Customer Reviews

Garmin MapSource U.S.A. Topographical Map CD-ROM (Windows)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I bought this product for hikes and to guide me in navigating rivers. Only very major roads are named so I can't use this very easily to calculate my route there. Most roads are there but they just vanish at some points and reappear in others. Using a real topo map it is immediately obvious that these same roads do not dissapear and in fact continue on their course uninteruppted like a road should. The elevations and detail are very course. No trails are shown. I am not very happy I bought this product and am going to look into the roads and recreation to see if it does a better job. FYI I bought this to use with my Etrex Legend which I think is just great.

After reading all the negative reviews, I was very reluctant to take the plunge with this product. However, as the date of my Vermont hiking trip approached, I decided to go for it.

I was very plesantly surprised. Here's what I found:

1. This product provides good BASIC topo maps for garmin GPS (I personally use an etrex legend). If you are looking for 1:24,000 level of precision with every obscure trail, fire road, etc. you WON'T find it here. However, I found the maps to be more than adequate for orienting myself and cross-referencing with USGS paper maps if necessary. (As others have repeated ad nauseam, you should ALWAYS carry paper maps in addition to electronic gizmos like this). Also, as other reviewers have pointed out, you can get good USGS-derived paper maps from Maptech.

2. My experience was that the accuracy was good, once I enabled the WAAS on my unit. I didn't encounter any of the missing lakes, etc. which others have spoken about (I also used it recently in the boundary waters area of MN). That having been said, I don't think it's necessarily the best for roads-- also as other reviewers have pointed out. It is best suited for topographic features. There are other products which are more suited for roads and highways.

3. I didn't have any problems with installation-- went very smoothly. The software is somewhat rudimentary, but that also makes it very simple to use. I was up and running in no time. Downloads were also very easy and straightforward.

4. Can't beat the price!! You get all 50 states-- not like other products that are state by state. You buy it once and then you are done.

So overall, know what you are getting into and you will not be disappointed. DONT expect any bells and whistles like fancy 3d flybys, etc. DO expect a cheap, basic, reliable-- and in my experience-- accurate map which will get you MORE than adequately oriented with your surroundings.

I got this software for use with my Garmin eTrex Summit, and found it to be less than adequate for my work. As a botanist in the northwoods, I cover a lot of territory each season. I need to be able to view accurate and complete topographic maps, plot my tracks and markers on these maps, and orient locations by legal description -- Township, Range, and Section line -- so that I know, for instance, when I'm crossing property lines, say from public to private land.

Mapsource's topo maps have few contour lines and omit many dirt roads, small lakes, and many other details. Most importantly, Township, range and section lines are omitted. In it's favor, Mapsource is easy to use. And the price is good: The entire U.S. for $100.

I later obtained MapTech's Terrain Navigator software, and it works much better for me. The details are almost as complete as USGS topo maps. Township, range and section lines are included, as are complete contour lines and even some abandoned, bermed roads (on public land). MapTech is not, however, as intuitive as Mapsource. And MapTech costs much more in relation to the area covered: I paid for one small part of our state.

So if you want maps for the whole U.S. and don't necessarily need details, get Mapsource. If you want USGS-quality maps with excellent detail, look at others, including MapTech.

