Topo's VS Road Maps...I'm Confused!

[LTCSZ]

OK, I know I'm missing something...I have the 100K base topos that came with the Montana and many of the topos from the GPS File Depot...What do I need to be able to have better road type maps without the topo details? If I purchase the City Navigator North America maps, will it be visible in Base Camp and will I be able to select areas like I can in the topos? Or are there other road type maps available? I really don't care if they are routeable. I know these are basic questions, but I am really just starting out with the more advanced GPS features...In the past, i basically turned on my old Nuvi and that was it...Thanks for your patience and help...

Steve

[maps4gps]

Garmin's City Navigator will have the best available roads and POI's.
It will work just like the free topo maps from here.
The only free source of road data for independent map authors to use that I am aware of is from the Census Bureau, so all non-Garmin maps will have about the same road detail you see in the topo (and other) maps from here.

CN on DVD is generally considered the best option, but is locked to the first GPSr some data is sent to. Garmin's pre-recorded micro memory card version can be used on any of your GPSrs (one at a time); however, it is recommended not to send other mapsets to the card (like the topos from here).  The downloadable version is generally considered the most restrictive and many have returned them after realizing this.

[Boyd]

The downloadable version is generally considered the most restrictive and many have returned them after realizing this.

I can't agree with that myself. I have the download version on my Montana and am completely happy with it. I don't need Canada or Alaska, so I bought the "lower 49" version which cost $60. Garmin sends you a discount code when you register your GPS and that will lower the cost to $54. This version is only available via download.

The download only provides a file for the GPS itself, but you can copy it to a USB flash drive or virtual disk and Basecamp will read it (Mapsource won't but the new maps seem to break Mapsource anyway  )

The download version isn't eligible for any updates, so you would need to buy another download if you want new maps in the future. You can purchase lifetime maps for the DVD version, but that will cost about $160 ($80 for the DVD and $80 for the lifetime subscription). How often would you want to update? My copy of City Navigator on my Montana is 2 years old and I don't feel any need to update.

[Seldom]

You might also want to look at the maps from garmin.openstreetmap.nl .  They are routable, and have some trails, also routable.  But anybody can contribute to them, so I wouldn't want to rely on them to get me out of a bad neighborhood after dark.