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dorbaja
Newbie
Posts: 18
Registered: 11-7-2007
Location: Punta Banda, BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: Muy contenta...
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GPS advice
I'm planning to buy a GPS and wonder about what is both very affordable AND does a good job (especially living here in beautiful Baja). A TomTom One
(3rd. ed.) is cheap but will it work well in Mexico?
NAMASTE
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9011
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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Define affordable.
Dont be caught up in the Xmas frenzy. Better deals to be had after the holidays. Be patient.
GPS units aren't nearly as valuable in Baja as they are in the US. A good map like the AAA map is all you need, if you arent going offroad or hiking.
Hey, there aint that many roads, really.
I typically use cnet.com to review electronic products. Go to their review section and see how they rate units.
I prefer Garmin products.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65304
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Online
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Most of the 'street pilots' (ie. tom tom, etc.) are only for use in the U.S.
I have a Mio and use it to navigate to customers and other places... We used it going through Arizona, and it was great.
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TecateRay
Nomad
Posts: 346
Registered: 9-6-2006
Location: La Mesa, CA
Member Is Offline
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I have a Garmin MAP76C along with the LB Maps Expeditioner maps of Baja. It not only provides all of the major routes through the state, some dirt
roads, but it also provides actual street maps of the major cities. Wandering around La Paz or Cabo or Mexicali I have found the detail to be
amazingly accurate and a big help in finding my way.
It might be a little pricey, but well worth it to me.
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ELINVESTIG8R
Select Nomad
Posts: 15882
Registered: 11-20-2007
Location: Southern California
Member Is Offline
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I have a Garmin Nuvi 250W GPS with the North America Map. I recently bought an SD Card with the Baja Expeditioner GPS Map to plug into my Nuvi GPS. I
used it to go to El Rosario and it worked great. I think they have the Garmin Nuvi GPS loaded with the Mexico map which I believe includes all of Baja
California. The card I bought covers from the Mexican Border all the way to the end of the Baja Peninsula. There are detailed street maps for some
selected cities in Baja. Go to http://www.mexicomaps.com to view what they have. They even have topographic maps in SD Card form. It came in handy when I missed my turn in
Tijuana to get back to border crossing and because I saved a way point when I first entered the border I was able to navigate back and get into the
USA lanes.
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805gregg
Super Nomad
Posts: 1344
Registered: 5-21-2006
Location: Ojai, Ca
Member Is Offline
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I've got a Garmin 2610 I use on my motorcycles and cars, I have a card with Baja, one with topo of the western US and one with US citys, not cheap but
works great.
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4459
Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by TecateRay
I have a Garmin MAP76C along with the LB Maps Expeditioner maps of Baja. It not only provides all of the major routes through the state, some dirt
roads, but it also provides actual street maps of the major cities. Wandering around La Paz or Cabo or Mexicali I have found the detail to be
amazingly accurate and a big help in finding my way.
It might be a little pricey, but well worth it to me. |
I have the same thing Ray - works great - and you can take it with you up the trail at the end of the drive.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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mgray
Junior Nomad
Posts: 31
Registered: 12-13-2007
Location: Vancouver
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Dreamin
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I'm in the market as well and have done a little, but not alot of reading.
I've been hearing issues with those Mexico/Baja Atlas maps and the Nuvi's. Something about not being able to upload to the memory? I dont know if
that means you can't upload to them, but you can always plug in a pre-loaded SD card?
I kinda like the Nuvi's, but I don't know if they are the best unit to use with the Mexico/Baja Atlas maps since I'm unsure if they provide a crum
trail (starting to learn the GPS lingo) or allow saving waypoints and routes. I like the look of the screen shots on the LBmaps.com and
Mexicomaps.com site (I think they are from the Garmin 76c), but I'm not sure if you can get that same kind of information from the Nuvi's.
And last, for me I'd like to be able to load the entire Mexico Atlas since I plan on venturing to the mainland, at least to PV or Acapulco. But since
the whole Mexico Atlas map is apparently 219mb, I'm unsure how that factors in to all the Garmin units. I don't know if its as easy as buying a
larger capacity SD card, or if the units themselves limit the amount available.
Anyways, hopefully someone can answer some of those Q's
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9011
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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I believe the Nuvis will breadcrumb. What I dont believe they will do is save the breadcrumb trail as a separate file. And they dont let you share any
files with other users. No routes, no tracks, no waypoint sharing. Garmin seems to want you to buy the preloaded map cards but you can upload maps
from Mapsource through the USB connector OR you can write a .img file directly to the cards using a card reader/writer.
My experience with the Garmin badged maps of Mexico is that there is little detail in anything but the major cities; mostly the mainland.