After reading many disappointing reviews for Garmin's Mapsource Topo, I was very skeptical to purchase this product. I previously owned Garmin's "Points of Interests" (by Mapsource)for their E-Trex Venture. The GPS was great, but the software was very limited. It lacked detail of any kind. After time, I upgraded to Garmin's E-Trex Vista. This is probably the best hand held receiver on the market today! Now I needed the mapping software to go with it. Again, I researched the Mapsource Topo, and anything else I could find. Only after reading (one) person's review, (praising it), did I see any hope for Mapsource. I talked with a Garmin rep and he pointed me to a demo of "TOPO" and I thought it looked OK. Now, after buying it, and using it, I am totally satisfied! I would like to raise a couple of points that should clear things up. First, when you begin to view the maps on your PC, set the DETAIL settings(found under Edit) to LOW, as this will allow you to find the specific area you are looking for, without the computer trying to constantly redraw all that detail. Then, when you are in the general area, and zoom size, go back and crank up the detail to HIGH!!! Viola, tons of detail and info. The second point, is to also do this with your GPS receiver under Map settings. I have found that you probably will see TOO MUCH detail at times! And the real kicker for me was, after looking at the map detail on the PC, your GPS will show much better graphics than what's on the computer. Map legends and symbols that are not shown or shown as dots and slashes, come alive on the GPS. I don't know why this is, but it's true. If only I had known this last year, I would have bought it right away. And Amazon has a great deal on the price too. I also use Maptech's Terrain Navigator for viewing and printing Topo maps of New York's Adirondack mountains. It's excellent, but is unable to download maps to the GPS. In closing, I just wonder how so many people could have overlooked this remedy? GREAT PRODUCT!!!

I recently got an eTrex Summit GPS and bought this software in order to download the trips I take into a printable format as well as to plan hikes before starting out on them. The bottom line is that this 3 CD-ROM set doesn't contain nearly enough information to do that. I took a 4 mile hike this weekend near San Francisco, and downloaded it to the software. It does show the track that we walked, but the topographic information from this software is so coarse that you can't tell that we went up and down, gaining some 500 feet in elevation since the contour lines are so far apart on the map generated. Furthermore, the road into the park wasn't drawn correctly, the ranger station and other services weren't marked and so on. In short, the maps provided won't allow you to plan a hike, which was the point in the first place right?

I live in Idaho, and actually, really, go into the wilderness. The level of detail provided by garmin's u.s. topo offering is honestly not sufficient for accurately setting waypoints. National Geographic's state series is indeed sufficient (in fact it's the best for Idaho). Not to be cruel, but being able to download inadequately detailed map source is not nearly as important as being able to download truly accurate waypoints. Buying both packages would obviously be the best solution, but really you can set up all the detail you need (for getting in & out) using just national geographic (whereas you can't with garmin's u.s. topo stuff).

Critical note: I strongly recommend not carrying *just* electronic maps if you really, truly, go into wilderness. Electronic toys aren't foolproof - they break through no fault of your own, they get dropped, can get destroyed if you fall, etc. Paper maps should *also* be carried - ideally ones printed out just for your current trip.

The garmin hardware itself is truly impressive. Their mapsource topo offerings, on the other hand, need a lot of work. It's as if the people who did them never visited the U.S., and/or never really went into many of the U.S.'s real wilderness areas.

I have a Garmin Rino 130 GPS. I received this software as a gift. I use the GPS primarily for hiking in Colorado.

For many years I have used National Geographic TOPO software to create custom hiking maps. It has served me well. With the newer versions I am able to create routes and download them to the GPS. This is what I had hoped to do with the Mapsource software. But, I found creating routes in Mapsource to not be as user friendly. The maps in mapsource are generated from a database and prove to not be as detailed as the Nat Geo maps, which are scans of USGS maps. Using the freehand route tool in the Nat Geo is a superior way to create the routes. It will also
create a profile of distance and elevation gain/loss from this freehand route.

I have found it useful to use the Mapsource software to load maps of the area I will be hiking into the GPS unit. It's nice to be able to see the countours, lakes, streams, etc. in the background on the GPS screen.

If you only have $ for one I would go with the National Geographic TOPO over Mapsource.

Update
**I have now purchased and begun to use this software. The directions below do indeed work. I copied all 3 CDs to my hard drive and ran the setup from there. I am able to access all maps without using the CDs.**

I have yet to purchase this software (I'm waiting on my GPS to arrive) but was interested enough in it to contact Garmin about its supposed inability to load onto your PC's hard drive (many reviewers commented that you had to use the original CDs each time you wanted to access a map). Here is Garmin's reply. It basically says that you can even though it's not detailed in the manual. For those who have already installed the software, note their comment that you can uninstall and then follow the instructions on loading directly to your hard drive.

"Thank you for contacting Garmin Cartography. There's a "back door" way of installing it to your computer without having to use the CD's every time. Unfortunately, this is not included in the manual. Please feel free to pass this info. along to anyone you know who is encountering the same problem.

