Ken in Regina

However, he stated "Now Garmin tells me that I'll have to buy a new disc (another $100) if I want to upload the maps that I already own to my new Garmin GPS. ... Does anyone know a way to work around this." Asking for work-arounds for copyrighted software is not permitted in these forums. I understand the concern but I would say that's pretty quick to jump to judgement without a little more information to support it. People use such phrases in a variety of ways, most of which are quite innocent. I gave the poster two ways to work around it. Does that mean my message will be deleted, too? ...ken...

Re: How maps can be used, basically what I just said. Different words, same message. Yours is better worded. Thanks. No need to speculate. All you have to do is follow the suggestion I made in my previous post. Log in to your MyGarmin account. Go the the My Maps page. When your registered devices and maps have loaded, click on "Details" by any of your map products. In the righthand column you will see a list of all your registered map products. The second link under each of them reads "Unlock additional GARMIN unit". If you click on that link you will be taken through the process to purchase an unlock code for the additional Garmin device. As I said, you will need the serial number of the additional unit and your credit card. When in doubt I always believe what I can actually do. That's why I posted the two options for getting an unlock code. You can actually do what I posted. Or you can keep phoning Garmin customer support until you find someone who knows what they're doing. HINT: when you call Garmin customer support don't ask IF you can get an unlock code for the additional device. Tell them you WANT to purchase an additional unlock code for a new device. That forces them to look up HOW to do it instead of allowing them to guess that they can't. ...ken...

As was mentioned, the common netbook brands and models are cookie-cutter. Not much to choose among them. I have one of the early Acer Aspire One netbooks. This is a replacement for my full-size Acer laptop and I'm quite pleased with having the much smaller and lighter netbook without sacrificing anything else .. specs are the same, so performance is the same. Even the keyboard isn't any worse (I hate all portable keyboards). If I was doing it again there are two things I would do differently. One is that I would get the 10" screen instead of the 8.9". It's exactly the same size otherwise. The other, and more important in my experience, is that I would get the six cell battery. I got the three cell and it's essentially useless on battery .. two hours max. Oh yeah, one thing to think about .. a major deciding factor for me was colour. No, really!! I got a white one because it has a white keyboard with black lettering. It is w-a-y easier to see the keyboard. It makes it much more usable. A friend recently got an HP mini for his wife and she prefered the white one (also white keyboard). He has used it while setting it up for her and he is now a believer, too. ...ken...

There are three things to note here. 1. Walts Hunting - There was nothing in Yukon Mike's note that should cause it to be removed. It's a legitimate beef and how will you know if there are legitimate alternatives without asking? (2. and 3. Many of Garmin's customer support people don't know up from down. It doesn't say much for Garmin's Customer Support training program. Their knowledge is all over the map, from exceptional to abysmal ... lately more of the latter than the former. My strategy is to just keep phoning them until I get someone who actually knows what they're talking about and actually wants to help me.) 2. Yukon Mike - Re: getting another copy of City Navigator for the second unit ... that's just nonsense. Just go into Mapsource and under the Utilities menu select Manage Map Products. Using the Manage Map Products item you can go online and purchase an unlock code for the new unit so you can use the existing maps with it. Or you can do the same thing through your MyGarmin account online if you have one set up. Either way works fine. You will need the serial number for your new unit and your credit card. It will still cost you money but it's cheaper than buying another - unnecessary - copy of City Navigator. Or, if you don't want to pay any more money, you can do as Walts Hunting suggested and ask about the availability of free maps for use on the new unit. There are lots out there that are quite legitimate. I'm not sure they are the equal of Garmin's products but, hey, you get what you pay for. ....mmmm.... actually, come to think of it, Ibycus's free topo maps are excellent. As good as Garmin's topo product in Canada. Can't speak for anywhere else. 3. delphic - Re: the SD card ... you can use it in as many different units as you want. That's half the point of buying one. The maps are locked to the card itself so you can put it into any Garmin unit that will accept an SD card. ...ken...

