Garmin Maps - Which is which and which do I need

[+Petermgr]

(sorry if my initial response sounded short and rude, was not my intention . . .)

 

So again, the type of travel you will encounter will of course, determine what you need . . . . and which is which can be found at the Garmin site. That's probably the only way you will find the right map solution. I did a lot of comparing and finally decided that I needed 2 maps: For my C330 I have the City Navigator for North America. This works great for road travel only. For my handheld, Legend Cx I will be getting the Canada Topo map. The combination of the two maps should cover all of my travel and geocache needs. Also I made sure that I could upload POI's.

 

Peter

 

Edited May 29, 2007 by Petermgr

[+admo1972]

Topo US - Covers the whole country, but is pretty low-rez (1:100,000). I use this, if only to give me more info than what is included in the basemap of my Vista. I think it makes looking at the map on my GPS prettier, and gives me a better sense of my location when viewing it, but really doesn't help me do much more than I could without it.

 

National Parks: much more higher detail: (1:24,000). But only includes national parks and their immediate surroundings. Looks great on the GPSr.

 

City Navigator: all streets and roads with auto-routing capablility (if you GPS can do it). Haven't used this at all.

[+Miragee]

I have both City Navigator, and Topo, on my Garmin Vista C. The City Navigator maps are fantastic for auto-routing me around the areas I am unfamiliar with. The Topo maps come in very handy when I am hiking, even though the detail is somewhat limited.

 

If you can only afford to get one set of maps, and your GPSr is capable of auto-routing, and you travel through areas you are unfamiliar with, I would get City Navigator.

[myetcetera]

I think my original post got lost in the ether someplace.

 

I have the Legend CX and live in Canada.

 

Here's what I'm hoping to do:

1. Geocaching: I like to plan out a few and create a route. I want the GPS to guide me along roads and pathways.

 

2. Driving: I like exploring backroads. There is a lot of rural space that I trvel through and I want to know where I am and have the unit take me to a destination waypoint even when I take a wrong turn. (autorouting)

 

3. I like to kayak through some local rivers and there are some island caches in my area. I don't need a ton of detail, but some rivers/lakes/islands would be great.

 

I was out with my brother and he has the City Navigator. It did the things that I need. I would prefer the MetroGuide product simply because it is not locked and I don't like locks. I don't really need the topo maps at this point. Any help through the maze of Garmin map offerings would be great.

[+Miragee]

How recently has the MetroGuide map been updated? That would help make your decision if roads where you travel have changed. Nothing is more frustrating than auto-routing through an area that has undergone recent construction the maps on my GPSr know nothing about . . .

[DogFleazJR]

How recently has the MetroGuide map been updated? That would help make your decision if roads where you travel have changed. Nothing is more frustrating than auto-routing through an area that has undergone recent construction the maps on my GPSr know nothing about . . .

 

You should also verify the auto routing capability of the Canada MetroGuide product. Current versions of the US MetroGuide do not auto route out of the box. You have to use third party software to modify/change/fix/hack the maps so that they can be used to autoroute on your GPS.

 

Something to be aware of. The CN product works very well in my opinion and not a bad deal for the money. If I understand the recent change correctly, it only comes with a single unlock now which is kinda cheap on Garmin's part (IMO) and will only encourage buyers to delay upgrading their hardware due to the cost of the software.

 

Happy navigating!

[QuigleyJones]

I did a lot of comparing and finally decided that I needed 2 maps: For my C330 I have the City Navigator for North America. This works great for road travel only. For my handheld, Legend Cx I will be getting the Canada Topo map.

Sounds like you picked the right maps needed.

 

How recently has the MetroGuide map been updated? That would help make your decision if roads where you travel have changed. Nothing is more frustrating than auto-routing through an area that has undergone recent construction the maps on my GPSr know nothing about . . .

You should also verify the auto routing capability of the Canada MetroGuide product. Current versions of the US MetroGuide do not auto route out of the box. You have to use third party software to modify/change/fix/hack the maps so that they can be used to autoroute on your GPS.

It hasnt been updated for a fair few years, and the most recent version (v4) does auto-route.

[myetcetera]

Thanks everybody! I verified with Garmin phone support that the primary difference between the Metroguide and the CityNavigator is that the Metroguide does not do autorouting on the GPS device. The maps transferred to the GSPr simply do not contain the routing data.