oeichler

actually if you need walking shoes we would say "wandern" (hiking). But in general I can confirm that statement oliver

Except for the price target this one seems to match most requests. As it runs WinCE it should be able to run Linux as well. If the roadmap project succeeds there will be a routing software for all kinds of vector maps. A moving raster map should be possible, too. It's currently the hottest candidate to replace my crummy Garmin 60SCx in one or two years. Let's hope this thing steps into existence and that the price drops. Together with open source software this could be a real alternative. I am eager to read a review. Oliver

Compared to the 800,- € I had to pay for my Garmin this is a real bargain It's a PDA made for outdoor activities. And that is the big difference to all those Gamins and Magellans forcing you on their proprietary formats. Just give it some time on the market and you will find a firmware supporting open map formats. I can see a lot of potential in this product if it does not stay vaporware or die premature on the market. Oliver

Nice application. Just a few notes: * Your assumption of the map level's bit resolution does not apply to every locked map. e.g City Nav Europe V8 it's 23, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13, 11 * Garmin maps are full of layer errors concerning polygons. To workaround you have to take all polygons from all visible divisions and draw them in a physical hierarchy. Means: water first, next woods, next city areas, next buildings and so on. But even MapSource doesn't do it 100% right. * To have zoom by mouse wheel would be quite nice. * I am not sure if you want to stick with the GPL as license. AFAIK this implies that you have to distribute the source code. If you really want to go with it I would like to have the source code. Oliver

It's not free. You pay for it with the device and each map set. Don't let you trick by marketing. Concerning Garmin's prices and applying your formula to them I think it's valid to raise expectations. Oliver

Oh come on, are you paid by Garmin? Or are you simply neglecting the ongoing discussions popping up this forum on a cyclic base? There is a difference of moving a waypoint by a defined distance and angle and the so called distance tool. The one is an exact projection the other one is as good as drawing architectural plans with paint.exe. You want circles to mark a certain diameter around a position. This is not the same as a waypoint with proximity alarm. You can't add any information to a waypoint. In fact it is limited like hell. The workaround with POIs is not user friendly at all. I can understand BigBadger's rant very well. Garmin's software engineering is mediocre. Especially the one for MapSource. It has the feeling of a cluttered program from the Windows 3.1 ages. However profits seem to be too well for Garmin to make them spend some money on a decent, portable software. MapSource simply sucks. And as for the devices firmware: I have a certain understanding that if your code basis has to be pure assembly to fit into 2MB of RAM you are reluctant to change something basic like your waypoint management. But from the users point of view the waypoint restrictions are hard to take. Especially if you have plenty of memory on your memory card. BTW another bad limitation are the maximum 10 proximity entries. But ok, the hardware limitations Garmin has to deal with are pretty dense. Let's say MapSource is the best you can get on Windows because so far it's the only one you get. If you don't like it, don't buy Garmin or participate in projects to change this circumstance. Oliver

The only application, next to MapSource, able to display maps of Garmin's IMG format known to me is my own one: QLandkarte. Currently it does compile for Linux, only. As it uses portable libraries it should be portable to Windows with minor modifications. So far it does not support any of your requirements. However as it is open source it should be no problem to add them. I am happy to apply patches to the latest version. Feel free to participate and to contribute. Oliver

You are right. My code base was somewhat outdated. Now there is a # include "GarminImgLoader.inl" When it comes to unlock the map level section. Interesting. Oliver

You can, but you lose routing. And AFAIK GPSMapEdit refuses to decode the encrypted map level section. Thus it will not load locked maps. Oliver

A transparent map isn't supposed to have polygons. Just polylines. The transparent flag simply tells the device to draw the map on top of all other maps and to skip the background filling. It does not make polygons transparent. That is how the cookie crumbles. Oliver

no, no, no you didn't read that stuff good enough. They did not really remove anything. They added an interface for data mining companies to make it easier for them to record user data. Oh yeah baby! That would really make the "grassroots moving". - Forget about it. It's Garmin Oliver Edit: Shouldn't we rename the topic to "Garmin Embarrasses Third-Party Development"

Ever tried duck tape or a stapler? SCNR Looks like this is the best you can get. Oliver

Loads of buzz words, no word about proper protocol and format specifications. Let's call it another piece of marketing gibberish. ".. The cross-browser, and soon the cross-platform plugin, .." - we will see how much vapor ware that will be. Especially the second part. Oliver

You add a tile with the transparent bit set true containing the polygon as a closed polyline . That simple. Oliver

.. since January 2006, or was it since September 2006. Hell I am amazed .. how long Garmin takes to port this little software package .. how patient Mac users are while waiting for further announcements Why not porting QLandkarte to Intel Mac in the mean while? Oliver

Some kind of that. It will read in all map elements like polylines, polygons, points and POIs. Even some navigation data. Now you can edit that stuff and store it as text data. This text data can be processed with cGPSMapper into an new img tile. I can't tell you if that will fit into your map set again without further tweaking. Some tile ID fields might be wrong. If you do not want to fiddle around with your original map files, a transparent overlay adding streets will be best. Oliver

