jgilliland Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 I've been shopping for a GPS unit for geocaching, and it seems to me that it would be worthwhile to get a unit that lets me load maps into it. The Garmin $50 rebate makes the "Legend" unit look particularly attractive. Except for one thing.... I've been looking at the Garmin unit and the "US Topo" map software that they sell for it. On their website, they have a feature that allows you to see what kind of map detail is in the product for a given area. And, frankly, there doesn't seem to be much there. It shows the lakes in the area and the topographic lines, but there's literally NO detail at all in any of our local parks. In fact, most of the parks don't even appear on the map as a "point of interest". Am I doing something wrong here, or is the map feature just not very useful for geocaching? I'm completely new to this, so feel free to educate me or point me to a FAQ (though I've read several already). Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment
+nincehelser Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 ...but I wouldn't say it is required. I did about 200 caches without maps, then I got a unit with a base map. (I haven't gone beyond the base) The advantage to having the map is that I make better choices on what roads to take to get to the cache. It also is a big help to know what side of a large lake a cache happens be. It is also a big help if you're in an unfamiliar area or are just traveling around. George Quote Link to comment
jgilliland Posted March 23, 2003 Author Share Posted March 23, 2003 Thanks for the help. I expected these units to be able to display trail information for parks and other off-road areas. I didn't realize that the maps would be limited in their usefulness to just roads. It seems to me that someone's missing an opportunity here. If I were in charge of a state or national park, I think I'd try to arrange for GPS-friendly trail guides to be downloadable from my park's website - for free. In any event, I'm trying to buy a GPS unit for my daughter who has taken an interest in geocaching. She'll probably be doing it locally for the most part, so the mapping feature may not prove that useful. On the other hand, though, with the Garmin rebate, the mapping Legend unit is only about $40 to $50 more than the non-mapping units. So it might be worth it to spend the extra money anyway. I'll have to make a choice here no later than tomorrow morning so I can order it for her birthday. Probably makes sense to get the Legend - the additional screen resolution alone probably is worth the extra money. Quote Link to comment
+elmo-fried Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by jgilliland:*snip* On the other hand, though, with the Garmin rebate, the mapping Legend unit is only about $40 to $50 more than the non-mapping units. So it might be worth it to spend the extra money anyway. *snip Of course, for just a bit more ($209 online) you could get a RINO 120 which is pretty much the same as an eTrex Legend, but with FRS radio capability (and if you buy a pair PtP would be fun), and if you pay the $75 FCC GMRS licensing fee you can use those channels as well (GMRS has higher wattage and travels much further than FRS). Heh, but where does it end? I'm always finding myself justifying spending more and more ;-p Jason Roysdon jason.roysdon.net Quote Link to comment
+Olar Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 You would kick yourself in 6 months time if you were to not purchase the Legend. Even the basemap is very helpful. Then if you want to get into digital topos later on then you can. Later on I personally would spend the money on a good mapping software/topos software package for your PC like OziExplorer or Fugawi. No matter what you decide your daughter will love every minute of it. Cheers, Olar "You are only young once but you can stay immature forever" Quote Link to comment
+nincehelser Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 ...showing trails and such, but those cost extra. That's where the memory capacity comes in. The basemap is just limited to major roads...less important county roads don't show, for example. Again, you have to buy maps to get that level of detail. George Quote Link to comment
+EraSeek Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 Having maps is VERY nice but not nessecary. Once you have them, you won't go back. Different map programs have differing features. Topo has some things that metroguide doesn't and vis versa. The topo will not, can not, match a the scale of those paper ones you buy at REI. Metroguide is best for most things. National Geographic State maps are suppose to have the best topo, but you can not download these maps into your unit. "The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity" W. Quote Link to comment
