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BaseCamp vs Mapsource
nuvira
91 Points
Which product is better for nuvi3790 ?
I think MapSource is more advanced features included but I'm not sure.
please advice me. :roll:
I think MapSource is more advanced features included but I'm not sure.
please advice me. :roll:
Comments
Basecamp can also read maps directly from a device and or Garmin data card. For the Nuvi 3790, I don't think it matters a lot which program you use.
Where is that difference documented?
Is Basecamp still a good choice for users of older units like 755, 780 and 855?
For older units both Mapsource and Basecamp will work, but as Boyd has pointed out one major advantage of Basecamp is that it will read the maps off the nuvi (or indeed from SD cards or memory sticks) whereas Mapsource requires them to be installed onto your PC.
On Mapsource I have found an error with pedestrian routing on cGPSmapper maps. There is a problem with tracing a route on hiking paths that are crossing tiles boundaries. This makes me move to BaseCamp as a main program for topo maps.
Am I missing something here? How could Garmin release an application like this without the ability to find addresses?
These fields can be found along the top of the map window.
Find Address near xxxx containing yyyy
type search (I used my city and street address number as an example).
It gives me some results if I enter enough info on the address.
So, for example, if I enter "contains "1234"" it does not list all addresses in the city of choice that have that street address. Or if I enter "contains "XYZ road"", it doesn't show me all the addresses on that road. However, if I enter "contains "1234 XYZ road"", then it does list the specific address.
It is weird to see company unable to implement their own proprietary format of map data. There is a big search index included in each Garmin map but BaseCamp seems to be unable to use it like Mapsource or nuvi.
Have you ever used Mapsource? I think the difference in address search is obvious. I'm surprised people accept vastly inferior solution, but probably this function isn't important for most.
Both programs had no problem finding the correct location. I am running Basecamp 3.2.2 and Mapsource 6.16.3 with City Navigator North America 2011.20.
So maybe I just don't understand the issue Popej is talking about, or maybe the North America maps are different from some of Garmin's other products?
If I browse map in Poland and then try to do address search near "London" then for several seconds BaseCamp claims there is no such a city.
If I search for a street in a small town, it finds streets in other towns, that are up to 50km away.
If I search for an address on a long street, it can show it on 2-nd page of results, even if the house number much exactly. Have you notice that there is second page? ;)
Ok, this search somehow works, but i wouldn't trust it for any practical purpose. And probably I'm mostly annoyed by the fact, that Garmin BaseCamp doesn't use search data included in Garmin maps.
@Billw439: have you read my first post in this thread?
After the program starts up though, I didn't see any delay. I selected City Navigator from the dropdown menu, went to find, entered the address and it instantly came back with a list that included it.
Perhaps the North America map is more "seamless" when it comes to US States vs different sovereign countries?
The whole "Center of Map" and "Center of Selection" search criteria seem to me to just complicate the whole search function as well. Personally I don't see any need for either of these, and what is a "selection" anyway. :?:
There is no equivalent of "Find Places" in BaseCamp. This function in Mapsource uses search index, which is a part of a mapset (about 1/4 of all City Navigator Europe data in Mapsource). Search is nearly immediate and global for whole map. You can search for zip codes too.
http://www8.garmin.com/macosx/index.jsp
The direct link to the full Basecamp download (to bypass the Mac App Store) is here:
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4449
The Mac App Store version is still at v3.3.1.0 while the DMG download is at 3.3.2.0
Will work on it on my Mac. Really need sometime to familiarise and realise the full potential of a Mac after being a Windows user for the past many many years. :oops:
Cheers.
a) Basecamp won't open any map file (.img) presently in the Mac folders. These files are greyed out if you direct the program to the location where these files are kept. Any way to go around this? I remember Mapsource was able to do that.
b) Understand Basecamp will read and load maps stored in GPS once the set is connected to the Mac. So one way to trick the program to read map files is to store them on SD cards and attach them to the Mac. So far, I have tried having 2 maps - one under a Garmin folder and another under a Maps folder, and it appears the the program will pick up from the Garmin folder? Still not very sure about this. Will do more test to ascertain this. Trouble is, the moment the SD card is ejected, connection to the map is lost. Is there a way to upload the maps permanently onto the Mac such that Basecamp can always refer to them without the need to attach the SD card?
