Vista HCx - Autorouting with maps

[+dropthehammer]

I have the Vista-HCx, mostly use topo maps on it for mt biking and outdoor sports, but i am interested in seeing how good the auto-routing works for use in my vehicle.

 

First of all, what software would i need? Do i have to get City Navigator® North America NT to do the auto-routing? Is that the only one that autoroute works with?

 

The name implies detail in cities, i live in a rural area of western pa, how well does this cover small towns?

 

How do i enter an address into the GPS to find?

 

Thanks for your response!

[+Kit Fox]

I have the Vista-HCx, mostly use topo maps on it for mt biking and outdoor sports, but i am interested in seeing how good the auto-routing works for use in my vehicle.

 

First of all, what software would i need? Do i have to get City Navigator® North America NT to do the auto-routing? Is that the only one that autoroute works with?

 

The name implies detail in cities, i live in a rural area of western pa, how well does this cover small towns?

 

How do i enter an address into the GPS to find?

 

Thanks for your response!

 

I have the same combo you have, and went ahead and purchased the City Navigator® North America NT 2008 version. The Autorouting works great. It was invaluable for my 2008 vacation. There is a "find address" icon that you use to enter addresses.

 

I usually enter places I want to visit as geocache waypoints before I start driving. This is much faster for me, then manually entering addresses. I have all my geocaches listed as POIs, so I don't worry about my waypoints disappearing in a sea of geocaches.

[MtnHermit]

First of all, what software would i need? Do i have to get City Navigator® North America NT to do the auto-routing? Is that the only one that autoroute works with?

You need either City Navigator or the new Garmin 24K Topos, both of which have the routing codes embedded in the maps. Doubt if the 24K topos cover PA, yet.

 

Consider a low end Nuvi instead. For the price of the CN DVD, you can get a Nuvi that has a loud speaker, which speaks English words, comes with a 12V cord, has a car mount, and CN is already installed.

[+Chuy!]

MtnHermit has a good point. You can get a refurbished Nuvi 200 for $99 at TigerGPS, Adorama and others. ($126 new at buydig which BTW I highly recommend.) A stand alone CN NT software goes for about $80. You can also install the Topo maps in the Nuvi. Additionally, I'm pretty sure you can use that GSAK macro to set up the Nuvi as a PDA using the POI funtionality.