Customer Reviews and Ratings for Garmin TOPO US 24K West DVD |
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100% of our reviewers recommend this item.
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Rod
Seattle
Jan 28, 2012
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GREAT WAY TO UPDATE AND FULLY UTILIZE GARMIN QUEST
Pros: excellent maps overall,invaluable for quest update
Cons: high cost, need to buy multiple maps if traveling
I enjoy using the Garmin Quest for its flexibility, both in car, and for hiking, biking. The mapset that comes with the unit is fairly dated (Citymaps, ver 6.?), The Topo series serves as a great update, and provides excellent detailed maps as well. It works with the Garmin for in car navigation, and gives great trip information for biking and hiking as well. One problem I have seen,is that it does not really track designated bike trails in our are, Seattle, It appears to have National Forest/ National Park trails designated, but the lack of bike trails in urban areas does not fit my wish list for this map set.
The maps are expensive but GPS City seems to have the best price. This product is invaluable in keeping the Quest useful.
Recommend? YES
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Greg
Logandale, NV
Aug 2, 2011
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GREAT DETAIL...BUT
Pros: great detail
Cons: spotty trail/off road coverage coverage
These maps have great detail, but it would have been nice if they had a more thorough coverage of foot/bike/atv trails. Its noteworthy to mention that unless you have a GPS unit with a larger screen (eg. Montana), the level of detail may be too difficult to read on the smaller screen GPS units (e.g. 60csx)
Recommend? YES
19 viewers found this helpful.
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TB
California, USA
Jun 23, 2011
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GARMIN TOPO US 24K
Wish the topo elevation lines could either lighten more than they do or possibly filter out some of the lines in higher elevation on the GPS 62s. The screen gets way too busy to see much of anything else. I use it for off road motorcycling and it is difficult to see trails/dirt roads thru all the elevation contours.Once on base camp the elevation contours can be filtered and is easy to follow. 24K is not so user friendly either on base camp.
Recommend? NO OPINION
18 viewers found this helpful.
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Tom
Sacramento, CA
Feb 16, 2011
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NOT EASY TO ACCESS PRODUCT UTILIZATION
Pros: nice data on computer
Cons: no manual, no instruction, not user friendly
This software sucks big time! Since there is no manual you have to go by trial-and-error and this could consume many hours. It is not intuitive and I consider myself computer literate. On the computer I see great value in the data, however, the help in the toolbar is useless except to indicate where to find an item in the drop-down menus. It gives no instruction. Download by selection tool to GPS has been futile. I want to be outside, not at my computer all day.
Recommend? NO OPINION
58 viewers found this helpful.
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Pete
Grass Valley, CA
Jan 19, 2011
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NEEDS INSTRUCTIONS
Pros: great maps and programs
Cons: poor documentation
For the most part I really like the maps and software. The operatrion is fairly intuative, which is good since there are no instructions/documentation whatsoever. The help menu does answer many questions but I would like to see at least a "getting started" sheet.
The map detail seems complete and accurate so far. All the plotting, routing and waypoint functions are great. Once I figure out all the functions through trial and error, it should become a "5".
Recommend? YES
47 viewers found this helpful.
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Daniel
Central Oregon
Oct 1, 2010
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MAPS OK, SOFTWARE (BASECAMP, MAPSOURCE) VERY POOR
Pros: relatively updated map features
Cons: 3-d sucks, basecamp software is very poor
I purchased Topo USA 24K West DVD for my new Oregon 450. I owned a previous version of Topo West (7-8 years old), and had been using a free West Topo 24K I located on the internet. It is great, but does not have auto-routing features or 3-D.
I decided to spring for the newer Garmin product because of auto-routing features and 3-D display.
I was pleased to see relatively updated roads on the maps, but the 3-D feature is a poor implementation, and on the Garmin 450 it is absolutely worthless!!! I understand the maps on a micro-SD card have a better implementation of 3-D (from the pictures on Garmin's site), but it's something I'll never use on the GPS, and rarely on the PC.
The BaseCamp software has a lousey and confusing interface. Installing maps to a GPS is challenging if you want them in a specific place. I already had installed the free topo maps I found on the internet. When I tried to use BaseCamp to install the new Garmin maps, it first could not find my GPS, then would only allow me to install maps to the internal memory when I wanted them on the microDSHC. Naturally they didn't all fit in internal memory, so I had to eliminate some maps and reinstall. However, the menu item for erasing maps from the GPS was grayed out, and it refused to install maps to the card!! The manual was of no help, but I finally solved these problems by going on-line to discussion boards.
Some features are not on the Drop-Down menus or Toolbars--you have to right-click (works some places, not others on the item on the list in the left-hand panes. Speaking of Panes, they are a real pain because some cannot be removed. Most times I'm studying a map, I'd like the entire screen's space taken up by the map. Not four (with map) to six.
I tried to create some routes in BaseCamp, but no matter how I configured auto-routing, when I got to a particular junction on a minor Forest Service road, the program would suddenly send me 5 miles out of the way to get back to another junction 0.25 miles from the first. Though not discussed in the manual or program help, I finally learned that to get what I wanted, I had to use the direct routing (cutting across country in straight lines), placing a "marker" at each key intersection, and, after completing the route, highlight the route, click on the "Route Options" tab in the Properties pane at the bottom of the screen (the map overview pane may be obscuring it), and then change the routing option from "Use Direct Routing" to "Use Auto-routing." Right-clicking on the route in the left-hand pane does not allow this option.
