Difference between downloads & SD card map purchases

Hi all,

I've recently bought a 67i from an authorised reseller, I have gone on to purchase the Topo Pro v3 Great Britain maps from the same reseller, and they advised me to purchase the SD card version as they said if I was to replace the unit this can be moved to a new device.

The SD card arrived and it is all working well.

I am going hiking in the Alps next month and wanted to purchase the Alp Pro, but it appears that is only available for download, can I just check some assumptions:

1. I will need an SD card to put the Alps Pro maps onto.

2. The Alps Pro downloaded maps will be locked to my current 67i if I were to sell it in the future to upgrade I may as well include the SD card with maps as they won't work on any new device.

3. The official Garmin SD Card with the Topo Pro Great Maps WILL transfer to any new device.

Thanks in anticipation.

Top Replies

Garmin-Leslie 7 months ago +1 verified

Hello, JunbleJim is correct. I would also recommend seeing Choosing and Purchasing a Map for Your Outdoor Handheld.

All Replies

0 JungleJim 7 months ago

SD card map purchases will indeed work on any (compatible) device. The map is locked to the SD card itself, so it won’t work if you copy the files to a different SD card. Also I believe the SD card is read only you cannot put additional map files on it.

Download map purchases are locked to the device they are purchased for. It does not matter if you download the map to an SD card in your GPSMAP or to the internal memory. If you resell the device, you can include the download map but keep in mind the purchase is still linked to your Garmin account so if the new owner deletes the map files he/she won’t be able to reinstall the maps.

So for your case if you have sufficient space available on the internal memory you could install the Alps Pro maps to the internal memory, and then you can keep the SD card with GB maps in the device.

+1 Garmin-Leslie 7 months ago

Hello, JunbleJim is correct. I would also recommend seeing Choosing and Purchasing a Map for Your Outdoor Handheld.

0 Snow_Leopard 7 months ago in reply to Garmin-Leslie

Too bad Garmin doesn’t give the option to purchase their sd card maps with extra free space on the card for an extra minimal cost. That would allow you to add downloaded free or paid maps on the same card. I’m in Canada and a company here makes Canadian sd card Garmin compatible maps of Canada, locked to their cards but with extra space for added downloadable maps. I have an old Garmin USA National Parks West cd that I can install on any card with extra space on it.

0 DarrylKG 7 months ago in reply to Snow_Leopard

I agree, the TOPO Pro UK is on a 16GB card, but the 67i supports up to 32gb.

0 DarrylKG 7 months ago in reply to JungleJim

Thanks for the info, pretty much as I suspected. It’s not an imminent need, the 67i suits my needs for now and the trips I’ve got planned.

0 raymondox 7 months ago in reply to DarrylKG

Is that the 1:25 maps or 1:50