How much of europe can I get on 56Mb ??

[firestorm]

If I wanted to tour France, pop over to Germany and Czech Rep, will it fit into 56Mb ? I'm thinking of the Garmin GPSMAP56C.

If it doesn't, am I supposed to drag a laptop around with me ?

Thanks

 

[Greg Masters]

On City Navigator v5, this is 57.7Mb (36.9Mb without route calculation data):

 

[Dave Hall]

I can just about get the maps for my trip from Santander to the Black Forest and on to Zeebrugge (with a couple of detours) onto a 128Mb card.
When I used the GPS V with 19 meg memory then it was drag the laptop with me.

 

[adamski49]

This is 55Mb in v6 of City Select (I left 1Mb for WorldMap due to Americas basemap).

I've just checked - you don't get much more mapping with v5.

HTH

Adam

 

[firestorm]

hmm,
thanks for the replies guys. looks like the GPSMAP60c is a no go for me then, I wouldn't want to lug a laptop around with me.

Looks like the only alternative available to me is the Ique 3600 with a 512Mb SD card. Although I am a bit wary as there have been quite a few people with problems such as static reboots, timing issues with certain SD cards and so on. Also not sure how well it'll stand up to the elements and vibration.

I like to keep tracks which record altitude, velocity and location and have the ability to go off-road, which rules out a 2610.

Wish garmin released a GPSMAP60c/s with a CF slot ....

 

[Greg Masters]

I like to keep tracks which record altitude, velocity and location and have the ability to go off-road, which rules out a 2610.

Eh?????????



You mean like this:

 

[firestorm]

Exactly like that ...

I was told the 2610 and Navman equivalent didn't do track logs like that. Also that they don't take batteries, so I can't use it on foot. Can the 2610 be powered away from a 12v source ??

 

[PanEuropean]

Firestorm:

You DON'T want the IQue 3600, it just would not stand up to a motorcycle environment. It was not intended for that. Dust, moisture, and vibrations would kill it if you mounted it on the handlebars. It might survive if you kept it inside a map pocket on the top of a tank bag - but that would make it difficult to use.

The new '60' GPSR might be quite suitable for you if you don't mind being selective about which areas you load into the memory. Obviously, you won't get all of France, but if you don't bother loading the map segments for areas you plan to just "transit through" (rather than "tour in"), then you might be able to make the thing do the job for you.

Another angle might be to find someone located about halfway along your travel path who also owns a Garmin GPS (any kind) and has MapSource loaded on their PC at home. All you need to do is bring your CD and a floppy with your unlock codes along with you. You can load your map product (CitySelect) into their computer if they don't already have it, or, if they already do have it loaded, all you need to do is load the unlock codes for your GPSR. Now, you can put a fresh set of maps into your GPSR at the half-way point, going out and coming back. If you're coming through Zürich, for example, and I am here when you pass through, I can help you out by doing this for you.

As far as I comprehend, this would be entirely legal and within the spirit of Garmin's licence agreement, because the nature of the lock-code system is such that no matter how may PC's you put your lock-codes into, they can only be used on your specific serial number of Garmin GPSR. But, this is only my personal opinion, I don't (ever) speak for Garmin.

--------------------------

What you are seeing in the picture above (posted by Greg) is a display of the track log downloaded from a Garmin GPSR (any model) and displayed on a PC, using the Garmin MapSource program. My 2650 (pretty much the same as a 2610) will display the same, and so will even the really inexpensive bottom of the line handheld models.

BMW lists a battery pack for the BMW Navigator II (very similar to the SP 26xx) for CHF 315. The BMW part number is 72 60 7 679 224. Garmin will not be making a (competing) battery pack for the 26xx series. But, the 26xx series is really not meant for handheld use - you can't turn off the 'road lock' feature, which means whenever you are within about 3 "widths" of a roadway, the cursor will snap to the roadway.

PanEuropean

 

[firestorm]

PanEuropean, thanks for the insight and the offer of updating my routing. Shame about the Ique 3600, it almost has all the qualities I'm after, but sadly lacking in the motorbike environment.

Do you know if the GPSMAP60c/s has the atlantic basemap like the GPSV/2610/SPIII or does it specifically need European city select to autoroute ?

Cheers

 

[PanEuropean]

Hi Firestorm:

To tell you the truth, I really don't know much at all about the other Garmin products - when I do beta-testing, I normally stick with one product (in this case the SP 2650) for a year or so, and have nothing to do with the rest of them. Just staying on top of all the issues with one GPSR is more than enough work.

I had a look at the web page with the specifications for the 60CS (Garmin GPSMAP 60CS Specs) and I see that it says "Basemap: Detailed routable basemap with cities, highways, interstates, exit info, rivers, lakes; preloaded with worldwide cities." I really don't know what this means - maybe it is a worldwide basemap? Who knows. Perhaps you could write them and ask.

Looking at the main page describing the 60CS (Garmin GPS Map 60CS Main Page), I don't see any indication that Garmin is bundling in map software with it (e.g. City Select or MetroGuide). Perhaps this is because these web pages are just pre-announcements of hardware, and the final packaging has not been decided yet. Or, perhaps this is a new direction for Garmin, they will sell one model with a worldwide basemap and let the end users choose what cartographic software they want, based on what they plan to use the GPSR for (hiking, boating, driving). If this is the case, you could purchase Europe MetroGuide if you want inexpensive map software without autorouting (other than basemap autorouting between cities), or purchase CitySelect if you want turn by turn, street level autorouting. Remember, I'm just speculating here, based on no information at all other than what I read on the two web pages, so wait till you see more detail from Garmin before you plonk down your money.

