DeLorme is notorious for poor proprietary maps. However, it appears you can download USGS maps and use those instead. (For a fee) Anyone tried this?
1631606
I had the Topo 3D quad program with the USGS maps but it was no longer available for updates. I purchased the Topo North America 10.0. Like you say the maps are basic. You can purchase the map programs for a yearly fee and download USGS, color, satellite and other imagery. I tried this but I what I didn't like about it was that you don't get a whole "region" like in the 3d Topo Quad maps but you have to go in and choose the maps from a grid map and go grid to grid which is time consuming if you have a larger area. Now if you are only wanting a small area, that is fine. What I did was imported my old 3D quad regional maps into my program and I have the whole regions I want without having to labor over downloading bits at a time. The downside is the maps from my old program will not have the current mapping since they are older maps. For my area that is not that big of an issue.
1858732
I know the National Geographic TOPO! software can upload and download waypoints and tracks and routes (I do that all the time). But this post suggests you can upload MAPS?? That would be wonderful, but I don't think so.This is a direct quote from the NG website, as of april 2007: "Note: Waypoints and routes will be transferred to your GPS unit, but maps cannot be transferred or viewed on your GPS unit."There is a related product from NG, called "Pocket Topo", that puts the maps on a PDA. So if you have a GPS-enabled PDA, that's how to get NG maps combined with GPS. But it does not work with a normal GPS, e.g. a GPSMAP 60CSx. You have to have a PDA with GPS, which Garmin and others sell. I know the National Geographic TOPO! software can upload and download waypoints and tracks and routes (I do that all the time). But this post suggests you can upload MAPS?? That would be wonderful, but I don't think so.This is a direct quote from the NG website, as of april 2007: "Note: Waypoints and routes will be transferred to your GPS unit, but maps cannot be transferred or viewed on your GPS unit."There is a related product from NG, called "Pocket Topo", that puts the maps on a PDA. So if you have a GPS-enabled PDA, that's how to get NG maps... » Read More I know the National Geographic TOPO! software can upload and download waypoints and tracks and routes (I do that all the time). But this post suggests you can upload MAPS?? That would be wonderful, but I don't think so.This is a direct quote from the NG website, as of april 2007: "Note: Waypoints and routes will be transferred to your GPS unit, but maps cannot be transferred or viewed on your GPS unit."There is a related product from NG, called "Pocket Topo", that puts the maps on a PDA. So if you have a GPS-enabled PDA, that's how to get NG maps combined with GPS. But it does not work with a normal GPS, e.g. a GPSMAP 60CSx. You have to have a PDA with GPS, which Garmin and others sell. « Show Less
1018250
What's up Frank! Hope you're doing well. I think you might have to update the maps. I am not a specialist, but I recently recieved a message on my GPS startup screen to update the map (have yet to do so). Last year when this issue happened, the map update helped fix address issue, temporarily. Gramin offers free up-to-date maps on their website. Overall it is a good GPS for finding LOCAL locations. I have found that once you'd been to the area with the GPS on, it records the satellite points for faster access in the future. Make sure you flip open the antennae (square flap) to connect. Accuracy is like 7.65900/10 and has internal issues like the one Frank talked about. The GPS itself (internal software) is 5/10. It's okay and has bugs when you are typing in the address. It only accepts a specific format for addresses (something like zip code, city, house #, street name). I would recommend it only if you are looking for something cheap and are somewhat are familiar with the compass rose and major landmarks in the city.
2034245
No. The Garmin GPSmap 62 (NOT the "s" model) is what I have and is really not worth the investment. You have to download the topo maps from a DVD. Since the 62 has limited memory, you can only download a VERY SMALL portion of the topo. The "s" model uses a a memory card that you load internally (which I was told my model did). I think that you might have better luck using the PC and GPSmap device in tandem if you have the "s" model. Best of luck.
2033704
I've only used it to download birdseye images for areas that are available on the maps. I don't think you can download the aerial images without the maps because you'd have to be able to select an area on the map. If you don't have the maps, then you won't have an area to select for the aerial images to download. You're probably better off caching offline images from Google. Garmin's birdseye service is not worth the money IMO. The downloads are at a snails pace...like it's a dial-up-modem from the 90's. They also outright LIE about having up to date imagery. I've downloaded large areas of my state and the majority of the images are at least 4-5yrs old if not older.
2036333
gpsfiledepot.com has a number of excellent free topo maps for different regions of the US. I've used the Souheast Topo United States and (3) Northeast Topo United States maps quite a bit. These don't seem to be actively updated. May be ~4yo. Others may be updated more often. Search on the website for maps of the states you need.
21955
Thanks for the reply, Craig!Do we need to buy the topo software directly from Garmin, or does Amazon carry it? (I couldn't find it here.) Will we need an extra memory card to hold the topo data for a region? I'm trying to figure out what the total expense will be for all the add-ons we'll want/need before we choose a unit.If you were choosing between an eTrex and a GPSMAP unit today, which would you choose?Thanks again!
513700
Every year DeLorme updates its maps and puts out the next version (2014 for example). The software and its compatibility are not changed - just the road map itself. I am running Street on Windows 7 and 7 Pro with no compatibility issues. You should not have any problems with Windows 8.
239924
No. I contacted the provider of the map software only to find that this unit uses pirated/cracked software that they will not support.
1787988
Well, I need to do that myself as well. I did buy European maps when I lived there. I am technologically challenged, so my great assistant helped me try to install the map from online. We tried to download the European map which did not work, so I bought the SD card/chip for about $100. Not sure this was helpful at all.
261044
Thank you for this information. I was about to click the buy button on this product because I wanted maps for both the US and Europe, and I wanted the lifetime updates on both. The literature and web sites are completely deceptive on this matter and I will avoid TomTom in the future as a result.
1248112
I have found that a map update for my Magellan device, that also included Lifetime Maps for free, ended up costing me $50.Is there anyone here that has actually updated their 1490LMT with a new map? I am in search of a new nav. device that actuallyhas a map from this decade in it.-Thanks
5605
I am shopping for my 1st GPS. TomTom 340TM is supposed to include free maps for the life of the device. How can they refuse to upgrade the maps on your refurb? slloyd1000@verizon.net
239921
Want to know if map updates are available for this GPS? Free or not. if not, in a year or two maps tend to become unreliable. Want to know how much cost?
1086162
My subscription ran out this spring so if the areas I saved were updated I didn't notice an improvement. I can still view maps I had saved during my subscription. The quality isn't as good as googlemaps.com but considering the price I paid I felt they were worth it. It does make things better than looking at a plan topo map.
1414020
As far as I know you can download new 2008 map version from Garmin site for free. Btw. consider Costco.com for 650 ($299 before taxes).
960279
Navigon continues to officially sell maps in Europe, but no longer officially supports North America. As a matter of fact, they ended hardware sales and support in North America years ago...friend laid off as a matter of fact. If you're tech savvy, there are unofficial, generic maps available that are supported by this unit, but you'd need to look up which file type and then download it to a flash card. I started using Google Maps on Android and traffic is only tradeoff...Google Traffic isn't quite "fully baked" yet. Stand alone GPS era has just about passed into history. :- (