I mentioned these were available in my previous thread about the Oregon 400t, but I finally ordered the 24K Southwest maps on DVD and have had a chance to check them out. They're a huge improvement in detail and accuracy over the 100K series maps. The 4 states on the DVD fit onto about 4GB on a micro SD card which you can load directly on your PC. I bought an 8GB card and had plenty of room to spare after loading all of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. It also adds street routing capability for the area covered which did not appear to be available in the 100K maps. All in all, I think the 24K DVDs are an excellent investment for anyone who has a mapping Garmin unit.
Unfortunately there still isn't a single company building a mapping software package that is good all the way around. Delorme's software has a nice user interface, but the detail is based on the 100K USGS, so its missing alot of data. Nat Geo TOPO is great for the 24K USGS maps, but has a weak user interface and limited routing capability (plus the steep $99/state price). The garmin base camp application seems to be a compromise between the two. The detail is better, it adds the routing, but seems to have somewhat limited functionality compared the Delorme. But basecamp is the advantage of buying the DVD version of the 24K maps. You don't get that if you buy the 2 state pre-loaded micro SD cards.
I finally broke down and bought the four state set of Nat'l. Geo. TOPO maps because the 4 Corners area is where I roam.
I only did it because I picked up used versions of each state from eBay for roughly $30-$50 a set. That makes owning those sets a whole lot more palatable.
This is great timing since I just got a Garmin 60csx. I have been looking into using Mapwel software (www.mapwel.biz) to create my own maps using USGS 24k topos but this might be a better alternative. Does anyone have any experience with Mapwel and the Garmin 24k series maps?
I did download Mapwel, but then I discovered that some topo maps that work with Garmin software can be had for free. If you're interested, e-mail me and I'll dig up a link. I was "up a creek" because I wanted Montana maps--the free ones I found were much more comprehensive that anything commercial I could find. Weird.
Discussion
5 repliesUnfortunately there still isn't a single company building a mapping software package that is good all the way around. Delorme's software has a nice user interface, but the detail is based on the 100K USGS, so its missing alot of data. Nat Geo TOPO is great for the 24K USGS maps, but has a weak user interface and limited routing capability (plus the steep $99/state price). The garmin base camp application seems to be a compromise between the two. The detail is better, it adds the routing, but seems to have somewhat limited functionality compared the Delorme. But basecamp is the advantage of buying the DVD version of the 24K maps. You don't get that if you buy the 2 state pre-loaded micro SD cards.
I finally broke down and bought the four state set of Nat'l. Geo. TOPO maps because the 4 Corners area is where I roam.
I only did it because I picked up used versions of each state from eBay for roughly $30-$50 a set. That makes owning those sets a whole lot more palatable.
Mel-
Andy