Re: Garmin MetroGuide Canada v4

[Robert Silas <robert.silas@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve,
Thanks for the info.
I am seriously considering to buy a GPS.  I'd like to purchase the larger
one, larger colour screen, preferably the talking one.
Do you have any suggestion, could you recommend one???
Thanks in advance
Bob Silas
'94 RS in Montreal





- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Makohin" <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "BMW Riders Club" <bmwmc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Oilheads list server"
<oilheads@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 3:30 PM
Subject: Garmin MetroGuide Canada v4


> Hello,
>
> For parties who are interested in detailed Canadian map data and
> street-level data for their Garmin GPS, read on. I just purchased the
> Garmin MetroGuide Canada v4 in the hope of getting the most complete data
> available for Canada. In some ways, this product meets that need while it
> falls short in others.
>
> MetroGuide Canada v4 replaces v3, but it is a different product from a
> different data supplier, so you should not expect this to be an "update".
> Unlike v3, v4 has much more detailed data (more complete listing of
> roads), as well as searchable street address data so you can look up
> addresses on the PC and GPS, and not just cities. You can also create
> point-to-point routes that adhere to the roads ("rubber banding"), as you
> can with the CityNavigator product. For example, using this data you will
> be able to create an auto-route on your compatible Garmin GPS from your
> door to the Friday The 13th Port Dover Ride-In in August 2004, and for
> the brave, also in February 2004.
>
> MetroGuide Canada v4 also includes 750,000 points of interest, which are
> helpful for finding the nearest gas station, ATM, or convenience store,
> as well as more detailed data of creeks, rivers, and small lakes which
> MetroGuide Canada v3 and CityNavigator lack for Canada. Otherwise,
> MetroGuide Canada v4 is a very similar product to the CityNavigator
> product, with the proviso of having coast-to-coast Canadian coverage, and
> providing detailed street-level data for much more geography than just
> the 7+ major cities that are covered in CityNavigator.
>
> Now for the down-sides: If you're thinking of buying MetroGuide Canada v4
> with the vision of it being a more detailed and comprehensive
> CityNavigator, as I did, then you may be disappointed. When you get out
> of major centers, you will find places where roads are depicted on the
> map, but they are unnamed. They are labeled simply as "Road", as can be
> seen in parts of Prince Edward Island and other places across Canada.
> It's a step up from the CityNavigator which lacks much of the Canadian
> Maritime provinces' geography altogether, and detailed roads for much of
> Canada, as well as being an improvement over MetroGuide Canada v3 which
> lacked the detail of smaller roads, but I expected a road to be named
> properly if it exists as GPS data.
>
> The much bigger bad news is that the data on the newly release MetroGuide
> Canada v4 is at least 3 years out of date! I noted that at least parts of
> the data are older than the data contained on the CityNavigator 4.0 CD,
> as well as the MetroGuide Canada v3 CD which it replaces, both of which
> were selling a year and a half ago when I bought my StreetPilot III.
> Apply this information to real life, such as to my realtor wife: she can
> now auto-route to the front door of a listing in the small town of
> Dunnville, Ontario, but she has virtually no data for a three-year-old
> subdivision located a quarter mile from our own house while CityNavigator
> 4.0 does. In this way, the newly released MetroGuide Canada v4 is a step
> backwards, by about 3 years.
>
> The MetroGuide Canada v4 is the most detailed and comprehensive Canadian
> street-level data available for Garmin GPSes. It would have been an
> unqualified smash hit, had it been released in the year 2000. It's still
> a very useful product for travelers in Canada who are not overly
> concerned with the changes that have taken place in the past three years.
>
> MetroGuide Canada v4 is priced at US$116.65, and it is available from
> Garmin (www.garmin.com) and many GPS retailers. The data is compatible
> with the following Garmin GPS units: eMap, eTrex, Legend/Vista, GPS V,
> GPSMAP76/76S/176/176C, Rino 120, iQue, StreetPilot, StreetPilot ColorMap,
> StreetPilot III, StreetPilot 2610/2650, GPSMAP 196, GSPMAP
> 182/182C/188/188C/232/238/2006/2006C/2010/2010C/GPSMAP 295. Some units
> may require a Garmin data card.
>
> -Steve
>
>  Oakville, Ontario, Canada
>  2000 R1100S/ABS, Mandarin
>
> .

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