The Pilot III was a great GPS, but had its limitations. The most serious being
the reliance on its internal lithium battery to retain waypoints, routes etc.
When this tiny battery ran down (Garmin said it should last about 3-5 years),
the GPS lost everything. So if you haednt backed it up to PC on Mapsource or
PCX5, you were in trouble. The battery is readily available in shops (it is
standard penny type battery, I forget the code) but changing this battery is
very difficult, as it is soldered into the board by tiny wires. You have to
open
the GPS right up, and have a soldering iron handy. With mine, Garmin reommended
I send it back to an authorized agent in UK for replacement, but I live
in Africa so this is not possible in our postal service run by thieves. So I
did a replacement myself with a soldering iron, it did OK for a couple of years,
then on the next replacement the wires came out of the board, and it really
was time to bin-it. The new Garmins dont need the internal battery any more.
I would not get a Pilot III again, when you have the 96 available or 196, or
296 etc.
Richard, Kenya, Europa 5Y-LRY
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