Garmin MapSource City Navigator, North America DVD-ROM for Garmin StreetPilot GPS Units
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin MapSource City Navigator, North America DVD-ROM for Garmin StreetPilot GPS Units
Customer Review: Horrible install process -- out-of-date Points of Interest
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought City Navigator only after I learned that the MapSource software and Garmin street maps are the only maps that work with Garmin GPS units. As other reviewers have noted, the installation process is ridiculously tedious and very badly documented. You'd think that all you need to do is pop in the DVD, have autorun start the installation process, click a license agreement and you're good to go. Instead, the autorun feature didn't work (it does on my laptop for every other software CD/DVD I load, though), and the installation came to a grinding halt when the installer detected that there was a later version of MapSource available for download. Why wouldn't it just download the update for me? I have no idea. Instead, I had to visit the Garmin website, figure out what I needed (not easy on their site), and try to figure out how to abort the installation process so I could install the update. That itself was a problem because the update took a L-O-N-G time to download -- Garmin's webserver apparently has no bandwidth capacity -- and once the 40+Mb download completed, it wouldn't work. I tried executing the downloaded self-extracting archive, but it just wouldn't execute and install the update properly. At this point, I was frustrated and so I had to boot my laptop and remove the DVD which let the downloaded update to MapSource install correctly. Fine, now MapSource is fully loaded with the latest and greatest. The next obstacle is the stupid "unlock" procedure which allows the maps to be installed and used within MapSource. I had thrown away my packaging not realizing there is a "coupon" embedded in the packaging material which I need to punch in a code so I can get ANOTHER code which is the unlock code to the maps. Heaven help me! Another reviewer suggested having the GPS connected to the laptop to avoid entering the serial number of the GPS -- good advice.
In the end, I *was* successful, but then, I'm a systems analyst by trade. I can't imagine someone with little experience with computers trying to install this ridiculously cumbersome mapping software.
Now that I loaded the maps onto my GPS, it's really nice, which is why I'm giving the product 3 stars. The Point-of-Interest are pretty out-of-date, however. On my street, "Ruth's Cleaning Service" is listed -- a home-based business owned by a neighbor who has since closed his business and moved out-of-state three years ago. A nearby 7-Eleven which changed hands years ago is still listed as a 7-Eleven on City Navigator. A Panera Bread that opened about two years ago near my house IS listed, however. McDonald's restaurants must be searched by using the apostrophe, otherwise no search results are given (heaven help you if you don't know how to correctly punctuate or spell a firm's name!). A new McDonald's restaurant that opened near my house early in 2006 -- before the April 2006 update of the maps used by City Navigator -- is NOT listed.
In sum, City Navigator is better than not having any streets loaded into your GPS, but you'll endure a difficult installation process and have to realize that the maps and points-of-interest are iffy. I'm glad I have City Navigator, but there is a LOT of room to improve the installation process and the information used to compile up-to-date points-of-interest.
Customer Review: City Navigator vs City Select
Summary: 4 Stars
For those of you who are deciding between City Navigator and City Select, buy Navigator. Here are reasons I find over various forum and news groups when I was making my buying decision.
Garmin has about 8 different levels of street classifications, all the way from pedestrian and animal pathways to multilane controlled access highways. For each roadway, there can be up to 60 invisible attributes, indicating the number of lanes, number of stop signs or traffic lights per mile, speed limits, presence of medians, time of day restrictions, heavy vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle restrictions, and so forth. Whether these 60 pieces of data are included in the software or used by the GPS for its calculations is part of the feature set of the 3 map packages offered by Garmin.
The basic level (Metroguide) does not support automatic route generation. (Note: Metroguide 4.01 and below use data from TeleAtlas. So Metroguide 4.01 is the best version you can find that won't need an unlock code to use the routing function on your Garmin)
The intermediate level (City Select) supports automatic route generation, but does not contain certain 'high end' road attributes such as truck restrictions, time of day restrictions, stop signs per mile, mid-road barrier awareness, and various other road attributes.
The highest level (City Navigator) contains all those things, and is targeted for Garmin's higher end GPS's. This can explain the why Navigator's map data are much larger than Select. I bought the Navigator for my 60Cx and within the same order I also bought a 1GB microSD memory chip. The Navigator has about 1.6 GB map data. With 1GB microSD, I can hold the map about half of the US (from west of IL all the way to the east coast)
As far as the quality of map detail, I'd say it's about the same as MS Streets & Trips 2006, which I use a lot on my PC. I haven't found any errors yet. None of them has the railroads of Chicago CTA train, which, interestingly, are in Garmin's US Topo map. All have Metra railroads though.
For the actually performance and accuracy of the map, you could refer to the reviews of other Garmin's models that are dedicatedly made for in-car use and preloaded with City Navigator NT, such as StreetPilot i5, c340, and Nuvi 350, etc. Navigator NT uses the same data and only differs in compression techniques. From what I read, it seems about 80% of the people are happy with the routing result. To my experiences, by only giving start and end waypoints, I couldn't get my preferable route for most of the time. I have to specify several additional waypoints to "manipulate" how the route is calculated. (All software and online maps are like this so I have no complaint here). I am not planning to heavily rely on the turn-by-turn routing feature.
