2008 Garmin Topo Mapsource

[4000'er]

Garmin MapSource DVD

List Price: $116.65
Price $59.10
You Save: $57.55 (49%)
Rebate: $30.00
Price After Rebate: $29.10

Looks like a good deal.

 

[DougPaul]

This product is 100K scale topos for the entire USA.

I've seen reports suggesting that it is an improvment over the older US topo product. (You can preview it on Garmin's web site.)

BTW, the rebate requires that you already own the older US topo product.

Doug

 

[Rick]

Iam thinking of upgrading. I see it is $100 at REI, plus $30 Rebate. at Amazon for 59 plus $30 rebate - Definitely sounds worth it for a net outlay of $29.
DP or anyone else - Have you upgraded yet. I just looked at various areas on the garmin site through the new Topo and the old Topo and I definitely see an improvement, as well as at least one 14 year old interstate that is not on the old Topo. Just looking for other opinions.
Thanks
Rick

 

[DougPaul]

Iam thinking of upgrading. I see it is $100 at REI, plus $30 Rebate. at Amazon for 59 plus $30 rebate - Definitely sounds worth it for a net outlay of $29.

Don't forget, the rebate is only if you are upgrading from the old topo.

DP or anyone else - Have you upgraded yet. I just looked at various areas on the garmin site through the new Topo and the old Topo and I definitely see an improvement, as well as at least one 14 year old interstate that is not on the old Topo. Just looking for other opinions.

I've made some spot comparisons of a mountain area--it looks like the contours are at smaller vertical intervals on the newer maps. I expect to upgrade sometime soon myself.

Doug

 

[Peakbagr]

Does the new upgrade automatically allow you to use a USB transfer? Meaning, do you have to reload the expansion pack?

 

[DougPaul]

Does the new upgrade automatically allow you to use a USB transfer? Meaning, do you have to reload the expansion pack?

?
I don't understand the question. Topo 2008 is just another set of maps. It comes with a copy of Mapsource (the program to manipulate the maps) and USB drivers on the same DVD. (Don't know which versions.) I've never had any problem adding a new set of maps to an existing set, but I have seen occasional reports of problems due to version problems in the software or drivers. You can always get a latest version of Mapsource and the USB drivers from the Garmin website or old and new versions from http://www.gpsinformation.org/perry/.

I also don't know what "the expansion pack" is.

Doug

 

[KevCon223]

Garmin MapSource DVD

List Price: $116.65
Price $59.10
You Save: $57.55 (49%)
Rebate: $30.00
Price After Rebate: $29.10

Looks like a good deal.

A great deal!! I just got mine today, what a difference over US TOPO. Shading adds dimension to the map (pc only). It looks almost 3D. The trails are hard to see, they could have made the trail line bolder.
It took up 3GB on my pc, no option of installing select maps.
On the GPS, it has more detail than US TOPO, and it shows the streets in the city better.


Kevin

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

I've made some spot comparisons of a mountain area--it looks like the contours are at smaller vertical intervals on the newer maps.

I have been using it for a few weeks, and have removed both the old US TOPO and the National Parks East maps from my GPSr (may soon uninstall them from my computer).

It definitely beats the old US TOPO hands down IMHO. Contour intervals are in feet, while the old maps had the intervals in meters. The choice was therefore either to work in meters, and get "nice" numbers on the contour lines, or work in feet and get very inelegant numbers on the lines. I can convert meters to feet as well as anyone, but in the US (the last bastion of the imperial system of weights and measures ) I want to use feet without conversion.

Also the interval is much closer: 25 feet in all the areas that I have checked. That is even better than the 40 feet that the 24K National Parks maps give for the Whites!

Less important for me, but maybe very important for others, it gives street names in Boston (only city I checked), while the US TOPO labels most streets "road". It does not have the detailed data that the car-centric maps have, but should allow you to manually plot a route and put waypoints in strategic locations.

All in all a great improvement.

