Explorist maps

[BGA]

Misleading information?

I was at a store in Albany last week and was told the only way to get Streets/Tracks/Topo was to send my card to Next Destinations and they would do it for around $150.
I insisted that the 600 has an SD card and as the proprietor had a 600 sitting in a box on the floor he checked and apologised.
So the option is there to purchase the SD for $299 (better than the $399 they were).
I can't find any reference to a card modification on Next Destinations site, so, is it an option or a Furphy? If it is (an option), is it worth stuffing around to save the $150 (not that I want to throw it around)?

BGA

[Nicko]

Your comment, to me, is confusing to say the least. When they told you to send your card... what card? A blank card? An older version of DASTopo?

Updates are done through Next Destination only, so if you have an older version on card you send it to ND and will cost you $149.

Buying the DASTopo outright has dropped to $299

Latest version is V3.33

[BGA]

Sorry Nicko,

Didn't mean to make it complicated

I suppose I was demonstrating the confusion the retailer was creating.

I know some older GPS had a card similar to a phone SIM so I imagine that is what he was referring to.

Anyway you have sort of answered my question by suggesting it is some older GPS units that Next D update. I will go with the $299 option.

This also has the advantage that I do not need to deal direct with Next D as that can get a little arduous. They were great in the old days (when GPS were bricks, SA was there most of the time and you could wait all day for sufficient satellites), particularly if you could call on them in Osborne Park.
Then I suppose that was when the web was for educationalists and scientists (me, which is why I express myself poorly) and they only had a few clients rather than the 1000s they have today.

Thanks for the help

BGA

[Nicko]

I know some older GPS had a card similar to a phone SIM so I imagine that is what he was referring to.

No, mobile phones use the microSD (also known as Transflash which is a registered brand name) whilst the Meridian, eXplorist and Triton use SD.

No dealer is able to sell you an update it has to be done through ND. If you buy from a dealer it would be the full version at $299. Buying from ND you get a replacement for $149.

[BGA]

Well I bit the bullet and purchased the street/tracks/topo software.

Pity there was no decent demo site to see what you are paying good money for.

Topographical detail is fine but lacks the normal location descriptions you get on a paper, or scanned topo map.

By example a significant local island is Chatham Island. It is on the map but without familiarity you would not know it is Chatham Island as it is not titled. Same applies to mountains and other geographical features.

Also some strange representation of land locked bodies of water.

Another issue, which is more important and could be dangerous, is that it seems google maps/earth data has been incorporated into these maps. Unfortunately data that has been submitted into google is often incorrect. Again, by example Denmark Police Station is located in Denmark some 60km from my place. The ND map places it at the end on Bandit Road some 20km from my place. It does not take a whole lot of imagination to consider the implications this sort of mis-information could have.

Although a little dissapointed, for my purposes the topographical data is fine even if I need to be familiar with an area.
However I thought it may be helpful to other potential purchasers to know that the software has some shortcomings and limitations.

Happy new year