Garmin Mapgps76cs -add On Maps?

[+dbly1850]

I am ready to take the dive and buy the Garmin MAPGPS 76CS. I found out it does not come with detailed local maps, thus I could use some advise on the add on's.

Is there a site that allows a preview or reviews the different maps? I saw a blurb on the "Fishing Hotspots and Lakes" Looked up the index and not a single lake in my county.. Sure glad I didn't waste $89.99 on that CD.. Now I'm afraid I could get stuck with another dud..

 

BTW my interests is Off-Trail Hiking and a good detailed Auto route map software for the car.

 

-David

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm pretty sure you can only load Garmin maps into the 76.

 

You'll want City Select for auto-routing.

 

I'll let the others speak to the recreational and topo maps.

 

There's a list of available maps here (Upper right corner)

 

(By the way, I love my 76cs)

Edited November 19, 2004 by BlueDeuce

[Neo_Geo]

Go to THIS PAGE. You'll see links for "On the Road", "On the Water" and "On the Trail". Click on the appropriate link. Then you'll see different titles with links to the various available regions of that title. Click on the appropriate link under the desired title. In the upper right corner of the following page, you'll see a link under the "MapSource Map Viewer". Click on that link, and a new window will appear (you may have to enable pop-ups in your Web browser). Click on an area of interest on the map, and the viewer will center on that point and zoom in closer. Keep clicking. In the lower right corner, you'll see "GPS Map Detail" When you see 200 feet, you're zoomed in as far as it'll go.

 

If you want to take advantage of the 76CS's autorouting feature, then CITY SELECT is the best choice.

Edited November 19, 2004 by Neo_Geo

[+briansnat]

For off trail hiking you're going to want Mapsource Topo. City Select is great for roads and the like, but doesn't provide any terrain detail. Topo shows roads in detail, but not most street names and of course, doesn't have auto routing.

 

With over 100 megs of storage, if you can afford it, you can buy both and switch between them as needed. If not, you're going to have to decide which use is more important for you, having the topo maps for hiking, or having the auto routing capability in your car.

 

Personally, I've found the Mapsource Topo's street maps to be fine for finding my way around, so I really don't need turn by turn instructions.

[+RtheJudge]

Hey,

I'm using a MAP76CS as well. I bought Mapsource™ "MetroGuide USA" and "US Topo 24K National Parks East". It was sort of expensive, but after using it for about three months, I'm glad I've got it! The Topo maps allow auto routing via trails. That's pretty cool! I haven't used any other mapping software but I don't see the need to.

 

I guess just count me as Very Satisfied!

 

If you have any specific questions about these maps, feel free to ask.

[Neo_Geo]

I'm using a MAP76CS as well. I bought Mapsource™ "MetroGuide USA"

Why'd ya do that???

 

MetroGuide doesn't support autorouting on the GPSr! (yeah, I know version 4 does autorouting, but I discount that version because the turn-by-turn directions are flawed, the maps are inaccurate and the data is very old).

[+RtheJudge]

Neo Geo,

I wasn't aware that I did something bad? I went to the store and bought the GPS and the software and havn't looked back since.

 

What I have works great and the only discreptancies in the mapping I've found is very recently altered roads (in the past 6 months). I am not a expert at different software and GPSr's. Could you tell me in a little more detail whay I made a bad choice? Not that I don't believe you. I just don't know. I may be missing something I know nothing about.

 

Thanks!

[peter]

Could you tell me in a little more detail whay I made a bad choice?

MetroGuide-NA (used to be MetroGuide-USA) and CitySelect-NA both have exactly the same maps and points-of-interest, and they'll both load fine into your 76cs.

 

The difference is that CitySelect-NA will also let you download routing information to the 76cs (and other auto-routing Garmin models) so that it can use those maps to calculate turn-by-turn routes from a given starting point to a specified destination (and even recalculate a reroute if you get off course somewhere along the way).

 

Since this is an important feature of the 76c/cs models and the price difference between MG-NA and CS-NA is pretty small, the usual recommendation is to get CitySelect-NA.

[Neo_Geo]

What Peter said.

[+RtheJudge]

Could you tell me in a little more detail whay I made a bad choice?

MetroGuide-NA (used to be MetroGuide-USA) and CitySelect-NA both have exactly the same maps and points-of-interest, and they'll both load fine into your 76cs.

 

The difference is that CitySelect-NA will also let you download routing information to the 76cs (and other auto-routing Garmin models) so that it can use those maps to calculate turn-by-turn routes from a given starting point to a specified destination (and even recalculate a reroute if you get off course somewhere along the way).

 

Since this is an important feature of the 76c/cs models and the price difference between MG-NA and CS-NA is pretty small, the usual recommendation is to get CitySelect-NA.

The difference is that CitySelect-NA will also let you download routing information to the 76cs (and other auto-routing Garmin models) so that it can use those maps to calculate turn-by-turn routes from a given starting point to a specified destination (and even recalculate a reroute if you get off course somewhere along the way).

 

I'm missing something here. I take my GPS and find the nearest geocache and select "GoTo". It calculates the shortest route and off I go. If I don't make a turn that it wanted me to, then it recalculates the new route automatically from where I am. If I plan a route on my PC, I can download it to my 76 and run it. What am I missing? I hear what you are saying, but from my view, my 76cs and MetroGuide USA does everything.

 

RtheJudge

[+briansnat]

What am I missing? I hear what you are saying, but from my view, my 76cs and MetroGuide USA does everything.

 

You must have an old version of MetroGuide then because v5 and above don't do auto routing.

[+Klatch]

The unit is autorouting with the base map. Mine does the same thing and I have Roads and Recreation on mine (for now).

[peter]

Yes, it will auto-route using the roads shown on the basemap, and fortunately the 76c/cs basemap is considerably more detailed than the one on the 60c/cs and LegendC/VistaC models. But I presume you're not getting auto-routing through residential neighborhoods on smaller streets that only appear on the downloaded maps.

 

A much earlier version of MetroGuide-USA (v4.01) did support auto-routing on the GPS receiver, but it came out in late 2001 and is getting a bit dated. The data source for that version was TeleAtlas and in general the routing provided by the current NavTeq data in CitySelect is better.

[+geobc]

You also have the option of making your own maps. Google for GPSMapEdit and cGPSMapper.

 

GeoBC