GPS V memory capacity ?

[johnl]

I'm looking forward to to trips, Bardonechia in July and Morrocco in February.
Would the Garmin GPS V have enough memory to store maps for that sort of distance?
Is it possible to carry something like a flashcard to put in with more maps?
As a new one is £267 on the extremesport site it is almost within my budget. If I can find a cheap mount, that is.

Any ideas please.

 

[schnauzer]

you get a choice of 19mb or......... 19mb, no cards available, although there was a link on the site to some electronic guru site if you have a soldering and maplins fetish........ take a cheapo laptop with all the maps on it! for downloading

 

[PanEuropean]

John:

I sounds to me, from the tone of your post, that you have not yet purchased a GPSR. If that is the case, I recommend that you DO NOT purchase the GPS V. Not because it isn't a good GPSR (it's quite a capable little goodie), but because it is not well suited to what you plan to use it for (long distance touring) due to its limited storage capacity for maps.

Two new products have been released by Garmin that are sort of the follow-on replacements for the GPS V - the GPSMAP 76C and the GPSMAP 76CS. Both of these units have 115 megs of built in memory for map storage, which should be more than enough for your purposes. They sell for about the same price as what the GPS V sold for last year.

I suspect the reason you are seeing such a good price for the GPS V at your stockist's is because it is an 'end of line blowout'. The GPS V is still a great GPS for someone who wants compact and inexpensive autorouting, but does not venture too far from home base, which means they don't need more than the 19 megs of memory for map storage that the GPS V comes with.

PanEuropean

 

[essvekay]

Garmin v

John

I had the same dilemma as you but one thing did swing it for me on price with the garmin v and that was that the basemaps could basically get me to the area I wanted to explore and then I could save enough mapsource data in 19Meg for me to explore the locality in detail.

So if you want cheap and effective intro to gps then don't discount it. I do however agree with Pan in that if you want detailed mapping on all of your route then look elsewhere. What I've also found is that if you are downloading areas of map for vast expanses with few towns then you get more surface area for your memroy space. i.e. if you save the area of London then it eats up your memory but if you are say putting in an area in Wales then you get far more coverage.

I live in Hampshire and have a laptop and full european coverage so would gladly meet and show you if you are in the area. Someone did this for me and it was really useful.

p.s. I picked up a ram mount for about £25 from the gps warehouse.

 

[johnl]

Thanks for the replies.

I still fancy a gps v, I would be worried about carrying a laptop around in view of the cost and possible loss of same.
There is still time and maybe a sp 111 may turn up on e-bay.

 

[PanEuropean]

Johnl:

SKV makes a good point about using the internal basemap in the GPS V to get to your destination, and then using the detail maps to explore the area. The problem with that, though, is that the internal basemap is quite old (ca. 2000), so it's not up to date - in particular, it won't include the autostradas in Spain.

About this whole issue of memory space on GPSR's - think of it as if you were buying a computer - you could save a few bucks by buying a computer that has the absolute minimum amount of memory required to run today's OS and today's programs, but if the computer does not have sufficient memory to run updates to the program that you know will be coming out in 12 to 18 months, then it may be false economy to buy it, unless you plan on never updating. In the case of a GPSR, this would mean never updating the cartography (maps) as new versions are released in the future.

Honest - if you're going to fork out the money to buy one, buy one that has lots of memory space. It will serve you better on the road, and also be able to keep up with map updates for a few years.

I just got a new GPSR today - all I have for it right now is a 128 meg memory chip - going back to 'only' 128 megs, after having had a 512 meg or 1 gig CF card in my SP2650 for the last half year, is a real PITA. And you're thinking of getting a GPSR that is restricted to 19 megs? Honestly, I can't recommend you do that.

It's a blowout sale, an end of line clearance. The retailer is not giving you something for nothing. The GPS V would be a wise purchase and a great buy at that price for a taxi driver or a courier who does not plan to leave the major city they work in. It's not the right product to buy for international motorcycle touring.

PanEuropean

 

[johnl]

Paneuropean,

your right, false economy in the fast moving world of electronics.
I will wait a while and look for reasonable priced sp111.

Thanks for your guidance

 

[PanEuropean]

Johnl:

You are in an enviable position - you have not bought anything yet!

While you are looking, have a look at the handheld "outdoor" market models that also do autorouting - the GPSMAP 60C and the GPSMAP 76C.

Also, try to have a look at the new marine market dual purpose GPSR, the GPSMAP 276C. I have the aviation version of this product, which is the GPSMAP 296, and the screen detail, clarity, and ease of readability in bright sunlight is just amazing, like nothing I have ever seen before. I think (though I am not sure) that the 276 and 296 share the same screen technology.

I have no idea how the prices on these products compare in the UK - my guess is that the 60 and 76 will probably be slightly less than the SP III, and the 276 would be the same price. Don't even ask about the 296...

FYI, there is no difference for us as motorcycle riders between getting CityNavigator or CitySelect. Visually, the two are absolutly identical. CS data takes up a bit less space in the GPSR's, so if anything, that gives an edge to CS for moto use.

PanEuropean

 

[nobby]

gps5 and palm pilot or psion5mx

hi
any one tryed to use map downloaded to a palm pilot then on the road tranfered data to gps

cheers nobby

 

[richie]

Hi, Just ordered the slightly cheaper 60C (rather than the 76C) the spec is the same apart from half the memory 56megabytes. Watch out though as you don't get the same software. If you know someone who will give you there second unlock code it'll be O.K.

The 76C is 570 euros from sportextreme and the GPSV is 420euros but it aint in stock...

I'll let you know what I think of my 60C (500 euro) later this week when it arrives...

 

[johnl]

Hi Richie

what are these unlock codes all about?

 

[richie]

John,

I am just a tosser at the moment when it comes to GPS. I have after Four months finaly ordered a GPSMAP 60C after much contemplation. BUT and its a big BUT it does not come with the software to do turn by turn navigation. It comes with a european basemap. Good enough from my understanding of things to go from town to town but not to a specific address.

My brother in law bought a 2610 two months ago and he has given me the software to install on my PC. You can install the software on as many PC as you like. But you can only use it with two GPS. So for us its no problem he can use it and so can I if I register my new GPS in his name.

The GPSV was in fact the GPS I intended to buy like you. It comes with the sofware so thats no problem. However as I had access to the software for freeI decided to get the slightly more expensive 60C as it has more memory, calculates quicker and is in colour.

Hope that helps. From what I've learnt (and I still have a way to go) If you have a friend who is willing to give you his second unlock code the 60C is a better LONGTERM bet.

I'll post up more details when it arrives and I've used it. The software I have is version 5.2 and Version 6. The version 6 seems to be a lot more detailed than the earlier version.

Cheers

Richie

 

[johnl]

Which GPS?

Hi all,

having done some research and asked loads of questions I have finally bought an sp111. Coops saw some of my questions and mailed me with an offer I could not refuse. I now have a gps and touratec mount with up to date software as well.

And three hours of tuition only cost two cups of tea!

My thanks to all for the advice and once again to Neil.
See ya on the mountain!

John

 

[PanEuropean]

John:

Glad to hear it all worked out well for you. The SP III is a very competent GPSR for long distance touring - I used one for over two years, riding all over Europe, and I was very happy with it. Good choice.

PanEuropean