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I am looking into getting a system for my laptop that will work for back country trail riding I have a Yamaha Rhino and have plenty of room for the computer and want a bigger screen than a hand held. Sinse I already have a Panasonic Tough Book thought maybe Microsoft Streets and Trips might work but can't find if they work where the roads are fewer and trails more. Thanks for any advice
Toyman, I'm assuming you are in the USA. Have you had a look at these two forum threads?
Looking for GPS mapping software for off-road trips
Best Map Software Vendor
There are a few leads there. I'm in Canada so I'm quite happy with Garmin nRoute and Garmin's Topo Canada v.2 mapset and even more happy with Dale Atkin's Ibycus Topo series:
Topo Canada v2 vs. Ibycus Topo Canada
I've heard that Garmin's TOPO U.S. was somewhat out of date but that may have been fixed by now. There are other people making mapsets for Garmin devices so perhaps you may find something there?
Looking for GPS mapping software for off-road trips
Best Map Software Vendor
There are a few leads there. I'm in Canada so I'm quite happy with Garmin nRoute and Garmin's Topo Canada v.2 mapset and even more happy with Dale Atkin's Ibycus Topo series:
Topo Canada v2 vs. Ibycus Topo Canada
I've heard that Garmin's TOPO U.S. was somewhat out of date but that may have been fixed by now. There are other people making mapsets for Garmin devices so perhaps you may find something there?
Thanks Ken yes I am in the US as a matter of fact I'm in Idaho and I'm looking for something I can use real time I have a Garmin Rino 120 and it works fine but just looking to use the laptop as it has a larger screen easier to see.
Jim
Jim
Yup, I understand completely. Big screen is the way to go. I have a Garmin GPSMap 76CSx but I use the laptop paired with a Garmin GPS 20x whenever possible instead. I'm running both Garmin Mobile PC or Garmin nRoute on the laptop, depending on what I'm doing. I find Mobile PC better for vehicle navigation on roads but I find nRoute better for off road and marine applications. Actually, Mobile PC won't display marine charts correctly so I have to use nRoute for that.
You can preview Garmin's US topo maps at: http://www8.garmin.com/cgi-bin/mapge...&rz=0&k=1&sc=1
The viewer there is limited but at least you can search an area you know well to see if the data you would want is there. It looks way better on the laptop screen. The attached images are screen shots of nRoute on my computer. The urban one shows a red triangle for my location with my direction of travel up, the other shows a North up view of a hilly area about an hour's drive north (both at the same scale).
You can preview Garmin's US topo maps at: http://www8.garmin.com/cgi-bin/mapge...&rz=0&k=1&sc=1
The viewer there is limited but at least you can search an area you know well to see if the data you would want is there. It looks way better on the laptop screen. The attached images are screen shots of nRoute on my computer. The urban one shows a red triangle for my location with my direction of travel up, the other shows a North up view of a hilly area about an hour's drive north (both at the same scale).
Ken
Thank you very much for the information you gave me. I have Garmin MapSource and I found and downloaded ibycus USA 2.0 several months ago it has a very good maping of the area I ride. I went to the Garmin web site and was able to download nRoute and it found the ibycus maps I already have. When I opened the program it asked if I wanted it to detect a GPS so I figured what the heck so I plugged in my Rino and it found it and started tracking with it like I believe it would the GPS 20x. Its to late to try it out on the trails tonight but I am going to tomorrow. I think it will work.
Thank you again
Jim
toyman
Thank you very much for the information you gave me. I have Garmin MapSource and I found and downloaded ibycus USA 2.0 several months ago it has a very good maping of the area I ride. I went to the Garmin web site and was able to download nRoute and it found the ibycus maps I already have. When I opened the program it asked if I wanted it to detect a GPS so I figured what the heck so I plugged in my Rino and it found it and started tracking with it like I believe it would the GPS 20x. Its to late to try it out on the trails tonight but I am going to tomorrow. I think it will work.
Thank you again
Jim
toyman