Benthic2

no luck. I don't know if anyone is following this saga or not, but this will be the final installment. I got the Topo 2008 and it does not have nautical navaids. The Garmin website has a free download of the Marine Points Database, but its for the older legend and vista and it won't seem to work on my Venture HC. Since I have to buy a specific nautical CD, I'm going to return the eTrex and pick up the cheaper explorist 210.

I have missed the previous discussion on the issue, but if the odometer is showing a greater distance than the track log, it may be that the odometer is taking continuous data while the track log is setmented from point to point. In other words your track log is a series of straight lines from data point to data point but the odometer is a continuous and curvy line that was your actual path. If you went in a circle your odometer would show the circumference of the circle, while your track long might show an octagon. ( that's kind of an extreme example to illustrate my point...you'd have to be going really fast to get a result like that )

The only problem is if its out of warranty. They have a flat fee for any repairs. For my eTrex Legend it would have cost $99.00 to repair, and I could buy a new one for that much and not have to deal with the return process. Good luck with yours.

.....so I finally find a unit that comes packaged with software ( eTrex Venture HC bundle ) and the picture on Dick's Sporting goods shows the older version of Map Source Topo...not the 2008 version. That's good because I don't think the new one has navaids. I call them up and ask them to hold it for me....I get there....and its got Topo 2008.....I was bummed. I bought it anyway and I'm going to give it a try.

Thanks Norm. That's unfortunate. My eTrex legend had the navaids in the base map and the Garmin Topo map has them so I thought for sure either the Magellan base or Topo would have them. I guess I may be looking for a eTrex Venture HC instead of the Magellan. thanks again.

REI.com has the eplorist 210 for $124 with the Topo map CD included. Don't forget that's usually another hundred bucks or so. I can't really give it a good recomendatin as I don't have one yet.....but that price seems pretty good to me, after looking online for an entry level unit. I expect the prices on all the explorists will start to drop now that the new Triton line is out.

In case anyone else is interested in the explorist 210, REI.com has the "bundle" ( includes Mapsend Topo 3D and power cord ) for only $124.

I am replacing an eTrex Legend and have narrowed my choices down to the Lowrance H2O, Explorist 210 and Garmin Venture HC. I like the marine data with the Lowrance unit, the sensitivity of the Garmin and the price of the Magellan. I have found a great deal on the Expl 210 "Bundle" that comes with Mapsend Topo 3D. What I was wondering is if anyone here has any first hand knowledge of the detail of the marine nav aids in either the base map of the Expl 210 or the Mapsend Topo software. Thanks. Greg