Summary: Let me say up front that this product came bundled with the Earthmate PN-20 GPS unit, so while I will not review the PN-20 here, how well TopoUSA works (or ...
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Summary: Let me say up front that this product came bundled with the Earthmate PN-20 GPS unit, so while I will not review the PN-20 here, how well TopoUSA works (or fails to work) with the unit does color my feelings.
Installation isn't so bad, a program disk and a dvd, you have the option to copy the map data to your hard disk so you can run the program without the dvd. So far so good.
From there things go downhill. Even after reading the tutorial, the interface is grotesquely complicated and confusing. On-line updates must be downloaded, then navigated to and installed in separate operations (what is this, the 1980s?). Updates will be available for both the software and the GPS unit. Failure to download will cause your data downloads to fail, and return non-helpful error messages. My favorite was 'unspecified error (OK).'
The base topo data is pretty good. DeLorme offers USGS quads and aerial imagery via downloadable 'Aerial Data Packets' (ADPs). A coupon for 400 square kilometers is included. NOTE that this is a $100 value. That's a 10 x 15 mile area for $100, and the content can be disappointing.
There is an area in the Oregon Coast Range where friends and I take day trips for exploring and shooting. ADPs for the general vicinity cost me $130, and include 7.5 min USGS quad maps and 8-year old black & white photos available for free on Terraserver. ADPs cost $0.25 per sq km. High quality color imagery is also available separately, for $2 per sq km.
Using the software is anything but straightforward. To Download ADPs for example, you must select on one map screen the data you want, name it, and pay for it. Then you wait a while. Sooner or later you will get an e-mail notifying you that the data is ready for download.
No download I have attempted from deLorme so far has succeeded on the first try. Typically their server seems to just lose interest and stop sending data. Downloading ADPs for roughly 500 Sq Km took half a dozen re-starts over a 6-hour period.
Once downloaded, exporting the data to the GPS unit also seems unnecessarily complex. You must re-select the area you just downloaded in another window, name it again and re-save it before it's ready for export. The save operation took over 5 minutes. I know the files are big, but it should not take 5+ minutes to move 205 Mb from one place to another on my hard disk. For that matter, the operation itself shouldn't be necessary at all.
For export to the GPS unit, the manual strongly encourages you to write the data to an SD card via a card reader instead of using the slower USB export. The SD card in the GPS unit is convieniently located UNDER THE BATTERIES.
Everything about this whole system is slow and criminally stupid. Demands on the user are commensurate with 1980s-level software. And did I mention that it's s-l-o-w..?
I could tell you more war stories, but I frankly haven't the heart to re-live the frustration I have experienced with this software and GPS unit.
-----oo-----
ok, Please Remember that I'm just one guy, and many people really love this stuff. I must acknowlege the friendly and courteous help I recieved from members of deLorme's user forums - now, let's try to close on a positive note:
The TopoUSA maps are pretty good on their own. All available ADPs may not be as disappointing as the ones I downloaded, and although the GPS unit also has its frustrating aspects, if you plan on exploring the heck out of a realtively small area, it works as advertised and is a pretty strong option overall - once you get it set up.
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