0ur opinion:

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Topo U.S. 2008 Weve mapped every hill and valley. Download data from the MapSourceandreg; 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: MapSourceandreg; DVD and preprogrammed micro SD data cards (coming soon). Features include: - Digital topographic maps, comparable to 1:100,000 scale USGS maps - Terrain contours, topo elevations - Summit locations with elevation - Trails and rural roads; city neighborhood roads - lnterstates and major highways - National, state, local parks, forests, and wilderness areas - Coastline, lake and river shoreline; wetlands; perennial and seasonal streams - Searchable database of cities, geographic names, summits, lakes and more - Elevation profile on PC and compatible units; estimate terrain difficulty - Allows you to plan your next outdoor adventure on your PC and download routes, waypoints and map detail to your compatible Garmin GPS - lncludes lakes, reservoirs, waterways, rivers and streams with icons to represent boat ramps, dams, campgrounds and trails

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Explore every nook and cranny of the U.S. with the help of Garmin's Topo U.S. 2008 topographical mapping software. The DVD features digital topographical maps for the entire U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, with a host of valuable details. lt's also easy and convenient to load data to your compatible Garmin device. Just pop the DVD in your PC, then connect your Garmin GPS receiver via its USB port. 0nce connected, you'll have access to topographical mapping detail no matter where your adventures take you. Details include:

• Digital topographic maps, comparable to 1:100,000 scale USGS maps
• Terrain contours and topo elevations
• Summit locations with elevations
• Trails and rural roads; city neighborhood roads
• lnterstates and major highways
• National, state, and local parks, forests, and wilderness areas
• Coastline, lake and river shoreline; wetlands; perennial and seasonal streams
• Searchable database of cities, geographic names, summits, lakes, and more
• Elevation profile on PC and compatible units; estimate terrain difficulty
• Allows you to plan your next outdoor adventure on your PC and download routes, waypoints, and map detail to your compatible Garmin GPS
• Lakes, reservoirs, waterways, rivers, and streams with icons to represent boat ramps, dams, campgrounds, and trails

Piece Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

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Buyer's feedback: - * Astoundingly Inaccurate in places ...
I wanted something other than the base map that is built into my GPSMap 76CSx. I admit that I have not spent much time with this so far, but my initial impression is pretty bad. Until I ordered this product, I had been driving around San Diego, recording my tracks. When I loaded this product, I was startled to see how far off my tracks are in some places from the roads indicated on the map. For example, the east end of Sorrento Valley Blvd is pretty good. The west end of this road appears in this map a full 1000 feet (Yes. One thousand!) to the south of the actual road! It's not like there is an overall shift of coordinates or anything like that. The roads are right in some places, and then just wander off.

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Buyer's feedback: - Garmin topo
Software is sort of diffucult to Map your area. Easy download to the Garmin unit.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Very Good Topo Map Data Base ...
I use this software on my Garmin etrex hand held GPS for hiking. No matter where I hike the map base covers fire roads, or any well established hiking trails. It shows streams as well as any other bodies of water, etc. Very pleased with map data base.

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Buyer's feedback: - Alternative to buying MapSource Topo 2008
First, I'm not knocking the TOPO US too much. It is expensive and does not have high resolution but it fills a small niche. If you need a TOPO map in a hurry, I suppose it is the best alternative.

I've had my Garmin Legend HCx for several months now. During this time, I've hunted for a reliable alternative to TOPO US, rendering 24K resolution and not limited to a few National Parks.

Looking really paid off. The best solution that I've found is the following:

* Free Maps from USGS (24K TOPOs as GeoTiff Digital Raster Graphics files) $0
* Any graphics editor program that can handle .tif format $0
* Mapwell - http://www.mapwel.biz (includes raster to vector conversion) $45
* TrackMaker (free version) - http://www.gpstm.com/ $0

Total: $45

Process:
1. Search, select, download GeoTiff map from http://seamless.usgs.gov/ (15 minutes)
2. Review the .xml data, downloaded with the map to determine the extent of the map: Northwest and Southeast boundary. (5 minutes)
3. Open GeoTiff file in graphics editor. Save as new .tif file, stripping out the embedded geo data. (5 minutes)
4. Open the new .tif file in Mapwell. Add extent information from Step 2. Add graphics features and waypoints(optional). Run vectorization option, creating a new set of Garmin IMG files (10 minutes - more if you want to add your own art)
5. Upload new map set into Garmin. Mapwell has a great Garmin upload/download manager. No need to use Mapsource although you can use it to add Mapsource maps. (1 minute)

Time burned: 36 minutes

TrackMaker (free version or licensed) is also a great product for creating tracks, waypoints, many more features. It also has a fine Garmin upload/download manager. So you can either load waypoints and features directly into the Garmin or embed them in the map itself while using Mapwell.

The only disadvantage that I've discovered in the process is that Mapwell works too well. That is, the vectorization of 24K maps produces superb quality maps that take 10-20 seconds to render in the Garmin (at 1 mile). The closer in you go, the faster the rendering.

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Buyer's feedback: - * Garmmin Mapsource ...
Hello

I like this item but the hidden unlock code had me ready to throw it in the trash. After I found the unlock code between the shipping package card board everthing worked fine.

I was only able to down load one state (SC) into my Garmin Etrex but it works fine & I would recommend for cars, bike or hiking.

Kevin