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Metroguide -vs- City Select -vs- City Navigator (76csx)


toddm

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I just picked up a 76csx and I have a pretty old version of metroguide v4.02.

 

I've looked at garmin's site and the software information at least that I can find is hard to understand what the differences are and what the best option is for the 76csx unit? They seem to show a new version of metroguide, city select, and city navigator......

 

Anyone care to give me any info on the differences and which would be the best choice?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Todd

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The current version of MetroGuide does not have autorouting, which is a very slick feature. IIRC, MetroGuide ver. 4 does autoroute, but the map and POI data is pretty old.

 

City Select version 7 is best suited for the 76CSx. It has small map segments easily selected for download into a hand-held GPS. Garmin is phasing out City Select, but promises to provide an upgrade path the City Navigator version 8 when it is released later this year.

 

City Navigator version 7 is the supposed choice for new Garmin units, but suffers from having very large map segments (20MB plus). It makes it difficult to fine tune the maps you want to load. With the x units, this problem can be avoid by buying a BAMSD (Big-Arsed Micro SD) card. If you install a 512MB card, the large map segments aren't much of a limitation.

 

City Navigator version 8, due out in perhaps June or July 06, will have the latest map data, but Garmin promises to return to smaller map segments for those of us who do not have a BAMSD card.

 

Hope this helps.

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The current version of MetroGuide does not have autorouting, which is a very slick feature. IIRC, MetroGuide ver. 4 does autoroute, but the map and POI data is pretty old.

 

Okay, I'm confused now. I thought it was MapSource that did the autorouting and MetroGuide was just the database? Anyway, I use MapSource and MetroGuide USA (the predecessor to MetroGuide North America) and autorouting works. (I'm just now wondering which one is doing it.)

Edited by ghs
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Okay, I'm confused now. I thought it was MapSource that did the autorouting and MetroGuide was just the database? Anyway, I use MapSource and MetroGuide USA (the predecessor to MetroGuide North America) and autorouting works. (I'm just now wondering which one is doing it.)

You may be even more confused when I tell you that it is called Mapsource MetroGuide.

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Okay, I'm confused now. I thought it was MapSource that did the autorouting and MetroGuide was just the database? Anyway, I use MapSource and MetroGuide USA (the predecessor to MetroGuide North America) and autorouting works. (I'm just now wondering which one is doing it.)

You may be even more confused when I tell you that it is called Mapsource MetroGuide.

 

Nah. (But good try though.) I just didn't type everything. But another one is called "MapSource World Map," and when I installed it after installing "MapSource MetroGuide USA," no new mapping program was installed. I just got an additional set of data that the same MapSource I had before worked with.

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Mapsource is the core program that runs on the PC, and you have separate mapsets such as Metroguide, Topo, etc. that exist within it. As to auto-routing with Metroguide: there are two things that may be confusing you. The most important distinction is between auto-routing on the PC, within Mapsource, which all recent versions of Metroguide-NA will do, and auto-routing on the GPS itself with maps loaded, which Metroguide won't do for versions > 4.

 

Keith

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Mapsource is the core program that runs on the PC, and you have separate mapsets such as Metroguide, Topo, etc. that exist within it. As to auto-routing with Metroguide: there are two things that may be confusing you. The most important distinction is between auto-routing on the PC, within Mapsource, which all recent versions of Metroguide-NA will do, and auto-routing on the GPS itself with maps loaded, which Metroguide won't do for versions > 4.

 

Keith

 

That first sentence is what I thought. As for the rest...OH! If I had an autoroutine GPS and downloaded MetroGuide data to it, I wouldn't be able to use the autorouting feature? Interesting. I think I'm still a little confused then about what all the fuss is about an autorouting GPS, but thanks for the explanation.

Edited by ghs
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Mapsource is the core program that runs on the PC, and you have separate mapsets such as Metroguide, Topo, etc. that exist within it. As to auto-routing with Metroguide: there are two things that may be confusing you. The most important distinction is between auto-routing on the PC, within Mapsource, which all recent versions of Metroguide-NA will do, and auto-routing on the GPS itself with maps loaded, which Metroguide won't do for versions > 4.

 

Keith

 

That first sentence is what I thought. As for the rest...OH! If I had an autoroutine GPS and downloaded MetroGuide data to it, I wouldn't be able to use the autorouting feature? Interesting. I think I'm still a little confused then about what all the fuss is about an autorouting GPS, but thanks for the explanation.

 

The "fuss" is that you can have your GPS give you turn-by-turn directions to a location and have it re-route on the fly. You can tell your 76csx where you want to go and it will take you there. Or you can tell it where you want to go, then go "get yourself lost (not follow the directions) and it will find your way back out!

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Best way to tell with Mapsource, toggle on the map you are interested in (I have City Select for the c320, and USAtopo and 24K East for my c60cs). If it doesn't auto-route in the particular map, it won't auto-route in the gps (you can't create a route in City Select in Mapsource and transfer it to the unit if it only has UStopo, ie the route will only be a straight line from point A to B, for instance). Also, obviously the same is true for the auto-routable 24K. You can't create an auto-route trail route in the 24K and transfer it to unit with City Select only, it will only interpret the route which City Select recognizes.

You may be able to auto-route with Metro Guide, but you may not be able to navigate like you can with City Select/Navigator, 24K. :huh:

Also, for instance, with both 24K and UStopo in my 60cs, I can auto-route outside the 24K coverage which is the UStopo area I have, but can't do that without the 24K loaded also.

Edited by GeoidPS
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The "fuss" is that you can have your GPS give you turn-by-turn directions to a location and have it re-route on the fly. You can tell your 76csx where you want to go and it will take you there. Or you can tell it where you want to go, then go "get yourself lost (not follow the directions) and it will find your way back out!

 

Yeah, I understand autorouting in general. I like it with MapSource on my PC. I'm personally not too enthused about it on my GPSr, but I can understand that other people are. My point was that I didn't see the point of making a big deal of autorouting on the GPSr if the GPSr doesn't support autorouting with the particular set of map data loaded into it.

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