| iam_anon_ymous@hotmail.com 2005-08-11, 11:48 pm |
| > It does do an ok job, but it's not stopped. Locking it to the unit can
> still be broken. I've seen several protections such as this, and all
> the crackers do is pull that section out of the code that checks for the
> unit ID's, etc. Anyways I'm just pointing out that there has to be a
> medium set to where your not overly paying for a product because they
> spent so much on securing it.
The protection of Garmin maps is pretty good, I have looked around (and
I know where and how to look) and have not found anything at all (and
it has been in place for years already) there could be a few reasons:
Garmin's prices are accepted by most or it is unbreakeable or it is not
in the interest of hackers.
I don't think it costs them very much (definatly not as much as
Microsoft's activation).
I have gone thru the unlock process about 10 times and have only once
had a problem when I wanted to use a 2nd free unlock code with a GPS I
bought on eBay but a mail to Garmin resolved it promptly and
completely.
IMHO Garmin is also quite clear about what you get, everything is on
their website and they are the only company I know with a mapviewer,
also when unlocking you have to acknowledge that you are unlocking that
particular region (there's even a picture :) )
Bluecharts still use the notion of regions, for automotive maps that
has been discontinued a few years ago, perhaps it will come for
Bluecharts too if there is enough competition.
There are also free maps for Garmin GPSes and there are plenty of clear
instructions on how to create your own maps on Google.
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