Why would they do that?

[Firebolter]

Garmin never ceases to amaze me. The older 680T I had is slow and not as friendly as you would like. Had it for 10 years. It has been a good unit. I checked out a new Montana 700 and really like it. The units were available before the powered motorcycle mounts were. So I finally get my 2 mounts (1 to move from Dirt Bike to Dirt Bike and one to mount and stay on the 700). I go do a check and the 12V will trigger/power up the unit but not charge it! It needs 5V TO CHARGE, NOT 12 AND THE MOUNT DOES NOT HAVE A STEP DOWN CONVERTER BUILT INTO IT LIKE THE 680 HAD! WTF!

So I ordered a small 12V to 5V 3a converter that is about the size of a match box and is all potted and waterproofed. Installed in on the GPS power cable inline by the battery and voila! Now the when I plug the unit in, the power triggers it to start up and then charge. Why Garmin?

[Wingfixer]

I really wish there was a decent alternative to garmin.

[Firebolter]

I really wish there was a decent alternative to garmin.

The Voyager Pro is awesome, BUT, it doesn't do "find nearest" etc. It is a pure geo map/track and route display that works great but once you hit the roads, while it has the streets and such on the maps, you just can't say "find nearest gas" or lodging etc.

The Montana 700 series is the best garmin has made IMO. Very intuitive user interface (similar to Voyager Pro), fast screen refresh and nice unit. Nice big display. I'll be running it when we go out in Dec.