I finally relented and bought a GPS whilst I was in New York at the weekend. It's a Garmin Etrex Legend HCx (I decided that I didn't need the compass and barometer of the Vista model as it eats batteries quicker).
Now I need some maps to put in it.
I'm going to be using it for my LEJOG later this month, so I'd like full UK mapping. Also, Liz and I are going to be doing Seattle to San Francisco later in the summer, so I may want to take it along there as well.
I don't think I'm going to be using it as my primary navigation tool for audaxes. I've never had a problem following a route sheet and I can't be arsed with all that messing about with files and waypoints beforehand. I've seldom got the time to bake flapjacks, let alone spend a few hours buggering about with a GPS. Beisdes, I'm presuming that all the software that goes on your PC is Windows/Mac based and it's just all too much hassle in Linux.
What I
do want it for is for when I get lost and want to say "plot me a route back to town X or postcode Y" and it'll just take me where the next control is.
So what should I put on the Micro SD card?
In fact - starting at the beginning, what Micro SD card do I need? Is there an upper size limit that the GPS will support?
And what about the mapping software? What's best for my purposes? It appears that some manufacturers use a locking system for their products to prevent copying. Will I actually have to buy the maps I need or can some kind soul point me to some kind of
*ahem* less expensive way of acquiring what I need?
TIA chaps