Graham Smith Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 There are several matches within a 1.5 hr drive for me during the summer but there are a lot of twists and turns on the road. As a result, I bought a GPS unit in July. I spent some time looking at various makes and models and settled on one I'll refer to as the BobBob 130S so as to not besmirch a particular company. After checking prices, I found that BobBob has an outlet with "factory refurbished" units, and I found the same thing on Amazon with a rebate so I bought one. My first clue that this was not going to turn out well was when I looked at the box and saw a 130S sticker covering the model name. But I set it up and tried it out and it seemed fine. I did notice that there was a feature that it didn't seem to have. Some research revealed that this was actually a model 130 rather than the 130S so I contacted Amazon and they replaced it. The next thing I noticed was that the installed firmware (the actual interface) was somewhat different than what I could see when looking at the web help. I could also see that there was a newer version of the firmware for the 130S but I couldn't install it. But all the functions seemed to be there so I let it go. Last week, I decided to subscribe to their quarterly map service only to find out that my current map was 18 months old. I don't know how this was possible because when I set it up it checked for updates and these units come with a "Latest Map Guarantee" that allows you to get the most current map when you register the unit. An exchange of emails with Tech Support later and I am told that refurbished units don't come with a "Latest Map Guarantee". Now it all makes sense. These are older units re-badged as a 130S that won't accept the newer firmware and have old maps that will cost you 50% of the price of the unit to upgrade. Now, tech support claims that it says on the web site that these units don't have the latest maps, but if it does, it's buried deep somewhere because it doesn't say it anywhere I can see, and I've looked. So, anyone looking to buy a GPS unit, look really carefully before you buy anything from BobBob and make sure you know the total cost of what you are buying! Also, be aware that the updates that take place when you first register the unit do not automatically update you to the latest map. That is a separate step that is no where in the instruction manual - you will only find it if you dig through the FAQ on the web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolex Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I guess that old line- You get what you pay for, goes well here> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Do not attempt to let the unit find the shortest route for you. It has some frightening ideas about what constitutes a road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck223 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Even with a GPS, I still tend to go to Google Maps and search for the route I want, and print out a hard copy of the instructions. On a trip to Pennsylvannia last year, our GPS got confused when the highway we were on was divided by a 50 yard greenbelt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Field Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 oh man i bought one of those Garmin Nuvi gps things for my car i love it. the lady tells me where to turn and highlights my route in a vibrant shade of pink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Nesbitt Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Do not attempt to let the unit find the shortest route for you. It has some frightening ideas about what constitutes a road. I was in four wheel drive low range going through one of these "roads". My GPS said it would be 2 minutes faster than the route I had been taking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Do not attempt to let the unit find the shortest route for you. It has some frightening ideas about what constitutes a road. If it's the system I think it is, there's an amusing story..... One morning, one of our shooters forgot his belt, and called his wife, who very sweetly agreed to deliver it to the range. Her GPS system however thought that a road existed, that had not yet been built, causing her to get stuck. One of our other members graciously volunteered --- and managed to --- get her extricated with a tow from his truck. He was shocked when the nice folks he towed out gifted him with a different manufacturer's GPS system at the the next match.... The people I've met in this game are truly some of the best people I've ever met.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckler Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 one I'll refer to as the BobBob 130S Just about spit drink on my laptop when I read that. Nice!;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heiter Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I finally broke down and bought myself one, a nice Garmin handheld with CityNav etc. Took it on a maiden voyage to a shooting match in southern Louisiana and it flawlessly found the shortest route from my home to the hotel. It did such a great job that when it got time to go home on Sunday, I had four or five cars forming a convoy to follow me home. This time we left straight from the range so the directions were slightly different but no big deal right? We're running through the LA backwoods making turn after turn blindly following the GPS when it hits me that we should be coming up on the MS river soon so I scroll down a few lines on the turn by turn to see how much further it's going to be. I see turn here... turn there... approach MS river ferry... board ferry. Yep, we were all going for a boat ride. I was lmao when I pulled over to explain to the convoy that, while I was fully confident my GPS really WAS taking us on the shortest mileage route home, unless they were up for a sea cruise I was going to have to make it "recalculate". Lesson learned, even though you choose "follow roads, take a sec to be sure those roads are on solid ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamingoddess Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I've had my BobBob One for 2 years now and here are my notes concerning it (and GPS in general). - I completely lost my sense of direction after obtaining a BobBob (my bro can vouch for this). In other words, when an obvious sign on a major highway displays my destination in gigantic words, I would literally pass it if my BobBob does not say "turn right". - The BobBob map updates is a complete ripoff. I spent 120 dollars for my unit 2 years ago and I ain't spending more than that. - You guys are right, after getting the BobBob I realized just how heavy-duty my Toyota Corolla was. My car could ride through some very underdeveloped roads...barely, but it could do it. I seriously wonder who decides what is and what isn't a road... - It's awesome whenever I drive across the bridge towards Cape Cod...cause every time my BobBob thinks that I'm driving on water. I do have to turn the volume off during this time though because the voice keeps readjusting the "water" route. And it gets damn annoying. These little problems aren't enough to make me buy a new one though. My BobBob does it's job...most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 (edited) I finally broke down and bought myself one, a nice Garmin handheld with CityNav etc. Took it on a maiden voyage to a shooting match in southern Louisiana and it flawlessly found the shortest route from my home to the hotel. It did such a great job that when it got time to go home on Sunday, I had four or five cars forming a convoy to follow me home. This time we left straight from the range so the directions were slightly different but no big deal right? We're running through