The program is full of inconsistencies such as this one, and over-all, has a very limited set of features. For newbies, everything should be accessible from the toolbars and pull down menus at the top of the window.
I now know how to install and delete maps to the GPS but for whatever reason, most of this does not work from the items in the drop-down menus.
Uploading tracks and waypoints from the GPS to BaseCamp have similar quirks and problems. I had to request technical help from Garmin, and their "work-around" was something one might never stumble onto on their own.
Recommend? NO OPINION
62 viewers found this helpful.
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Denny
Antelope, CA
Oct 1, 2010
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TOPO 24K WEST DVD
Pros: nice detail
Cons: no documentation provided
The software database is entirely adequate, with the exception of documentation. The package, including their map utility, Basecamp, is sold without any documentation, whatsoever. I talked with Garmin and the response was that it is difficult to keep up with the demands of providing documentation with software that requires frequent updates! That's a bogus attitude! Get in touch with reality and get it done !!
Recommend? YES
54 viewers found this helpful.
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Dick
Los Angeles, CA
Jun 2, 2010
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GARMIN 1:24,000 MAPS CALIFORNIA & NEVADA
Pros: maps are good
Cons: not the same algorithem as the combined chip
The product is as advertised. Utilizing the data is a little tricky. The California maps are many to create a single Micro-SD 2 GB chip with Nevada combined. Garmin markets their own chip that has Calif. / Nev. on 2 GB. Some disappointment about the differences. Takes a little planning and time to get close to a combination that covers across the state lines.
Recommend? YES
67 viewers found this helpful.
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Rimor
Crestline, CA
May 16, 2010
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A 7 BUT COULD BE 10.
Pros: graphics, course plotting, easy to load into gps.
Cons: documentation, file size, printed maps.
Overall I'm am happy with this product. The program has some excellent features, outstanding graphics, the automatic course plotting and computation of the course specifications, and (the main reason for my purchase) the ability to download onto my Garmin GPS Receiver. You can tell that the creators did some very comprehensive research for this project. I like how the trails are clearly marked and in also include (at least here in Southern California) a couple of trails that are not shown on the most current USGS 24k Topo Maps. As I said earlier, I purchased this product specifically for downloading to my GPS receiver which I found easy to do. Once loaded you can, and probably will have to, adjust the receiver’s map settings (detail and clutter) to display the map to your own preference. My receiver would not even display the contour lines until I made adjustments. But . . . to me, it is as if they spent so much time and effort in to the creation of this program that they ran out of time or money and said, Hey. It is a very good program, we’ll improve it later and put the improvements into updates that customers can download. Now my gripes: My biggest gripe is where is the documentation?!?! Minimal at best. This should be their first fix.
This program is huge. Base Camp is 119MB and the map for Topo West is 3,600MB! You must download the entire file. There is no ability to work from the DVD or selectively download portions of the maps. I don’t need four state maps on my drive.
As far as I can tell all the trails are clearly labeled. . . “Trail”. Even the Pacific Crest Trail is labeled “Trail”. It is like having a street map without the street names.
They could do much better with the map printing functions. I have Terrain Navigator (California). This program has all the USGS Topo Maps for a state, you purchase each state individually. While the course plotting features pale in comparison to Garmin’s, the map printing options are far superior. You can print maps in several standard or custom scales, use different datums, include grid lines, UTM, Lat Lon, MRGS, etc. You also have much more control on how the map is printed. If you printer allows you can print without margins. If Garmin had included these features in their program it would be KILLER!
Recommend? YES
72 viewers found this helpful.
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ktm_guy
San Jose CA
Mar 8, 2010
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24K TOPO - GREAT TOOL
This is my first use of a GPS for off road motorcycle tracking. I used the system for a Death Valley ride this past weekend, never been there before.
The topo + Garmin 60csx was fantastic. I could tell high high some of the hill climbs were. We had to change route due to snow at high elevation and no issues.
I will use the topo map next month on a street bike ride. It has all roads and POIs
Recommend? YES
105 viewers found this helpful.
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Nick
Ottawa, Ontario
Feb 15, 2010
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EXCELLENT PRODUCT AND SERVICE.
I was very impressed with how simple it was to install the software, to view it on the computer, and to download to my GPS. At first, I was a bit dismayed by the lack of detail... until, duh, I remembered to change the detail setting on my GPS.
I'm planning a moonlight hike in the Mojave later this month, and I'm looking forward to the adding the security of a GPS loaded with local mapping to my standard paper map and compass.
GPS was able to provide me with the product faster and at a lower cost than my local map store.
Recommend? YES
114 viewers found this helpful.
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sdsulude
San Diego
May 19, 2009
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GARMIN 24K TOPO
Pros: included more than just california
Cons: a bit pricey
Maps worked great, love the extra detail!
Recommend? YES
204 viewers found this helpful.
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Matson J Breakey
Happy Jack, Arizona
May 15, 2009
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TOPO MAPPING SYSTEM
I found the map easy to use and the Base Camp software user friendly. I have mapped out a 200 mile trip with the Software. I use the Garmin 60csi GPS.
Recommend? YES
155 viewers found this helpful.
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Sam
Mountain View, CA
May 13, 2009
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NICE PACKAGE
Pros: woks well on the etrex, level of detail
Cons: base camp could run faster, better documentation
I am using the maps with my etrex legend C and it is working very well. There is a good level of detail and information associated with the map features. The experience on the PC is less thrilling. Basecamp software runs slow and the documentation could be better.
Recommend? YES
206 viewers found this helpful.
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