Why does Basecamp need to be so complicated. Why should I even use it? If trip planner or route planner was similar to Google Maps then I would find it more friendly. Everytime I try to use Basecamp I get frustrated. All I want to do is go from point A to point B and I want the software to do the work. No, all I seen when I enter an A and a B is a straight line. I guess my mistake was not staying with Tom Tom!:(
I'm confused by your reply since as you indicate you only need to learn a few core functions and you are 99% of the way there, but you also say
The folks here who say this tool is simple are living in an altered reality, or have very limited experience using it. Basecamp is a powerful (and wonderful) mapping tool that is VERY complex.
I agree it's a powerful mapping tool but to say it's very complex is incorrect surely given your other comment?
For completeness, the guide you're referring to, while aimed mainly at Zumo and nuvi devices, is at
That's the main problem with it - it's just not intuitive. I generally pick up new programs fairly quickly - I've been struggling with Basecamp ever since I heard about it. Still can't do a simple return route with 2 stopovers involved.
The other thing is the amount of time it takes to calculate the route - it just takes forever.
Have you tried the tutorial linked to above? If you can't do a simple route then something is wrong with your workflow, and I don't find the time taken to create a route takes forever.
In your example I'd create a waypoint at start and finish. Input those into the route tool and let BaseCamp create the route, then drag and drop it to the 2 stopover points. A few minutes work at the most.
If you can't plan with BaseCamp at all, you might let google plan your route, export the gpx file and import it in BaseCamp.
If your just traveling by car, yes, google is better, faster, simpler. But, at least here in Europe outside of citys, just planning a bycicle route with google is pain. You'll end on "highways" no even near to the nice bycicle routes. Talking about planning hikes and walks, google is just lost. I'm not even talking about mountainieering.
Every tool has its purpose, or rather every purpose has its tool.
If you just want to quickly plan a car route from A to B, BaseCamp is not the right tool.
I generally agree with 7881234. I was so frustrated with Basecamp when I first started using it. I too tend to pickup new applications quickly however Basecamp was not intuitive. HOWEVER, once you know the basic steps required to get you going, it is a very compelling trip planning tool. Now that I am comfortable with it, I really can't remember what I was so frustrated about. I use Basecamp for day trips and for multi-day vacation road trips. I am disappointed to hear that Garmin no longer supports it. I know of no other tool that does what Basecamp can do.
Agreed. I moved to BaseCamp from MapSource and found it frustrating at first as it works differently, but once I'd got over that it wasn't an issue. I use it pretty much daily to plan both walking and driving routes for my various Garmin devices.
I agree Google Maps is easy to use and the learning curve for Basecamp is steeper. A simple reason is that you have to understand what waypoints, routes, shaping points, track, list of objects, references etc are. No such thing with Google Maps. But the effort of learning Basecamp is worth it because it is far better when it comes to route planning than Google maps. (and you can use the maps you want)
Here is how I use the two of them:
Car: Destination is important, not the journey. Most of the time I only need to go from A to B. Google Maps + Phone is good enough for this use case
motorbike: the journey/itinerary is more important than the destination, robustness of device is a must, best combination Zümo + Basecamp. Google Maps just does not meet my requirements, too simple, too many limitations, will not let me take the roads I want to use when transferring the KML to the GPS (different maps, different routing rules etc...). Cannot transform a route into a track etc.
