Garmin BaseCamp for PC and Mac

Software Reviews and Criticism

• By diggertfu

  Disapointed - Again

  I have been using Garmin devices for many years - BaseCamp for the past 10 years. I keep hoping Garmin will do an overhaul of this aged, unintuitive, overly complicated and frustrating application, but I am disappointed with each new release/update. (BTW, I spent 30 years as a product manager responsible for complex medical imaging devices, so I do feel I have a sense of what makes a decient UI.) I just updated from a ten year old Windows to a new Windows; 4.2 GHz i7, 32 GB RAM, 3TB Fusion Drive - very fast PC. But, BaseCamp is still about as slow as it was on my ten year old Windows. Within the first 15 minutes of use BC crashed four times. Seems to have become a bit more stable now, however I have not tried to connect a Garmin device and upload routes. Ironically, I did not receive any notice on the earlier version of BC (4.2.2) that an update was available, even after selecting Check for Updates. The 4.2.2 version was completely unstable on the new Windows, so after a web search I found out there had been several updates since 4.2.2. Garmin folks, you have to get it together… Please. You know I’m not the only one who is frustrated.

  
  
• By YouTuber2015

  Crashed 13 times within 30 mins.

  This last update really messed Basecamp up, bad. I was excited to see that it had been updated to 64-bit so it wouldn't be broken in a future PC update, but that doesn't seem to matter as this update makes sure that the app has a 30% or greater failure rate when trying to move or edit waypoints. The only reason I still use Basecamp was because of the trip planner and the fact that I could sync it to my GPS. That way, when I take those 'off the beaten path' journeys, I wouldn't have to carry around and look at paper turn-by-turn navigation while driving. Overall, I'm very disappointed. To add to my furstration, the maps have an issue with the new I-11 bypass in Nevada and won't route you over them because the connection to the old road wasn't mapped. Even Microsoft Maps knows the new interchange. Microsoft MAPS!!

  
  
• By MotoInvictus

  Old interface, unintuitive and crashes often

  What’s to say? Garmin seems to not care about updating this product to something that looks like it was designed in the last 10 years. I have been using the Zumi 660 for 6 years on motorcycle trips and using the basecamp to create the journeys. Every year it gets a little worse and Google gets a little better. I’d use GMaps all the time except that there are some places I ride that don’t have cell coverage and an offline map isnt an option. I’ve been trying to plan a trip for the last 8 hours and it’s crashing constantly now. Please Garmin - can you produce a better interface? If you are trapped into a Garmin product, this is as good as it gets and that is not good at all.

  
  
• By B5A7

  Unbelievably Frustrating Interface

  Another year has arrived and time to plan some trips and rewatch all of the Garmin tutorials for Basecamp. This app and the GPS incorporate some fantastic technology, but unfortunately with Basecamp you have to work through an interface that is badly cobbled together. It is the most confusing mangled piece of garbage that I have ever seen in my 40 years of using and even writing computer software; and using it is extraordinarily frustrating. And look at the reviews going back many years of people complaining about it while Garmin has done nothing to remedy the problems, obviously they don’t care. If this GPS didn’t come on my BMW motorcycle I would have chosen something different to avoid the frustration that I have each time I return to Basecamp after not using it for a few months.

  
  
• By FlyingGS

  Barely functional. It’s time to change something.

  There is so much potential there but what a disapointment. Trips, Adventures, Routes..etc, this is a collection of features that doesn’t always address the actual pain point for the users. Please do some research (outside of your office), visit some travel shows, cycling, motorcycling, car touring…etc and figure out why people hate their GPS. It should be a fun experience planning a road trip but options are cumbersome and its quasi impossible to find relevant point of interest (you can find any address on the device but when it comes to finding addresses in Basecamp it suddenly becomes impossible). On top of that performance is poor and the software is not stable. It’s time to change something in that team!!

  
  

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