topo 2008 + colorado 300c

[+scavok]

Is the Garmin Colorado 400t the same as the 300c + topo 2008?

 

I like the 3d perspective that garmin.com shows in the 400t, is that possible if I buy the 300c and topo 2008 (the combo is cheaper than the 400t alone).

 

Is it possible to have the latest citynav and topo 2008 on the 300c? Or is that only possible with the 400t since it has more memory?

 

Also... I can't find any place that has these in stock, where do you buy them??

 

Thanks all!

Edited February 6, 2008 by scavok

[yogazoo]

Is the Garmin Colorado 400t the same as the 300c + topo 2008?

 

I like the 3d perspective that garmin.com shows in the 400t, is that possible if I buy the 300c and topo 2008 (the combo is cheaper than the 400t alone).

 

Yes it's possible on the 300

 

Is it possible to have the latest citynav and topo 2008 on the 300c? Or is that only possible with the 400t since it has more memory?

 

Yes, put em on an SD card.

 

Also... I can't find any place that has these in stock, where do you buy them??

 

 

Online Retailers

[+victorymike]

I think you might want to double check the information on the 3-d maps. The 400t is the ONLY one to have the 3-d perspective (which is awesome). That is because it is loaded with DEM (I think that is what it is called...digital elevation mapping???). I don't know if you can upload the DEM to other models to get the 3-d perspective.

[+4America]

Is the Garmin Colorado 400t the same as the 300c + topo 2008?

 

Thanks all!

 

300 + Memory card + topo 2008 approx equal to= 400t

 

Miain Differences:

 

300 + Memory card + topo 2008 : you have software to load on your PC

 

400t addtional built in ram (more than the 300) but no PC topo maps

 

bottom line: some say that a 300, card, topo 2008 will cost a little more that a 400t and topo 2008 software for your pc.

[+Timpat]

Yes, my 300 shows 3D perspective. I loaded Topo 2008 and City Select v.7. It may show 3D with only the base map as well, had not tried before loading maps, but it would not show much detail.

[+g-o-cashers]

Here's what I would compare:

 

A) 400t + 4GB SD

300 + 4GB SD + Topo2008

 

Differences:

- A) would have 1GB of free internal memory and the entire 4GB SD card free (total free space 5GB)

- would have 400MB of free internal memory and around 1.5GB SD card free (total free space 2GB)

- A) and would cost the same although with A) you have the flexibility of not buying the SD card and saving $30-$40 if you don't need more free space.

- A) does not provide the topo maps on your PC, does. Therefore gives you the ability to trip plan in Mapsource and download only selected portions of Topo2008 to improve startup time (can save up to 13 seconds when you power on).

 

To me the biggest factor is the last point. While I'm hoping that Garmin might eventually provide a solution there is some work going on in the community to eliminate this as a variable, in which case I think it makes a lot more sense to buy a 400t, unless you already have Topo2008. Stay tuned!

 

GO$Rs

 

edit: disable emoticons

Edited February 6, 2008 by g-o-cashers

[rwsmith123]

The 300 comes with a worldwide basemap (major highways & interstates) for the americas, pacific, and atlantic (europe) which also includes a medium res DEM of all those areas. The 400t has the americas basemap if bought in the US, so doesn't have as detailed DEM outside North & South America as the 300. In other words if you live in the US and take a vacation to Europe and you buy City Nav Europe maps to use with the Colorado the 300 will have better DEM than the 400t so the City Nav maps will look better in 3d with the 300.

 

You may or may not be able to load the entire US Topo 2008 onto an SD card to use with the 300. The DVD version has over 6600 segments, the 300 may not be able to handle that many. It would take more than 4Gig to hold the DVD version of the maps and no one has confirmed if the Colorado can use SDHC cards larger than 4Gig. When selecting all the segments for US Topo 2008 in mapsource it displays either a warning or error message about the mapset being larger than 4Gig, not having a card larger than 4Gig I can't test if mapsource will even build a mapset larger than 4Gig.

[+g-o-cashers]

Excellent information as usual rwsmith, I'll update the FAQ.

 

One question which has probably been answered before:

 

How come when you load Topo2008 from mapsource it takes >4GB but the Topo image on the 400t is only 2.7GB including the basemap? Is this because of the overhead of having more segments?

 

GO$Rs

[+Marky]

I think you might want to double check the information on the 3-d maps. The 400t is the ONLY one to have the 3-d perspective (which is awesome). That is because it is loaded with DEM (I think that is what it is called...digital elevation mapping???). I don't know if you can upload the DEM to other models to get the 3-d perspective.

The Topo 2008 has DEM data, so you will be able to do 3D with maps from Topo 2008.

[rwsmith123]

Excellent information as usual rwsmith, I'll update the FAQ.

 

One question which has probably been answered before:

 

How come when you load Topo2008 from mapsource it takes >4GB but the Topo image on the 400t is only 2.7GB including the basemap? Is this because of the overhead of having more segments?

 

GO$Rs

 

Yes, but the overhead for the DVD version seems excessive, all the .img files add up to a little over 3Gig so I'm not sure exactly why it ends up over 4Gig when everything is selected. Maybe mapsource is switching to a larger fat block size for the internal structure of the .img file once some size or segment threshold is reached.

[+victorymike]

Interesting...I learned some more info about the Colorado series. Seems I was a bit mistaken.