They do indicate in the description that this model is capable of "Multi-platform navigation for easy navigation in a car, in a boat, or on foot" So, it might be a "one size fits all" general purpose model - which is what the GPS V was originally intended to be. If so, it sounds quite interesting, like it will be a worthy replacement for the GPS V.

Don't read anything into my comments beyond what you see in the "black ink" - outside of the SP III, SP 26xx, and the Garmin aviation units I use in my daily work, I know squat-all about any of their other products.

PanEuropean

 

[K2R]

I did a Product Comparison between of the 60CS with the 2610

For the 60cs the basemap is described as

Recreational Routable Basemap, Americas or
Recreational Routable Basemap, Atlantic


For the 2610 it is described as

Americas Autoroute or
Atlantic Autoroute or
Pacific Autoroute

 

[adamski49]

Do you know if the GPSMAP60c/s has the atlantic basemap like the GPSV/2610/SPIII or does it specifically need European city select to autoroute ?

Cheers

firestorm

The basemap is pretty useless for accurate navigation and you really need City Select if you want any accuracy.

As an example I took my V (I believe the 60C has a similar basemap) to Heathrow this morning and forgot to load the map area to the West of London. Once I left the loaded map area I seemed to be driving along parallel to the M25 and not on it - weird. As a result the recalc failed and navigation ceased. Fortunately I knew where I was going.

I think the basemap is only useful for main routes between cities (as long as you don't include the M25) but once you get to any town navigation will only be by main route to the centre.

HTH

Adam

 

[BurnieM]

There have been some comments on the Geocaching forums that the GPSmap 60 basemaps for both US and Europe have less detail than the GPS V basemap.

 

[PanEuropean]

Burnie: I would be pretty surprised if the basemaps are any different from the basemaps in the other products that have routeable basemaps. There is no need or advantage to Garmin to reduce the amount of data in the basemap. What users might be noticing is that what is actually displayed of the basemap (when display settings are at their defaults) is less than the full content of the basemap. Cranking up the content display settings might resolve that.

Adam: My experience using the basemap for autorouting is that the display starts to become less[/b] useful if you zoom in tighter than about 5 miles / 8 km's when using the basemap only. This is because the basemap is less granualar than the detail maps, at tighter zoom levels, you start to see the magenta trackline show up as a series of vectors, rather than as a smooth curve that follows the road. You are dead-on when you say "...once you get to any town navigation will only be by main route to the centre."

PanEuropean

 

[BurnieM]

From the number and type of comments the Americas and Atlantic autoroute basemaps definitely have less detail.

Unsure about Pacific Autoroute basemap as it did not have much to start with

I was a little surprised too; with limited memory and autorouting, I would have expected the same, if not more, detail on the basemap so you did not have to load all the route segments.

Many of the people commenting are ex GPS V or GPSmap76S owners so I don't believe they are missing anything.

 

[firestorm]

The reason for asking about the bundling of the basemap on the 2610/60cs/IQue3600

1) is to determine if 56Mb free is enough for me to get by on, if I just pick a few cities and rely on the basemap to fill in the blanks

2) Whether I can buy a US sourced 60cs and load in city select europe, but if I am relying on the basemap as in 1), then the US basemap will be useless for me. I assume it is not possible to change the basemap ?

3) If I go for a IQue 3600 (it'll have to live in my tankbag window) - Does that come with a US/European basemap ? Although it would be less of an issue with this unit, as I can just use a larger SD card and put the whole of europe on it.

4) If I go for a US sourced 2610, I can buy city nav europe for it and load it all on a 512Mb CF card ?

Sorry for being long winded - there is more to this gps business than meets the eye, too easy to blow £1000 that doesn't meet my needs ...

cheers

 

[adamski49]

Originally posted by firestorm
The reason for asking about the bundling of the basemap on the 2610/60cs/IQue3600

1) is to determine if 56Mb free is enough for me to get by on, if I just pick a few cities and rely on the basemap to fill in the blanks
Only you can decide - depends on length of journey, how you want to travel between cities etc.

2) Whether I can buy a US sourced 60cs and load in city select europe, but if I am relying on the basemap as in 1), then the US basemap will be useless for me. I assume it is not possible to change the basemap ?
No, you can't change the basemap. I've bought a US 60C and loaded European CS plus WorldMap to fill in the baemap areas - you can't navigate/autoroute with the WorldMap, just aim for places.

3) If I go for a IQue 3600 (it'll have to live in my tankbag window) - Does that come with a US/European basemap ? Although it would be less of an issue with this unit, as I can just use a larger SD card and put the whole of europe on it.
I looked at the iQue as well. You are supplied with a CD containing all basemaps allowing you to change them. You can also use an otter box with a RAM mount but it's a bit chunky. What put me off the iQue was the fact that you can't load routes or waypoints (this may have changed) only navigate to contacts within the database. There have also been a lot of people having problems woth their iQue's

4) If I go for a US sourced 2610, I can buy city nav europe for it and load it all on a 512Mb CF card ?If you buy a US 2610 and Europe CN it will probably cost you more than if you just bought a European 2610

Sorry for being long winded - there is more to this gps business than meets the eye, too easy to blow £1000 that doesn't meet my needs ...

cheers

Having both a V and 60C I'm still finding the V easier and more practical to use, although to be fair I haven't had the opportunity to properly use the 60C as I'm still waiting for a RAM mount.

Good luck with your decision

Adam

 

[firestorm]

Magellan Meridian ??

The Magellan Meridian Platinum/Color has been recommended to me because of :

1) It is robust
2) Takes SD cards
3) Cheaper than the equivalent Garmin

Any one any experience with these ?

Is the software any good ?

Is the autrouting any good ?

Cheers