+MaxEntropy Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 I have a legend with maps loaded. They do have some trails in parks on the map, but only the larger trails. Some times I'm following the mapped trail and I see another marked trail that is not on the GPS map. I also get extensive use of the maps to get to the closest parking area. This is particularly handy because I go to unfamiliar areas frequently. If you think that you really know the area in which you live, you're probably in for a surprise. I had no idea that most of the places that I've geocached existed. One thing for you to consider is your location within the loaded 8MB map segment. I live close to the center of my map. My map extends from Vallejo to San Jose, includes San Francisco and the East Bay in California. If I leave this area, I have to plug my GPS into the computer to get the local map for where I'm going. If I lined near the edge of my map, I'd be plugging in a new map for one direction then another for the other direction. If you live near the edge of your map, consider the 24MB unit that can load three maps. Mickey Max Entropy More than just a name, a lifestyle. Quote Link to comment
+Alan2 Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 I was caching in a park yesterday where the carraige trails where clearly marked on my Mapsourse Topo maps. Not only was I able to pre-plan the "trailhead" entrance to the park, but ias able to follow the carraige trails back from the cache to the car. Of course, many trails are not usually shown, but many major ones such as carraige, old logging, etc are. Also being able to se where the streams, lakes and other geographical feature are help. With road type maps, you can more easily find your way to the park or woods especially in areas you're unfamiliar with. And with Metroguide you can autoroute your way to where you're going. (at least on a computer although in the unit if it's a Garmin V). ANd like anything else, bells and whistles makes the hobby a little more fun. ALan Quote Link to comment
jgilliland Posted March 24, 2003 Author Share Posted March 24, 2003 quote:Originally posted by nincehelser:There are maps available... ...showing trails and such, but those cost extra Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I'm going to order the Legend for her. But I am curious about the map issue. Nincehelser says that there are maps available showing trails and such, but if so I haven't found them. The one map package that I looked at closely was the $100 US topographical package from Garmin. Their website allows me to see the actual content of the map, and the detail available there has absolutely nothing on trails. It just isn't that detailed - despite mentioning "trails" in the product description. I even used their sample map to navigate down to the National Park near here, and still found no trail data at all. Roads and waterways, but no trails or other POI. Most parks seem to be represented as a just a dot on the map, with no internal detail at all. In fact, their website mentions "hiking trails, snowmobile trails, backwoods trails", yet I see none of those on the web samples. Is their website lying to me? So anyway, who DOES make maps for the Legend that actually show trail detail for local metroparks, county parks, and state parks in the US? Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 quote:Originally posted by jgilliland:I've been shopping for a GPS unit for geocaching, and it seems to me that it would be worthwhile to get a unit that lets me load maps into it. The Garmin $50 rebate makes the "Legend" unit look particularly attractive. Except for one thing.... I've been looking at the Garmin unit and the "US Topo" map software that they sell for it. On their website, they have a feature that allows you to see what kind of map detail is in the product for a given area. And, frankly, there doesn't seem to be much there. It shows the lakes in the area and the topographic lines, but there's literally NO detail at all in any of our local parks. In fact, most of the parks don't even appear on the map as a "point of interest". Am I doing something wrong here, or is the map feature just not very useful for geocaching? I'm completely new to this, so feel free to educate me or point me to a FAQ (though I've read several already). Thanks in advance. I should look at Magellan for Topo maps and Features: Magellan Topo includes street names Garmin Does not Magellan Topo include terrain Profile, Garmin does not Maagellan will display cross streets as you approach them, Garmin does not. As far as perfect maps from Garmin of Magellan- Not going to happen. Mageelan is also offering rebates. Quote Link to comment
jgilliland Posted March 24, 2003 Author Share Posted March 24, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Johnnyvegas:I should look at Magellan for Topo maps and Features: Mageelan is also offering rebates. Yeah, I have been. I was focusing on Garmin, just because their rebates makes them quite a bit cheaper for a comparable product than Magellan. But Fry's Outpost has the Magellan Meridian (the basic 2MB unit) for $110, which is really just about what I'd like to spend. After all, this is a gift for a 14 year old - it's hard to say how serious she'll be about using it. Any major drawbacks to that unit? It looks pretty good. I haven't seen any other mapping GPS units at anywhere near that price. Is the screen resolution a problem? Quote Link to comment
jgilliland Posted March 24, 2003 Author Share Posted March 24, 2003 Then again, I've just read several reports of difficulty with the Magellan. For example, this thread: http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=5740990093&m=5800915245 Quote Link to comment
