+Hard Oiler Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 Thought I'd share my experiences with SoftMap GPS Option and Fugawi. The SoftMap GPS option is in fact "powered by Fugawi" but is an add-in to SoftMap. I got version 4.2 on CD and found it missing some features (track support for a Magellan). SoftMap recommended the free download upgrade to 4.3 which I tried and ran into problems (it didn't upgrade and cratered SoftMap!). Several e-mails to SoftMap got the problem solved finally (a missnamed .dll file) and I was up and running with the upgrade. Although it does most of what I was looking for quite well (including the Magellan track support missing in 4.2) it does behave a bit like a work in progress. It comes with an extensive .pdf file user manual but pressing F1 gives a "help files not available" message. SoftMap will have them in a future upgrade. Another niggle is that the only icon set at present is a Garmin one and I have a Magellan. The icons are bitmaps that can be edited but it was slightly annoying to find all my Magellan landmarks appearing as large anchors! In Softmap, Waypoints and Routes can only be downloaded from and to the GPS so to get a Waypoint file (e.g. from EasyGPS) you need to get them into SoftMap via the GPS. Tracks can however be Imported and Exported as Ozi Explorer, Gardown, G7to WIN and csv files. Would be nice to be able to import Waypoints from text files and I suspect it may be possible by importing as a track and just showing the points but haven't tried this yet . The real nice thing about SoftMap is that it does a great job printing, copying and pasting images. I have tested all the available GPS functions and they all seem to work fine although the interface is not intuitive (I did have to read the manual!). Haven't taken it on the road but running the GPS in Simulate took me for a virtual ride around the neighbourhood. Along the way I also picked up a copy of Fugawi (RadioShack still have a few left at $99) and did the free upgrade to the latest version that reads SoftMap so I was able to do a back-to-back comparison. Fugawi is much more intuitive (I didn't need to read the manual much, it comes in hardcopy and F1 brings up helpful help files). Also of course Fugawi doesn't just work with SoftMap (see the post from PDOP on using it with Toporama for example) which is a big advantage if you are like me and like playing with maps. In Fugawi, Waypoints, Routes and Tracks can all be imported and exported to text files so you can import a csv file (from EasyGPS via GeoBuddy for example). Fugawi has a more complete set of icons (including Magellan) and they can be edited. Overall Fugawi wins for me but if you just use SoftMap the GPS option does integrate with it well and it's cheaper but also you get less. Just make sure you get the latest version (4.3 or higher). Just for comparison I walked around a local 3km trail and uploaded the track to SoftMap with The GPS Option and Fugawi - the picture shows the two side-by side (the Fugawi pic also has three cache locations in it). The tracks match exactly and also follow the trail exactly as far as I can judge at this scale. [This message was edited by Hard Oiler on February 12, 2003 at 08:33 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+PDOP's Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 .... and this one too. Forums are acting weird tonight. [This message was edited by PDOP's on February 12, 2003 at 08:42 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+PDOP's Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 Pls ignore this too Quote Link to comment
+PDOP's Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 Hard Oiler Thanks for the review and comparisons. I have noticed that the FUGAWI printouts of SoftMap maps are a little bit fuzzy. Also you cannot define a printing area within FUGAWI when using SoftMap maps but you can print the area visable on the screen. Another user (Olar) noted that the active scroll bars are not available when using SoftMap within FUGAWI. It's a minor problem as there are other ways to navigate around the map. Quote Link to comment
+Olar Posted February 13, 2003 Share Posted February 13, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Hard Oiler:In Fugawi, Waypoints, Routes and Tracks can all be imported and exported to text files so you can import a csv file (from EasyGPS via GeoBuddy for example). Well for cryin' out loud. You can learn something new everyday. I didn't realize it was possible to import a csv file in Fugawi. I've always done the old through the GPS route. Thanks Hard Oiler for that bit of news and your complete post in general. Cheers, Olar "You are only young once but you can stay immature forever" Quote Link to comment
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