Is a Data Card required to load these detailed maps to a Garmin 496

[John54724]

The title says it all.  Do I need a data card?  If so, do I buy one from Garmin?   Can I get a high capacity blank one that will work in this 496?
John

[Boyd]

Is this what you have? https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=6426

If so, it depends on how much internal memory the unit has and whether there is any free space remaining. Connect your unit to your computer in USB disk mode (assuming that it supports this) and check. You might want to do a full backup of everything in internal memory before attempting to add any maps, just to play it safe. This might require several GB of disk space and take awhile.

Otherwise, you would need to add one of Garmin's proprietary data cards, which are ridiculously expensive. We just discussed this in another thread. Unfortunately, considering the cost, it would probably be cheaper for you to buy another GPS for topo maps than to purchase a data card of any reasonable size.

Here's a link to card prices that somebody posted in that other thread: http://www.gpscentral.ca/accessories/mapsourcedatacards.htm

[John54724]

Answer to reply #1, Yes this is the unit I have.

A just bought a 512Mb card.  Will try it next week and let you know how it works to add detail topo maps to this unit.
Thank you.
John