My new car doesn't have seats, a bumper, or a transmission

Tim,

I feel your pain. That is one reason I did not go with Leica gear when I opened up my solo office in 2007. It was a piece meal package. I wanted a one stop software that would do what I needed.

When you posted about that the other day I had a lingering feeling that I had had to do something to make it work and that was it, send Leica money. I can't believe I forgot about it considering how mad it made me at the time.

WTF!

Please tell me who sold you this CRAP!

So I can stay way the hell away!!!!

Never purchase another thing from them......

> If I want that stuff I've got to pay extra for the app.
>
> Oh wait, by new car I meant new GPS equipment. Are all the manufacturers doing this now? I wasted 20 hours or better last week trying to figure out why the NMEA string would not come out of the antenna. Dealt with tech support through email and phone. Friday night I get an email asking if I'd purchased this option. WTF? This has been standard in all GPS gear I've used to date.
>
> Want to stakeout? Oh that's gonna cost you.
> Want to stakeout an alignment? Yeah, that's gonna cost some more.
> Cogo? You can try it free for 90 days, and then pay to keep using it.
> Want your codelist to arrange alphabetically? Sorry, we can't possibly do that.

I asked a supplier why everything is going "a la carte". His reply was "that's the way our customers want it. They don't want to pay for something that they may already have." You understand now? You better check......you may already have it....;-)

The biggest surprise I had when the GPS units arrived was when I was searching for instruction booklet. Nada. There were CDs of the post processing program and some basic mapware and within the electronic files were the instructions. I had to print that myself (600+ pages). My computer would only handle 30 pages at a time (not enough memory). Near week or so later and two sets of printer cartridges and a ream and half of paper, I had a booklet that was already out of date because of upgrades.

Anything you can add on with a software upgrade, especially one that requires a key code, is almost pure profit for the manufacturer. The software is already written, and many times is already on your equipment and simply hidden from you. The development costs were already paid for in the base equipment purchase, no equipment manufacturer covers their development cost with these fees. You are simply paying thousands of dollars for what the manufacturer could have charged an extra $1 to everyone to put by default onto every receiver they sold. Instead, a smaller sub group is getting socked with huge fees that probably hardly make the extra features worthwhile. Other groups will never use the extra features because they can't experiment with them for low cost/free, and thus won't ever come to the realization that they find the feature useful for their needs. It is penny wise, and pound foolish.

Seriously, what brand is this?

Sems like the GPS salesman was an X used car salesman......

RADU

Mr H it would have been cheaper to have purchased an upgrade

computer than waste all the time printing ......LOL

RADU

Sounds like a Leica unit, however I cannot confirm this. It sounds like what I experienced with a former employer. They were/are a Leica shop.

I want to clarify that my experience with Leica hardware is great, but was disappointed with the way their lecia software and hardware was offered.

My major frustration was something as simple as doubling angles cost an additional $400 or so. Absolutely insane.

If they charge you for the ability to stake-out and use cogo, that's just crazy ...

Do they charge an extra for a code to turn on the d.c?