New Oregon 550T - what maps do I need?

[Steveee]

Hi Everyone. As a long term TomTom user the need for using different types of maps depending on situation has never been an issue for me.

Recently I have started to get exercise with a cycling club. I also ski regularly and walk the dogs across north Essex and Suffolk. My wife (in a very strange generous moment) agreed to me buying a hand held GPs unit for cycling, walking and skiing. So, I went out (before she changed her mind) and quickly bought what seemed to be the best unit on the market, i.e. a Garmin Oregon 550T. I decided on this as it will probbaly cover everything I will ever need and comes with some maps already loaded.

Prime use will be:

Cycling - road and x-country
Walking - primarily using footpaths and bridle ways
Skiing - intend to buy SnowRanger ski maps, e.g. Espace Killy for $39.99

Not planning on GeoCaching as my spare time is already full!

Bearing in mind I have a TT GO920 for driving, the real question for this forum is:

What additional maps do I need to get the most out of the 550T?

Also, does anyone have experience of using the SnowRanger ski maps?
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Steveee
Where am I?
==============
GO 920 (retired)
Garmin Oregon 550T
Garmin Drivesmart

[jolly47roger]

The Oregon will work with vector maps and raster maps - although the latter as Garmin Custom Maps are quite restricted. Garmin will happily sell you vector versions of OS mapping and their Birdseye aerial imagery. But raster maps are easily available to download : 1:25000 for walking and 1:50000 for cycling. The free OS Opendata maps, sadly, do not show footpaths. But Google 'Mobile Atlas Creator' for a tool that will download a variety of maps (including OS) and a free tool MAPC2MAPC will convert the .PNG+.MAP files to Garmin Custom Maps.

[Steveee]

Thanks Jolly4Roger..

I see that Garmin has 2 types walking maps: Discoverer and Topo. I suspect from the pricing that the Discoverer is a more detailed map. Is it worth the extra money?
_________________
Steveee
Where am I?
==============
GO 920 (retired)
Garmin Oregon 550T
Garmin Drivesmart

[jolly47roger]

Sorry, I've not used either of these maps so can't comment.

[rogueroamer]

I'm very interested in walking the UK coast path. Anywhere I can get a good read on the hand held technology and maps before I buy? I do not want a system which requires regular payments but a set of maps which may be updated after a few years.
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Thanks for your time.

[AllyCat]

Hi,

First to answer the earlier question, I haven't used either Garmin map product either, but I believe the Discoverer maps are basically the Ordnance Survey 1:50k and/or 1:25k raster maps and the Topo are vector mapping mainly supplied by Navteq. You can compare these types of mapping on any OS Landranger/Explorer map, or the OS Getamap website, with the Mapsource Topo GB viewer on Garmin's website.

For walking a coastal path, IMHO you need the OS mapping which can be obtained/viewed in many ways. Satmap is probably the "Rolls Royce" product but there are various other handhelds, PDAs and Phones (including the iPhone). Memory Map has an advantage of being able to use the same maps on PC and mobile device, but Viewranger seems to have received favourable reports, etc.. Post again if you need help finding the links or for more specific advice.

Cheers, Alan.
_________________
Garmin GPS72H/76/60/45, Etrex H, Mapsource v6.5.
Acer N50,HP114,Loox N560,Dell x50,CF/SD cards to 4/32GB.
RoyalTek,Holux236,Navman B10 & Copilot(Globalsat) BT GPS,TomTom5/6.
Memory Map (v5.4.2 & v5.1.3 OS & Euro), GPS gate,OSGPSconverter.

[davemcwish]

Go here:-

talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm

p.s. before the piracy mods ask, it's based on OpenStreetMap.
_________________
TomTom 940 GO Live
Garmin Oregon 650
Apple iPhone 5S

[cjyoung]

Or from http://openmtbmap.org/ which has free maps for hiking and biking that are also based on Open Street Map.

Chris
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Garmin 2569LMT-D s/w 8.80 + Western Europe map 2019.10
Gamin Dakota 20 s/w v5.80 + maps from http://openmtbmap.org/

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