ubievol

johnnyvegas what is a trail projection?

briansnat here ya go http://www.getagps.com/products/cartography/203339.htm

there is a good review of the magellan autorouting software at www.gpsinformation.net

spmcfarland i've been shopping GPSr units myself and i think that the merigold is about the best bang for the buck out there. especially since the topo software can be bought, new, for about $30. you have a good deal on the garmin topo however (would only work with garmin) so your total price with a new legend would be even lower ($150-160 vs $220-230). if you prefer a smaller unit, like for backpacking, and are OK with the 8mb limit for maps you might prefer the legend. if you don't care about small size and you want more storage for maps, go for the gold.

here is a follow up ... is the current Garmin topo and city select software when purchased for a 60/76 "unlocked" for the entire USA? this question stems from a garmin V owner complaining that he had to buy additional "unlocks," and from garmin's www site listing a "topo east" and a "topo west." thanks again!

thanks for all the info! the SF/LA example was just one i made up, trying to figure what would be too much to load into the GPSr all at once, to investigate how "re-loading" would be handled away from home. someone posted here that he could not get all of LA into his 60c. i don't remember if he was referring to the autorouting street software and topo, or just one. sounds like as long as i have the software CD and access to a computer, i would be in business if i needed to change the downloaded maps.

i've read a number of references to the "lock" on garmin map software. obviously this is some kind of copy protection. i'm trying to understand exactly what it means. if i buy autorouting software to use on a 60c, install it, and then buy another GPSr can i use it on the 2nd GPSr or is it "tied" to the 60c only? or is it "tied" to the computer it is installed on, with the ability to download to multiple GPSr units? along the same lines, suppose i'm planning a trip in california and want to use different maps in the LA area and the san francisco area with not enough memory in the 60c to load both at the same time. is there a solution other than taking my laptop along? for example, could i take the software CD (or preferably a copy), install it on a relative's computer, and download new maps (or does the "lock" prevent this)? could i burn a map of LA for example onto a CD, and then use a relative's computer to load the map files from CD onto the 60c? thanks for helping out with this!

i'm pretty sure mapsend topo is 1:100,000. it seems like a lot of people use the topo software for street detail, but use paper maps or software maps (like national geographic and delorme) for off road due to the greater detail.

BigWhiteTruck which palm PDA do you use? do you have it in some kind of protective case while out on the trail? yours sounds like a very flexible setup.

the surefire product description says that the bulb assembly puts out XX lumens for 60 minutes. does this mean that the bulb assembly has to be replaced after only an hour of use? replacements are $17 each.

i've looked at both the magellan color and the BW meridian gold, and to me the meridian color screen is not worth the difference in price. so i'm debating between a merigold or meriplat, and the garmin 60/76c. next week i'll finally get to see the garmin in person. i've looked at the reception question extensively, and it is confusing. some who have used both units are adamant that there is no significant difference, while others who have used both are adamant that the magellan is significantly better in acquiring and maintaining lock. no one has said that the garmin is better in this respect, btw. i'm not sure how to explain the different results. it might be that differences show up when the units are used in some certain situations and not others, or it might be that someone got ahold of a defective garmin unit.

as someone stated, what you choose is based on your needs, expectations, and budget. you should consider whether you most desire the final product to be a print, or an image on your computer. if you only take a couple hundred photos or less annually and/or mainly want prints, i would go with an olympus stylus epic for about $70 from bhphoto.com. this is a film camera. load it with fuji 800 speed film, and you will have a combo that can make great photos equivalent to about a *20* megapixel digital camera! but the biggest plus of this combo is its speed, meaning that you can take good photos in much lower light. digicams make their best images when set at about 100 speed, which is quite slower than 800 (requires more light, or use of flash). take your film to sam's club (or equivalent) for processing, and you will get a set of prints better than you can print yourself from digital PLUS they scan the film and upload the images to the www site so you can post on the www or email or whatever. the oly stylus is small, rugged, and weatherproof, plus if you trash it you are only out $70. its f2.8 lens has quality equivalent to lenses costing several hundred dollars. if you want the convenience of digital, i think the most bang for the buck is in the canon powershot Axx series (i think the current model may be the A90). good luck with your choice!

johnnyvegas and lakedawgs do you print out paper maps from the NG software or just view the maps on your computer?

two that i have heard of are topozone.com and ExpertGPS.com. i don't know how they compare to the NG or deLorme products, but they sound interesting.

could you load up maps onto an SD card on a Palm or PocketPC and then transfer them to the GPSr as needed? still an extra item to have on hand but it would be more convenient than a laptop. night stalker are you saying that one could load the route along the interstate (so that exits, restaurants, etc along the route would be available) and then use the rest of the memory to load the destination? it seems like that would be the best way to do it regardless of the amount of memory available. why load the entire state if you are just driving thru along the interstate?

hard oiler are you using both in the woods? it sounds like robertlipe is getting a performance difference when used in the woods. >You just have to decide which set of annoyances matters most to you. :-) < well said! i remember when color screen PDA's came out, and i thought that i would never switch from my old BW PDA. until i saw the color, and how much better it looked! which is what attracts me to the 60. however, i think the variation and inaccuracy that robertlipe is experiencing would drive me nuts. i wonder if it could be a problem with that particular unit? thanks for all the input!

thanks very much for the reply. when you say the garmin won't hold a lock, does that impact your ability to find the cache? would you say your magellan tends to be overall more accurate in pinpointing the cache?

>I don't think either one is enough better than the other to base purchasing a GPS on.< that is what i was getting at. thanks, everyone, for helping out!

that is all very helpful. thanks a lot!

i borrowed a meridian gold over the weekend and really liked it. i think it may be the one to buy, but i'm also curious about the 60c. the tradeoff seems to be the color screen, versus memory cards. has anyone here used both? is the basic performance comparable? any specific advantages/disadvantages? majority of my use will be with topo maps and hiking, with perhaps some car navigation. thanks!

any significant differences, or are they about the same?

it sounds like if you were going on a trip, it would be useful to have the street maps AND the topo maps, like nightstalker said. but, depending on the area, it might not be possible to load both into memory. so if you were in a large area, like LA or travelling across several states, you would need to have your laptop to download new areas into the GPSr OR have a GPSr that used memory cards that could be switched out. do i have this right?

i think i get the concept but can i get some clarification on exactly how this works and how/when it is useful? i keep remembering how the voice prompt from the navigation system in a rental car kept saying stuff like, "you are approaching the exit ramp" but somehow i don't think it works the same in a handheld GPSr. thanks

success! found two geocaches! obviously i've got a lot to learn. thanks again for the help!

thanks for the comments! i think i'm making a little progress. the map on the cache page, the map on mapquest, and the map on the magellan were not very helpful as there is not much detail. i put the magellan map software CD on a laptop and was able to pull up a more detailed topo map of the area. however i was unable to download it into the magellan as the SD card is not there and i didn't want to erase the other memory contents. but, from looking at the topo map CD i can see what road to take to get close to the cache. i'm going to head out and assume that by watching my position on the GPSr relative to the cache and where i am on the road, a starting point for the hike in will be obvious. well, somewhat obvious, maybe i also found an even easier looking virtual cache in the area, so i have a couple to go after. thanks again for the help. anything new has a learning curve.