+Rubberhead Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 I started out with a Venture but quickly regreted it and upgraded to a Legend. The Venture is a high resolution, WAAS enabled, "mapping" device that allows mapping of points (like parks, bouys, business, etc) but not contures such as roads, and elevation lines. The Legend combined with the Roads & Recreation CD is a good choice. Quote Link to comment
jgilliland Posted March 24, 2003 Author Share Posted March 24, 2003 Thanks, everyone. I ordered the Legend today. It'll be here in time for her birthday on Friday. Quote Link to comment
caltrop Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Just remember that the more the GPS unit does the faster it eats batteries and $$$. I'm biased toward Garmin because it was my first GPS and Garmin was the forst out with a small unit. I started with a Garmin eTrex then got an eMap for the mapping capability. Still when I go backpacking I take the eTrex because of its' size and battery life span plus the eTrex is water resistant (Garmin says waterproof) where the eMap is not. The eTrex also has more navigational information than the eMap.. The new Garmin Gekko is virtually the same as the eTrex but uses AAA batteries instead of AA which means even less ON time. Also the smallest Gekko has no PC interface capability. Having a PC interface is real nice to get the cache points to your GPS and to keep a log of them. Quote Link to comment
+SpongeRob Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Ok, here's my input. Go with the mapping software. Here's why: I did research myself and found that with some software you can actually make your own maps for a Garmin GPS. I've currently put two maps online myself and plan to make more as time permits. I like the mapping GPS because large bodies of water can be seen in relation to a Cache many times. I was just out on a trail over the weeknd and there was a large body of water. The pointer said "Across the lake" but when I zoomed out on the map it showed I was on the right side of the lake, just had to go around a bend. The Open Map Project allows you to upload your own custom maps and download ones from others. The how to shows you how to create your own. Mapping is really worth the money and you can get so much more out of your GPS for an extra $50. Buy the legend... -- SpongeRob rwmech@keenpeople.com www.keenpeople.com WPWU826 Cache'n Retrievers Quote Link to comment
+apersson850 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 I've only owned a Vista, and never used it without at least the WorldMap loaded. At home, I started with MetroGuide Sweden/Denmark. Now, when the European MetroGuide is available, I haven't been anywhere without it loaded for my particular destination. Using a US Vista in Europe, I filled it in with the WorldMap to get some background maps. If you have the correct basemap, you don't have to do that. Considering how handy the maps have been when driving, for example, I think the usefulness of my GPS would have been severly limited, had it been a non-mapping unit. Anders Quote Link to comment
+Poindexter Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Garmin's topo's are clearly better than Magellan's with 9 times the contour detail as Magellan maps. Quote Link to comment
+nincehelser Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 ...the Magellen map has the creek running UPHILL! George Quote Link to comment
+nincehelser Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 That looks pretty cool. However, is the Mapsource software a required part of the equation? I'd like to make my own maps for local trails, but I can't seem to do this without the Mapsource software. Is there a way around this, or must I purchase one of the Mapsource CDs even though I really don't need the maps? George Quote Link to comment
+phantom4099 Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 quote:Originally posted by nincehelser:...the Magellen map has the creek running UPHILL! George Yeah, thats why a new version of mapsend topo may be coming in the next few months. Even with the way it is now I still love my platnium, and going with a garmin reciever would not have gotten me any better maps (actually worse maps, when I looked at the metroguide viewer). But I see Garmin has some new national park TOPO based on 24k map detail (I hate saying this). http://www.garmin.com/pressroom/cartography/031103.html The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions. Quote Link to comment
+SpongeRob Posted March 26, 2003 Share Posted March 26, 2003 quote: I'd like to make my own maps for local trails, but I can't seem to do this without the Mapsource software. Is there a way around this, or must I purchase one of the Mapsource CDs even though I really don't need the maps? You don't need mapsource unless you want to view them on your PC as well. There is a program called GPS Send on the GPSMapper website that allows you to also send it right to your GPS. You don't need mapsend, it just helps to manage all the information. - SpongeRob -- SpongeRob rwmech@keenpeople.com www.keenpeople.com WPWU826 Cache'n Retrievers Quote Link to comment
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