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Garmin Map Software Questions

Former Member over 14 years ago

I am new to this forum, and appreciate such a terrific source of information. Also, if this post is in the wrong sub-forum please let me know or a moderator can feel free to move it.

I am looking at getting a 60csx, but want to know what maps to purchase before I buy the unit. I have spent a lot of time researching this forum and garmin's website regarding the specification of the maps...so my questions are:

US Inland Lakes Software:
What is the difference between US Inland Lakes, and US Inland Lakes Vision. Also, does US Inland Lakes - North Central (or any region for that matter) contain more detailed information that just the US Inland Lakes maps. Finally, the have the lakemaster maps by state...is this even more detailed that the other versions?

Topo Maps:
The 60csx comes with a basemap, but I cannot find what scale these maps are at. I see that you can purchase US Topo that is 1:100,000 scale, or TOPO U.S. 24K North Central for even more detail. I want to know if these would be a benefit, as I am looking for a lot of detail.

City Software:
I see that you can still purchase Garmin's City Select Map Software, but it does not seem to be supported by Garmin. Is this true? Is there a benefit to having this vs City Navigator?

Software format to purchase:
Each software is available in several formats. If I own a large SD Card for the Garmin (like 2GB) can I purchase the software via CD ROM or download it to my computer, than transfer that map data to the SD card so that I have all of my purchased map software on one SD Card rather than needed to swap out a different SD Card every time I need to access that specific software.

Thanks in advance. I appreciate you taking the time to read such a lengthy post.

Jason

0 Former Member over 14 years ago

Can't help you with the US Inland Lakes since I've never used those.

The included base map is very basic to the point of being useless. The 100K maps are based on the USGS maps and most people find the detail in them to be sufficient on a small screen like the 60CSx. The drawback is that they contain no routing data. The 24K maps are very detailed and also contain routing info, what more can I say. You can do a Google search and find comparisons.

City Select maps are discontinued. If a dealer is still stocking them it is old stock. Stick with City Navigator NT maps. You can even opt for the nüMaps Lifetime subscription and have the maps updated up to 4 times a year for the life of the GPS. Look for dealer discounts for nüMaps Lifetime.

Buy the maps on DVD not on microSD card or built-in to the GPS. This way you can install them on your own microSD card yourself to plug into the GPS unit and also install the maps on the computer for use with BaseCamp. Then you can plan your trips ahead of time on the computer and upload the routes and tracks you create to the GPS unit. I also recommend getting a 4 GB microSD card. That's the most that the GPS unit will be able to use. Anything over 4 GB is not addressed by the GPS unit and would be a waste.

Be aware that you won't be able to load all of the Topo USA 100K on to one microSD card. The card is big enough, the problem is that Topo maps are made up of many map segments and the GPS unit is restricted to how many map segments it can read. You should be able to load all of City Navigator NA and half of Topo US 100K on one 4 GB card. If you have two cards you can load all of City Navigator NA on the other card as well and the other half of the Topo US 100K and by swapping between the two cards be covered for the entire continental USA Topo wise and all of North America City street wise.

0 Former Member over 14 years ago

thanks for the reply...that gets me going in the right direction