I know many people like Garmin, but I had a similar experience as Ray. Bought a brand new GPS72H handheld to replace the antique GPS75 that powerered the helm instruments on our boat. One thing that I value and use constantly is an anchor alarm. On this Garmin, when it goes off it gives 3 short barely audible beeps and then stops beeping. That is stupid for an alarm to shut off on its own like that. I quizzed Garmin on it and they said that was by design and they agreed it should stay on alarm until shut off by the user. They said while they could do a firmware update to fix it they had no plans to do so. That kind of thinking ends my involvement with Garmin for anything.

Well, at the risk of sounding like I want to validate my equipment choices, I have to say that my experience with Garmin has been very different.
I have used some of their very high end units in aircraft and found both the use and service issues very easy. In a plane, in the clouds, you are very dependant on your choice of equipment and it's function...the Garmin units have always performed perfectly and though sometimes I mis-programmed them, I have always been able to operate with a high level of safety.
On the water I have a 4212 above decks and a 541 on the chart desk. the units have functioned quite well and though I consult paper charts routinely, I have found very few discrepencies. I have had no problem with tech support at Garmin though there is the seemingly universal problem of the "phone trees" which we face where ever we call.
The anchor alarm on my unit sounds until I turn it off, so I have had no problem with it.
I have to comment on the use of electronics for navigation in general. Both in the air and on the water, prudence dictates that I am always ready to transition to a paper chart instantly, in critical situations. This requires that the chart be up to date, close at hand and that I am familiar with the chart I might need to be using and my position on that chart.
The experience of the users above would suggest that Garmin should be avoided. I have had a very different experience. I would go on to say that the Garmin "human interface", that is, the ease of use, is very intuitive and easy relative to other units I have used.

[QUOTE=neilroach;14953]Well, at the risk of sounding like I want to validate my equipment choices, I have to say that my experience with Garmin has been very different.
...The experience of the users above would suggest that Garmin should be avoided. I have had a very different experience. I would go on to say that the Garmin "human interface", that is, the ease of use, is very intuitive and easy relative to other units I have used.[/QUOTE]

In my case I have to agree. Several years ago I had a GPS12 unit that was 6 years old and it stopped initializing. I sent it in for repair, without any receipt, just my phone number and address and a request to call for the credit card info.
Another unit was sent two weeks later - no charge.

[QUOTE=raymond kalinsky;14932]Hi I bought a garmin gps536 from sail-net on-line. .....garmin who sent me a new unit (or rebulited) not sure which, Problem with new unit was sent to me with old soft ware and not updated to 2012 standards. ....The chart doesn't have harbors nor breakwalls. I tought the 1st one did. does anybody know about this?Now must always use a paper chart to check on the gps for what is not showing. ... I can buy the g-map for an additional $300.00 but not sure of how much more I get. [B]Who does? [/B][/QUOTE]

Ray, sorry to hear about your troubles. I've "quoted" your original post with a heavy edit to try to get to the heart of your issue.

It could be that you may have to ask yourself "What is it that I bought?"

Garmin these days sells their units two ways: with complete maps and maps separate. Regardless of the software version.

So, it would help to know what it is you did buy from Sailnet for starters.

Dont trust a Chart Plotter completly. Check paper charts when going into areas not familiar to the skipper. The following is a horrifying real story that happened to a member of my Yacht Club. I shortened the story, but it is obvious what can happen if to much trust is put into chart platters.

