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GPS City Q&A » Outdoor GPS » Is Garmin not maintaining map compatibility?

Outdoor GPS (1 reply)

Item

Original Question

Is Garmin not maintaining map compatibility?

› Garmin GPSMAP 62s

Author

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IanG
Calgary

Original question asked on Oct 12, 2010, 3:15pm

I own a GPSMap 60CS and have not been able to upgrade affordably to either the 60CSx nor the 62S because Garmin failed to maintain map compatibility for my several hundred dollars worth of maps(City Navigator NA and Europe and Topo Canada v1) when they switched to the "NT" format. AND they stopped updating those maps for the 60CS. I would have expected better support from Garmin for what was at the time one of their top-end "On the Trail" GPSs. If they had maintained backward compatibility they could have had me happily locked into Garmin. But since I have to start from scratch with a new device and all maps I guess I'm now free to choose someone else's GPS - like maybe the new Delorme w/SPOT that you have on sale :).

Please correct me if I'm wrong about the lack of map compatibility, as I can't get an answer about it from Garmin's generally unresponsive e-mail support. If I'm right, then I'm done with Garmin forever - as I can't afford to deal with a company who intentionally makes its own products prematurely obsolete. I've already switched to TomTom now for our primary car-navigating GPS(I love the TomTom's ability to let me make some of my own map edits and share them with others!).

Jordan GPS City
Calgary, AB

Reply #1 on Oct 13, 2010, 8:32am

Hello Ian,

The topo maps you own are compatible with the new units. The older Street maps are not, if you were to buy a new unit your old maps would not work anyways even if they supported the older map technology. Why? Each software, not including topo, is locked to one unit. If you buy a new unit you have to get new maps for that unit.

I recommend buying a Nuvi for street navigation and use your handheld for hiking and outdoor activities. The Nuvi comes with the maps preloaded and it is updatable. You can get a nuvi at an affordable price these days.

***Garmin is not the only one that doesn't support older maps sets they made. Lowrance and Magellan the other two handheld manufacturers that stopped supporting older maps.

Cheers

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