A few Garmin Mobile PC questions, before I buy it.

I'm considering giving Garmin Mobile PC a try in the truck. But, I've got a couple questions:

1 - Can you import your own POI's into Mobile PC? If so, can these be imported into specific categories, such as Shippers, Truck Stops, etc.

2 - The Garmin website shows that you can do multi-stop routes. How hard are these to work with, meaning changing route order, adding/removing stops, etc?

3 - Can Mobile PC be setup to notify you when you're approaching a POI that's in a specific category, or to display the POI's on the driving view map?

I'm sure I'll have more questions before I make the purchase.

1. Yes you can import your own POIs. To sort, you may need to use custom POIs

2. It is different than other programs for route modification but not too difficult once you are familiar with the procedure. See screenshots.

3. A proximity warning can be set for custom POIs but I haven't tried it. POIs can be displayed on the map.

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Re: Question #1, take a look through this thread.

Silly Garmin POI Tricks - Groundspeak Forums

I use this technique on my handheld Garmin GPS to load the pin positions for the greens on various local golf courses. Each golf course is a custom POI database with the locations for all 18 greens on that golf course in it. It's pretty powerful for creating your own "categories" as you described.

The POILoader mentioned in the thread is a free download from Garmin.

...ken...

#4 - With a multi-stop trip, will Mobile PC show how far it is to the next stop, as well as to the final destination (similar to what Streets 2010 is supposed to do)?

Only Time to next turn and final arrival time on main screen. Distance to next stop and overall distance are available by clicking on the Next or Arrival time tabs.

Terry

Ok - those were my main questions on it. From the screenshots, it doesn't look all that different from what I see on my Nuvi. Thanks a ton.

It is identical to the Nuvi except you get 4 indicators when navigating; heading, speed, next and arrival time.

Terry

With the "Display POI's on the map" question - will they show up as you're driving, so you can see well in advance when you're approaching them?

You control that.

Favorites will show up at pretty much any zoom level.

POIs are controlled by the "Map Detail" setting (Most, More, Normal, Less, Least). That controls the zoom level that POIs (and other small details) show up. You can experiment to see what works best for you.

My custom POIs appear and disappear at a slightly different zoom level than the builtin POIs.

Favorites show up as the assigned icon and the name.

POIs and custom POIs only show up as the icons but no names. The only way I can see to get the name of a POI is to switch the map to browse mode and click on it. I don't know if there's any way to get the names to automatically display. In some areas that would produce so much clutter you wouldn't be able to see any but the one on top, anyway.

...ken...