Subject: ADVENTURE ENDED

Someone once said that it is better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all.
Our dream was to sail the Caribbean for as long as we enjoyed the experience. Four plus years of planning led to the purchase of our new Beneteau 49. Near constant work on it with the wonderful help of Tom Freeland and others from January 2008 when we took delivery until October 2nd made it as comfortable, beautiful and safe a vessel as we could make it. I/we were very proud of the result. Shaken...Not Stirred was a true beauty.
The adventure began on October 2nd. We set sail for Chesapeake Bay from Punta Gorda and travelled approximately 600 miles toward it through the keys to the Florida-Georgia border. The trip had been adventuresome and fun...with problems...problem solving...and several good sails including a 50 mile reach in 15-20 knot winds our last day. We got on well as a crew and I thought rolled with the punches beautifully. Everyone remained constructive…senses of humor intact.
On October 14th at approximately 7:45 pm my dream came to an abrupt halt on a totally submerged jetty approximately two miles off the beach at the Amelia Island entrance to the ICW. The crunch I heard at that time lives with me still and will for some time to come. It is the most sickening sound any boater can hear.
Three weather forecasts had indicated wind and waves would slowly diminish that afternoon. They did not. Instead we were hit with a Nor'easter which took the wave intervals down from a comfortable 9 seconds to 3 or four. We had passed the Jacksonville entrance to the ICW an hour or so earlier so a return seemed pointless. The seas became steep and confused. The shift of winds to the northeast pushed us low of our intended mark toward shore but we had been sailing between 4-5 miles offshore so initially we went with the wind shift and continued under sail. To counter this drift toward shore, we motor sailed directly parallel to the coast the last six miles with reefed main. Progress was slow taking us from a pre-dusk arrival of about 7 pm to the later arrival alluded to above. The St. Mary's River high tide was scheduled for 9 pm so even with our late arrival current would not be a problem entering the inlet. High tide on the other hand was.
As seas got increasingly rougher, as we began taking waves over our bow, as salt spray covered the helmsman…me….occasional breaking waves doused the cockpit and as dusk approached, our GPS Chartplotter naturally became our primary source of navigation information. We approached the sea buoys which would take us into the channel at a snail's pace. The GPS zoomed into 1/2 mile focus showed us that we had a clear deep path to the buoys and could in fact go inland of them if we chose. We were in thirty plus feet of water two miles offshore when the thud occurred. (We later were told that the jetty was visible on the GPS had we zoomed in to 300 yards. I don’t yet know if this is correct, but who in open ocean would zoom in to 300 yards and eliminate all perspective on the buoys, the boat, the coastline and the channel? Why wasn’t this hazard made visible when zoomed in to half a mile or much more? It should have been).
The first thud was a rather soft one though it was definitive enough. As I heard it, I remember whispering, "My dream is gone." The second, third and fourth were much harder as the ten foot plus seas raised, then lowered our bow on the jetty. We were thrown about in the cockpit and hanging on for dear life. Ron Vendegna and I survived unhurt but our third crew member Travis Jones sustained a compound fracture of his leg and a broken ankle he thinks when we hit the jetty. At the time we didn't know this. He simply thought he might have sprained an ankle and he continued to perform wonderfully in the emergency.
The boat is a total write-off and will be picked up by a crane, placed on a flatbed and removed to a junk yard. Its contents were totally removed by the salvage company yesterday and now belong to them. It was still on the beach late yesterday in danger of breaking in half due to the effects of tide and waves over an entire week. The latest delays were to potentially protect sea turtles. I wish the authorities valued the lives of boaters as much as they do sea turtles.
.
Obviously, I cannot get this sad event out of my memory. I don't know that I ever will. But it wasn't the Patna. Here's hoping I don't become Lord Jim. I am happy that my crew and I are safe. I trust Travis will be well taken care of by his specialist and eventually return to full health. We wish him well. I am proud too of Travis, Ron and even myself for the way we behaved during this disaster and its aftermath.
What I am left with today though is a feeling of abject emptiness. The void is uncomfortable. It's not something I'm accustomed to. My dream had occupied me for years and was on the verge of becoming reality. I know I would have truly enjoyed the Caribbean 1500 rally from Hampton, VA to Tortola. My crew on that voyage too was both extremely capable and fun. I can only imagine now how beautiful it would have been to visit the idyllic islands of the eastern Caribbean in an unhurried manner with my girls...Susan and Emma...and perhaps some of you on our once beautiful boat.
Alas, it was not to be.
Best always,
David, for Susan