Everyone's descriptions of the behaviour of Mobile PC when used with a Garmin GPS receiver helps me get an idea of what's going on.
When using a Garmin GPS receiver, Garmin normally unlocks the maps for use on that particular device. So, if you are using a Garmin GPS receiver and go to
SETTINGS > ABOUT in Mobile PC you should see a "Device ID:" at the top of the page. That should be the device ID of the GPS receiver. That will be the device ID that will be associated with the unlock code for the maps ... and the reason you get an unlock code when you activate it with a Garmin GPS receiver attached.
Here's the crucial bit:
Until you unlock the maps, you will only see the basemap and not the detailed maps for City Navigator North America NT 2009.
At least that's my theory. I have the software-only version and I don't have a Garmin GPS receiver to test with it (my iQue 3600 will not act as a standalone GPS receiver). I have deduced this by looking at the behaviour of the copy I installed on my laptop and my understanding of how Garmin treats map unlocking with their other devices.
The copy on my laptop is the one I can't activate because I activated on my desktop first. I can work with the copy installed on my laptop as long as I click the button to use a Garmin GPS receiver but
do not connect a GPS receiver. I can use all the features but I can't see the detailed maps. When I go to the
SETTINGS > ABOUT screen I see a "Device ID:". I have no idea where that's coming from.
Here's the difference that I'm seeing on my desktop -- the version that's activated. With the software-only version, as soon as you enter the Product Key it goes out onto the internet and activates the product. Once it does that, if you go to the
SETTINGS > ABOUT page you will see "Software Unit ID: xxx" and "Product Key: xxx" listed at the top of the page instead of a "Device ID:"
I can use all the features
and I can see the detailed maps.
The final key to the puzzle is the license agreement on the
SETTINGS > ABOUT page. The Mobile PC software is Freeware.
Quote:
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Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this sofware and associated documentation files (the "Software") to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and sell copies of the Software, ...
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This is no real surprise. Mapsource and nroute are also free. Even the basemaps are free.
It's the detailed maps that Garmin wants to protect and make money from. So with Mobile PC you need one of two things to use the maps that come with Mobile PC.
If you are using a non-Garmin GPS receiver and buy the software-only version, you just need the Product Key. That will unlock the detailed maps automatically when it's activated. And the activation will stop the use of that Product Key for activation (eg. unlocking of the maps) on any other PC. Because Garmin is treating the originally activated Mobile PC as if it is a Garmin GPS device.
If you buy the version with the Garmin GPS receiver, activation will provide an unlock code for the Device ID of the GPS receiver. You can install Mobile PC on as many computers as you want
and see the detailed maps on them as long as you use the GPS receiver that the maps are unlocked to. This is the same way Mapsource works.
If you buy the software-only version
and you have a Garmin GPS receiver
and you can sweet-talk Garmin into giving you an unlock code for that GPS receiver for CNNA NT 2009, you can have one PC activated using the Product Key so you can use any non-Garmin GPS receiver with the maps on that PC. And you can have Mobile PC installed on as many other PCs as you want, with the maps unlocked to that particular Garmin GPS and see the detailed maps on those PCs when you use that particular Garmin GPS.
Terry, does that fit with what you are seeing? Can you check your
SETTINGS > ABOUT screen on the various PCs you have Mobile PC installed on and see what it says. Then check the
TOOLS > Manage My Data > Map Sets screen and see if the
"Built-in maps" are unlocked?
If they are
not unlocked you will see an asterisk beside the words "
Built-in maps" and when you click on them the next screen will say
"Can't unlock maps using Unit Id xxxxx".
As you can see, what matters here is not how many PCs you can install Mobile PC on but whether or not you can get the CNNA NT2009 maps unlocked on them. Without the detailed maps you don't have any useful street-level detail, you don't have city names, street addresses or postal codes to search on, you don't have POIs and you have very limited ability to do routing.
...ken...
.