 

[Rick]

Ended up getting this around Thanksgiving. Still awaiting my rebate, though they did send me an email that it was being processed.
Otherwise, I cannot begin to describe how cool this software is. What is especially cool is not only the profil view of your tracks, but that it automatically downloads them into Google earth and opens that application so you can "fly" around and see your tracks from different views.
Way to go Garmin and Google. I don;t know how it is all done, but it is very cool. Definitely worth the $20 or whatever it is net of the rebate, to upgrade!!!

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

What is especially cool is not only the profil view of your tracks, but that it automatically downloads them into Google earth and opens that application so you can "fly" around and see your tracks from different views.

Actually the "View in Google Earth" is a feature of recent versions of MapSource, not specific to the TOPO 2008. Seems it was first implemented in version 6.9.1 (current version is 6.13.7).

It is definitely a good idea periodically to click the "Check for Updates" item in the Help menu, as this is a product that is being actively maintained

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Checking for updates is a good point, Mohamed. After reading your note, I checked my version, and found it was 6.13.6. Funny thing is, when I asked it to check for updates, it said it was up to date (your post indicated it was 6.13.7). In any case, changes from rev to rev are often minor.

And, I got my rebates back, both for upgrading to Topo 2008 and for purchasing a 60CSx.

 

[yvon]

Is that worth really the cost to change for Mapsource Topo 2008, if I have the preceding version?

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Is that worth really the cost to change for Mapsource Topo 2008, if I have the preceding version?

As usual, the answer is an unqualified "it depends"

If you really and truly love your GPS, then you really owe it the best: upgrade.

If you merely use your GPS, there is no real need to update the maps (freely updating the software is a no-brainer).

While on the topic of updating, also remember to check periodically for updates to the system software on your GPSr. Garmin has a web updater product that will do that automatically for you.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

... I checked my version, and found it was 6.13.6. Funny thing is, when I asked it to check for updates, it said it was up to date (your post indicated it was 6.13.7).

This often hapens to me, so periodically I check Mapsource updates and downloads. It states that 6.13.7 was released on February 27, 2008.

 

[yvon]

I understand very much what you mean, but,
is that new version have a significant changes from the preceding version.?

Sometimes compagnies put a new version of a product on the market and it is not really a big change.
That's why I ask this question.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

I understand very much what you mean, but, is that new version have a significant changes from the preceding version?

It is not really a significant change, which is why I said if you just use your GPSr you don't need to update. Some of us love playing with the things, and we update whenever there is an improvement, however marginal.

The new maps are prettier, but I would guess that the only really major improvement in functionality is in the towns and cities, where many streets now have names. That is useful, but not really since this is emphatically NOT a car navigating product.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

While on the topic of updating, also remember to check periodically for updates to the system software on your GPSr. Garmin has a web updater product that will do that automatically for you.

Having just written the above, it occurred to me that it has been some time since I checked the system software, so I fired up the Web Updater. Sure enough, the system software has been upgraded last month from 3.50 to 3.60: 60CSX updates and downloads.

 

[yvon]

Thank you Mohamed.

 

[DougPaul]

Having just written the above, it occurred to me that it has been some time since I checked the system software, so I fired up the Web Updater. Sure enough, the system software has been upgraded last month from 3.50 to 3.60: 60CSX updates and downloads.

The changes don't look like they will make much difference to those of us in the NE. Might be some undocumented changes, though...

I check the updates page at Garmin. Web Updater doesn't always work, so I download and instll the update manually.

Doug

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Yvon - the biggest difference I noticed with the new version of maps with Topo 2008 is the shading is a bit better - somewhat more readable. This is probably noticeable mostly on your computer screen, as the GPS is so small.

Also - all the maps now load on your PC - no more swapping CD's. And yes, Doug - I know there's a way to load all the CD's with the old software, but I could never get it work and I didn't want to do a hack on the registry.

Edit - just checked the size of the new Mapsource file - nearly 50MB - yikes! That's alot of bandwidth on a satellite hookup. Think I'll wait until there are some substantive changes.

Used Webupdater to go to 3.60. Worked like a champ.