Is this a good deal ?

[Somnolent]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220409439058

Looks like £130 device + £100 of mapping  - all for under £190

Unless there is some major disadvantage to having the mapping on SD card rather than on DVD - or any other issue I've not spotted  ?

[Manotea]

Not especially. The big drawback with having the maps on SD only is that it makes it much more problematic to plot/download/upload routes and tracks to the PC. Trying to plot nailed down routes on the GPS is a nigh impossible though simple 'take me there' satnav use is fine. I wouldn't do without the PC maps tho others get by. I'd pay a bit more and get the maps on DVD or else have a real good look at the opensource map threads and just buy a GPS. You can always look to pickup the Garmin maps later.

[nmcgann]

I got the uk maps cheap on sd for my etrex legend cx. I wouldn't want to try and design routes on there (I use tracklogs for that), but they are good as a "where the hell am I?" tool for when things don't go to plan.

Neil

[Somnolent]

Not especially. The big drawback with having the maps on SD only is that it makes it much more problematic to plot/download/upload routes and tracks to the PC. Trying to plot nailed down routes on the GPS is a nigh impossible though simple 'take me there' satnav use is fine. I wouldn't do without the PC maps tho others get by. I'd pay a bit more and get the maps on DVD or else have a real good look at the opensource map threads and just buy a GPS. You can always llok to pickup the Garmin maps later.

If the maps are on SD - and I have a SD slot on the computer...would I not be able to use that if I wanted to see the Topo on the computer?     TBH I don't think I'd ever use it for route planning anyway. OS paper maps for that generally - and planning to use the various online things to generate GPX tracks to download to the device.  I've never owned or used one before though so I'm hesitating about having a device which just has a screen with a track line on it - with no features to check it by.   Some use will be walking in the mountains, as well as on bike - so a lat & longitude isnt much good for the "where the hell am I" case ?
I've been having a good look at the OSM stuff - I even used Potlatch yesterday to add a 50m path near my house - but it's no good off-road (yet)

[andrew_s]

If the maps are on SD - and I have a SD slot on the computer...would I not be able to use that if I wanted to see the Topo on the computer?     TBH I don't think I'd ever use it for route planning anyway. OS paper maps for that generally - and planning to use the various online things to generate GPX tracks to download to the device.  I've never owned or used one before though so I'm hesitating about having a device which just has a screen with a track line on it - with no features to check it by.   Some use will be walking in the mountains, as well as on bike - so a lat & longitude isnt much good for the "where the hell am I" case ?
I've been having a good look at the OSM stuff - I even used Potlatch yesterday to add a 50m path near my house - but it's no good off-road (yet)

You can't use the SD card data on the PC even if you copy all the data over.
a) you'd need a copy of Garmin Mapsource
b) the SD card data is missing the indexing that Mapsource demands.
You may well be able to find unofficial software that will get round these problems, but it won't be straightforward and will take a bit of hunting around.

If you are happy creating detailed routes using google maps or whatever, having the garmin data on the PC isn't vital.
However not having on PC it does mean that your scope for using "follow road" automatic routing (satnav style) is restricted compared with the DVD version on a PC. You can't set up exclusions, and you can't check whether your current "via" points give a suitable route that doesn't take unwanted main road shortcuts.

For offroad, Topo is necessary, but on road the contours and streams are more of a hinderance than a help due to the added screen clutter.
In some areas, OSM is starting to look quite decent - go to the Lakes and change the renderer ("+" at top right of map) to Cycle Map. Contours (from the Space Shuttle) and streams (from 1940s OS map scans) will be less accurate than Topo, but the paths are probably better.

[Somnolent]

Andrew thanks so much.
That cycle map render is spot on.   I'm doing the Lakeland50 at beginning of August and most of the paths it uses are there already on there.  The official advice is a GPS is a good idea (especially for the night sections) and I've never used one before - so I need to buy one, and figure out how to use it effectively real soon.

If I forget about Topo altogether - can I get that cyclemap render to show on the screen of a Legend HCx ?

[rogerzilla]

Bad deal.  Cheaper from Handtec.

[andrew_s]

If I forget about Topo altogether - can I get that cyclemap render to show on the screen of a Legend HCx ?

I doubt that the height shading or the tree symbol fill for woodland will be possible, and they may not be a good idea anyway, as you really want to keep the screen to pale colours.

I'd start from andygates Munky map (link on his sig line, eg at the end of this thread, which you may like to read).
I think he puts the contours in, but if not you can get them from the SMC site.

[Somnolent]

Thanks (again) Andrew
I already downloaded the Munkymap - based on other recommendations in other threads on here.
Trouble is of course I can't get to look at it in Mapsource. (Tried and failed to the necessary conversion with MapSetToolKit - see thread "OpenStreetMap + Garmin software" ) and I havnt bought my GPS yet, so I can't assess it's suitability.