Am interested in the new Garmin Handheld for use in and out of the vehicle. I saw the string earlier about Garmin supporting Mac or vice versa but has anyone had any success uploading maps, and communicating between the GPS and Mac? I have National Geographic TOPO and want to keep those, but not sure how they work with the Garmin Map-card. Thanks for any help.
Garmin 60CSx with Apple?
- Thread starter Spenser
- Start date
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Bumping thread. We might be in the market to finally get a GPS whatchamathingie and the Garmins seem to be the way to go because we have a G4 iMac that we'd be using to talk to the box. So info on this would be interesting to hear.
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dennisuello
Adventurer
There are WebUpdater, MapInstall and POI Loader for Mac, but no mapping program from Garmin. You can use third-party apps like MacGPS Pro. I got Garmin's Topo software for Windows when I got my unit, so I just run that in Vista via Bootcamp on my MacBook Pro.
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DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Not having a Bootcamp capable Mac (it's a 2003 era G4 lampshade iMac), am I out of luck then with mapping? I dunno if that's even a consideration since it's not a laptop anyway.dennisuello said:
Desertdude
Expedition Leader
KMR
Adventurer
Desertdude said:
Finally got around to messing with this, if you have access to a PC (or someone with a pc [thanks Pops!]) Garmins Mapmanager and Mapinstall work like a charm.
Basically the pc has to download a program to translate the maps then send them to the Mac.
Once on the Mac, you "install" them with Mapmanager, plug in your GPs, open up Mapinstall and then it is as easy as click, click click. You can put maps on and take maps off your GPS right from the Mac.
Best of all, it is free.
This setup does not seem to have the ability to transfer other data back and forth, or show current position, but the other programs available will do that. At least now you can actually get maps on there.
Desertdude
Expedition Leader
KMR said:
Yes, it was this section that kept me from messing with it.
Good morning everyone-OK, made the purchase of the 60CSX. Great little unit, from what I can tell after a couple of hours opening the box.
First, I did download Bobcat onto my Apple, have not activated or mated the GPS with the Mac yet. Have an email into Garmin as it appears that Bobcat was updated on January 15th for MacWorld, and it appears to work just like it would on the IBM platform. Will let everyone know how this works setting up the new unit and uploading maps from the CD.
Now, the dumb question-do I NEED to purchase the accessory maps and CDs to upload detailed maps? The base map that comes with it is less than stellar, and I have Topo already, for the Mac. But, I see that Garmin has the maps preloaded onto chips to plug and play in this unit. So, are they worth it for the detail typically needed to show back roads and related places.
Thanks for any input and will let folks know how this whole Apple/Garmin lovefest works out.
First, I did download Bobcat onto my Apple, have not activated or mated the GPS with the Mac yet. Have an email into Garmin as it appears that Bobcat was updated on January 15th for MacWorld, and it appears to work just like it would on the IBM platform. Will let everyone know how this works setting up the new unit and uploading maps from the CD.
Now, the dumb question-do I NEED to purchase the accessory maps and CDs to upload detailed maps? The base map that comes with it is less than stellar, and I have Topo already, for the Mac. But, I see that Garmin has the maps preloaded onto chips to plug and play in this unit. So, are they worth it for the detail typically needed to show back roads and related places.
Thanks for any input and will let folks know how this whole Apple/Garmin lovefest works out.
geodasher
Observer
It is a nice unit. Enjoy! First off, there are a couple of helpful Yahoo groups you may want to check out: MacMap about mapping and GPS with a Mac, and Garmin GPSMap 60Cx-60CSx. They have FAQs that cover all sorts of things too detailed to go into here.Spenser said:
As for your maps, Garmin uses a proprietary format so you will have to buy their detailed maps to load onto your receiver's memory card (or buy their expensive, preloaded card). Consult the Yahoo group on how best to do this. Unfortunately, many of Garmin's topo maps are fairly low detail--often suitable for driving in the backcountry but not so much for hiking. There is a map viewer on Garmin's website where you can preview the maps before buying (note that many mail-order places sell them at less cost). Also, there are some free, user-created maps for certain areas, for example Colorado and Australia, that you can get links to from the Mac-Map group.
National Geographic TOPO! can use the Garmin to display position and you can transfer waypoints and tracks. The maps stay on the Mac, though, because they are incompatible with the Garmin. The new Magellan Triton receiver actually uses TOPO! maps but, unfortunately, Magellan does not support the Mac; probably just as well because the Triton has been described as a "train wreck."