This review is for version 7, BTW
Customer Review: Garmin City Navigator v. 8.0
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Garmin City Navigator v. 8.0 to use with a Garmin 276C GPS unit for street navigation in the USA for this year. I have used the GPS unit and software in IL, OH, TX, FL, MO and NC and points in between, and have had positive success in all but two situations. One situation is that our home street address here in NC is out of sync with the mapping software. (The street numbering doesn't come down to our number, and our [lower] house number is 'beyond' a higher house number.) The other time was in Wheaton, IL, one of the directions given by the software through the GPS unit seemed 'wonky', but as that was the first time I used the GPS/software combination, it very well may have been 'operator error. I did send in a report to Garmin about the first problem and recieved a positive response from Garmin's cartography deptartment. They advised,
"We appreciate the specific error reports. What happens with them is we research them and add anything we can (stuff from the raw data not visible to end users)...then pass the info along to the source vendors to get their eyes on it and, hopefully, lead to some improvement for down the road. That vendor is NavTeq.
It sounds like the potential address range assigned to the line needs fleshed out and the line representing the road may need to be extended."
I have not done much with the mapping software on any computer, other than make sure I have waypoints added while using the GPS are in the software on the computer.
I will recomend that users of this combination of GPS and software buy the Garmin cigarette power cord with built in speaker so that the spoken directions can be heard, or in some other way get a speaker connected to the GPS unit. I have found that to be very helpful.
While not specifically software related, I will also recomend the Ram Mount system for holding the GPS unit in a vehicle. I use the suction cup base for the windshield and the appropriate mount for the GPS unit. This is the second Ram Mount system I have and it takes the worry out of having loose GPS units floating around the driver/front seat/dash area, and improves safety.
All in all, I am extremely pleased with the City Navigator v. 8.0 for my applications.
Cheers, and 73,
Norm
Customer Review: Expensive and Time Consuming
Summary: 3 Stars
As others have stated, Garmin GPS units suffer very limited map capabilities without the installation of this fairly expensive software. The City Navigator software should be pre-installed as the default basemap on units in the price range of the Vista Cx.
Before you attempt to install the software make sure you have your GPS unit, USB connection cable, internet connection and at least an hour of free time. Garmin's included instructions leave much to be desired.
My installation process was frustrating and took much longer than anticipated due to the convoluted 'Unlock' process. The process requires that your register an account with Garmin, so that you can redeem your 'Unlock Certificate' for an unlock code using Garmin's Unlock Wizard. Better have your GPS serial number, or have your GPS unit actively connected to your computer before you start the process too. The unlock process may also require you to download the latest version of the Garmin "Mapsource Software", which doesn't automatically install as expected after the download. If you experience problems installing the Mapsource software, try rebooting your computer and then search for the setup file and run it manually, as I had to do to complete the installation.
After you successfully install the latest "Mapsource" software, you can go back to the "City Navigator" DVD and complete your map software installation. If this sounds like too many hoops to jump through - you're right, it is! Garmin could simplify this process enormously.
Once installed, the software seems to work well and is fairly intuitive, but you need to set aside plenty of time to upload your chosen maps to your GPS unit. For instance, if you choose most of the states along the Eastern coast of the U.S. it can take over 30 minutes to upload them to a Garmin Vista Cx.
On a final note, make sure to put the unlock certificate card in a safe place, because Garmin warns you during install that there is no replacement process if you lose it.
Customer Review: Fully Comprehensive Travel Guide
Summary: 5 Stars
I do a lot of traveling all over the US and I am very pleased with the performance of this product. I use this with a Garmin 60CSx GPS unit with the entire contents of the DVD stored on a 2GB mini-SD card. Since purchasing I have been in at least three different geographical regions away from my home and this version 8 software seems to be very up to date and accurate. I have not encountered any missing streets or erroneous information thus far, including in and around my home area in Texas. If you were to compare this software to Microsoft Streets and Trips, you will find a much more robust and accurate mapping product. The breadth and scope of content is much more richly detailed and accurate. Performance on the PC is equally impressive. Downloading waypoints and tracks from the GPS is a snap and allows you to save multiple map sets for easy reference. Planning out specific routes and uploading to the GPS is also very easy to do.
The only two things that I find to be inconvenient is the lack of compatibility on Mac OS X. It would be nice to be able to connect to my Mac since that is my primary computer; but this is not a major issue. Also, the other issue that is somewhat annoying is the timing of pop up windows on the GPS unit to alert you of your turns or exits. I am not sure if this is an issue with the GPS itself or with this software, but in any event, I have found that sometimes you don't get much notice of upcoming turns and exits. It would be nice to be able to set this to trigger at about a 1/2 mile from the waypoint instead of 2/10 mile as it is currently set. Again, not a major issue as long as you're paying close attention - otherwise you might just shoot past your turn or exit, especially if you're traveling fast.
Overall, this software provides all the data and maps you need to navigate anywhere in the US, Alaska and Hawaii. It seems to be current and accurate and a necessary component to any GPS device used for traveling.