Garmin MapSource 2008 Topographical U.S. Map DVD-Rom
by Garmin
|
List Price: Our Price: $84.25 You Save: $31.70 (27%) 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 MapSource 2008 Topographical U.S. Map DVD-Rom
Customer Review: Garmin SW Human Interface has something to be desired
Summary: 3 Stars
Garmin SW is improving in the Human Interface area, but still can use a lot of improvement. Further, I was amazed when using the SW in Grand Canyon National Park that the Forest Service roads to Point Sublime did not show up on the TOPO map. Basically, TOPO US 2008 is a marginal tool for use as a laptop SW Navigation system.
That said, its ability to organize, select and transfer maps to a portable GPS unit (I use a GPSMAP 76CS) is commendable. It also supports full USB interface to the GPS unit (even USB of the NMEA data that used to require a serial cable).
I use several GPS SWS packages including Natl Geographic TOPO!, Delorme TOPO, and Microsoft Streets and Trips. I'm not satisfied with any of them yet. The Garmin SW however is necessary as it is the only SW that will load maps onto my Garmin Receiver.
Customer Review: Topo to go
Summary: 4 Stars
Works well in the Etrex Legend, and is acceptable for those using a handheld for hiking, mountain biking, atv riders, or hunters. The area you are using will have to be downloaded into your unit, and in my case (an Etrex Legend) I could only load a two county area. So keep this in mind and plan your trip accordingly. The software performs well on my laptop as well as a desktop, and the quality of the USGS maps is good compared to other sources. A trip to the local sporting goods stores revealed that the price varies from 50.00 usd to 145.00 usd so shrewd shoppers can find a great deal with a little effort. Be sure to register your GPS unit and software in case you encounter any problems. (Garmin offers a restore on their website for registered units) A good product for those who enjoy scouting areas and printing maps.Customer Review: Inaccurate at times
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased Topo 2008 because it has both road and topo data, and can upload both to my GPS unit. After some use, I found that the maps are off by roughly 1/3 city block (software shows me as just north of where I actually am). Furthermore, I found both gaps (missing stretches of road) and mislabeled roadways when looking at the stretch between I-405 south and Ross Island bridge (HW26) in downtown Portland, OR. The combination of missing roadway and mislabeled roadway in this stretch was bad enough that I had to use MapQuest instead. Hopefully I just encountered the only such case of this. If accuracy and completeness of road data are critical for you, spend your money elsewhere.
I gave it three stars because in all other cases it's been close enough, and I am enjoying getting topo maps into my unit.
Customer Review: Worse than useless
Summary: 1 Stars
I would have to agree with "working engineer." This software is worse than useless due to its positional inaccuracy. I was shocked to find that my 76csx showed the location of my house as several hundred feet from its actual location. A downloaded track of a run in a local park showed this same "offset." I tried an experiment: created a waypoint by standing in the middle of an intersection in my neighborhood, then downloading it. The MapSource Topo US 2008 software showed an offset error of about 800 feet. Google earth showed it dead on (so I knew it wasn't a problem with the GPS unit itself). My older version of NG's Topo! also shows this waypoint at its proper location at the intersection. Interestingly enough, Delorme Topo 6.0 has the same offset error as the Garmin mapping software.Customer Review: Program is very disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
OK, I am used to hiking with Green Trail maps for Washington State. I was hoping that this product would be to their level, or heck even more current. But no way, I pulled up areas I go to frequently and the maps are not even close to he quality of the green trail maps. Which is very sad considering google earth does a better job than this software and it is free.
For all you techies who rated this product highly get grip, paper maps dominate this product. GPS software is not even close to the quality of a paper map. Also, if I wanted to do all of this electronic file manipualtion that other users speak of why even buy a GPS unit. The point is I wanted something superior to old out of date paper maps and instead of that got "new" electronic maps that are worthless.