0ur opinion:

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We?ve mapped every hill and valley. Download data from the MapSource T0P0 U.S. 2008 DVD directly to your compatible Garmin GPS. Now you can enjoy topographic mapping detail no matter where your adventures take you.

T0P0 U.S. 2008 features digital topographic maps for the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. lt is available in two different formats making it easy and convenient to load data to your compatible Garmin device: MapSource DVD and preprogrammed micro SD data cards.

Product Description:
Garmin's United States T0P0 MapSource CD-R0M is similar to U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale topographic paper maps. lt includes trip and waypoint management functions that allow you to transfer waypoints, routes, and tracks between your PC and nearly all Garmin GPS units (excluding the GPS 100 family and panel-mount aviation units). With MapSource, you can view highways, roads, hiking trails, snowmobile trails, backwoods trails, elevation contours, point and summit elevations, some bathymetric contours, geographic names, churches, and schools. Shoreline detail is included for lakes, reservoirs, small bodies of water, waterways, rivers, and streams. lcons represent boat ramps, dams, marinas, campgrounds, public facilities, mile markers, first aid stations, picnic sites, swimming areas, ski areas, wrecks, fuel locations, and dangerous and restricted areas.

ln addition, nautical navigational aids for the 50 states are provided, including radio beacons, RAC0Ns, and fog signals; river, harbor, and other lights; and day beacons and lighted and unlighted buoys. Shipwrecks, submerged rocks, obstructions, and other hazards to nautical navigation are also displayed.

Note on compatibility: The trip and waypoint management functions of this product work with nearly all Garmin GPS units, excluding the GPS 100 family and panel-mount aviation units. Specifically, the map-download features of this product work with the eTrex Legend, eTrex Vista, eMap, GPS V, StreetPilot, StreetPilot ColorMap, StreetPilot lll, and GPSMAP 76, 162, 168, 176, and 295. Some units may require a Garmin data card to upload map data.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Disappointing ...
Note: This product includes an ancient version of Garmin's MapSource program. You will want to download an update from the Garmin Web site. A patch to the base map is also available there.

Even with these updates, the product is disappointing. There is very little detail. In the areas I examined, hiking trails were completely absent, and even major fire and logging roads were missing. Roads are shown in populated areas, but road names are not available. Newer roads are missing. Portions of the map appear to be at least 10 years out of date.

The density of contour lines is linked to the map scale and cannot be controlled independently. At high zoom factors, the number of contour lines is (barely) adequate, but at low zoom factors there are too few. Because of this, it is impossible to view major topographical features. The Colorado Rockies, for example, are completely invisible because at the scale necessary to see them in their entirety, the contour lines are gone. Even smaller features, such as a mountain 20 miles away, cannot be easily visualized. Without the aid of a GPS receiver, these maps would not be adequate for backcountry hiking.

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Buyer's feedback: - Know what you're buying/ use the right tool for the job
I would just like to make a few comments about some of the reviews posted on this page concerning Mapsource's Topo USA software.

A number of reviewers have complained that this software is problematic or not accurate for cities or roads or neighborhoods. Well, while that may be the case, this product seems designed for the outdoors. It is intended to aid in navigating across wilderness areas (terrestrial and aquatic), not necessarily through the streets of downtown LA or any other city however large or small. Mapsource happens to sell a Metroguide product that is intended to serve city/road-navigation needs.

Yes, I will admit that the product description listed on this page talks about highways and roads and churches and other "non-wilderness" items and might be slightly misleading, but reviewing the entire product description I think you will see that the main emphasis is on wilderness travel.

Using this Mapsource Topo product for a purpose for which it was not specifically designed and then complaining about its lackluster performance is not really fair or accurate. You wouldn't use a toothbrush to brush your hair (although some might; I'm not passing judgement here) and it seems just as incorrect to use this product for urban needs. So if you have a StreetPilot or use your Garmin GPS for road/city navigation, check out the MetroGuide software and see if it suits your needs a little better.

Final point concerns the fact this product's maps are on the 1:100,000 scale. Be sure you know what this level of detail (or lack of detail as this case may be) means. I do not know what the contour interval of this scale map is, but the 1:63,360 scale maps are 100 feet (I believe). The 1:100,000 would have a larger contour interval and therefore, certain hills and ravines or valleys (depending on how big or small) might not show up on the map; they might be "hidden" between the contour intervals. Other software packages offer better mapping capabilities and easier user interface, but the one big drawback is that the topo maps generated by those programs cannot be downloaded into Garmin units; only MapSource topo maps can be downloaded.

I'm certainly not saying this product is error or problem free. Far from it. But the reviews should be as fair and accurate as possible so that other potential buyers can make well-informed decisions.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Don't Waste Your Money! ...
To bad there wasn't a choice to give this 0 stars. Mapsource maps aren't good enough to deserve 1 star. I spent over a thousand bucks on a Garmin StreetPilot and the Mapsource unlock keys. The StreetPilot would be a great investment if it used maps other than those ones produced by Mapsource. If I use my StreetPilot as the gps receiver and hook it up to my laptop and run Microsoft's MapPoint, I get much more detailed maps and better accuracy. If Garmin wanted to improve their product, they'd leave the hardware alone and ditch Mapsource.

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Buyer's feedback: - I'd be lost in 5 minutes...
Received this software today and have been working with it for a few hours. Very disappointed. I entered the GPS coordinates for my house and it turns out I live smack in the middle of the busy 4-lane main road which is 2 blocks from my house. I looked for Hocking Hills State Park (Ohio), which is where I do a lot of hiking and what do you know...It's now a state park. It's also, according to the contour lines, pretty flat. Funny, last time I was there I seem to remember a lot of hills and ravines. I realize there will be some degree of inaccuracy in any digital map that covers the entire U.S., and I realize this is no substitute for a paper map but the level of errors I found so far does no give me much confidence in this product. If this is the best Garmin has to offer I think I may regret selling my Magellan!

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Buyer's feedback: - * Excellent addition to your GPS... ...
The maps are a great addition to my Etrex Vista. Downloading was a piece of cake. I was able to get the entire state of Mississippi and parts of the surrounding states on the Vista(24MB). Every road and back road that is several years old are on here(typical of any TOPO map)-you can go to Garmin's website to see what is shown in your area. Going from having only the major roads to having all land marks(streams, small lakes, elevation lines) really adds to the GPS. The amount of detail can be adjusted to your preference. I've also been impressed with how accurate your position relative to the landmarks are. I rated it only 4 stars because I noticed the price got jacked up from 76 to 90 bucks...I bought this only 2 weeks ago...