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BaseCamp vs Mapsource

nuvira 91 Points
edited November -1 in Garmin Auto Forum (Garmin Nuvi, Garmin Drive Forum)
Which product is better for nuvi3790 ?
I think MapSource is more advanced features included but I'm not sure.
please advice me. :roll:
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Comments

  • Boyd 1987 Points
    Mapsource is old software that Garmin has discontinued. Basecamp is the replacement and is frequently updated. Basecamp has a number of advanced features missing from Mapsource, but they are mostly geared towards Garmin's outdoor/handheld units. For example, it is used to manage a Birdseye satellite imagery subscription and can display custom maps you make yourself from scanned or downloaded material. Neither of these features are available on the Nuvi however.

    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.
  • nuvira 91 Points
    Mapsource is old software that Garmin has discontinued. Basecamp is the replacement and is frequently updated. Basecamp has a number of advanced features missing from Mapsource, but they are mostly geared towards Garmin's outdoor/handheld units. For example, it is used to manage a Birdseye satellite imagery subscription and can display custom maps you make yourself from scanned or downloaded material. Neither of these features are available on the Nuvi however.

    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.
    Great answer. I understood what I'm using. thanks a lot.
  • alokeprasad 102 Points
    Isn't there a difference between the 2 software in how the custom routes are implemented?

    Where is that difference documented?

    Is Basecamp still a good choice for users of older units like 755, 780 and 855?
  • sussamb 814 Points
    I've used both Mapsource and Basecamp, and while I initially struggled with Basecamp after using Mapsource for some time I now rarely use Mapsource. As far as I've seen there is no difference in routing as such between the two, but Basecamp allows far more routing options than Mapsource did, with a significant number of 'routing profiles', many of which I never use :)

    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.
  • popej 57 Points
    Generally speaking BaseCamp is newer, faster, better, with one annoying exception - it still doesn't support search index from Garmin maps. So if you are looking for an address better use Mapsource or nuvi.

    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.
  • alokeprasad 102 Points
    Wow! Finding address in Basecamp is non-existent! I had imported my waypoints from my unit and did not have to search in Basecamp...until now.

    Am I missing something here? How could Garmin release an application like this without the ability to find addresses?
  • Billw439 0 Points
    First select address in the find dropdown then enter the city in the Near dropdown. last enter the address in the Containing entry field. A window will open on the right with matches in it.

    These fields can be found along the top of the map window.
  • alokeprasad 102 Points
    It is nor working (in the sense that it is not showing any results for
    Find Address near xxxx containing yyyy
    type search (I used my city and street address number as an example).
  • t923347 432 Points
    What map are you using when doing the search (listed in the drop down, top center of the screen) because with City Navigator 2012.40 loaded the address search works fine on my computer.
  • alokeprasad 102 Points
    2012.40

    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.
  • Billw439 0 Points
    If you enter the road name it lists only the first address of that road. Make sure you have the latest update of BaseCamp as they are always updating it itseems.
  • popej 57 Points
    Address search in Basecamp is slow, unreliable and basically useless. If current position is far from the city you are looking for it often won't find the city. If there are multiple cities with the same name, it won't help you to search all. If the street is long, it won't find house numbers farther form city POI. Anything more difficult than search for a street visible on current view and it will have problems.

    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.
  • Billw439 0 Points
    As you enter the city name if there are multiple cities a dropdown apears with all the cities in that map database. If the city you want is not in the database it naturally won't find it. I cant speak for other countries as I only have US maps and it has worked for me most of the time for me. Everyone has to decide for themselves if they want to learn Basecamp or stick with Mapsource. I don't encourage or discourage it's use , I just try to offer a solution to a problem. No software program is perfect.
  • popej 57 Points
    It's Garmin who decide, which program is developed. They have just released new version of BaseCamp but I cant see any info about adding indexed search.

    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.
  • Billw439 0 Points
    Yes I have used Mapsource for many years. It had it's problems in the early stages.Many more than BaseCamp has now. BaseCamp has a different interface that one has to take the time to learn. Because the search function is different is no reason to ward all newcomers off it as if the whole program is terrible. I find it much better than Mapsource for my use.
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    It is very rare that I need to search for addresses in either Mapsource of Basecamp, but for the heck of it I just tried. I entered the address of a house I lived in as a kid in St. Louis, MO which is 1,000 miles away from the area of the map that was visible on the screen.

    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?
  • SergZak 340 Points
    Following Boyd's lead, I also did a couple of searches (I seldom use BaseCamp)...one for an address and one for a fast food eatery POI and BaseCamp (Mac v3.3.1.0) found both within seconds. I then updated to v3.3.2.0 with the same search results. This is using CN NA NT 2012.40 directly from the nuvi. So for NA at least, searching addresses & POIs works fine.
  • popej 57 Points
    Search on the latest version seems to work a bit better, but it is still slow. Search initialization on City Navigator Europe takes about 30 seconds each time I start BaseCamp.

