Help!!! Im A Newbie

[bradgigalo]

Im a Newbie and Im seeking some help with my GPS.

 

I want to get some cool software that will give me better maps on my Magellan Sport trak map GPS. I heard the map send software sucks big time.

 

So the question is what can I use?

 

Thanks

[+Renegade Knight]

Mapsend.

 

If you want maps on your GPS you are limited to what the GPS manufacter makes.

 

Now if you want cool maps on your computer your prospects are much much better.

[bradgigalo]

is there anyhting that I can hook up to a PDA?

[+Jamie Z]

I heard the map send software sucks big time.

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

 

A few years out-of-date would be more accurate. The maps are quite good, considering their size. I've found that almost every town and road is listed. Only the newest residential areas and highways aren't shown.

 

I've had few complaints about MapSend Topo, other than it's not a very good desktop program. That is, there is much better software for manipulating tracks and waypoints.

 

Jamie

[+Renegade Knight]

is there anyhting that I can hook up to a PDA?

That's another ball of wax.

 

I use Streets and Trips for my PDA. It does what I want and the pushpin files make it easy to see caches on the map.

 

Mapopolis I supposed to be better and it allows routing. From what I hear in the forums I'll buy into that Mapopolis is better. They don't have pushpins in the same way as Streets and Trips but they do seem to have a work around that gets the job done. (Someone confirm this!).

 

You can hook your GPS to the PDA if you get the right cables and use those maps. It's a PITA though.

 

Delorme and National Gragraphic Topos have maps you can put on PDA's now. I've seen NG's and it's looks good but lacks waypoint ability like geocachers would like. I'm hoping to see Delorme's version to see if it can in the near future. The NG maps are more detailed I'm told for the PDA.

[bradgigalo]

SO what you telling me is Mapsend does Suck.... But if i want to get better mapping out of my GPS Im going to have to live with it.

 

SO 3 more questions?

 

What are some of the complaints about other than alittle outdated are there for the Mapsend software?

 

WHat is better the streets or the TOPO one?

 

What is the best desktop software ot there?

[+Renegade Knight]

Mapsend has a topo that tells you the names of the roads. It's allmost like a cross betwene a city street program and a topo map. It's does as good as you can expect on the GPS. Not owning a Magellan though I don't recall the particular map you need for that.

 

Desktop: Thats an open question. You need to know what you are going to want to do with it. Topo, National Geogrpahic does well. So do some others.

[+SBPhishy]

I think, before you start saying everything "sucks big time" you should at least take a look at the software. For the most part, it is just fine, and very useable.

 

If you want street maps only, I would suggest Direct Route. It's the newest and most up-to-date software, and is surprisingly accurate. It is made to be an autorouting program, which gives turn by turn directions. It says that a SporTrak Map will not support the software, but it works just fine. I recently sold my SporTrak Map, and had Direct Route loaded into it, and it would autoroute me where ever. It looked just like it does on my Meridian Gold.

 

The one problem would be is that the Direct Route detailed maps are somewhat big, and the SporTrak Map has a relatively small internal memory. It can be fixed a little by not uploading many POI's into the GPS.

 

The Topo software is decent. The street maps aren't too bad, but somewhat outdated. The topo part of it is decent also. It's not too detailed on the GPS units, but it's what can be expected. The NGTopo! software for the computer is amazing, compared to Topo software for the GPS.

 

Overall, because it is so new and updated, I would get Direct Route, and just deal with not being able to load huge sections of data. If you have a laptop that you can keep in your car, you can use the GPS as an antenna for the laptop, and run Direct Route on the laptop, in color, with a big screen. Either way, there is no amazing software for the GPS, Garmin or Magellan alike. They are all useable, and definitely better than nothing.