Garmin City Navigator North America for Detailed Maps of the United State, Canada and Mexico (DVD)
by Garmin
|
List Price: Our Price: $70.99 You Save: $79.00 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin City Navigator North America for Detailed Maps of the United State, Canada and Mexico (DVD)
Customer Review: What Garmin GPS Units SHOULD Ship With
Summary: 4 Stars
If Garmin sold their GPS systems & advertised that they did not come with software, & that software to make the GPS unit functional would cost you an additional $100.00, they probably wouldn't be in business very long. Thus, when you buy a Garmin handheld GPS unit they provide you with "base maps"... which are utterly useless for anything other than nagivating your way across North America on interstates. To make your Garmin handheld GPS functional, you really do need to purchase this $100 add-on.
Once you get it installed, your GPS unit is fairly functional. But getting there can be a bit of a challenge for those of us who are not rocket scientists (I only have a Ph.D.). But a phone call to Garmin tech support resulted in a very friendly, very knowledgeable individual who was able to step me through the process of getting the maps loaded properly onto my GPS. The call-wait time was under a minute, which pleasantly shocked me.
The documentation provided is, as is typical of the industry, somewhat sparse, and so you will need to commit a few hours of playing around and exploring your system to become proficient with it. Once you add this software & get it all working, you'll be pleased with the quality of the Garmin handheld.
Customer Review: A must have for your Garmin GPS unit
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this in conjunction with my 60csx after reading much about GPS maps here on Amazon. All I can say is that if you buy any Garmin GPS, then you HAVE TO have at least City Navigator (for roads and POI's etc...) to make it worth the purchase (the GPS unit, that is!). To me it is like buying an Ipod (no, I don't own an Ipod), NOT putting any music on it and then saying "wow, this is a great gadget... NOT" :).
The best part is actually using City Navigator on your computer (with MapSource) and uploading the customized maps into the unit. Very nice.
One other thing, I read SO MUCH in the reviews about the difficulty in activating the maps and all that... Let me just say that if you have that much trouble in the activation "process", you'll:
1. Find it impossible to load any kinds of maps.
2. Find it almost impossible to do much more than turn the unit on.
3. Probably be better off sticking to paper maps :)
Data in my version is very up to date and I couldn't be happier with it. To me, Garmin embarrasses themself by not having this as the unit's basemap. But then, how could they make another $80 on a $300 unit just like that :) Anyway, I'm pleased and that's all that matters.
Customer Review: Steep learning curve, but a lot in there
Summary: 4 Stars
My big test for this software was a trip to New York City (375 miles each way) a week after I bought the package. I made a few mistakes (like pressing the wrong button) but on my Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color High-Sensitivity Mapping Handheld GPS it navigated me into and out of the center of New York City - something I wasn't looking forward to. Brilliant!
I loved the ability to find a nearby petrol station and get instant directions straight there, ditto food, ditto supermarkets. What would normally involve a wild goose chase off the interstate turned into a few button pushes and then straight-forward directions to the door.
It's not perfect, I had one "T" junction where the software didn't indicate a preference, but as it was telling me to head north at the time, I followed my car's compass and it all worked out. The software also didn't read my wife's mind and take us a different route so she could stop off at a shop on the way home - but at least I could blame the gps!
I look forward to exploring all the other features and (when I've saved up the money) buying the topo map and leaving the car behind.
Customer Review: Excellent Software
Summary: 5 Stars
The software installed easily on my computer and I was able to unlock the maps with no problems. There was a Mapsource update available and it downloaded and installed without a hitch. An update is available for City Navigator North America NT. Due to the date of purchase I had for the full version, Garmin is sending the update DVD at no charge and is waiving the standard $75 update fee. This is the exact same thing Garmin did when an update was released shortly after I purchased the City Select v6 software and a v7 update was released shortly after. All of this was taken care of quickly and without any hassle.
The amount of time it took to download the maps to my GPS unit was much faster than the download time required when I was using the City Select v7 software. The City Select v7 software was non-NT and took up about 1.8 GB of space resulting in a download time of a little over 2.5 hours. The City Navigator North America NT maps are just under 1 GB and the download only lasted about 1.5 hours.
I am completely satisfied with City Navigator North America NT. The main areas where I travel have been updated and are much more current than my previous City Select v7 software.
Customer Review: Overall a Very Good Product
Summary: 4 Stars
Bought this map for my Colorado 300. Installation was relatively easy - hardest part was getting the computer to recognize the GPS and the SD card (treats as two separate drives). Once there, downloading into the GPS was easy although it took almost two hours to load the entire map (1.09GB), which amounted to about a tranfer rate of about 165 kB/s; not good at all for USB. However, once downloaded into the GPS and powering it up, the map came up a soon as the GPS got the location; no adjustments were needed.
Map is very well detailed and has most of the key points of interest (food, gas, shopping, parks, etc.). Is very easy to use. Does a reasonbly good job of getting you from point A to B, but if you want to avoid a route(s) or add in-between stops, plan to the route on the computer first using MapSource (must buy the DVD version to get this), then download into the GPS.
You will not need to buy this product (North America City Navigator) if you have a Nuvi.
In spite of minor glitches (few missing POIs and very few outdated names), I have no regrets buying the product. POIs (waypoints) can be added into the GPS and MapSource.