Current problems of Montana 700i/750i? PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE!

Hi,

I was seriously considering buying the 700i GPS for its simple touch screen. But oh boy... Have I been scared from all the bad reviews, negatives from blog posts and on-going reported problems on this forum that Garmin did not fix for years (!!!). So now I just want to ask you so I know for sure.

  • Is the restarting issues, or "sudden death" problems still an isue with the absolute latest firmware of the Montana 700i (or 750i)?
  • What is your experience for your last usage?

I planned to use it for my yacht where people back home would track me 24/7 to make sure im safe. But with these restarting issues or that it turns itself off all of a sudden... That is perhaps not the best solution, unless they fixed it. Please be honest and share your experience.

I noticed that Garmin support Leslie is often on this forum responding and helping as best as they can which is good. But I just cant understand, as a tech engineer myself, how they can't solve this issue. For the amount of years this have taken to solve, while they still ship out defective device it seems like, its a bit of a shame put to the Garmin brand I got to say. Its not hard to troubleshoot hardware or software. Why is it taking so long? And why is Garmin still selling these devices, years after they first heard about the problem and still did not manage to fix it (it seems like)? Out of respect for peoples money, safety and security, perhaps stop selling a device thats not working correctly until its fixed. Some Garmin-CEO would say "ohh no we cant, its embarassing for the brand". Well dont you think its a bigger embarassment to sell defective devices out of the box, for years? :P Maybe its just me who thinks that...

But agian- maybe its fixed. So please let me know ALLLLLL your experiences :))

Thanks a lot in advance!!

  • It still is not fixed. All Garmin do is send out another replacement device.

    It seems the issue is when there is more than two map sets on the device. It simply cannot cope.

    Delete one and it works again.

    Stupid as you pay for the device with their CN and Toro Active, then buy their extremely expensive TopoPro maps and it can't function.

  • Hi, I have this product and I am experiencing the random shut off issue. 

  • I’ve had a brand new item from Ordanance Survey delivered Friday and whilst setting it up have had repeated shutdowns!

    Be interesting to see what the third replacement device being delivered today does.

    It really does seem that it cannot cope with another set of maps on an SD card.

  • Hi I have the 700i with the same issue, random power off/ unit crash

    Garmin suggest the power off issue is caused by pin damage to the device from the craddle mount.

    I notice that when I ride with all maps disabled apart from the the map of the area I am in  ( Portugal , Open Street Map).

    But after a power off / crash incident other maps installed on the device are then enabled.

    Message from Garmin support below

    Good morning

    Thank you for contacting Garmin Iberia

    What mount is being used? Has it been altered in any way? Are there any indents (may also look like scratch marks or scrapes) visible on the physical contacts of the Montana? 

     Attach pictures of the pins on the mount, please

     Please send us the following form completed with your information and the purchase invoice attached:

  • Hi I have the 700i with the same issue, random power off/ unit crash

    Garmin suggest the power off issue is caused by pin damage to the device from the craddle mount.

    I notice that when I ride with all maps disabled apart from the the map of the area I am in  ( Portugal , Open Street Map).

    But after a power off / crash incident other maps installed on the device are then enabled.

    Message from Garmin support below

    Good morning

    Thank you for contacting Garmin Iberia

    What mount is being used? Has it been altered in any way? Are there any indents (may also look like scratch marks or scrapes) visible on the physical contacts of the Montana? 

     Attach pictures of the pins on the mount, please

     Please send us the following form completed with your information and the purchase invoice attached:

  • It’s absolutely NOTHING to do with pin damage. 
    The unit right now has NEVER been in a mount and it’s randomly powering off.

    Sat just with the map showing it powers off.

    When in the settings menu, it powers off.

    It is an issue with the unit/software/firmware NOT the pins/mount.

  • Hello, if you have a Montana and are experiencing shut down issues we would ask that you contact Product Support directly for assistance with your device. We take each customers shut down issue on a case by case individual basis as they may not all be the same exact cause. There are many different customizations for these devices that each customer can set so it is important that we gather that customers information and usage details. 

  • Trotting out the standard copy and paste reply is not endearing you to the community Leslie.

    Fixing very well known and documented issues will however.

  • I just bought one and it's a piece of s..t

    Randomly changes settings, shuts down, can't navigate simple metropolitan directions...the list goes on