etrex 20 for the road - which maps?

[pigeontown]

I am new to the GPS world - just got a Garmin etrex 20 and would like to be able to use it for both road trips and off-road trips.
Unfortunately the Garmin people must assume that most user already know more than me.
The owner's manual really doesn't answer questions like, "what kind of map do I need to use it for road trips?"
What map can I load to go from Ohio to the Boundary waters so I don't get the message "Route calculation error. Maps do not have routable roads in this area."...?

[Seldom]

I have serious reservations about using an Etrex for driving unless you have a copilot sitting next to you who can read out directions.  The screen's small, and you'll have to look at it to see which way to turn.  Not a good thing on a crowded freeway.

That said Garmin City Navigator North America NT will get you to the US and Canada.

Before you buy a copy of City Navigator ($73 at Amazon) though you should check out prices for low end Nuvis.  I just bought one from Amazon for $150 that included lifetime traffic and map updates.  If you decide to buy CN separately, I suggest you get it on DVD. The other purchase options have disadvantages.

[Boyd]

I don't know what the "boundary waters" are. But if you purchase from Garmin, the full North America version of City Navigator is $80. The lower 49 version (without Canada and Alaska) is $60. Register your eTrex and Garmin will send a 10% discount code you can use to lower the prices to $72 and $54 respectively. Both of these options are less than the Amazon price.

If you had a 60csx I would agree about the DVD recommendation, but not sure that it matters much with a modern unit like the eTrex 20 that can use multiple map files. The download version is pretty convenient and can be used on your computer with Basecamp (but not Mapsource). It will become permanently loced to your eTrex however and won't work on another unit, which is the same as the DVD. The pre-loaded data card version has the advantage of working in any GPS.

[pigeontown]

Thanks for the replies -
I will remember the advice to use a co-pilot with my etrex20 on the road.

So it looks like I am locked in to buying a road map from Garmin....no free maps here on GPSFileDepot will work in this situation?



PS - Sorry I didn't give more info - the Boundary Waters are a million acres of wilderness in northern Minnesota - most of it is water, and most of it is accessible only by paddling or hiking (no motorized craft allowed)

[madsen89]

One disadvantage of the downloaded maps (North America NT, for example) is that they cannot be updated. You have to purchase at full price and download as if it is your first purchase whenever you want to update it. This is different from the DVD version where you can purchase the LifeTime updates. I recently learned this the hard way when I bought the download version for my eTrex 30.