On the SD card capacity, I have most of the Western US covered in the City Navigator maps, the 2008 topo maps, the Trip and Waypoint Manager, a tidal
info program and more than a few of the National Parks maps (all from Garmin). It is taking up almost all of a 2 gig micro SD card. Seems like more
than a few megs are being taken up by formatting and whatever else the cards need to store. You dont get 2 gigs of pure maps on a 2 gig card.
Individual map sizes should be the same across all Garmin products.
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mgray
Junior Nomad
Posts: 31
Registered: 12-13-2007
Location: Vancouver
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Dreamin
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Hook
I believe the Nuvis will breadcrumb. What I dont believe they will do is save the breadcrumb trail as a separate file. And they dont let you share any
files with other users. No routes, no tracks, no waypoint sharing. Garmin seems to want you to buy the preloaded map cards but you can upload maps
from Mapsource through the USB connector OR you can write a .img file directly to the cards using a card reader/writer.
My experience with the Garmin badged maps of Mexico is that there is little detail in anything but the major cities; mostly the mainland.
On the SD card capacity, I have most of the Western US covered in the City Navigator maps, the 2008 topo maps, the Trip and Waypoint Manager, a tidal
info program and more than a few of the National Parks maps (all from Garmin). It is taking up almost all of a 2 gig micro SD card. Seems like more
than a few megs are being taken up by formatting and whatever else the cards need to store. You dont get 2 gigs of pure maps on a 2 gig card.
Individual map sizes should be the same across all Garmin products. |
When you say no sharing, do you mean downloading from GPS to computer and giving to another person? I can still save my own routes and waypoints for
the trip back tho can't I? What would saving the breadcrumb as a serperate file allow? More than one route? Basicaly I want to be able to map my
multiple paths so that on the return journey I can visit routes I've saved, or get back to a place I know.
For some of the older Garmin units like the 76 series, will they accept large SD cards?? I thought I read some of the older units can only accept 8mb
cards, which would mean that the Mexico Atlas would have to be broken up into a zillion cards!!
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9011
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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My Nuvi experience is from someone who has recently bought a 760. We talk about his experiences daily, but not ALL of this is first hand knowledge for
me.
We tried uploading and downloading routes and tracks. The routes were a combination of ones created manually in the Nuvi and ones created manually in
Mapsource. While Mapsource seemed to be offering the transfer of these as an option in the download prompt, the routes never appeared in Mapsource or
in the route category in the Nuvi 760; uploading or downloading.
I think the 76 series units will take much larger capacity cards. I think maybe they came with smaller cards. The 76 owners will verify this, if true.
I believe the 60 and 76 series units use the micro SD cards and I BELIEVE the max capacity on those is 2 gigs. I think you have to go with a unit that
takes the standard SD card for more capacity.
But 2 gigs is a lot of map. And they are pretty cheap now. You could burn ones with different maps and carry them with you, I suppose. All the western
US is generally enough for me.
Saving the breadcrumbs (individual tracks, if you want) allows you to save an actual route you traveled, as opposed to saving a route created by the
map itself. Tracks are more accurate; you will realize after having a GPS that some maps are not completely accurate with respect to the roads.
Especially true of dirt roads or offroad travel using map software derived from older maps. Not a big deal usually but could be important for foot
travel or offroad travel. I have some tracks to camps I only share with a few and I can send them a track that takes them right to the spot.
Also, I believe his 760 will only store TEN routes max. That's not much. If that's the case, you would have to write over old routes when you reach
your maximum of ten.
So, basically, this thing is more suited to creating route and finding waypoints while in the car. And I have to admit that it is much more user
friendly than my 60csx. But I like the ability to create routes in Mapsource and upload them BEFORE YOU GO. Or, bring along a laptop with Mapsource
and load as you need.
UPDATE: I just got off the phone with him and his Nuvi is DOWN! Apparently it has a sliding on/off switch that broke off! After 1 month of very
limited operation. He always felt that it was a very weak switch and sure enough. OH man, he's pi$$ed! He leaves for Utah on Sunday and wont have
it.......
We're thinking this might be a silver lining. If he can trade it in for a more rugged one (this thing is beautiful but it is SOOO "city" with it's MP3
player, traffic alerting, etc.), he's gonna get something else. He didnt realize it was not trulycompatible with Mapsource.
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governor
Newbie
Posts: 16
Registered: 9-30-2007
Member Is Offline
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do any of these units have street to street navigation throughout TJ? If so I would be al over that.
