Garmin Topo GB

I have just been reading the reviews in this site and I just don't understand why they're so negative. I use my device with Topo v2 and a 2gb SD card and use it very successfully for both walking and cycling. When used for cycling it gives me the best cucling routes on road, e.g. most appropriate. When wal;king I have used it extensively. I agree it doesn't gice the OS path detail in all cases but it's pretty easy to download them from the internet.

All in all I love my Garmin and the topo maps. When walking round london they work fine for all roads and get me to where I want to go.

I am extremeley dissapointed in the TOPO Mapping I purchased for my GARMIN Colorado 300.

The cover on the case of the SD card I purchased it on carries an Ordnance Survey logo and states 'Enabled by' just in front of it.

Having read previous reviews and noted that GARMIN seem uninterested in the level of satisfaction I have sent the following letter to Ordnance survey and will post their answer here later.Maybe if more people do the same the OS will do something.

"Dear Sirs,

I purchased a Micro SD data card for my Garmin Colorado 300 with TOPO Great Britain mapping for Northern England. Reference 010-C****-00 TOPO GB. The cover of the mapping casing is endorsed with the Ordnance Survey logo and this is the only reason I purchased it as I specifically expected to find detailed mapping of footpaths, bridle ways and the detail that I have come to expect from Ordnance Survey Maps.I am afraid that the product is not fit for purpose as many footpaths are not shown, many more seem to start and stop in the middle of nowhere with gaps in them as well. I have to say that I am surprised such a bad product carries an Ordnance Survey logo and hence implies to a buyer that Ordnance Survey has endorsed it.

There are many threads from purchasers complaining that GARMIN have taken a very uninterested stance concerning the fact they have many unhappy customers that share my view and I would be interested to learn just exactly what the term 'enabled by Ordnance Survey ' is supposed to imply as you can rest assured that I expect a full refund for this unusable product.

I consider that I have been misled with this product through misrepresentation caused by your trusted logo appearing on the product and that this product is being 'passed off' as an OS product when in fact the product itself is not to OS standards.

I look forward to your earliest response.

Many Thanks"

Very disapointing with my recently purchased of Topo GB map. As said by other reviewers many paths show on OS not shown on Topo and generally detail/mapping quality poor. I just wish I had seen the reviews before purchsing and parting with £150 since I also feel product not worth the money.

I bought a 2GB SD card but no info. given about how much of my Topo GB map it will hold so start loading in sections i.e. Scotland first (45 minutes)only then to find that when loading England it wipe out Scotland !! So now involved in long, time wasting, trial and error exercise to get as much as possible on the SD card.

Also having used computers and electronic product for many years I find the Garwin eTrex Legend HCx GPS a very non user friendly product. After 3 months use I'm only now just beginning to work it all out. Also it was another Garmin disappointment to find that a product costing over £200 designed to help walkers etc. shows nothing but A & B roads, no rivers, no hills, no paths, no contours or other points of reference was another Garmin dissapointment. I thought spending another £150 on Topo map would solve the problem but I'm afraid to say not so.

Lastly,when I purchased my GPS I read in a guide book that they were on top of the list of items that people get quickly fed up with after trying to master workings and put in bottom draw and are forgot about. After three months I quite see how this can happen but intend to persist.

Garmin need to do a lot better if they wish to stay at front in this line of business in future.

I brought this product thinking it would have enough detail. But many paths are missing and some roads. The Maps dont show the National Cycle Network routes. I brought this to be used on a Edge 705 which is a cycle computer/ Sat Nav. Surely if Garmin are going to make a device for cyclist then they need maps which can be used by cyclists. I contacted Garmin only to be told that they don't think cycle tracks and bridle ways will ever be added. You wouldn't buy a sat nav for a car only to find half the roads missing. So why should cyclist be expected to buy an overpriced product without the cycle ways?

I bought the Edge 705 and paid the extra £115 for Topo GB DVD. Although it improves the detail of the maps on the Edge unit, if you plan to buy this software for planning routes as i did then forget it. The contour lines and topographic detail seem to be accurate but paths and roads are simply incorrect with many well known tracks and bridleways missing or detailed as streams or rivers, some simply end at random. I only hope that if Garmin bring out an improved version it will be free for anybody who wasted money on this one. With so many FREE route planning websites around (bikely.com or mapmyride.com) to charge around £100 for this is almost criminal.

Garmin Topo GB has a lack of detail, look at the French TOPO maps, this is how it should be like.

On top of all the bad quality on tracks and walkpath the strange view and print restrictions just tops it off.

Pretty much everything has been said about the Garmin Topo GB already so I "tried" it for free. In my opinion, it certainly isn't worth anywhere near the asking price. Remember Garmin, we are consumers not businesses.

Well be warned that after my latest Training Centre download my "trial" version doesn't work any more.

I bought this after reading reviews and looking at various examples of the product. Wasn't too sure what to expect but to honest, I actually like it. I work with maps on a daily basis, OS maps, digital maps, bespoke maps, you name it, I've seen it. Got bored with people constantly saying "it's not as good as OS mapping", well to be blunt, they're different products, so if you want OS, don't buy this, buy a different GPS unit that supports OS mapping software. For what I use this for it's ideal, it shows contours clearly, all major roads and minor roads, and a lot of paths. Everything I expected to get from this product I have got, so I'm happy. I always plan routes thoroughly and carry an OS map as a back up anyway.

Bottom line, if you want OS quality on your hand held then don't buy this, if you want enough mapping to navigate from that shows roads, tracks, rivers, contours, POI's, then this will provide.

Unlocking was not as difficult as I was led to believe either. Simply install the software but before you attempt to unlock it, check for updates, you will then download about 50Mb of update. Once completed you'll need to download the Garmin communicator plug-in, only 5Mb so won't take long. When you've done all this, restart your computer and then you'll find it easy to unlock, just make sure you've either registered your Garmin device on the website already or you can plug it into your machine, you'll need the unit ID and serial numbers along with your voucher code. It's that simple.

After all this, just use the software, it's easy to understand looks great too.

Doesn't even come close to proper OS maps / Memory Map. However, I had to have some maps on my new Oregon and it's Hobson's choice.

Only now have I discovered the OpenStreetMap project - and it's free!

Compared with the French, German and other European counterparts, the quality is poor. Paths are not routable, and quality is patchy. Paths and stop in the middle of nowhere, when the original OS maps have the correct details. Thus for the use of walkers this map seems to fall short of the mark.