Mapsource Canada Vs. North America

[+DanOCan]

Our fire department uses Mapsource Canada v4 for mapping purposes. Last year I purchased Mapsource North America v6. I have discovered that my version seems to have improved detail for our area and also corrects several glaring errors in the Canada v4 product.

 

For example, on the v4 product we cannot locate specific addresses in our town. Also, it had a local golf course located far from where the actual course sits. The North America v6 product has fixed these glaring errors, yet most websites seem to say that Canada v4 is more detailed than NA v6.

 

I am curious if others have used the two products and which they have found better for their particular area -- is my experience unique?

[+Amazon Annie]

Hi Dan,

I feel your pain! I get very confused with all the Garmin maps and own quite a few of them now.

 

Thanks to GPS Central, here is a chart that will hopefully clarify things:

 

Which MapSource CD for Canada?

 

Annie

[+Circle of Confusion]

I also found this site to be informative...

 

http://www.prairie.mb.ca/mapsource_comp_review.htm

[+DanOCan]

Thanks to GPS Central, here is a chart that will hopefully clarify things:

 

Which MapSource CD for Canada?

Thanks for the link. It really seems strange when I read the chart that Canada v4 is "the most detailed maps of Canada" and has 326 MB of map data for Canada vs just 80 MB for NA v6 because, as I said, for our area the N.A. product has much more information vs the Canadian only product.

[+DanOCan]

I also found this site to be informative...

 

http://www.prairie.mb.ca/mapsource_comp_review.htm

Yeah, I won't even try and understand the differences between the Metroguide and City Select products. It seems like the further into it I get the more confused I become. I guess the bottom line is that for my area N.A. v6 is more detailed than Can v4 so that is the one I will stick with.

 

Thanks for the link.

[Boromir]

You can view the content of all the MapSource maps here.

 

I can say the road detail on the Canada Topo maps are way better than the City Select North America out in the sticks where I live. There are no streets on the City Select North America map for my town at all, but the topo is pretty complete. The topo doesn't support routing to a street address, but it can route to a waypoint. The Topo maps also have very good water detail, and this could be very useful for a Fire Department, particularly if you service a rural area. I was surprised to find most of the ponds/dugouts along the highway I regularly drive are on the the topo maps.

Edited March 8, 2005 by Boromir

[+thibaug]

You experience is not unique, it's really frustrating trying to pick only 1 of those maps. I actually own all 3: Metroguide,City Select and the Topo Canada. Each have their avantages. For example, in Calgary, the City Select is much better than the other 2. The auto routing is faster, the maps are more up-to-date and there are more points of interest. However, if I leave Calgary, the smaller cities have little or no detail. In that case the Metroguide version is better. If I'm going to Banff to do some hiking then I'll use the Topo version because it has some of the trails on it and also has the names of the mountains, contour lines, lakes, etc.

 

HTH.