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Garmin TOPO US 2008 CD-ROM vs MicroSD Card


snorx

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I just acquired a new Garmin eTrex Legend Cx. I am using it for geocaching. I wanted some Garmin TOPO maps to load on it so I was planning to order the Northeast series on a micro SD card. I thought that would be easier than the CD-ROM, since I don't plan to go caching outside the NE region anytime soon. I'm wondering if I would be better off ordering the CD-ROM and a 1 GIG blank micro-SD card so I would have extra room on the card for other files. Here is my question: What kinds of files do eTrex people put on the micro-SD card besides TOPO, and where is the geocache info stored on the GPS?

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Garmin TOPO US 2008 comes on a DVD, so that's your first hurdle... can you read dvds? I would get the DVD vs. the memory card, because you can use any memory card you like. Also, TOPO is unlocked, and can be loaded on any of your Garmin GPSes, because, well, you have more than one, right? (I have a Rino 530, Nuvi 360, Vcomm Vcommand and a Nokia N95) The topo maps are nice for biking if you use your etrex as a bike computer. Other maps that work well would be the Mapsource metro guides for the US or Europe, and the Worldmaps. And of course my favorites, the Bluecharts! What could be better than turning your handheld gps into a chart-plotter?

 

Good luck.

 

I just acquired a new Garmin eTrex Legend Cx. I am using it for geocaching. I wanted some Garmin TOPO maps to load on it so I was planning to order the Northeast series on a micro SD card. I thought that would be easier than the CD-ROM, since I don't plan to go caching outside the NE region anytime soon. I'm wondering if I would be better off ordering the CD-ROM and a 1 GIG blank micro-SD card so I would have extra room on the card for other files. Here is my question: What kinds of files do eTrex people put on the micro-SD card besides TOPO, and where is the geocache info stored on the GPS?

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I purchased the CD and also bought a 1Gb micro SD card. Remember that no matter what size card you get, you can only put 2025 map segments on from the Topo CD. I have a 60 Csx, and can increase the Micro SD up to 2 Gb but, I can only load 2025 segments from Topo reguardless ...Hope this helps .

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I purchased the CD and also bought a 1Gb micro SD card. Remember that no matter what size card you get, you can only put 2025 map segments on from the Topo CD. I have a 60 Csx, and can increase the Micro SD up to 2 Gb but, I can only load 2025 segments from Topo reguardless ...Hope this helps .

 

However, there are ways of making the map segments larger so you can fit the whole CD onto the card and still stay under 2025 segments. This is being discussed in another thread. 2GB cards are not much more than 1GB cards. Many are under $20 now, and some even come with a micro USB reader and mini and full size adapter cards.

Edited by Parsa
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In addition to Topo on my 1gb card, I have about 15000 waypoints. Garmin calls them customized POIs, but it's the same thing - they're just handled a bit different than the internal waypoints. Bottom line is you can fit lots of waypoints using POI Loader, a free software offered by Garmin. The 15K take up about 4mb on the card. Each waypoint can hold 44 characters in the title, and 88 characters in the notes/comments/hint section.

 

The main reason to avoid the Topo data cards - or any Garmin maps on a data card - is that you don't get a DVD with maps to install on your computer. You will only be able to view them on the GPS. Not good for me as I do most of my route planning on the computer.

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