What you need to do is put the CD into the drive. Empty/Copy the entire contents of your CD drive to somewhere on your hard drive. Then run the install...Straight from your hard-drive. This will allow you to run the program as normal... without... having to put the CD in every time. For those that already have it installed, they must fully uninstall the program and start these directions from scratch."

Hope this helps.

If you understand this product's limits before you buy it, you'll be happy. It shows topographical contours, rivers and most streams for the entire United States. In addition to that, it shows roads that were in existance 10-20 years ago. These major roads are also named.

The limit is that newer roads don't show up. It also doesn't support auto-routing, even if your GPS does. Garmin sells other products that are tailored for road navigation but you have to do some independant research or logical deduction to figure out that this package isn't suited for it.

The product support could be better. Neither the manual nor web site tell you how to load all 3 CDs on your computer so you don't have to swap CDs when transitioning between zones. The company's web site doesn't give a good explanation of what the software can and can't do.

You'll be disappointed if your expectations aren't grounded in reality. Garmin could help alleviate this problem by making this information readily available.

First, before you buy this product, you should understand that it is NOT intended to replace good, high-detail paper topo maps. Relying simply on a sensitive piece of electronic equipment without a good map and compass in the backcountry is not a well-advised decision. ("Whoops! Shouldn't have dropped my GPS on those rocks." "Darn! Coulda sworn I packed extra batteries!" You get the picture.)

That said, I've found it to be an excellent supplement to 1:24,000 paper maps. The detail is surprisingly good; I recently completed a section of the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado and found most (but not all) of the trail information from the 7.5' maps on the GPS map. It's nice to be able to instantly correlate your position between the GPS and a paper map, and the contour lines simply make it easier to visualize your position. It also shows points of interest like small lakes and rivers, and even old mines and such. The contour lines do not always perfectly jive up with higher-detail maps, but are close enough. There does seem to be a problem with not enough contour lines at higher magnifications, so you won't want to zoom in too close if you want to see the lay of the land on your unit. Position accuracy, however, was very good and appeared just about spot-on with my paper maps.

Installation is easy and the data meshes seamlessly with other MapSource products (well, City Select, anyway, which is the other MapSource product I currently own). My Garmin GPS60CS holds a tremendous amount of topographical information in its 64 MB internal memory; I fit in almost the entire west half of Colorado plus City Select info for numerous cities between Colorado and Michigan.

One big downside to having so much information loaded is that map-drawing times are achingly slow on my unit, especially if detail is set on Most and Declutter is set to Off. I found that by unselecting topo information for areas I didn't need, drawing times were improved substantially, though still a bit irritating. Scrolling to a new area and waiting for the map to catch up can be tedious. I usually leave Declutter on unless I need a particular detail in an area.

I did not have the opportunity (or the need) to map routes using this software. I have done so with City Select and found it simple and effective, but don't know how this will translate into Topo. I've heard and read that the National Geographic maps are better for route mapping, but your results may vary. I suspect that this is due in large part to the fact that NatGeo maps are 1:24,000 in detail, much higher than USA Topo, so errors will naturally be smaller. Thus far I have not needed to map routes, as I rely on my map and compass more than my electronics for detailed positioning (and my pencil never runs out of batteries), with my GPS as a verification device. I can see where this would be an issue, however, if you do a lot of off-trail exploring or otherwise have the need for a detailed, precise route through tricky country.

Value-wise I'd say USA Topo qualifies as very good, particularly in light of the fact that Garmin tends to nickel-and-dime you to death with all of their maps and accessories. However, you can get USA Topo online for 75 or 80 bucks, and that includes topo information for all 50 states.

My conclusion is that as an advanced, standalone navigation tool for backcountry climing, canyoneering, and other off-trail stuff, USA Topo is a poor choice. It's fine for trail-hikers and those that don't go bushwhacking, but still no replacement for a good 1:24,000 paper map. However, if you use it as a supplemental tool and recognize its limitations, it's just dandy.