What does Mapsource Canada Roads & Recreation do?

[+seneca]

I just received Mapsource Canada MetroGuide (includes Canada Roads&Recreation and Canada Enhanced Basemap) for Christmas. The MetroGuide detail for the Vancouver region is excellent as is the enhanced basemap for all of Canada. However, I can't figure out what additional features Canada Roads and Recreation has that isn't available on the other two? Am I missing something?

 

I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.

[+yorelken]

Metro Guide and Roads and Recreation appear the same to me too. If you're missing something that makes two of us. The Enhanced map gives the highway numbers and such as I'm sure you've noticed.

[+Solar Max]

I'm with you guys. Hard to see the differences. If I ain't sweatin', I ain't cachin. Are we there yet?

[+seneca]

I just e-mailed Garmin Tech support exactly the same question. I let you know if they reply.

 

I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.

[Cache Canucks]

...but, in the event that you hadn't, you might find your answer here.

 

[+seneca]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cache Canucks:

...but, in the event that you hadn't, you might find your answer http://www.gpscentral.ca/accessories/mapsourcecanada.htm.

 

http://canflag.ptbcanadian.com/images/animated/provii/ontario1.gif

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I guess that explains it - MetroGuide appears to be just an upgraded version of Roads and Recreation (address lookup and points of interest have been added) Why then do they package the two together?

 

I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.

[Cache Canucks]

quote:

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Originally posted by seneca:

"...I guess that explains it - MetroGuide appears to be just an upgraded version of Roads and Recreation (address lookup and points of interest have been added) Why then do they package the two together?..."

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My guess is that it comes down to 'fair marketing' on the part of Garmin (...imagine that?). The $140.00CAD price of these 3 Canadian MapSource products bundled on a single CD (whereas, for the U.S. versions, you purchase them separately for $140.00CAD each) is probably a reflection of how lean the available Canadian material really is; aside from the enhanced Canadian basemap, the other two bundled 'Canadian' MapSource products cover only 4 Canadian cities (whereas MetroGuide U.S.A. and U.S. Roads & Rec each cover virtually every city in the U.S.).

 

Since Garmin could hardly expect to sell the Canadian and U.S. 'MetroGuide' CDs for the same $140.00CAD price (considering the glaring difference in areas covered), they probably bundled the Enhanced Basemap and Roads & Rec with the Canadian package in an effort to 'sweeten the deal'.

 

Now, if MapSource would only come out with a Canadian 'topo' product...

 

[+yorelken]

When I purchased my Garmin emap from Radio Shack the CD came as part of the package. Of course, the price was hidden away in the total, but still, it was nice to get it. Comes in handy in the Niagara Pennisula since it covers Toronto, Hamilton, etc. in detail.

[Cache Canucks]

quote:

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Originally posted by yorelken:

"...When I purchased my Garmin emap from Radio Shack the CD came as part of the package. Of course, the price was hidden away in the total, but still, it was nice to get it. Comes in handy in the Niagara Pennisula since it covers Toronto, Hamilton, etc. in detail..."

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I agree. I own a Vista and I can't imagine ever being satisfied with the 'stock' basemap that ships with Garmin's mapping GPSrs (especially when one of the big reasons that I chose the Vista was because of its 24MB of onboard memory). For $140.00CAD, I thought that the Canadian MetroGuide bundle was money well spent; however, I think that it's too bad that it doesn't have a more comprehensive coverage of Canadian cities ...after all, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal aren't Canada's only two-horse towns. I recall having read somewhere that the problem is in the availability (or lack of) of Canadian mapping data that Garmin could acquire/package/publish at a reasonable cost in the volume expected from a Canadian market. Put another way, Garmin is able to bring a particular U.S. MapSource product to market at a price that consumers are willing to pay because the costs of producing that product can be borne by a much larger consumer base. In Canada, where the market is probably about 1/10th of that in the U.S., the costs of producing certain 'Canadian specific' MapSource products (like a 'Topo Canada' for example) would probably result in a retail price so high that most of us would be unwilling to pay it ...which Garmin knows, which is why that product doesn't exist. Until such time as Garmin is able to acquire Canadian mapping data (both topographic and otherwise) at a price that would allow them to market additional Canadian MapSource products within a profitable business model, I'm afraid that we'll have to be content with what they currently make available to us.

