|
 - Garmin MapSourceTopo CanadaI received the topo map just before leaving for Algonquin Park. Loaded into my Garmin 60CSx with no problems (have a 2 gig card installed). I was able to plan out the entire trip and mark the beginning and end of each portage. It was amazing to be paddling down a 15 mile lake and look down at the canoe floor to see an arial view of where we were in the lake, our speed, time to the next portage and a red arrow pointing the direction to paddle. The topo maps covered the park very well, but detail not there once you leave the park areas and travel on the roads... but enough information to allow us to navigate our way back without any problems. I used a carabiner clip to attach the unit to the thwart of the canoe and that worked well. Rating:  - Works on eTrex, nice detail, but clunky.I recently bought the Garmin Topo Canada software for my eTrex Venture HC, even though a search on Garmin's site did not list it as compatible software. I found it worked exactly like the Garmin US Topo (more on this) and loaded on the eTrex without any problems. The Canada Topo does a nice job listing all major and minor roads, streams, mountains, and hiking paths in SW Canada (my favorite area). I was also pleased with the high road detail in Banff, Lake Louise, Calgary, etc. Oddly, it did not list the famous "tea houses" above Lake Louise, though it did list the paths leading to them. It also omitted the famous Prince of Wales hotel at Waterton and the paint pots above Johnston Canyon. Garmin still resists updating their incredibly clunky software. Instead of a single DVD, Garmin still ships four CD's requiring switching out disks to load maps, a real chore when your path leads between map sections. Plus the software still operates like it did under Windows 95! Slow, awkward, expensive and clunky, but it does work. Rating:  - Great Product - but maps are very largeAt first I thought this was way too expensive, but the level of detail is amazing. As a results the map sizes get extremely large quickly, but overall a great product Rating:  - No trailsThe topo maps are fine on this product, but for hiking I wouldn't bother - there are no trails. I searched around Jasper National Park and Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, and couldn't find *any* trails in this map set at any level of zoom or detail. If you're used to the US Topo maps by Garmin, you'll be disappointed. The disks I received from Amazon said "Version 2.0", which were ordered in August, 2007. Rating: - Pretty goodGood topo maps. Most lakes, streams, peaks are marked, along with surprisingly good coverage of minor roads and back roads (which are routable in MapSource). MapSource calculated driving routes are often sub-optimal, but this is to be expected given that this is the topo product. My biggest complaint is that few trails are marked.
|
