Garmin 705 maps

[jiggerypokery]

Ok, so have splashed the cash on a 705 (thank you cycle2work and a very friendly Halfords employee) No I need to know what to get in the way of maps guys. The garmin will only ever be used on the road so a detailed road map is best and do I go for CDrom or SD card as I've read differing opinions on the usability of the two re uploading routes to the device.

Thanks in advance....

 

[Will1985]

Save your money, use opensource instead.

 

[User269]

Go to the Garmin website, and if you have'nt already, register you 705. Then click on the appropriate link to get the appropriate mapping. I thought it was worth the extra detail on the 705, plus the functions such as search for nearest cafe whatever etc. Not cheap though. You'll need a micro SD card ideally for the extra mapping detail. Open source stuff such as BikeRoute toaster are excellent for creating routes and uploading them to your 705, but won't give you the full on the device unless you have the additional map.
Load your data up to SportTracks and obsess endlessly!

 

[benborp]

All of Garmins software seems to integrate better with the use of the DVD data. Using the SD card on its own can be frustrating. I believe the SD and DVD maps are identical. Some of the opensource stuff on the web is older Garmin data (which seems to have slightly more detail, though the information is of course out of date) so you can play around with that first and work out what would suit you. dodgy's site has lots of useful information.

http://www.velorider.co.uk

 

[jimboalee]

If you get City Navigator or Topo GB to get 'follow road' routing on the fly, you'll need to place an 'Avoid' on every Motorway entrance and exit ramp you are ever likely to go near.
This is done in Mapsource and takes about a day of working.

Its a nightmare around Birmingham, up the M6, M54, down the M5, M42, M40 and up the M69.

The reason is :- setting the unit 'By Bike', takes some really long roundabout routes I would never dream of taking.

Garmin's route algorithyms are pretty s***e.