Garmin

[greg_n_clayton]

I have a 320 that works as new. I can't see any need to upgrade to the 420 if mine works flawlessly ! What do you folks think ? I could see going to the Alpha for the beep/shake/shock !

 

[Heath]

Depends on what you want, I love my Alpha. Really not much different except I don’t have to run a separate shock collar. I’ve had it for 3 or 4 years now. Works great but I dropped it in the garage a month ago and it disoriented and wouldn’t recalibrate afterwards. I was cleaning collars this week and tried again and it recalibrated and acted fine. Big sigh of relief!

 

[greg_n_clayton]

Depends on what you want, I love my Alpha. Really not much different except I don’t have to run a separate shock collar. I’ve had it for 3 or 4 years now. Works great but I dropped it in the garage a month ago and it disoriented and wouldn’t recalibrate afterwards. I was cleaning collars this week and tried again and it recalibrated and acted fine. Big sigh of relief!

I bet you was relieved. But of course I bet Garmin would have made it good ! Their customer service is 2nd to none ! I had Wayne Murphy to send them a DC50 collar for repair. They sent me a new one, chargedvme 100 nucks for it. I would buy more "new" ones at that price.

 

[Beagler282]

I run my Alpha on 6 dogs. By far the best investment I could have made for myself and the dogs.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

I bet you was relieved. But of course I bet Garmin would have made it good ! Their customer service is 2nd to none ! I had Wayne Murphy to send them a DC50 collar for repair. They sent me a new one, chargedvme 100 nucks for it. I would buy more "new" ones at that price.

A little 411 on Garmin's customer service. When you send them a damaged or malfunctioning unit. They charge a flat rate of $100 because they aren't sending your unit back to you. They send you one that has already been repaired from another customer. I dug into it and found out. When you get it back, you will not have your saved waypoints or marked trails or any other info you gathered over the time you owned it. That's not terrible, but you should know ahead of time. It will come back to you looking like it had a factory reset on it. If you wan to save all your stuff you can use the collar clinic, they charge like$75 to bust one open, and then the bill starts. I started with the Astro and had zero problems with it. I upgraded to a Alpha and have had zero problems with it. The Astro is easier to use with gloves on than the Alpha, which is a touch screen.

 

[Rebel's Dad]

A little 411 on Garmin's customer service. When you send them a damaged or malfunctioning unit. They charge a flat rate of $100 because they aren't sending your unit back to you. They send you one that has already been repaired from another customer. I dug into it and found out. When you get it back, you will not have your saved waypoints or marked trails or any other info you gathered over the time you owned it. That's not terrible, but you should know ahead of time. It will come back to you looking like it had a factory reset on it. If you wan to save all your stuff you can use the collar clinic, they charge like$75 to bust one open, and then the bill starts. I started with the Astro and had zero problems with it. I upgraded to a Alpha and have had zero problems with it. The Astro is easier to use with gloves on than the Alpha, which is a touch screen.

One time out of curiosity I used the front corner of my whistle (plastic Acme Thunderer) on the screen of my Alpha. It works fine, sort of like a stylus on a tablet computer. Makes it easier to use the thing if you have gloves on or fat fingers. I also have a plastic screen protector on the Alpha to prevent scratches.

And I'll second what you said about Garmin cust svc. They are top notch.