Ooops, you're right. I never looked that close. I just assumed since the full-size card has one... a**/U/ME. So I popped one out of my Legend HCx to see and no switch. Shoulda figured ... no room for one on that teensy little thing. One more reason I'll stick with the DVD version of maps and avoid the card version. ...ken...

I'm afraid you are about where I'm at with Mobile XT now. I've never used it for geocaching, just navigation. And not even a lot of navigation. I mostly just bought the Palm to see if it would be a good replacement for my favorite nav device, which Garmin discontinued a couple of years ago. So I just play with the Palm and Mobile XT a bit every now and again. I don't have a premium membership but I've never used a .LOC file. The cache information that I've used I got through Garmin's MyGarmin site. I have a Garmin eTrex Legend HCx. I just connected it to my computer and the caches load directly into the Legend using the MyGarmin account. A premium account isn't worth anything to me. I have to admit to being a bit of a phoney. I'm not much of a cacher. I haven't done any caching since early this summer. I'm more interested in learning about the new handheld technology and this forum section is one of the best places on the internet to do that. The people here are very knowledgable about using handhelds. I dabble a little with caching just so I can understand when experienced users are discussing some of the handheld features that are only really applicable to caching. My Legend doesn't support all the hint info so I just cut and pasted the text into the Palm Desktop memopad on my PC and synced it into my Palm memopad. Wish I could be more help. ...ken...

I don't believe you can put anything extra on the map cards. I think they're ROM. Even if you can, it might not be a smart idea. You can't backup and restore those cards so if you manage to screw it up you have to buy another one. If it's not read-only I would cerainly slide the switch on the side to make it read-only so I couldn't accidentally mess it up. ...ken...

Klatch and Chuy! you are both a bit off. 1. City Navigator North America non-NT is not "several generations older" than the NT version. Not yet. The last non-NT version is 2009. The currently available NT version is 2010. That makes one year difference. That may not be enough difference to upgrade yet if the original poster can't swap straight across. 2. There is a very big difference in the file sizes between the NT and the non-NT versions. CNNA 2009 is 1744.1MB if you select the whole thing. CNNA 2009NT is 1099.5MB if you select the whole thing. Yes, there is also a difference in the number of tiles: 74 tiles for 2009 NT, 344 tiles for 2009. ...ken...

Have you actually got the Mobile XT application working? And is the GPS functioning with it so you can view the map and have it show your location on the map? It's impossible to tell you what to do next without knowing exactly where you are now. Sorta like navigating with a GPS. If you have Mobile XT working, you just need to place a GPX file in the GPX folder on the SD card and Mobile XT should see it. As for learning how to use Mobile XT, let me Google the Mobile XT User Manual for you..... Here it is: http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/GarminMobil...wnersManual.pdf To enter coordinates you need to create a new "My Location". TOOLS (the little wrench icon) > MANAGE MY DATA > MY LOCATIONS > MANAGE > NEW LOCATION .... Use the buttons to give it a name and a location. In the "Change Location" button you can enter the coordinates using the "Edit Coordinates" button. At least that's the way it works on my Palm T|X. ...ken...

I do all of the above. I have my unlock codes stored on MyGarmin so I can just tell the unlock manager to restore the codes from there after a reinstall. I have saved copies of the unlock file (.UNL) on my computer backup in case the Garmin site is down. I have the unlock codes stored in my PDA so it doesn't matter if my original computer dies or the Garmin site is down, I can still restore on a new computer. I think I'm covered. ...ken...

1. That should not be necessary. You can load the POI file into Mapsource and add an icon there, before using the POILoader to load them as custom POIs. I have added lots this way. 2. In the Main Menu select Search. In Search select Custom Points of Interest. In Custom Points of interest hit the Menu button. In the menu that pops up select "Nearest Containing" You'll get the a few custom POIs displayed and the alphabet window so you can start "typing" the name you want. Keep an eye on the POI list above the alphabet window because it will narrow down as you enter characters. If the names are somewhat unique you won't usually have to enter all the characters to get a hit. ...ken...

