Ok, here's a question...

I have a Garmin 76CS with a RAM mount and love it--it is awesome. Currently, it is loaded with Garmin Metro Guide, which is the best I have found for dirt roads and trails (at least where I ride).

One thing is that it seems lacking what I would call points of interest that are off road. Sure it has every gas station and burger joint in the US, but I am interested in the items that the Garmin TOPO has (old cabins, cemeteries, etc.) that are not in Metro Guide.

Is it possible to have both Metro Guide and TOPO on the GPS at the same time and have them working at the same time?

I have plenty of memory so that is not a problem, I just need to know if they will work at the same time, one "Laying" on top of the other. Anyone know?

You can have them both loaded on the gps at the same time
You can have them both selected at the same time
and I would surmise that the features from each would show on map but I havent confirmed that this is true
try loading them both and then selecting map data from one and then the other and see if the same features are there.
Also remember that many features do not show up until you get to the correct zoom range and map detail settings

I load both City Nav and Topo on my 60C. City Nav takes precedence so you have to turn off the City Nav maps to get the Topo data to show.

I would be interested in how you load up both maps myself. I have the same unit and have not been able to load up Topo plus metroguide. I route my trips using metroguide but then load the GPS up with a Garmin Topo map background for riding for the same reason, that metroguide does not show off highway points of interest.

I load City Select and Roads and Recreation at the same time on my Garmin GPSV. Both programs run at the same time.

So does this mean you could use it in your car also? to drive another 700 miles and know where all food and gas is too ? I was hoping to get a unit to share to a car. Is that a dumb idea ?

That's not a dumb idea at all, I've got a 76cs that I used to use in the car all the time (until I bought a Garmin Nuvi).

The only thing I would say is you need to run "routable" software such as City Select or City Navigator if you truly want it to be useful in the car. Personally, I've got Topo, Roads & Rec and City Select and I find the City Select to be the most useful of all of them (even for offroad).

I think your only getting half the functionality of a GPS without "routable" software.

KS said:

So how much space is needed for the topo you have? does it cover entire USA? or regions(N., S., E., W.,)? Is it in your Nuvi or in the 76c. Does that topo show food & gas joints?

I run topo myself in my 76cs. Topo comes in areas- East, West and Alaska. You can load quite a bit without using all the memory in a 76c or cs. Topo can almost be too much detail at times, but it will show most roads, trails, rivers and lakes and such. It also shows towns, resorts but not a lot of inner city street detail.

WR450F_RDR said:

But what about gas & food stops? & how can it show trails & not much inner city detail? Also, if I was driving from S Fl. to Oregan. Would I have to change topo somewhere inbetween? & how? Would I need a computer to do so?

The setup disc and topo comes as a set. You install on your computer along with Garmin Mapsource software, you have to have both. then you download what you need to your GPS. The topo software is layered in the amount of detail it shows at certain elevations in height, if you were to download a large area say from S.F, CA to Eugene, OR It might not show all the fine details and feature names. If you have access to a laptop to carry with you while you travel long distances that would be best, then you can just download the General detail when your traveling form point to point and the the finer detail when you decide to hit the trails and off highway roads. Garmin Topo does show gas stations and store and such just not with the same amount of information as software like Metroguide or City Navigator. Also keep in mind that depending on age of software you buy some information may be out of date and that the Topo used for Garmin Topo is from data from around 1990's I believe so all roads out in the woods and mountains may not be there.

WR450,

Where is it you're finding the option to select the amount of topo detail you want to send to the unit?

I did some playing with my 76cs today and I've got City Select, Roads & Rec and Topo on it. You can have them all turned on at the same time...However, the maps have a so-called "pecking order"

4th is the basemap
3rd is Topo (this will lay on top of the basemap)
2nd is R&R (this will lay on top of Topo)
1st is City Select (this will lay on top of everything)

You can access all the points of interest from any of the mapsets (regardless if the map is turned on or not). However, you can only see the icons for the map that you are currently looking at. For example, if Topo has an icon for a particular campground, you will not see this icon if you have City Select turned on. (did that make sense?)