    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?
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    When I start Basecamp it does take awhile - I think this may be related to the ~14GB of Birdseye imagery in my Library. At least they have improved this a lot in recent versions. A year or two ago, it could take a few minutes to start Basecamp and it would consume a huge amount of RAM.

    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?
  • t923347 432 Points
    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? ;)
    I agree with this one. Why, if you enter the exact street address, the results can list the address your looking for half way down the page, or as popej says, on the 2nd page? It would seem logical that it would be at the top of the list.

    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. :?:
  • sussamb 814 Points
    Think it's anything you've 'selected' using the selection tool or any other method. Whatever ... I agree that just having those options complicates it :wink:
  • popej 57 Points
    In my opinion BaseCamp is using this kind of search as "Find Nearest Places" in Mapsource. You have always define what is the center of the search. Then BaseCamp reads all map tiles around and compare objects labels inside map data. This takes some time.

    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.
  • s2800021 81 Points
    I have a basic question - will Basecamp work in a Mac environment? I have Mapsource and I know it doesn't. :(
  • SergZak 340 Points
    The Mac version of BaseCamp (along with others) is here:
    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
  • s2800021 81 Points
    Thank you, SergZak, you are the man. :D Your response came faster than I can search around for an answer..

    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.
  • s2800021 81 Points
    Have installed Basecamp in iMac and have couple of questions, hoping to get a quick answer to speed up my learning process: :oops:

    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?
  • sussamb 814 Points
    Not sure about 1) as I don't have a mac, but if you had map files that were accessible in Mapsource they should work automatically in Basecamp, at least they did when I installed Basecamp. Or are these new .img files that you didn't have working in Mapsource?

    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:
  • s2800021 81 Points
    Not sure about 1) as I don't have a mac, but if you had map files that were accessible in Mapsource they should work automatically in Basecamp, at least they did when I installed Basecamp. Or are these new .img files that you didn't have working in Mapsource?

    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:
    Thanks, Sussamb. For 1), these are new map files used in the Nuvi and a copy each is kept in the computer as backup. So it is odd that Basecamp was unable to open them when directed to the folder even though they are valid Garmin map .img files. Very puzzling indeed. :shock:

    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:
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    First, you don't "open" maps in Basecamp. If properly installed, they will just appear all by themselves with no action on your part. They are never recognized in the File menu. They will appear in the dropdown menu to select a map.

    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.
  • sussamb 814 Points
    Boyd, thanks for correcting me. As I said, I'm not a mac user so wasn't sure about mapsource on a mac but the OP suggested he's been able to view them using mapsource before so I put 2 and 2 together and got 4, when it was clearly 5 :) :roll:
  • s2800021 81 Points
    Thank you both Boyd and Sussamb for the pointers. Now I see why BC was unable to read .img files since these are basically Windows based files. Under Mac environment, the equivalent of a .img file is .gmap as highlighted by Boyd. Wondering if there is kind of a file converting utility that can do a proper conversion so that such files can be picked up by BC in a Mac? :roll:

    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.
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    Sorry, but I have not tried this JaVaWa program (it is brand new), however I've used his GMTK program and it's excellent. Please post your impressions if you get it working.

    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
  • JaVaWa 80 Points
    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.
    JaVaWa Device Manager is meant to be used in conjunction with your GPS, so running it without a GPS connected is not very useful... The program doesn't scan your internal hard drive, but when you have a USB drive connected it will scan that one (with a lot of (img) files on it will take some time...). You can override that in the settings of JDM by checking "Scan all drives". The manual doesn't mention it (yet), but this option gives you the opportunity to choose which drives it has to scan (and which not).

    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)
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    Hey - thanks for posting JaVaWa, and thanks for your great software too! :)
  • s2800021 81 Points
    Nice to hear directly from JaVaWa and many thanks for the clarification. I was actually searching your website for an email contact to seek clarification on the program usage and here you are... :D

    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.
  • JaVaWa 80 Points
    CleanEject will certainly not delete the folder .system. It doesn't delete every hidden file or folder, only specific ones.
  • s2800021 81 Points
    Many thanks for the clarification, JaVaWa, appreciate it.
  • s2800021 81 Points
    ....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.
    I have a gmapi file on a memory stick and if I double click the file, it goes to MapManager and the program installed the map accordingly. But I am not sure where the map was installed to?

    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.
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    Run mapmanager again (it is in the applications folder). It will list all the maps that are installed on you computer. Do you see the map there? Note that it also shows where the files are installed. Click oto highlight the one you want, then click on the "reveal in Finder" button at the bottom of the window and it will open the folder where the map is installed.

    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.
  • s2800021 81 Points
    Yes, Boyd, I got it. It is installed under Library-Application Support-Garmin-Maps. In BaseCamp, the installed map is shown under Maps' drop down menu. There is also a Global Map included by BC when BC was installed. Wow, a big discovery today.. Thank you, Boyd. :D
  • JaVaWa 80 Points
    Note that you cannot simply copy maps from your computer to a device or vice versa; the format is different. A gmapi 'file' (actually it is a folder) is meant to be used on your computer. An img file on your device can be made visible to BaseCamp with JaVaWa Device Manager, but it has to stay on the device (or on a memorystick in the folder 'Garmin'). Maps can be transferred from your computer to your device with MapInstall, but not the other way around.

