderator at a popular site that discusses GPS, and Garmin support gets high marks from most people. There will always be some people who have a bad experience or unreasonable expectations of course. If you have a real problem you should contact Garmin support directly instead of just complaining in the forums. This thread is a year and half old and not necessarily relevant today. Birdseye select is also a different product than the Birdseye aerial imagery subsciption discussed here.

Also, since you have a Mac, why are you posting in the Windows Basecamp forum? This is the correct place to discuss the Mac version of Basecamp. Your problems might be specific to the Mac version or MacOSX itself: https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171