Garmin Basecamp vs. Nat Geo Topo vs. Topofusion with a Garmin 62s

[pbourquin]

Greetings,
I've bought a Garmin 62s and am able to import and export tracs.
For trip planning, am I better off using Nat Geo Topo, Garmin Basecamp or Topofusion?
Insights appreciated.
Pierson

[Boyd]

National Geographic will give you the real, scanned USGS maps on your computer but you can't send them to a Garmin GPS. You should be able to exchange waypoints and tracks however.

With Basecamp, you can use the same Garmin format maps (like the ones here) on both the computer and GPS. If you want the real USGS maps, Garmin just introduced a download service for them - see: http://gpstracklog.com/2011/06/garmin-birdseye-topo-us-screenshots.html

But I guess it comes down to whatever software you personally like. I have one of the National Geographic maps, and one thing that I dislike about the interface is the way you scroll the screen. I would prefer to "drag" the map around instead of "steer" it.  

Since Basecamp is free and supports all the features of your new GPS, I would at least give it a try and see how you like it.

Don't know anything about Topofusion, sorry.

[jbensman]

Use what has the best data for your trip.  You can also trace stuff in GoogleEarth

[pbourquin]

Greetings,

How would I go about getting the Google Earth Information into Garmin Basecamp, Nat Geo Topo, or Topofusion?

Please let me know.

Pierson

[Boyd]

Exactly what type of "information" do you want to extract from Google Earth?

[jbensman]

Trace it, save as kml, then use gpsbable to convert to mapsource or gpx

However, sometimes GE is out of allignment, so the first thing is to make sure the pictures are alligned properly