Jump to content

Free Mapsource Upgrade


A^2

Recommended Posts

My friend gave me his old copy of MapSource (3.0). Clearly, he had not been proactive in the use or upkeep his GPS equipment for a while. Today, I stumbled across this page:

 

http://www.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=209

 

It took the old version (3.0) and upgraded it without hassle to 6.5. It was great! Not to mention the backward compatability with upgrades. Wow, Mickeysoft (and MySQL, grumble) could take a page from Garmin's book.

 

This is probably common knowledge, but I still had to share the find.

Edited by A^2
Link to comment

MapSource is the software program and upgrades have always been, at least to date, provided free of charge.

 

What you will need to pay for would be updates to the mapping data. So, as an example, City Select is mapping data used with GPS unit slike the 60C(S) and 76C(S) units. If you want that updated, it's ~$75/year for each update.

Link to comment

To be a little more concise, MapSource is the software which manages waypoints, routes, tracks and MAPS on the computer. Upgrades for that software are free. Those upgrades do NOT upgrade the map data.

 

So if your friend gave you MetroGuide 3.0, and you upgraded the MapSource to 6.5, you've still got the same old MetroGuide 3.0 map data. You just have a lot more features in your MapSource program.

 

That 3.0 map data that you have is probably about four or five years old now. If you want to update/upgrade it, you would have to pay good money for that.

Link to comment

The map data problem is an interesting subject. Vendors like Garmin and Thales Navigation (Magellan) buy their map data from Navteq or other sources like TeleAtlas. Actually if you look at any routable map product on a GPS or the Internet (Yahoo, Google, Mapquest...) you will see a Map data source name -- "Map provided by Navteq" or maybe Teleatlas. This is because the licensing requirements by the map data provider and they require their name to be shown some where on the product. Also depends on the type of agreement that has been drafted between the map data provider and GPS vendor.

 

I don't want to say that the map data providers are in control, but try to call them and see if they will talk to you. They will be glad to sell you data for tens of thousands of dollars per year plus royalties. That's raw data -- it will not work in your GPS without "compiling" it into the GPS proprietary format.

 

Nonetheless, they (map data providers) do provide data that is as accurate as their satellite offices can provide and they are constantly trying to improve their data. Also some of these map providers provide Point of Interest data as well.

 

I guess that is why GPS manufactures are reluctant to provide "free" map updates. However, it would be nice…

Link to comment

To add to what Rum Jungle said, the cartography companies are not retail establishments. They conduct "business-to-business" transactions and are not setup to deal with retail customers. That is why when you call them they will generally direct you to whatever retail company used their data in a consumer product.

 

What they sell has value, otherwise no one would buy the products from Garmin, and Garmin would not buy the data from Navteq.

 

Like any other business they have to pay their employees, pay the light bill and answer to their shareholders.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...