NG Sat10 gps? using NG topo maps?

[IDmtBiker]

Anyone seen this yet.....new GPS device being sold by National Geographic using NG maps on a SD card..   $369 bucks without the maps.  Maps are $99bucks for each State on a proprietary SD card that ONLY works on the Sat10 Gpsr, so says the specs...ouch!

[Boyd]

Actually it's the Satmap Active 10 which I don't think is new (except in the US): http://www.satmap.com/products/gps.html

A friend who is pretty plugged into the industry called it "dead on arrival", but you never know. They have a very loyal following in the EU - the hardware does look really nice. But I had to laugh a bit because they are making a big deal about National Geographic Maps finally being available on a GPS.

That is far from true - the Magellan Triton has been compatible with the National Geographic Maps for many years. I have one of these myself, and you don't need any proprietary data cards. You just use the regular Windows version of their maps, which cover a couple states each. You select a portion of the map and export it to your own SD card, then pop that in the GPS. The state series maps used to cost $100 each but have now dropped to $50: http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1126&itemType=CATEGORY

I have the NY/NJ myself, and they are scans of USGS 24k and 100k topo's, plus their own vector layer than can be turned on or off. On the GPS, you see either the 24k or 100k depending on your zoom level. These are very clean scans of the paper maps that look better than the ones we're used to from terraserver or the USGS seamless server.

You can get the Tritons pretty cheaply now, so if you really want National Geographic maps, that's a more practical solution. Since the Triton is Windows CE based, you can also run other software on it using a simple unlock technique. I got mine so I could run OziExplorer in fact.  

[IDmtBiker]

thanks for the more accurate info.  I do have a Triton 500 and I have four NG state TOPO maps (DVD sets) and have transfered portions and used them on the Triton 500. The NG TOPO maps on my Triton were poor quality than what you see on the PC, the map image on the Triton was much lower resolution in my opinion.  Maybe my transfer options were not set properly?  Anyway, if NG thinks marketing a GPSer that is not compatible(??) with their own previous NG State TOPO sets, (that many people have, including me)  that would be a very poor decision.

here is the NG link to the device:  http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/maps/mapping-software/active-10-trek-gps

g

[Boyd]

I'm sure there is room for improvement, but the Triton lets you load a large area (I put all of NJ and part of surrounding states on a card and I think it was less than 2GB). Here's an example. I wish the Triton had a screenshot function like my Oregon - had to grab my camera to get this.