the LA backwoods making turn after turn blindly following the GPS when it hits me that we should be coming up on the MS river soon so I scroll down a few lines on the turn by turn to see how much further it's going to be. I see turn here... turn there... approach MS river ferry... board ferry. Yep, we were all going for a boat ride. I was lmao when I pulled over to explain to the convoy that, while I was fully confident my GPS really WAS taking us on the shortest mileage route home, unless they were up for a sea cruise I was going to have to make it "recalculate". Lesson learned, even though you choose "follow roads, take a sec to be sure those roads are on solid ground. This happened to me too. Found out there is a way to avoid ferry's in the avoidance section of the setup for the GPS. The Ferry's are checked marked now so it will never take me to a ferry again. BK Edited October 24, 2009 by bkeeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffWard Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I thought the sexy British female voice was cool on my GPS... For about 20 minutes! The mute function is niiiiiiice. PS... Bought mine the week I moved to a new city (St Pete) 6 months later, I still can't find NOTHIN without it. Should have never bought it... LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket35 Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I finally bought a Megellan about a year ago and found it to be virtually useless. It has been wrong or can't find destinations more times than it has been useful. So it resides in the glovebox while the printed google and roadmaps ride shotgun. Oh! I'll sell a lightly used GPS for a great price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmantwo Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 My wife uses an older one that my son originally bought for a graduation "road trip" to Cali from MO. I've threatened to throw it out the window on several occasions because it gets us lost, tells us to turn where there is no road, crap like that. I've got her a new NUVI for our anniversary(too bad I won't be there for it, but there IS a match to attend). I plan to shoot at least a couple of rounds of skeet as soon as I get home, using the old GPS as a "bird", lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Well, after beating this horse to death with BobBob Tech Support I was faced with either living with permanently out of date maps or buying a new US and Canada map for $80, a new US only map for $70, and new regional map for $40 or sign up for a one year update service for $80 ($40 for the service and $40 for the new map). Given that so much has changed in this area in the past 2 years, I opted for the update service. Got that done yesterday and guess what, all my saved points of interest and favorites got wiped out when the new maps were installed. Went on to the BobBob forum and found that this is a common complaint. Seems you have to back these files up yourself and reinstall them after the update. Who designed their update program that it can't save these files? Bob the Incompetent or Bob the "F*ck Y*u, I've got your money now and can do what ever I want and there's nothing you can do about it"? And why doesn't it at least warn you? I really wish I had bought the Garmin my buddy did, but no, I had to save a few bucks by going with the cheaper model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Txkid Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I purchased Garmin 2 years ago and love it very much. The only complaint is it is a little slow to finding its bearings at start up and like everyone else some of the directions it gives out are incorrect. But with common sense it is very manageable. But I do love the free traffic report. When we got our new VW Jetta it came with a GPS and found it is not as good as the Garmin. Anyway, I have a iPhone and find it the “Maps” app the best. Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperman Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Well, after beating this horse to death with BobBob Tech Support I was faced with either living with permanently out of date maps or buying a new US and Canada map for $80, a new US only map for $70, and new regional map for $40 or sign up for a one year update service for $80 ($40 for the service and $40 for the new map). Given that so much has changed in this area in the past 2 years, I opted for the update service.Got that done yesterday and guess what, all my saved points of interest and favorites got wiped out when the new maps were installed. Went on to the BobBob forum and found that this is a common complaint. Seems you have to back these files up yourself and reinstall them after the update. Who designed their update program that it can't save these files? Bob the Incompetent or Bob the "F*ck Y*u, I've got your money now and can do what ever I want and there's nothing you can do about it"? And why doesn't it at least warn you? I really wish I had bought the Garmin my buddy did, but no, I had to save a few bucks by going with the cheaper model. I learned that lesson the hard way also. That's just one of my many complaints with my BobBob. I finally got fed up with it and bought an in-dash Kenwood that uses a Garmin GPS. I plan on installing it this weekend. I haven't used any other units, but I will never recommend a BobBob, or buy another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Bell Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Wow glad I didn't buy a BobBob when I was looking a couple of years ago! I've got a pretty basic Charmin from a few years ago works fine, doesn't take me down goat paths or anything crazy. My only bitch is it will lock up if I detour off the highway for a coffee break and loop around close to the original path. I can't figure that out and just freezes up and I have to hit the reset button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LChico Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 (edited) Wow glad I didn't buy a BobBob when I was looking a couple of years ago! I've got a pretty basic Charmin from a few years ago works fine, doesn't take me down goat paths or anything crazy. My only bitch is it will lock up if I detour off the highway for a coffee break and loop around close to the original path. I can't figure that out and just freezes up and I have to hit the reset button. Try hitting the "detour button" or the "stop navigation button." I got tired of the "recalculating" announcements until I discovered these. I have an old I3 'Charmin' & plan to upgrade soon to the Charmin Nuvi 255 WT. Prices have finally dropped & I do not see many bad user reviews (short battery life seems to be the only complaint). Since I rarely use mine for walking or hiking, that is not a huge concern for me. If anyone has problems with this model, please let me know. Linda Chico (L-2035) Columbia SC Edited October 26, 2009 by LChico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I found an address that is not in the Garmin system. The only way I was able to use the GPS was to utilize Google Maps to find the ICBM coordinate for the desitnation and enter that, rather than a street address, into the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I really like my "charmin." It's the entry level model but for the most part, that just means a smaller screen. I pretty much follow where "Lulu" sends me (hey, what can I say, it's got a female voice and I named her ) and get where I'm going. But....she doesn't know the difference between a ritzy neighborhood, a ghetto, or regular old paved road. She'll get you there, but as several posters have already mentioned, it isn't always the best route I think I'll keep her dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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