Garmin software

[mpd2l15]

I have an eTrex Legend any one tell me which map software i should get for it? I live in IL i use it for trips and catching i was looking at Garmin MapSource Metroguide North America. just want to make sure to get the right thing for the money thanks

[+Team Teuton]

I found Roads and Recreation to be the most useful for me. I bought it for my Legend but often use it in my 60CS instead of City Select. It shows smaller trails and paths and streams.

[+briansnat]

I have an eTrex Legend any one tell me which map software i should get for it? I live in IL i use it for trips and catching i was looking at Garmin MapSource Metroguide North America. just want to make sure to get the right thing for the money thanks

 

If you live anywhere near a major population center, Metroguide in a Legend (assuming this is the old Legend and not the Legend CX) will not give you much map coverage. I would avoid it because it can be a memory hog in heavily populated areas. Mapsource Topo is the better choice. In most areas it uses much less memory than Metroguide. Topo won't have as good road detail as Metroguide, but it will show most roads (but only names for major roads). Topo is also missing the database of services and businesses (restaurants, campgrounds, hotels, gas stations, post offices, shopping malls, museums, etc...) that Metroguide has, but that is the chief reason it doesn't use as much memory.

 

The Roads and Recreation software that Team Teuton mentions might also be a good choice for the Legend, though I think Topo has the advantage of showing terrain features. Also, Roads and Rec is discontinued so it may be harder to find.

 

If you have a Legend CX rather than the Legend, throw all this advice out the window. You would want City Navigator and maybe Topo as well if you go off the paved path often.

Edited March 26, 2007 by briansnat

[+Night Stalker]

I am assuming that your unit will not autoroute, so you don't want city navigator. I would suggest buying Garmin Topo. It will contain all your city streets, and when you go hiking it is helpful finding major trails and dirt roads. I used it for caching for a couple of years before I bought a unit that does auto routing.

[+trooperdjb]

Unless you can find it on eBay, roads and recreation has been discontinued by Garmin. When I got my 60CSx the roads and recreation looked like the best package but it's a no go at least new. Ended up with US Topo and City Navigator 8. Great coverage no matter where you want to go but almost double the price of roads.

[+dangarrett]

Unless you can find it on eBay, roads and recreation has been discontinued by Garmin. When I got my 60CSx the roads and recreation looked like the best package but it's a no go at least new. Ended up with US Topo and City Navigator 8. Great coverage no matter where you want to go but almost double the price of roads.

 

I have a GPSmap60CSx and Mapsource Topo. Can I load City Navigator at the same time and have them overlay each other? Is the top layer transparent so I can see both maps or do you some how select one over the other? I have a 2gig sd card, So I don't think memory will be an issue, but I assume I will need to identify an area of interest and just load the maps for that area.

 

When I first loaded the maps I had a one gig sd card. I loaded the maps while the sd card was in the GPS and was limited to about 512 MB of maps. It seemed to be a map count issue more than total size. When I loaded maps to the 2 gig card I use a card reader instead of the GPS. I loaded all 48 states on the card. So far everything seems to be working. Do I still have the map count limit and just don't know it? Is it possible I may see a problem when I travel?

 

Thanks dan

[+Team Teuton]

Unless you can find it on eBay, roads and recreation has been discontinued by Garmin. When I got my 60CSx the roads and recreation looked like the best package but it's a no go at least new. Ended up with US Topo and City Navigator 8. Great coverage no matter where you want to go but almost double the price of roads.

 

I have a GPSmap60CSx and Mapsource Topo. Can I load City Navigator at the same time and have them overlay each other? Is the top layer transparent so I can see both maps or do you some how select one over the other? I have a 2gig sd card, So I don't think memory will be an issue, but I assume I will need to identify an area of interest and just load the maps for that area.

 

 

The 60CS allows toggling between City Select and R&R, so I suppose the CSx does as well.

 

All I do is, in Mapsource, select the the City Select maps I want to send to the gps. Then I toggle over to the Roads and Rec maps (Pull down window - Top left of screen in Mapsource ver 6.11.1), select which of those I want sent to the gps, then save the file and send it.

 

On the receiver, page to the Map page, press Menu, then Setup Map then use the rocker button to go to Information. Then press Menu again and you should see the options to toggle between maps, show both, show none, etc.