If you really care about this particular unit, rather than assuming anything I would ask them very specifically whether they will promise faithfully to only repair the housing on the original unit and NOT mess with the internals and, most importantly, NOT replace it. Replacement with refurbished units is the normal practice when electronics companies "repair" things out of warranty. Replacement with new units is the common practice if it's within warranty. Repair and return of your unit is exceedingly rare in the electronics industry. As has been mentioned, it just costs too much. So, if you care, ask. Otherwise be prepared for the possibility of a replacement. In any case, if you've got stuff on it that matters ... waypoints, tracks, caches, whatever ... make sure you've got a copy of them somewhere safe before you send it off. ...ken...

The maps also come with the Mapsource program which is great for viewing your tracks and doing trip planning on your PC or laptop. To answer the other part of your question that hasn't been answered, you get unlock codes for each of the devices you unlock the maps to. So, if you lose the DVD or it gets damaged and you need another one you can get a free one from Garmin. Then you just use your unlock codes again after reinstalling the maps on the computer. If you get the DVD, make sure you keep copies of your unlock codes around, just in case. ...ken...

On a device with indicator lights, the only thing you can be absolutely sure of when the lights are on is that the lights are working. ...ken...

And the card is not eligible for a NuMaps subscription, while the DVD is. I am beginning to think that may not be as big a negative as I once did. I own an older Garmin device that will not use NT maps. Garmin has officially discontinued non-NT maps. That leaves me high and dry for maps for that device (it's still my favorite and most-used). If the lifetime maps had been available at the time, I would have signed up for them. I would be very disappointed now. Those who, like me, have an excellent Garmin device that they plan on keeping long enough to make the lifetime maps a good idea will eventually also be disappointed. The maps are locked to a specific device. You can be assured that Garmin will eventually do something to force you to buy a new GPS device whether you need it or not. ...ken...

Actually, one of the annoying things about this site is that you cannot log into the forums. You must log into the geocaching.com website. So, in order for the original poster to be able to post, they must already be logged into the geocaching.com website (because you can't post here as a guest and you can't be logged in here without logging in through geocaching.com). But I'm as puzzled as you. Once you are logged in, even as a free member, when you display a cache the coordinates are there as both lat/lon and UTM. ...ken...

In Mapsource you select all of the selections you want at once, before transfering the maps to the device. - select northeast topo part 1 in the map selector list, - use the map selection tool in the toolbar to highlight the entire map or just those tiles you want so that the tiles you want from that map turn pink, - select northeast topo part 3 in the map selector list, - use the map selection tool in the toolbar to highlight the entire map or just those tiles you want so that the tiles you want from that map turn pink, - select any other mapset in the map selector list, - use the map selection tool in the toolbar to highlight the entire map or just those tiles you want so that the tiles you want from that map turn pink, - etc. - select Transfer To Device, - select your device, - make sure "Maps" is checked in the transfer box, - transfer the maps. No, that will cause you problems. You need to make sure it's removed from the registry. If the mapset is from Garmin and was installed properly you should be able to us the Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and remove it that way. ...ken...

The CN product is licensed to a specific device. It can not be used on two different devices without getting a second license (read another DVD). If someone has successfully ran the maps on a nuvi 350 and a 60CSx with only one license then they have violated the license terms. Jim The original post asks about the micro SD version of City Navigator, not the DVD. The first answer is correct: you CAN use the card versions of Garmin's maps in any Garmin device that will find its maps on the card. The negative of the card versions of Garmin's maps is that you cannot write anything else on the card, like POIs, tracks, etc. And you cannot backup the card so if you lose it or mess it up you have to buy a new one. ...ken...