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TripleG
Newbie
Posts: 20
Registered: 9-3-2003
Location: Pasco, Wa
Member Is Offline
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Nuvi and the Baja maps
I can confirm what Hook is saying about uploads to my Nuvi 660. I have talked to Alberto at bicimaps and he is very helpful. Seems you cannot
upload direct from Mapsource to the Nuvi, but instead need to transfer (in my case-a Tijuana free road route) to Oziexplorer or similair program and
then to the Nuvi. Of course this takes some learning on my part and at the moment hasn't happened.
I have up loaded the entire Baja Expeditioner to internal memory of the Nuvi and also the language guide. Seems to be plenty of internal space.
Interesting thread.
Thanks guys.
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mgray
Junior Nomad
Posts: 31
Registered: 12-13-2007
Location: Vancouver
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Dreamin
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| Quote: | Originally posted by TripleG
I can confirm what Hook is saying about uploads to my Nuvi 660. I have talked to Alberto at bicimaps and he is very helpful. Seems you cannot
upload direct from Mapsource to the Nuvi, but instead need to transfer (in my case-a Tijuana free road route) to Oziexplorer or similair program and
then to the Nuvi. Of course this takes some learning on my part and at the moment hasn't happened.
I have up loaded the entire Baja Expeditioner to internal memory of the Nuvi and also the language guide. Seems to be plenty of internal space.
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So you are saying the only way to get the Mexico Atlas (or portion of) on the Nuvi's is to use the program Oziexplorer?
What about if you bought the Maps preloaded on a SD card and plugged that in, would that work? I notice Mexicomaps.com sells both the preloaded SD
card and a download.
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9011
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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My experience with the Nuvi was that loading maps was no problem. With the Nuvi hooked up via its USB port, we were able to select its internal SD
card as a source and wrote directly to it.
It's true routes and apparently waypoints that are the problem. You can create them internally in the Nuvi but not in Mapsource and then upload them
to it.
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4459
Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
Member Is Offline
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I personally wouldn't want a GPS that I couldn't download/upload tracks as well as waypoints/routes. Keeping the tracks in my computer so I can
reload them and retrace my explorations is important to me. Auto-routing on streets isn't something I care much about. Sooo highway travel in US =
one type of GPS, off road and exploring Baja + one with different capabilities.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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TripleG
Newbie
Posts: 20
Registered: 9-3-2003
Location: Pasco, Wa
Member Is Offline
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Up loading Nuvi routes
The creating of routes in Mapsource, which is a snap, and then uploading the route to the Nuvi 660 is not possible directly from Mapsource. You have
to save the route as a *.gpx file in Mapsource, and then some how move to Oziexplorer which I'm told will then load to the Nuvi.
My problem is the Garmin file the route is saved in doesn't load in the Oziexplorer. Same Garmin file can be found, but no route file. The
Oziexplorer doesn't seem to have a *.gpx function to make the route appear?? I only have a trial version of the Ozi so maybe that is a problem?
Anyone help me??
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9011
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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Well, I was under the impression that .gpx files were a rather universal file format that GPS from most all mfgrs would be able to read. Not
proprietary at all.
Try this GGG, assuming you do have Mapsource. Hook up the 660, open Mapsource and click the "downlload from unit icon". Make sure you have at least
one route and maybe a track in the 660 and de-select the maps as a download option. If the route and the track appears in their respective tabs in
Mapsource after downloading, use the Save As function in Mapsource and choose the .gpx file format in the pull down menu near the bottom of the Save
As window. Then , see if Ozi will open that file and recognize the routes.
If not, you may want to snoop around on the gpsbabel.org site. I havent, but it sounds like you may find info about whether all this is possible on
that site.
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4459
Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lencho
| Quote: | Originally posted by bajalou
I personally wouldn't want a GPS that I couldn't download/upload tracks as well as waypoints/routes. |
Which
GPS are you using that you can actually upload a track (as differentiated from a route) to? I've always thought tracks were by their nature,
read-only.
--Larry |
Garmin Map76CSx is what I use but I think the 60CSx and several others will allow uploading tracks. I use OziExplorer but can use MapSource (I think)
This is one of the most important parts of gps use for me.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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ELINVESTIG8R
Select Nomad
Posts: 15882
Registered: 11-20-2007
Location: Southern California
Member Is Offline
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Ok so I thought I knew it all and I don't. Can anyone tell me how to get the actual coordinates off of my Nuvi 250W. The map I was using is the Baja
Expeditioner GPS Map which is on a plugin SD card. When I was in Rancho El Metate (Rancho San Juan De Dios) I saved the location on my Nuvi GPS. I
remember it showed the coordinates as I was saving it. Now I cannot seem to find them. HELP.
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