Garmin MapSource CD ROM (USA TOPO)

Manufacturer:	Garmin
List price:	~~$116.99~~
Our price:	$78.94 that is 33% off!

Garmin MapSource CD ROM (USA TOPO)

Average rating: Stars

Good but there are some nagging issues

I break up my review into several phases:

a) Decision to buy. I find that the Garmin map software has compatibility issues in that only some maps will work well with some GPS units. Check the Garmin web site to ensure that this software will work on your GSP unit. Also check out the screen shots. In my area (San Jose) several major freeways are missing from Topo, indicating that the maps are 10-15 years out of date. When I contacted Garmin, their response is if you want roads then buy the MetroGuide or CitySelect (as appropriate to your GPS unit) and MetroGuide has the freeways. I guess that contours don't change much in 10-15 years so that's OK. But check out street maps if you want streets.
Also, Topo does not support routing on the streets. MetroGuide does (on the PC only). (CitySelect is supposed to support autorouting on PC and some GPS units.) If you are thinking of upgrading your GPS unit in the near future check that the map will work with the upgrade candidates.

b) Installation. I installed this over the MapSource MetroGuide North America. The manual is exactly the same as the MetroGuide, and I will bet the same as the CitySelect. Since there seems to be three generations of change of functionality between the difference maps, the manual is not terribly helpful. And the default Topo installation - direct from CD - wants to have the CD in the drive whenever you use it. MetroGuide does not have this problem. The solution (as mentioned in other reviews) is to copy everything to the hard drive and install it from there. Once that is done the installation is painless (following the on screen instructions). Although in my case MapSource was not re-installed, all that happened was that the new maps were made available to the existing software.
As a side note, I upgraded MapSource from the Garmin web site, and now it writes data files in a format incompatible with the un-upgraded software on the MetroGuide CD. So rebuilding from CD on my PC to recover from a failure will not allow me to read my existing files.

c) Use on the PC. I found the software pretty straight forward to use, although I did not use the manual literally since many of the features described I do not have. The On-line help works and guessing seems to work also.
On thing that annoyed me is that the countor lines are at even meter intervals (e.g., 500 meters). If you change your preferences to feet the same countour lines are re-labeled in feet (e.g., 1604 feet) Since the contour intervals are now some perverse number of feet, and the labeled contour lines are on preverse numbers of feet, interpolating the contours to get the elevation in feet requires a pencil and paper or a calculator. Or you can change the setup to label in meters (and do it in you head) and then convert to feet on a calculator. It probably was impractical to have both feet and meter contours. Or maybe not, the files are not that large (about 1/10 the size of the MetroGuide files).
Another annoyance (as mentioned elsewhere) is that the maps were pretty much joined by a cut and paste operation. Sreets, and contour lines jump at the boundaries.

d) Use on the GPS unit. My unit is a eTrek Vista (the B/W version) So I find that it is sometimes hard to tell my route from the roads (when following roads). Due to the screen size and the B/W nature of the unit, I believe that the level of detail is about right for hiking. If you blow up the screen enough to need more detail the area covered is too small to be useful. If you want more detail over large areas, you will need paper maps. You can also control the amount of detail displayed. I do notice some disagreements between the GPS altitudes measured by my Vista (it has an pressure altimeter that can be calibrated by the GPS measurements) and the map altitudes, but I have seen similar problems in paper maps as well.

e) Use with MetroGuide. On the PC the change from one set of maps to another is just a pull down menu selection and the view changes (from Topo to Metroguide or reverse). The region displayed, routes, and waypoints are kept. It is fun to go back and forth and see what changes, but most of the changes are what I have seen on similar paper maps, allowing for the age differences. Note that you cannot display both at the same time (e.g. display the Topo contours over the MetroGuide streets). The display on the GPS unit is similar to the PC (but not in color on the Vista, a handicap). However, changing which map to display requires checking or unchecking each map in the entire data set, you cannot simply select Topo or MetroGuide. So it is more time consuming than on the PC to change from driving to hiking navigation. I guess that this is a trade of versitility and ease of use. Incidentally, the only driving use that makes sense to me is when there is a human present at act as a navigator. The display is just too hard to read while driving.

Garmin MapSource CD ROM (USA TOPO) - Garmin

It is a basic tool, not a precise insturment.

This product is what it is. It isn't a fully detailed set of maps with every contour line and building on it. It is a basic set of TOPO maps that shows most local roads. What do you want for under $100 for a set of maps that covers the entire USA? It doesn't have every street name, the water maps are a little sparce, and some of the feature names are dated. I bought, I like it, I use it for what it is good for.

Bottom line is that this is a tool like any other. You wouldn't build a car engine with nothing but a $5 pair of pliers but you could. You can mow your entire lawn with a $29 string trimer but you wouldn't. This is a basic $100 set of maps of the entire united states, for the price you can't beat the detail.

If I had it to do over again I would still buy TOPO USA because it works for me.

Garmin - Garmin MapSource CD ROM (USA TOPO)

No detail, useless for hiking on Trails!

I call Garmin directly and asked them if I can find a product which helps me find new trails and I can install it on my notebook without using the CD. The told me I need to use TOPO USA... I loaded the program, but it needed the CD, I found out in here how can I install so never ask for the CD. This is nasty! The trail detail is that it will give you a point! I hope at least the trail is crossing it! I am used to the usual line to mark the way of the trail and not a point (Maybe its a vertical trail straight up?) I hate the map, I still like the GPS.
Don't buy this! Its a waste of money!!!!

Attila Csakberenyi

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