Montana 750i SD Card - 32GB Max... Really?

JohnnyG1956 over 3 years ago

A month ago, I bought Garmin's premier InReach product. Today, I found out that the latest maps won't fit on the device and it is limited to a 32GB SD card. (according to Garmin Tech Support)...

I heard of planned obsolescence, but this is ridiculous. Come on Garmin... get with the times.

I have a 64GB card in my cell phone that I am replacing with a 512GB card. I planned on using the 64GB card in the 750i. Has anyone tried a larger SD card in a 750i?

Thanks

-G

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0 twolpert over 3 years ago

I have not tried anything larger. Typically, these are hard limits. In fairness to Garmin, the limit IS published with the device specs on the "sales" web site.

I really think that all Garmin expects us to do with the SD card slot is to insert a card containing a purchased GARMIN map.

What map are you having difficulty with? Is it that the map won't fit, or that there is not enough room to update the pre-installed CN maps?

0 JohnnyG1956 over 3 years ago in reply to twolpert

Good question. I connect to express and it says there is an update available. I hit install and shortly after, I get an error. I talked to Garmin tech support and they said that the problem is likely to be that it won't fit. I have a 32GB chip on its way but that is all I know for now.

As for the 32GB limit, OK, fine, it is in the sales literature. But maps not fitting on the device? Not cool. BTW: I have very little stored on the device other than the map software and a few traces. It's a good thing that I do not take a lot of pictures... LOL.

0 ConiKost over 3 years ago

Large SD cards work for me. Tried a 256GB card. It's important, that you format them with FAT32. Modern Windows does not allow to format > 32GB with FAT32, so you need to use an external tool for formating. Please keep in mind, if you have any bought maps from Garmin, Garmin Express will refuse to use any cards bigger than 64GB, even, when they are regognized. It's a pure useless limited by Garmin.

0 JohnnyG1956 over 3 years ago in reply to ConiKost

Thanks. Are you saying that Garmin Express will use a 64GB OR a 32GB?

0 JohnnyG1956 over 3 years ago in reply to twolpert

I installed the 32GB chip and reran the update. It passed without, issue.

Based on this, I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone.

-G

0 twolpert over 3 years ago in reply to JohnnyG1956

The reason I asked about updates is this thread:

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/inreach/f/montana-700i-750i/267774/garmin-express-failure-to-install-map-updates

It would SEEM to indicate that the problem was with Express, not the device, the f/w or the 32GB SD card size. Of course, I have not seen anything definitive about a fix. There was a new version of Express this morning when I updated a different device...

0 JohnnyG1956 over 3 years ago in reply to twolpert

I put in the 32GB SD Card and reran the update in Garmin Express. It went right through just as Garmin Support said it would.

0 walking_disk over 3 years ago

I want to put a 1TB micro sdxc there, loading all the Topo 24K maps for the entire US.

0 twolpert over 3 years ago in reply to walking_disk

Make sure that the device can actually SEE the entire card. The fact that the device does not reject the large card does not mean that it can really use it all. Not saying it won't work - just that you should check.

0 atlas_cached over 3 years ago in reply to walking_disk

Will not work, for many reasons.

Montana will only read 32GB of microSD data, and only index 20K map tiles/segments total, regardless of how many you can get onto the microSD card.