Are there no good NEW GPSr's anymore?

[yogazoo]

You can load UNLIMITED aerial photo's onto Garmin units. Mapwell has been around for a while now with this capability. Aerial photo's are easily downloaded from various web sites depending on your state. With georeferenced photo's you can load as many aerial images onto your Garmin unit you want. Even 24K USGS Topo maps.

Edited December 2, 2008 by yogazoo

[+Frank Broughton]

 

Fun bein' a foil, right Frank?

Norm

 

You got it Norm! but who is the protagonist?

[+Team CowboyPapa]

 

Fun bein' a foil, right Frank?

Norm

 

You got it Norm! but who is the protagonist?

Certainly, not me!

[+RRLover]

 

Fun bein' a foil, right Frank?

Norm

 

You got it Norm! but who is the protagonist?

Certainly, not me!

YUP! . . . ;^)

 

"My, My, My . . . Ain't we got fun?!?!

 

On the above notes about Mapwell and Garmin; Can one track their position in 'realtime' on the images

displayed on the Garmin, or are they just for partially disconnected reference?

 

Norm

Edited December 2, 2008 by RRLover

[+Paul_Aris]

It seems Delorme has some really cool features. The Garmins have lead the way for years. There have been some compliants on some of the newer Garmin units. However, like others have mentioned a lot of it is internet hype. In other words a few people were used to something else and did not like the new, or had legitamate problems (bad units) which makes people think they are all junk. Average person like myself buys a new Garmin and is blown away with the features and performance even with the earliest firmware.

My opinion of the new Garmin Colorado was based on a side by side comparison with a 60 series. I ran through the basics I use it for and either could not do the same thing, or it was harder, and in all cases the screen was worse to look at. In some cases a change in firmware could fix the problem (like inputting a waypoint bing a hassle, and missing map screens that I use) and in others the form factor was limiting.

 

Based on the hype I was ready to finally upgrade my GPS V. Based on what I saw, there was nothing to upgrade too. Too many steps back, to much complexity to accomplish what I thought was basic.

 

Like you say. If you never used the old, you wouldn't know what you are missing. However you might also be impressed by how easy some things are to do on the "yestertech". Assuming that Garmin didn't fix what they could fix with firmware. I've not taken a look recently to see if they have done this.

 

I have used my etrex legend for 7+ years. Basic mapping, black and white screen, but did what I needed it to do to find a geocache, hunting spot, save tracks on my off trail snowmobile adventures and help me navigate back. So yes the Colorado is a huge upgrade for me and has blown me away. If you already have a 60Csx you probably didn't need to buy a new GPS anyway. I find it just as easy to use after a couple of days of playing with it. Being able to have different profiles is great.

[extremecarver]

You can load UNLIMITED aerial photo's onto Garmin units. Mapwell has been around for a while now with this capability. Aerial photo's are easily downloaded from various web sites depending on your state. With georeferenced photo's you can load as many aerial images onto your Garmin unit you want. Even 24K USGS Topo maps.

Well yes you can, with horrible Performance on my Vista HCx. Tried it once, never thought about using it again. This is usefull if for an area you have no maps at all and then convert some google imagery. Too much work for too few output for me. There is MOAGU too that does the same.

[+embra]

This is a good point...while it's fantastic to have the capability to bring in raster imagery, it really puts a load on the processors of these devices. A sometimes-overlooked feature of the PN-40 is that Delorme purposefully beefed up the processing capabilities to keep up with screen redraws. Perhaps the Oregon is comparable--I seem to remember reading that they use the same chip (?)

 

I was also wondering about storage capabilities. The PN-40 works with SDHC, so it can take 16GB cards (and presumably 32GB and up as they become available). Am I wrong in assuming that Garmin has not yet implemented high capacity capability? I couldn't find information about it on the Garmin site. But the rasters fill a card real fast.

 

And then there is the ease of importing the imagery. Mapwell and MOAGU strike me as comparable to the "manual" importing process that XMap allows, but Topo7 (and XMap, too) allows for the easier selection through Delorme's map library.

 

It's great the have the capability of creating and using raster data, but it reminds me a little of Magellan's introduction of DirectRoute street routing. That I could suddenly do street routes on my Meridian--which prior to that could not--was a delight. After a while the inherent limitations and compromises in the arrangement became more apparent, and I found myself longing for the better autorouting capabilities in the Garmins.

[yogazoo]

carver, you're right about the sluggishness of the screen draws of raster data with the Garmins with slower processors. I've tried it with my Colorado and it was a little better, usable to say the least. The Oregon series has a much snappier processor and seems to work rather well with the aerial imagery. Probably not as well as the PN-40 but I don't think Garmin necessarily had raster image loading in mind when they designed the newer GPS's whereas Delorme did.

 

I'm not saying Garmins are better than the PN-40 at displaying raster data, all I'm saying is that the capability exists if one would be so inclined. The only reason I state this is that alot of folks rail on Garmin for dropping the ball on the ability to view raster data when the ability is actually there albiet 3rd party.

 

If one was wanting to try this with their Garmin you can download the evaluation version of Mapwell and load a sample area to see how it looks/operates before you buy. Same with MOAGU (MOAGU doesn't work with the Colorado or Oregon series).

 

Another consideration with aerial imagery is the screen visibility. In sunlight, you'd probably be hard pressed to view it adequately with your Colorado/Oregon. Delorme retained the highly reflective screen which works much better with aerial images in bright daylight conditions.

 

Embra, to answer your question, most newer Garmins do have the ability to utilize SDHC cards. I popped a 4GB SDHC in a 60CSX yesterday and it worked fine. There may be firmware related limitations to the size of the SDHC but they will work. I know they do on the Oregon/Colorado's as well.

 

Cheers!

Edited December 3, 2008 by yogazoo

[+Renegade Knight]

It seems Delorme has some really cool features. The Garmins have lead the way for years. There have been some compliants on some of the newer Garmin units. However, like others have mentioned a lot of it is internet hype. In other words a few people were used to something else and did not like the new, or had legitamate problems (bad units) which makes people think they are all junk. Average person like myself buys a new Garmin and is blown away with the features and performance even with the earliest firmware.

My opinion of the new Garmin Colorado was based on a side by side comparison with a 60 series. I ran through the basics I use it for and either could not do the same thing, or it was harder, and in all cases the screen was worse to look at. In some cases a change in firmware could fix the problem (like inputting a waypoint bing a hassle, and missing map screens that I use) and in others the form factor was limiting.

 

Based on the hype I was ready to finally upgrade my GPS V. Based on what I saw, there was nothing to upgrade too. Too many steps back, to much complexity to accomplish what I thought was basic.

 

Like you say. If you never used the old, you wouldn't know what you are missing. However you might also be impressed by how easy some things are to do on the "yestertech". Assuming that Garmin didn't fix what they could fix with firmware. I've not taken a look recently to see if they have done this.

 

I have used my etrex legend for 7+ years. Basic mapping, black and white screen, but did what I needed it to do to find a geocache, hunting spot, save tracks on my off trail snowmobile adventures and help me navigate back. So yes the Colorado is a huge upgrade for me and has blown me away. If you already have a 60Csx you probably didn't need to buy a new GPS anyway. I find it just as easy to use after a couple of days of playing with it. Being able to have different profiles is great.

I have a GPS V and have been looking for a good reason to upgrade. The 60Cx is on the cusp of 'worthy upgrade' the Colorado had me excited out of the gate.