AFAIK that's one of the many ridiculous limitations of MapSource. Workarounds: * Upload every gpx file to your device. Finally download all information from the device. * Use one of the many tools to concatenate gpx files. * If you like Linux you might want to try QLandkarte HTH Oliver

The is not such a thing like the waypoint type of the Garmin protocol. There are about 18 different protocols. The only waypoint type that comes with a time stamp is D110. However the specification clearly states: Thus Garmin consequently occupies the comment field with the time stamp. As the time stamp is a crucial property of a waypoint, most user's will spare their comment to the waypoint. However sometimes they do not spare their comment about that kind of crooked data handling. And that makes the birds falling from the trees, because of bad language in the forests. Oliver

Adher to old design flaws until a market shift forces them to straighten the issue? I can't see any convenience to the user. Especially not as the comment field is limited to somewhat 36 characters. Thus get your comment or the time. Honestly, if I think of properties a point acquired by a GPSr should carry I would think of longitude, latitude, altitude and time immediately. Funny that after inventing around 18 (!) different data formats for waypoints, Garmin still did not get it. Let us be grateful that the 5 track point types have a time stamp. Maybe because they miss a comment field for obvious reasons Oliver

Short: You have to pay the update and hope. Long: Whereas the map sections of Garmin's img data format are pretty much known, and can be edited by GPSMapEdit the navigation sections are still a blank spot. Thus it is possible to add a polyline to the file, however it won't be used by the navigation unit. You are welcome to change this . Oliver

In fact CN Europe costs less than Topo Germany and CN is still on top. But there is not much sense in having both map sets displayed at once as the streets do not match exactly. But there are transparent maps with contour lines. They will show up together with your street map. Just for the curious: CN Europe uses 23 bits for highest detail level, Topo Germany uses 24 bits. The measured position is usually closer to the CN items (yes, I switched off road locking). Oliver

For Magellan you are right (unlock code and so on...). AFAIK there is a difference in pricing. I do not know for Delorme. They look pretty neat to me however they seem to focus on the US only. There is a thread about their new unit. It looks like being worth to consider. As I told I am not really satisfied with my GPSMap6SCx. I spent quit some money for the device, City Navigator Europe and a Topo map. The Topo map is outdated and has an offset. The City Navigator maps are full of errors. Not every road existing on this planet is open to the public, but to City Navigator most of them are. To fix these bugs Garmin expects more money plus changing the license terms with that. If one could be sure the problems will get fixed by that... For the price I payed I simply expect a better software than MapSource. It just has that cheesy MFC GUI Toolkit flair. The user interface has wildly been extended over the years. Never cleaned up. Compared to modern GIS front ends, this is from the Windows 3.1 aera. The firmware leaves the same impression. Just extended, never cleaned up. The micro SD is just an add-on and will hold tracks and maps. Looks like the competitors forced Garmin to add one. Garmin did not have the nerve to use the extra memory to get rid of nasty limitations like the limitied text fields in waypoints. Garmin simply tries to get most of your money by supplying not an inch more than the market forces them to give. I bought this unit a year ago, as it was recommended by the usual cheerleader club. But to make a good decision it is important to know the problems, too. Sadly these are rarely mentioned on the "Buying advice" threads. That's why I thought it's time to add them. I would recommend to go to a shop and to test / compare the units for real. I guess this will make the decision fairly easy. HTH Oliver

As for the license: Garmin Unlock Changes As for the business: You are right. However their behavior will keep me from buying a Garmin next time. If I would have known in the beginning it would have influenced my decision. I just thought daviddsims wants to hear the bad issues, too, next to the usual cheerleaders. As for the stumbling: Looking up from the unit? No way. If it does not have a POI it does not exist Oliver

Concerning Garmin, some minus points should not stay unmentioned: * Garmin has a rigid DRM. Thus you pay for your map data per device. You loose it, you pay again. You buy a second one, you pay again. You buy a new one, you pay again. Best to search for threads concerning this topic in this forum * MapSource can be considered as mediocre GUI application. Read this topic to get a picture. And it's just Windows. Support by Garmin for other OS is vaporware or non-existent. * Customer support seems to be good in the US. In Europe it's mediocre and mostly based on the enthusiasm of your reseller. * Garmin has a mess in their protocol specification and is reluctant to provide complete specifications to allow 3rd party software to handle the device properly. Do not expect perfect support by 3rd party products. From the hardware point of view Garmin makes good products except a few rubber strip problems and loose battery contacts. If you are in the US you might consider Delorme or Magelan, too. I can not tell you anything about them. Consider to buy a SirfIII receiver. There is a big difference in the woods. I stumbled often enough over geocachers with no reception while my GPSMap60CSx had plenty of stable satellites. HTH Oliver

To unreliable. But there are enough open sources to use. Have a look at OpenStreetMap or the various map making howtos. Also it is no problem to use maps coded in Garmin's img format with other platforms. Sure but with a more outdoor compatible platform than a Zire with GPS mouse. And I would prefer to know what's build in instead of reverse engineering my GPSMap. Oliver