PND technology is now mature. Sure, newer ones have more bells and whistles, but 3 years or more is not an unreasonable lifetime. (My current GPS with 3 year old technology gets me where I want to go just fine.) Moreover, prices have fallen about as far as they are likely to go when considering the costs of the components, necessary sales expenses, and so on.

It is common in the software industry for vendors to simply declare that a version has “reached the end of it’s useful life.” Is that the policy of any GPS vendor?

As to costs, consider that right now you can buy a Garmin Nuvi 255 very cheaply, as it is being superseded by newer models, even though these new models really don’t have many new features (they are slimmer, I guess). If maps will be available for the older 255 for, say, three years, the low price makes for a great deal. But if the 255 “lifetime” is, say, one year, it would be a terrible investment.

No manufacturer can or will support a device for eternity. But how about following typical software policies, in which vendors announce an end-of-life schedule (e.g, the Microsoft XP schedule, which explains how long support will be available).

My Email:
I just purchased a 2100max with v6.5 and would like to update it; however, I am dismayed that everywhere I search retailers are out of stock on freshmap cards. I bought this unit after searching and finding freshmap cards for $15 to $39 dollars earlier this year. What is the status of this? If I cannot find one in the next few days I’ll be forced to return the GPS.

Their Response:
Dear NAVIGON Customer

Thank you for your inquiry.

Unfortunately not we are sorry about that, the freshmaps are not longer available, sorry.

Sincerely
pp Michelle Collier

Anyway, how many people will ever use there PND longer than 3 years?

It was only because of this bold step of NAVIGON that TomTom and Garmin had to follow!

And the pricing of TomTom is completely unclear and forces you to first buy a new map.
And Garmin, tja, it has some strange timelimites and how the h%ll can you promise me a service for “Lifetime”!? Just for fun I should be a Garmin, put it in the closet for about ten years and then call Garmin in 2019.

Anyway, more important for me is how the PND itself is and I love my NAVIGON. My TT-One I de-activated.

When I was selling Garmin GPS, we were telling the clients to bypass one or two yearly update except if they are professionals on the road (small minority). The difference in the database is so small it’s not worth that amount of money. And in 2-3 years, the client might consider it’s not worth to invest that money in an “old” unit. I mean a 150$ unit in 3 years is a middle of the range unit this year. So the lifetime is really worth it if you have a high end unit. And like I said, what happen if it breaks when warranty is over, it’s lost or a theft take it?

Single update: 70$ which is 60% of the price of the full product but with a data difference of less than 10%… Also, if the gps last a decent amount of time, I’ll have to buy two (or more) wich is more expensive than a lifetime update.

Lifetime update: 130$. In a few years, the equivalent of my unit will cost slightly more than that. So I might just stick with the actual mapping and change the unit in a few years. I might not get a better product nor I’ll save money but I’ll still have a warantee. Because mine is out of the short one year warantee. And what if I I lose it, it breaks or anything else? Risky bet. Also, the price is interesting compared to the single update but because it is way too expensive, the lifetime update is not a great deal after all. I can bypass an annual update and buy the full mapping for around the same price.

But it also discourages many others ( like me) from buying into that product market in fear that they might purchase the wrong “version” “remember the Beta vs. VHS”