[tk-421]

Santa said that she would get me some mapping software for Christmas. Now I have to figure out which one to get. I've looked at both Topo! and MapSend Topo for my SporTrak Pro... which would you recommend? I want to be able to plan trips at home, upload the route and the lines to the GPS and go have fun. Afterwards, I want to download my track to the computer and see how far off I was. Any input...?

[Sore Feet]

I've never heard of MapSend, and I don't have a GPS unit, but I swear by Topo! Great coordinate system, easy to sort and name (on a computer at least), and it looks to have several input / output features for GPS units.

[Tom]

The two software are for different uses. Map Send Topo is required to upload topo lines and other points of interest such as lakes, rivers, etc. to your Magellan GPS. The topo lines are not the most detailed, but do the trick when you're in the field and want to know your general position with a quick glance. Topo! (or Delorme 3D Topo Quads, MapTech Terrain Navigator, etc.) gets you the actual USGS quads which are much more detailed and reliable for route planning and routefinding. Both will let you upload/download waypoints, etc. but I would opt for the more detailed topo lines if that's what you plan to use it for. Having said that, there isn't much reason to own the top of the line Magellan SporTrak (Pro) with 24 MB of memory if you don't plan on uploading topo lines.

[Dante]

Tom, can you load topo lines from Topo! (as opposed to MapSend Topo) on a SporTrak or Meridian? I didn't think you could, but I'd love to be wrong. I got the Meridian for Christmas, so I have up to 128 megs of memory (the largest card currently available, I think) to play with . . .

[Malachai Constant]

Unfortunatly you are right. You can only load the maps (lines) from a manufacturers software onto its unit i. e. Magellan MapSend onto Sport track and Garmin MapSource onto eTrek. They are both only 100k maps while Topo! is a 24K map much more detailed. Best soluition is to print maps from Topo with way points added for junction stram crossings etc. Then if you are really anal you can downlod your track onto the map when you get back. Some folks have hacked the Garmin interface allowiny you to edit maps but it is much more trouble than it is worth IMHO.

[Dante]

Thanks MalCon! The new GPS has already proven a fun toy to play with. Last night I uploaded the new firmware (4.02) from Magellan and uploaded topo lines, points of interest, etc. for the whole state of Washinton The guy who wrote the Meridian FAQ for the Yahoo Magellan or Magellan Meridian discussion group also turned me onto some software that replaces the "lawyer screen" with "this GPS belongs to . . . " information and some other cool stuff . . .

[bkbaran]

dlijutmboit

[Slugman]

My Meridian came with the Mapsend Streets as a freebie. I uploaded the whole state of Washington onto the unit, so now instead of a blank screen with my route shown on it, I have at least the river/lake/mountain that I am hiking near plus all the Forest Service roads in the area. By printing a map using my TOPO! software with my route and waypoints shown, then uploading the route, etc, to the unit, I can look at the GPS and say "Well, I'm just past waypoint 5" or whatever, and then see on the map just where I am. I would spend the money to get Mapsend topo if the maps were as good, but they aren't, so I can't see spending another 100 bucks just to get the topo lines on the GPS screen.

[Steve]

I've been busy spending money on other things so I have not gotten a card for my Meridian. Q; does uploading so much data onto the card have any effect on the performance of the GPS? Does the unit acess data more slowly or make other operations slower?

[Tom]

Not that I've noticed.