A little disappointed

[rapracing]

I picked up a couple of the etrex 30's and I'm a little disappointed in the displays. I got them because I thought the maps would be nicer Other than some color lines there really is no difference from the 10. Can those be upgraded to include topo's & street? At what cost, any idea?

 

They will be used mainly for caching but I was hoping for a little more than I got.

[+Touchstone]

From the Garmin site:

 

Add Maps

 

With its microSD™ card slot and 1.7 GB of internal memory, eTrex 30 lets you load TOPO 24K maps and hit the trail, plug in BlueChart® g2 preloaded cards for a great day on the water or City Navigator NT map data for turn-by-turn routing on roads (see maps tab for compatible maps). eTrex 30 also supports BirdsEye Satellite Imagery (subscription required), that lets you download satellite images to your device and integrate them with your maps.

 

My experience is that it's kind of pricey to add the Garmin maps. There are a variety of sources for free maps, which you can put on a SD card and get the same results, but will not be a plug-and-play as the Garmin option. Kind of depends on what you think your time is worth.

[+Walts Hunting]

Garmin puts the same basic map on all its devices. It doesn't matter if you pay $50 or $650. Additional maps can come from them or several other sources. Some of those are routable and some not. You should probably do a little research before deciding which you want. OSM maps seem to have gotten many good comments.

[+cachepohl]

I can approve the usability of the OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps - more than just accurate enough to find my way in the forests. Since they are community driven, the data can be updated by literally everyone and so they prove (mostly) more accurate than maps published on a yearly or even more seldom base.

Some sites offer pre-created maps in Garmin img format to put directly on the device's SD card - since I'm located in Europe, I cannot recommend an appropriate download site for US maps yet, though the OSM Wiki lists a large couple of sites where to get maps for different regions.

 

Hope it helps a bit

 

Cheers,

Michael

[+on4bam]

I only use OSM maps and have had no problem finding caches using them. Used them in Greenland last summer and every hikingtrail we went on was also on the maps.

[+whh0]

We use Talky Toaster naps on our Etrex 20. Might be helpful to know where in the world you are as not all maps are available in all locations. You could then get some more specific advice.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I only use OSM maps and have had no problem finding caches using them. Used them in Greenland last summer and every hikingtrail we went on was also on the maps.

 

Here's another endorsement for the OSM maps. I've used them in Beijing, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Costa Rica, Rome, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Hamburg (Germany), Montpellier (France), and Tanzania, When I used the one in Costa Rica I showed roads (which I drove on) which didn't even appear on Google maps.

 

 

[+cron]

I only use OSM maps and have had no problem finding caches using them. Used them in Greenland last summer and every hikingtrail we went on was also on the maps.

 

Here's another endorsement for the OSM maps. I've used them in Beijing, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Costa Rica, Rome, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Hamburg (Germany), Montpellier (France), and Tanzania, When I used the one in Costa Rica I showed roads (which I drove on) which didn't even appear on Google maps.

 

http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ is the place to go to download your free OSM-based maps.

 

They are routable. You select the area, click on the button and download the file on your computer. You can then just drag/drop on the recent GPSr units. For older units, you need to "compile" them in Mapsource/Basecamp if you want multiple areas (e.g. multiple files). On newer devices, you can just drop the different files in the GPSr (not sure what is the max number).

[rapracing]

We use Talky Toaster naps on our Etrex 20. Might be helpful to know where in the world you are as not all maps are available in all locations. You could then get some more specific advice.

 

Pennsylvania

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I only use OSM maps and have had no problem finding caches using them. Used them in Greenland last summer and every hikingtrail we went on was also on the maps.

 

Here's another endorsement for the OSM maps. I've used them in Beijing, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Costa Rica, Rome, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Hamburg (Germany), Montpellier (France), and Tanzania, When I used the one in Costa Rica I showed roads (which I drove on) which didn't even appear on Google maps.

 

http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ is the place to go to download your free OSM-based maps.

 

They are routable. You select the area, click on the button and download the file on your computer. You can then just drag/drop on the recent GPSr units. For older units, you need to "compile" them in Mapsource/Basecamp if you want multiple areas (e.g. multiple files). On newer devices, you can just drop the different files in the GPSr (not sure what is the max number).

 

I don't know how it works for a Mac but on a PC the download contains a .exe file which includes all the selected tiles. Executing the exe file will create file that can be read into Mapsource or Basecamp. Then you can view the map and see that it covers the areas you want, connect your GPS, and use the "Send to GPS" feature in Mapsource/Basecamp. Once they're on the GPS you'll have to "enable" the OSM maps as a basemap. I just copy the img file that can be downloaded directly to the microSD card in my Oregon but I've done it with Mapsource/Basecamp as well and it's quite.

 

On of the things I like most with the OSM routable maps for Garmin is that I can select just he map tiles that I need and they don''t have to be contiguous. I created a mapset a few years ago when I traveled to Malaysia. I had layovers in Singapore and Japan and created a mapset which covered all three areas.