Help me with my Garmin :)

[MarkBNJ]

I had a Mio 520t GPS in my truck that really served well for pines exploring, because it had every old road, railroad right of way, and actual or purported body of water. Unfortunately the internal battery crapped out, there were no map updates for five years, etc. So last Christmas my wife got me a Garmin Nuvi 1490t.

This thing is great in terms of fast start-up and sat. acquisition, and the interface is really easy to use for navigation. The map detail, however, seems to suck. Even after setting it to "Most detail" and "More data" it didn't have the names of more than half the roads in the pines, and usually pretended I was driving on some blank virtual space the color of melted mint ice cream.

Sooo... what can I do to this thing to make it useful for some exploring? I have a topo pack that a friend bought me for my handheld Garmin, but I don't know whether it's compatible with this one. I also remember reading something about Boyd having created a map pack. Any other tips for an underwhelmed Nuvi owner?

 

[Boyd]

Unfortunately the 1300 and 1400 series Nuvi's show very little map detail and there is nothing that can be done about this. Unlike Garmin handhelds, this is just "wired into" the Nuvi's. They also don't show the names of waypoints (aka favorites) on the screen. I'm one of the moderators at GPSReview.net, and the topic has been discussed extensively over there. Older nuvi models (such the 2x5 and 7x0 series) show much more in the way of road and place names. The newest nuvi series (23x0, 24x0 and 37x0) once again show more names.

Aside from these issues, there just isn't much detail for the pines in the Garmin City Navigator maps. They are intended for highway and urban use.

But there is some help. The mapsets I've created for New Jersey were specifically tweaked for the 13x0 and 14x0 series and will show the max detail possible. They are extremely detailed and include roads I've traced from the USGS topos and aerial imagery.

Download here:

Topo map in the USGS style: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/294/

Pictorial map that looks more like an aerial photo: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/441/

This is a screenshot of my GS map on a Nuvi 1350; should look the same on your 1490. I am working on a major update to this map which should be available sometime this summer.

 

[MarkBNJ]

That's awesome, Boyd. Thanks a ton. I may need to come back at you for tips on how to install these.

I'm sure my wife wasn't aware of the detail issue with the 1400 series, but beyond the bare fact of lower detail it doesn't even show some of the old secondary roads near my house. These roads have been on the map for 200 years. I'm going to try to reset it tonight and see if they come back, then install your map pack.

 

[Boyd]

With City Navigator on your Nuvi, you must zoom in to .3 miles or closer (assuming that max detail is set in the menu) in order to see the small roads.

Do you have Garmin basecamp or mapsource installed on your computer yet? If not, first download/install Basecamp: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435

Next, download and install Mapsource: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=209

You must do it in this order (basecamp first, then mapsource). You will now have both of Garmin's programs for trip planning and data transfer. Now you can download my maps from the links above. It's important to install the software before trying to install the maps, since registry entries are involved. The maps have their own installers that take care of everything. This is how it should go: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-open-maps-in-mapsource/

After the maps are installed, this is how to send them to the GPS: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit/

Whenever a map is sent to your GPS in this fashion, it's placed in a file named gmapsupp.img which should be in a \map folder on your Nuvi's USB disk. After installing the first one, change the filename to something else but keep the .img extension (eg: NJtopo.img). That will prevent the second map from overwriting the first. There is no worry of damaging the pre-installed map because it's in a file called gmapprom.img inside an invisible folder named .System.

Mapsource and Basecamp each do things differently. With Basecamp, if you connect your Nuvi the software will read the City Navigator map from the device and allow you to do trip planning with it. Mapsource can't do that.

 

[MarkBNJ]

Thanks, Boyd. I downloaded everything and installed. Turned out I already had Basecamp, but I grabbed Mapsource and the web updater program. However I have not been able to get the Nuvi to connect to Windows 7/64 yet. The handheld connects, but the Nuvi won't. Going to mess with it some more tomorrow.

 

[Boyd]

Evidently there are a variety of issues with Garmin vs Win 7 64. And it's odd, because everything works fine for me on Vista 64. There are also some reported registry issues with the map installers on Win 7 64, something about different keys being needed (sorry, the Windows registry is a big mystery to me).

You may find some help in Garmin's support forums: https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=168

Also at GPSFileDepot: http://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php/board,5.0.html

 

[MarkBNJ]

So, follow up on this: the 1490t died. Was on my way to Philly a couple weeks ago and it wouldn't remain on. Would function for 1-10 minutes and then shut itself off. Brought it in the house and plugged it into USB and observed the same behavior.

So it's going back, and I am wondering whether to replace it with the same, or go another route. I'd like to stick w/Garmin, but the array of offerings and the model numbers are very confusing. Can anyone recommend the Garmin sweet-spot in terms of price/features, in a portable wide-screen model?

 

[Boyd]

The Nuvi 3700 series stands above the rest in terms of screen and processing power. Glass capacitive multi touch screen (like the iPhone) is beautiful, about 3x the pixel count of the other Nuvi's and looks great in direct sun. I have the 3790t which is also unique in that it renders realistic 3d terrain and buildings. They have dropped to around $300 if you get a factory refurb, maybe $350 for a new unit. The entry level in this series is the 3750 and I see it for $245 at Amazon. I used the 3790 for these screenshots: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/get...reports/8052-virtual-drive-through-pines.html

Another plus for the 3700 series is the dual orientation screen that also works in portrait mode. And it's very slim/light so it's easy to carry around on foot. For walking, the portrait mode screen makes a lot more sense than the standard landscape screens that are too wide for your hand.

But I don't know what you consider a "sweet spot". The 2300 and 2400 series are new and they appear to offer good price/performance ratios, but no personal experience. The 2360 also has a dual orientation screen, but not a glass capacitive multi touch like the 3700 series. The 2400 series has a 5" screen, like your 1490.

Extensive discussion of the nuvi series may be found here: http://forums.gpsreview.net/viewforum.php?f=2

 

[MarkBNJ]

Thanks, Boyd, that helps a ton. I guess the "sweet spot" is somewhere in the middle, and it's not surprising that's where you came in. I've seen marine chart-enabled Garmins for $700+ on Newegg. I'll have a look at that forum thread.