Glad it works, Brian. A couple of things you need to be aware of: If you ever want to use waypoints and/or routes from Mapsource in nRoute you need to Save As "Garmin GPS Database version 2 (*.GDB)". The default version 3 GDB format will not work in nRoute. nRoute also does not support the newer Garmin map formats, starting with City Navigator 2010 and the newest Topo releases. You need to run them through a "reverser" utility program to get them into a format that nRoute will use. Any map that works in Mapsource 6.13.7 will work in nRoute. If the map doesn't work in Mapsource 6.13.7, you are out of luck in nRoute. Happy trails. ...ken...

nRoute is available here: http://www.gawisp.com/perry/msource/ Just scroll to the bottom of the list for ver. 2.76. ...ken...

What versions of the maps? nRoute will not work with newer versions of Garmin maps. If the maps show up in Mapsource 6.13.7, they will also work in nRoute. If they require 6.14.x and newer, they will not work with nRoute. nRoute will not be able to see them and will give that error message. ...ken...

Slickdeals will show the Magellan Roadmate I bought for $150 3 years ago for only $50 every week or two. "everyday" price at many stores is only $60. Yeah, I know. But the regular price for the Streets&Trips 2010 software is $39.95 or with GPS receiver it's $69.95. DeLorme Street Atlas 2010 software is $39.95 or with GPS receiver it's $64.95. Garmin Mobile PC is a little more expensive. It's $59.95 for the software and $99.95 with GPS receiver. So the original poster can have a lovely big-screen GPS using his excellent 60CSx - one of the best GPS receivers around - and even the higher priced software for 60 bucks. It gets better than that. He mentioned that he wants to use Mapsource to see nearby caches. If he just wants to use free topo maps with Mapsource, he can use Garmin's nRoute nav software with his 60CSx for free. It will show any of the geocaches he loads into Mapsource in nRoute so he can see what's near his GPS location. (He can read lots about nRoute if he follows that link to Laptop GPS World above and goes to the Garmin Mobile PC section.) ...ken...

You haven't checked prices lately, I think. The only dedicated personal navigation device you can get for less than the price of the software-only versions of Streets & Trips, Street Atlas or Mobile PC will be from your neighbourhood fence. And you better have your oven mitts on when you take delivery out of the back of that van. Seriously, for the price of a cheap PND you can get the versions of Streets&Trips, Street Atlas or Mobile PC that include a nice USB GPS receiver. But the original poster can use the 60CSx so no need for another receiver. It's a really inexpensive way to get a nice big-screen nav system. It's especially useful if you also want to do some pre-trip planning. The little screens on the PNDs aren't really usable to do serious trip planning with. ...ken...

There are three things about it that are negative for people who will try it and positive for the existing GPS suppliers: 1. Smartphones are limited by necessity to being "pocket-sized". That means their screens will always be too small to be useful for many things that personal navigation devices (PND) like the Nuvi, etc. are used for. As witness the fact the trend in screen sizes in Nuvi and imitators is toward larger screens. 2. It's dependent upon Google Maps. In North America Google's maps have been deteriorating constantly. First they moved from Navteq to TeleAtlas. Now, in the US, they've dropped TeleAtlas and gone with a mishmash of free maps and their own data. Many reports are that the areas they are interested in have degraded even more. 3. The app is not free. You need a broadband cellular data connection to the internet or you don't have maps. You need a lot of bandwidth, especially if you like their satellite view rather than just the basic road map view. That costs a lot of money. Google's app will hit the sweet spot for really casual users who would never have any need for a real PND. Anyone who has a serious use for personal navigation will find it a useful way to introduce themselves to the possibilities but they will quickly encounter one, or a combination, of the limitations above and move to the real meal deal. Over the longer haul, this should stimulate sales of real PNDs. So, quick, buy up some of that cheap Garmin stock before it starts to take off again. ...ken...

Thankyou for the advice, but when I looked up images of these cables i could only see a 9 Pin Male socket and a USB. How does this connect to the GPS? By the USB connector. ...ken...