As for 2) I'm pretty sure they need to be on the card, again that's how it is for Windows. Note that the map folder if you need one is Map, not Maps :wink:
Yes, it should be a folder known as "Map", not Maps. I was about to edit it but have exceeded the 15min window allowable by the Forum. :roll:
Sussamb's response is a bit confusing. There is no version of Mapsource for the Mac, so being "accessible in Mapsource" is pretty meaningless. Mapsource can use Garmin maps in two formats - the old .img file version which uses the Windows Registry and the new .gmap format that is file-based. The .img format does not work on the Mac, only on Windows. All maps for Mac Basecamp must be in the .gmap format. This gets pretty technical and confusing - .img files on your GPS are not the same as the type of .img files used by Mapsource. I will spare you the details.
Generally speaking, only maps provided by Garmin pre-loaded on a device or a card will be visible in Basecamp when connected. However, this utility should allow you to make any map installed on a device visible in Basecamp. There are both Windows and Mac versions:
http://www.javawa.nl/jdm_en.html
If you don't want to actually connect the GPS, there are two options. First, copy the contents of the device to a USB flash drive. Basecamp will treat it exactly like the actual GPS. To install it on the computer without any external device, use the Mac Disk Utility program to create a disk image, then copy the contents of your GPS to the image. This can then be mounted on your Mac and will behave exactly the same as connecting the GPS itself. You can do the same thing on Windows using a virtual disk program, but every Mac comes with the Disk Utility program while you would need to download a third party program on Windows.
I am pretty new to Mac as well and Boyd has introduced the Mac Disk Utility program, I will put in some effort to understand how this program will work.
In my earlier post, I mentioned being able to read the .img files previously with Mapsource. What I actually wanted to say was that the use of the program and the viewing of maps was under my previous Windows environment. Sorry, gentlemen, I could have been clearer on this. :oops:
I am picking up new stuff everyday and thank you all once again for the kind assistance rendered. :D
Oh, just installed the Javawa DM and after accepting the terms of usage, the program has been collecting data for the last 20 minutes or so, is this normal? I did not connect the GPS to the Mac, by the way and there are many .img files in various Mac folders.
You can easily convert all your Mapsource maps using Garmin's Mapconverter program (assuming you still have the Windows machine). It's really easy, just run the program and copy the .gmapi folder(s) to a flash drive, plug that into your mac and double-click the file. Mission accomplished! :) You could also use a network to move the files to your mac (if available).
Note that the .gmapi's will appear as FOLDERS on the PC but will appear as FILES on your Mac, assuming that Basecamp has already been installed.
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3898
For converting the maps you could also use my mapconverter:
http://www.javawa.nl/mapconverter_en.html
You don't need Windows for that, and as a bonus the conversion process on the Mac will run a lot faster than on Windows (on Windows the speed of my converter is similar to Garmin's converter)
JaVaWa, I have also posted another question on your CleanEject software in another GPS Forum - it was mentioned that the software will delete all hidden Mac created files, basically all files starting with ._ and my question is, will CleanEject also delete this hidden system file .system in Garmin GPS? This is critical as important system and factory installed map files are all residing in this .system folder and this particular folder must not be removed.
Thanks again, JaVaWa for sharing the many useful softwares.
If I right click on the gmapi file to select the Mac app to open it, the BaseCamp app is not selectable. Did I miss something?
I dragged a map file in Windows' img format to JaVaWa's MapConverter, there is no response from MapConverter when it is supposed to do a conversion from the img format to Mac's gmapi format. Further clarification from JaVaWa or anyone who is familiar with this app will be appreciated.
Once installed you don't "open" maps in Basecamp. They are installed inside the program and can be selected using the dropdown menu. I haven't used JaVaWa's mapconverter, so I can't help you there.
As for MapConverter: it cannot convert separate img files, but only complete file sets that comprise of several img files, a tdb file, and optionally typ/mdx/trf file(s), just like those that are installed on a Windows PC.
I have waypoints in there from MS that have been given catorgories like current customers,old customers,friends etc. and I can't see this at all in BC.
https://forums.garmin.com/showpost.php?p=122138&postcount=2
Perhaps that doesn't transfer across from Mapsource? Try creating a waypoint in Basecamp and see what you get?
Current Customers" etc. I need to keep these in this type of file system so they can be transferred to Nuvi and back.