upgrading Explorist 500

[DustyWheels]

ok seems a Garmin 550 is the go.

so where's the best place to buy, ?

what about overseas wil a unit bought os still work here ?

[Whitey]

I replaced my Explorist 600 with a Zumo 550 a couple of weeks ago.

Buy it in Oz, and it will come with Australian base maps (which are pretty good in their own right), and you won't be up shit street if you have problems with it. I guess it depends on whether you're prepared to accept the risk for the reward.

Prices don't vary much between aussie retailers from what I could see. IMO, it's not worth the effort of looking around. I got mine from GPSOz' mainly because they had online ordering. Goods turned up two days later by registered mail.

[DustyWheels]

thanx whitey, Gpzos it is then, know just need to decide if its going to be a birthday present or Fathers day

[Hardhead]

I recieved a copy of Mapsource in the mail from Johnny Appleseed on Wednesday and another copy from Garmin last evening. Both version only have Australia and I think this must relate to the purchase of the Zumo 660 with Aust/NZ City Maps.

It looks to be a good trip planning tool and almost essential for a Garmin. I can't wait to get topo maps to fill in all the gaps. City navigator is sure missing a lot of roads.

If you're looking for a good offroad mapset for the garmin use Shonky maps. They are free and probably one of the best available.

Cheers
Rob

[rmarmbruster]

I complained in the past about missing a lot of roads on mapsource and the 660 Zumo (one in the same). The biggest problem is the steep learning curve. I needed to turn down the span, at 10 km you see nothing, at 100m you see all. The roads are not named though, recently when travelling out near Dalby the Navman we were using had all the road names as well. My Zumo 660 shows Hennings Road and even Hennings connection road but does not name them.

Please keep sharing your skills guys, there are a lot of us out here that need help.

Cheers

[Hardhead]

I complained in the past about missing a lot of roads on mapsource and the 660 Zumo (one in the same). The biggest problem is the steep learning curve. I needed to turn down the span, at 10 km you see nothing, at 100m you see all. The roads are not named though, recently when travelling out near Dalby the Navman we were using had all the road names as well. My Zumo 660 shows Hennings Road and even Hennings connection road but does not name them.

Please keep sharing your skills guys, there are a lot of us out here that need help.

Cheers

I think Shonky has the best detail for roads etc but lacks in their naming department. Also it doesn't do autorouting.
Does anyone know of a mapset for the garmin, commercial or otherwise, that has the really good detail for offroad, say similar or better than Shonky, AND has the road/track names as well? I asked at JAS and the guy that day didn't seem to know much about anything. He was probably new.

Cheers
Rob

[1coolbanana]

I was told by the guys at GPSOz, when I bought the 550 (12 months ago), that the next version of the OzToppo maps will do all that, turn by turn and autorouting included.
That was supposed to be version 3, it still hasnt been released so who knows
Havent bothered researching any more, just got used to its limitations

City Nav and Shonky seems to cover everything I need, albeit could be better, its the best there is ATM

[Hardhead]

I just had a look at the topo maps I have and even those don't have track names on them. Albeit they were published in 1982. These are the most recent versions we can get up here AFAIK.

I guess it just means I 'll have to do more exploring

Cheers
Rob

[tariadamar]

a lot of road in this country just don't have names. i am not talking little fire trails but i know some major roads around here just don't have a name.