MSN Direct has announced that MSN Direct service will end on January 1, 2012. In related news, Garmin just discontinued all MSN-Direct x85 nuvi GPS units. Specifically, the following Garmin nuvis are now discontinued:
- Garmin nuvi 285WT
- Garmin nuvi 785T
- Garmin nuvi 885T
Seems a bit unfair to discontinue these models right after the holiday buying season, especially since MSN Direct service won't actually end for another 2 years.
Here's a list of FAQs you might have regarding the news:
why wouldnt they wait to discontinue it. If they discontinued it early, they would have lost out on big sales. And most people dont want to pay the stupid restocking fee. Garmin doesnt care about the costemers, they just want $$
Garmin, by far, was the biggest "reseller" of MSN Direct service. (Pioneer was one of the other major "partners"). With the availability of NüLink on new Garmin devices like the 1690, MSN Direct appears to be yesterday's technology.
Have you looked at the promo material for Nulink? Its IDENTICAL to MSN services. They haven't changed anything. They could easily provide updated firmware and maybe a new attenna and our units should work with Nulink - but they won't. They'd rather you buy a new GPS to receive the same product than do the right thing.
Wow, I JUST TONIGHT ordered this Garmin 885T on Amazon because it seemed like such a great unit (I knew about the MSN traffic being discontinued, but I liked the voice-recognition and other features enough to buy it anyway). I even waited until after the CES in Las Vegas to make sure no new voice-recognition units were going to be announced...One hour after placing the order, I see here where it is discontinued. Does this mean Garmin will be coming out with a replacement model, maybe with the free traffic like the other upscale Garmins have? Should I plan to return my nuvi 885T to Amazon and hold out for an updated model, or do you think this will still be the only voice-recognition model to garner such great reviews from GPS Magazine?