2008 Garmin Topo Mapsource

[Mohamed Ellozy]

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.

Kevin: May I gently suggest that Doug is not the only VTFFer smart enough to run the old TOPO USA off of his C: drive

 

[DougPaul]

Kevin: May I gently suggest that Doug is not the only VTFFer smart enough to run the old TOPO USA off of his C: drive

I probably got the trick from a report on the Usenet group sci.geo.satellite-nav.

Yes. The more recent mapsources have been pretty big.

Topo 2008 seems to have a smaller contour interval than the original. (Still not as good as the 25K scale maps for selected regions.) Spot comparisons between the new and old topo show some spots improved and some spots worse. Overall, I think the update is worthwhile. (I run the 25K and topo 2008 (plus a road map) simultaneously in my GPS.

Doug

 

[Peakbagr]

I got 2008 from Santa and with the rebate. Didn't realize it came on a DVD so its loaded on the family laptop, but the computer in my office has a CD drive.

Doug Paul and others - I use a Garmin 60CSx. All my route planning and waypoint management is with Nat'l Geo program and then I upload a route, etc to the Garmin. And download tracklogs from the GPS to the PC.
Since I primarily use Garmin software in the GPS unit, and only occasionally on the computer are there other reasons I should try and get the 2008 on the office computer?

thanks,
Alan

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Since I primarily use Garmin software in the GPS unit, and only occasionally on the computer are there other reasons I should try and get the 2008 on the office computer?

thanks,
Alan

I can't think of a strong reason since you can interchange routes and tracks with your GPS unless you need to have somewhat more uptodated info on trails/re-routed trails.

But, in the interests of accuracy - my comparisons, state by state, between Mapsource and NG is mostly California and some NV, not states within the NE. The NG CA series has far better topo maps overall, but the trail info is pretty sketchy. That's the bad news. The good news is there are so few trails where I hike it really doesn't matter. Most of the hiking is what's called 'cross country'. Sight lines are usually measured in miles, not feet.

 

[yvon]

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.
[/I]

I find, on a GPS forum, how to do it, i will do that later today. It look very easy to do.

 

[yvon]

It works very well and it is very fast from my hard disk.

 

[DougPaul]

Doug Paul and others - I use a Garmin 60CSx. All my route planning and waypoint management is with Nat'l Geo program and then I upload a route, etc to the Garmin. And download tracklogs from the GPS to the PC.
Since I primarily use Garmin software in the GPS unit, and only occasionally on the computer are there other reasons I should try and get the 2008 on the office computer?

I think the primary need is to be able to load maps for your area-of-interest into the GPS, which only requires 2008 on one computer. Once you have done that you can use whatever software you want for planning and tracklog viewing.

So it is up to you--if having 2008 on only 1 computer meets your needs, then fine. If you want it on more than one machine, that is up to you.

Doug