Hope that helped

The option for the amount of detail is not in the GPS unit but rather the Mapsource software, where it can be set from lowest detail to highest when up upload to your GPS the area you want (you use the map tool and highlight areas you want to upload to the GPS) Also your GPS unit may have something in it called declutter which allows you to turn some stuff off. In Mapsource if you are zoomed too far out when you select the areas of the map you want, you may not get the very fine detail of the topo.

To the best of my knowledge, that detail setting is simply for viewing in Mapsource and has nothing to do with the amount of detail that gets transfered to the unit.

If you select a fairly large area with the map tool and do it twice....once with the detail on "lowest" and then again on "highest" you will see that the size of the file is exactly the same.

Yes I see that your right. I am just going by my experience with Topo in which it looks like I lost some of the details that were showing on the Mapsource software, but maybe it just looks different on the GPS unit. I still have not been able to get mine to load up more than one type map ie..Topo, Metroguide or Road and Rec.. It will load up multiple map areas and give me the choice of seeing or not seeing and areas but other than that it always wants to replace one mapset with another.
edit..
I figured it out. If I select the area of the maps I want in US Topo and then switch to Metroguide or City Navigator I can then select the same map areas and have both maps on the GPS. I noticed on mine ,all maps are active so I dont know about if one is higher than another in the pecking order. I have never used it with more than one map on it so will have to see how it works on my 250 mile dual sport ride tomorrow.

So are you guys using the 76c? & did I hear someone say the cx model is a little better in the reception arena? newer technology? And if you guys had to buy just one unit for the bike & auto ,what would it be? Also I'm not a computer whiz,which is user frendly?
on edit, do all those maps cost extra? Mapsourse/Topo/Cityselect etc... ? What should I expect to pay for maps?

the 76cs is pretty top of the line, color screen, large memory storage. I have had mine for nearly 3 years now and it has been on some pretty rough roads and trails and has held up real well. There are larger units which may be better suited for car travel but the 76 model does a good all around job IMO. Yes you pay extra for the maps. I suggest looking on E-bay, they are always available there. Depending on whether you buy used or new it can be upwards to $100 for the complete US Topo maps new and over a $100 for City Navigator and you can get Metroguide for under $100.

Bork,

Garmin's top 2 handhelds would probably be the 76csx or the 60csx. Both do virtually the same thing (I believe the 76 is a bit more money) they just look totally different. I have a 76 and my buddy has the 60 (I'd take either one).

The "x" models have a card slot for expanding the memory capacity. You can just get a bigger card for them and load up more maps than you'll ever need. If you don't want to spend the money for an "x" model, you can get the 76cs or the 60cs. However at that point I'd get the 76cs because it has a memory capacity of 115megs and the 60cs has a capacity of 56megs.

The new Legend or Vista e-trex models also come in an "x" version and are very nice. The only thing I find with the e-trex models is, they can be very difficult to operate while wearing gloves. (small buttons).

Any of these would also work well in the car. But as I said before, you'll want to get "routable" software such as City Select or City Navigator. These have every street and address in the US and will give you turn by turn directions to anyplace you want or need to go. Topo, Roads & Rec and Metro Guide will not give turn by turn directions.

This is just my opinion, but the people that say they really like the Topo software, haven't spent the money on City Select or City Navigator. Once I had City Select, I've never used Topo Or R&R since. City Select or City Nav have tons of dirt roads and trails and forest service roads on them.

One thing to keep in mind, all these handheld units work really well in the car (providing you have "routable" software) but all they do is give you a series of different sounding "beeps" when you need to do something. They will flash written directions up on the screen for you to follow. The automotive units on the other hand, will actually talk to you and flash written directions up on the screen. I ultimately ended up with one unit for the bike and another one for the car.

I'm not sure how much Topo is, but you can find City Select or City Nav for around $120 (buy it , it's worth it) otherwise, your GPS is just a big fancy compass. IMHO

Fell free to PM me if you have anymore questions.

Good Luck,

Keith

KS said:

I think a lot of people will ultimately end up with separate GPS units for their car and bike.

The handheld units are much too small to use while driving. Since their screens are rectangular, you will have to pan to the left and right to find things around you. Units like the Tomtom make a lot more sense in this regard. They have large, square screens, and are touch screens so you don't have to deal with little buttons.

Going crazy trying to figure out the difference between City Select and City Navigator.... :crazy:

Can anyone give a good description of why I should own one over the other?