On 1st July I posted a request for anyone experiencing a shattered screen on a 3500. The previous day during normal use my screen shattered. My unit is less than one year old and still under guarantee, and has never been dropped or knocked. I sent it back to M & M who recieved it on 4/7/11. Having read only good things about M & M on here I was surprised to recieve no response from them by 8/7/11. After waiting on hold for several long intervals with no response with the support number I eventually got through immediatly by ringing the sales number! I was told they had never heard of anyone shattering a screen and the unit was not repairable but as a gesture of goodwill they would accept it as accidental damage and give me a new unit at half price £160.00! As the unit is still under guarantee I was not happy with this and was then told they would return the unit to the manufacturer for them to examine it. I then noticed that my origional posting has been removed. So I ask again has anyone ever had a screen shattered and what was M & Ms response. Also if M & M do not make the 3500 who does.

Hi, keep us informed as i have found with the touch screen i am pushing sometimes quite hard to try and get it to function as its a temperamental touch screen and gets very frustrating at times

At the risk of deviating further from earlmartinsmith's issue with M-M's response to his broken screen I have sometimes wondered if the occasional lack of response to the screen being touched, whether by stylus, finger, or finger nail, is due to the wee processor and the software being too busy to respond to the interruption caused by the screen being pressed. I have occasionally experienced times when there is no response, regardless of how hard I press the screen and suspect that the software is just as likely to be the cause as the screen hardware. We have no way of monitoring cpu utilisation to answer questions like does it go into overdrive when the receiver is losing contact with the satellites. Either way, it doesn't sound as if earlmartinsmith's problem was casued by prodding his screen too vigorously. Sounds more like a very rare defect in the construction of his unit.

Tim

My 3500 always responded well to the touch prior to me uploading the new software fix. After this it often required a much firmer touch to get a response from the unit. I only pressed with the tip of my index finger and was horrified when the screen shattered. Looking at the above comments I agree it would seem to be a combination of inferior screen construction and the prossessors poor response to touch after uploading the new software. My point is surely this should be addressed by M & M under the guarantee. If as they say the unit cannot be repaired surely they should be replacing it not trying to sell me a new one for half price. Surely they are breaking the terms of the guarantee.

Yesterday I received a letter from Performance Products Runcorn who actually make the 3500! They say after examining my unit the LCD screen beneath the touch screen membrane has cracked, which is not repairable and not covered by the guarantee. They too are willing to replace my unit with a brand new one for £160. On trying to ring them to discuss this late on Friday afternoon I was told they could not as their computer system had gone down! They offered to ring me back on monday, but I told them I will ring them.

Hi, are you covered on your house insurance?

Without sounding cynical £160.00 IMO this is probably the cost price of the unit........So neither MM or the maunfacturer will lose out on this goodwill gesture. It also tells us maybe how much profit margin there is on this product.

I will speak to Performance Products on Monday but it does look like I shall have to bite the bullet and fork out the £160. I have to much invested in maps etc not to. I will then look into reclaiming the £160 from the house insurance.

Yesterday I contacted Performance Products and recieved a lecture on how they shock test the units and how it is impossible to break them with normal use, therefore I must have knocked or dropped it. When I restated that it has never been dropped or knocked and how I had only firmly pressed it with the tip of my index finger, I was then questioned as to why had I not used the supplied stylus. As I had not used the stylus but my finger this constitutes improper use! Not being happy with this I was told that their operative would run the scenario past a manager and get back to me. Later in the day I recieved an emailed letter stating screen damage is not covered by the warranty as the screen will only crack or be damaged if it is struck, dropped or excessive pressure is applied. Apparently excessive pressure can be applied by a finger, so the stylus only is to be used, which is why it is there. I have had to bite the bullet and accept their offer of good will and purchase a new unit for £160. Apparently this is the total package ie bike mount, silicone case, soft case and CD ROM etc, not just the 3500 itself. Once I recieve all this maybe I can recoup some of the cost on ebay.

Let this be a warning to you all. From now on only use the stylus which scratches the screen (which is undamagable) and is impossible to use when using gloves, rendering what had become after the software update a useful piece of kit, now practically usless out doors.

I think Memory-Map are behaving quite badly here. In the Adventurer_3500_Extended_Manual the instructions specifically include the using of fingers to interact with the software. Without trawling through the manual here are the first two references I came across:

on page 3: "As your position changes, the map will automatically scroll with you. If you want to
move the map manually drag your finger or stylus across the screen."

on page 6: "Moving around the map
You can quickly move around the map by tapping and sliding the included stylus,
or your fingernail, across the screen."

I imagine that most of us use finger, finger nail, and stylus. If anything I would have thought the screen is more likely to be broken when using the stylus and almost impossible with a finger. I should add that, following the advice of several people in these forums, I use a screen protector but this is to protect against scratches rather than to prevent the screen from shattering.