 

(...either that, or adopt an open-architecture that would allow their GPSrs to download third party mapping software - but don't hold your breath for that to happen)

 

[+seneca]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cache Canucks:

For $140.00CAD, I thought that the Canadian MetroGuide bundle was money well spent;

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I agree. It is an exceptional bargain. I feel that the package has increased the value of my Vista by threefold at least. I can't believe I owned it for a year without it!

 

I was just kind of surprised that "Roads & Recreation" was included as a feature - when it really doesn't add any usefulness at all.

 

I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.

[+Solar Max]

Having now played with all three features for a few days, I find that the Enhanced Basemap alone is worth the price of admission. The extra roadways help immensely, especially when used in conjunction with proper topo maps.

 

About those Topo maps: In Canada, we (our governments) charge MUCH more for this information than does the United States. They feel that information should be readily avavliable to all, while here, we must be forced to pay top dollar for the information that we already paid for with our taxes. This forces Garmin to pay unreasonably high prices for these maps, and the end consumer would have to pay the final price for this.

 

The answer would be, possibly, a different product for the Canadian market, open sourced. I presume the trick for MapSpsource would be to make it so that a US consumer could not just load US data into a Canadian product, thus rendering the US MapSource CD's redundant. Maybe Garmin has some ideas on this?

 

If I ain't sweatin', I ain't cachin. Are we there yet?

[Jomarac5]

I have a Legend with the MapSource MetroGuide and Roads and Rec CD. There's no doubt that the default basemap that ships with the Legend is substandard -- I've found that the Enhanced basemap is better but still has many errors. In some cases (outside the four city areas), the enhanced basemap is more accurate than the Parks and Rec map.

 

For instance, I'm in the Vancouver area and there is an island in the Fraser River that is fairly correct on the Enhanced basemap but doesn't even show as an island on the Parks map, it shows as an extension of land (!!?)

 

There doesn't appear to be much difference between the MetroGuide and the Parks and Rec maps other than the MetroGuide info (restaurant locations, etc), although I have found a few discrepancies. I assume that this is to reduce the download size when installing maps on the GPS unit.

 

For the most part, the Parks maps are substaintially superior to the Enhanced base map and leaps and bounds better than the default basemap. I check the area that I'm going to and then decide which maps to install on my Legend.

 

Sure be nice to get better Canadian maps

[+seneca]

quote:

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Originally posted by seneca:

I just e-mailed Garmin Tech support exactly the same question. I let you know if they reply.

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And here is the response:

 

"Dear Terry,

 

Thank you for contacting GARMIN International. The Roads and Recreation portion of the software will take up less room in the GPS unit since it doesn't provide the address look up in the GPS unit like the MetroGuide will. So depending on the unit if you are looking for the map detail and want to have more maps in the GPS it will allow to do this using

Roads and Recreation."

 

And first prize goes to Jomarac5 who said above:

"I assume that this is to reduce the download size when installing maps on the GPS unit."

 

Mystery solved.

 

I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.

[+MrGigabyte]

You can load ALL of the Metroguide maps into a measly Legend. That is, the entire Enhanced Basemap for the ENTIRE country. You can also load Vancouver R&R and Metro Guide complete with the entire Enhanced map set and still have room to spare.

 

Here are all the sizes of the individual maps (R&R, EBM, and MG Canada) file sizes.

[+Couparangus]

I think the poster has discovered the differences between R&R and Metro. I have the eMap with 32MB of memory and this is enough to hold all Metroguides and most of the country in EBM (enhanced basemap). I don't find the need for R&R unless I'm playing about on the computer itself. One thing that should be noted is the Lock to Roads function doesn't work on R&R, only Metroguide and EBM. If you are running on R&R and have LTR (lock to road) on, you'll find it tracking the erroneous track on the underlying EBM. Oh yes, 'round Ontario the EBM can be very out of whack - sometimes up to half a mile or more out. Very frustrating when travelling on new territory. It appears they've drawn the EBM from vintage ordnance topo maps, which are great for their detail, but the absolute coord's are a little off. This becomes quite apparent as many Railroad R-O-Ws are shown that have been decommissioned more than 50 years ago. Nonetheless, Mapsource is a must-have for Garmin mapping GPS owners!

 

Cheers!

Coupar-Angu