    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.
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    To move this discussion back on topic, here's a post from Garmin's Basecamp forum by one of the developers . And the quote of the week is. "The MapSource train has long passed" :)
    Originally Posted by FALAGAR
    Originally Posted by BIGLEW55
    I am participating in the process of improvement. I am encouraging them to re-establish Mapsource development.
    This is not gonna happen. The MapSource train has long passed. Which is why I usually don't respond to posts like this.

    If you have been following these boards and our BaseCamp releases for a while, I am certain you will have seen much improvement. And I am very confident that this trend will continue.

    Without dismissing the fact that there are some things MapSource can do that BaseCamp still doesn't do or still doesn't do as well, BaseCamp does a lot of things that MapSource doesn't do. It can't hurt to re-iterate (in no particular order).

    3D view
    Vastly better printing
    Reading cards from devices
    Integrated Device Updates
    BirdsEye and Custom map support
    GeoCaching support
    Geotagged photo support
    Better support for modern Outdoor devices
    MTP support
    Ability to categorize your data in folders and lists
    Explicit shaping point support
    Activity profile support
    Better track and route statistics, better graphs
    Track playback
    ...
    I probably forgot a few.

    We try very hard to listen to our users' concerns and fix reported issues and implement features requests as best as we can.

    So if you do want to have an impact on our development process, give concrete and constructive feedback what we can improve and add to BaseCamp (like many of you do, and we are very thankful for that!).
  • truckinguy 115 Points
    Too bad they dropped MS. I love the way MS opens a waypoint's properties so we can add or change catorgories,phone numbers,etc. and then send them to my Nuvi. In the Nuvi all shows up. Simple.
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    Well it's still available and you can still use it. They are just not going to develop it further. They will need to continue making it available for awhile, because Basecamp doesn't support devices with a serial interface and there are still a bunch of these in use.
  • sussamb 814 Points
    Too bad they dropped MS. I love the way MS opens a waypoint's properties so we can add or change catorgories,phone numbers,etc. and then send them to my Nuvi. In the Nuvi all shows up. Simple.
    Not sure which Basecamp version you're using but you can do the same in Basecamp, at least you can in the latest versions :wink:
  • truckinguy 115 Points
    I'm using 3.3.2. When I click on a way point and the properties box opens I see tabs for Note and Lists but nothing for waypoint catorgories.
    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.
  • Boyd 1987 Points
    See this:

    https://forums.garmin.com/showpost.php?p=122138&postcount=2
    Added support for transfer of waypoint categories on supporting devices

    image

    When transferring waypoints to devices that support categories (lots of Nuvis, and many others), the devices will recognize which lists each waypoint was in and assign the list name as category. So if you have a waypoint in 2 lists 'Food' and 'Vacation 2012' in BaseCamp, it will show up in the categories 'Food' and 'Vacation 2012' on your device.

    Similarly, if you have a waypoint on the device that has the category 'Hotels', and transfer that waypoint to BaseCamp, the waypoint will be in the 'Hotels' list in BaseCamp. If the list doesn't exist, BaseCamp will create it for you.

    To help you see which lists a waypoint (or route, track etc.) is in, we added a tab to the properties dialog that displays which lists (if any) an item is in.
  • sussamb 814 Points
    I'm using 3.3.2. When I click on a way point and the properties box opens I see tabs for Note and Lists but nothing for waypoint catorgories.
    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.
    That's strange. When I do that I get the 3 tabs as posted by Boyd. Notes and Lists, and a Properties tab ... it's the latter that allows you to enter telephone number, allocate icons etc.

    Perhaps that doesn't transfer across from Mapsource? Try creating a waypoint in Basecamp and see what you get?
  • truckinguy 115 Points
    I get the 3 tabs as well when clicking on the waypoint. Properties,Notes,Lists. But up in the left corner under "My Collection" I don't get anything else other then the file I have made from MS that contains all my routes,waypoints put into catorgories like I described above. All the waypoints show on the left but no where I can see how to put or show them in the catagories like in MS. You must know MS. On the left side is a tab that say's "All Catagories" then you can click on the tab and find a catagory you've made in "Preferences"..Defaulted they are named Catagory 1 and so on. When filling in the properties in MS for the waypoints you check the box for the catagory you want it to show up in. These will transfer to the Nuvi. So in the Nuvi I "Go To" "Favorites"
    Current Customers" etc. I need to keep these in this type of file system so they can be transferred to Nuvi and back.
  • sussamb 814 Points
    If they're in categories in your nuvi the simplest way to get them into Basecamp is to hook up your nuvi and then copy them all across, they should then transfer and be listed in the same categories, see here:

    image
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