I have Garmins MapSource USA Topo software loaded on my Garmin 76C gps. The unit is designed to auto route with other Garmin software. I choose to use the topo software because my interest is in the mountains.
But every once and a while I might travel to cities and towns what I am not familiar with. Early Saturday morning I will be hitting the road with my wife and mother-in-law sharing the navigation duties. We are headed to a church not far from a home we visited a couple of years ago. At that time I created a waypoint. When we recieved information the funeral was to be at the Baptist Church a few blocks away from the waypoint I grabbed my gps. I have most of the topo maps for the State of California loaded into my 76C. I found the old waypoint, I then went to the (POI) point of interest function and hit the enter button. This brought up a list of locations near the orginal waypoint. The list included the Baptist Church along with other churchs and sites. I then created a waypoint for the Church. This is an upside in an old established community.
The down side is when I hit the routing function. I realize that the unit is designed to route using up to date routing software produced by Garmin. It routed me along the most direct route. The most direct route is 15 miles shorter then the freeways. But it is twisty, narrow, river road with a high accident rate. Many of them fatal with cars going into the river. This is the traditional family drive. The old fishing holes, and wildlife viewing.
The other route is the freeway, with it's plus and minus. But is safer at 30 miles per hour faster. The downside to the software was apparent.
I use the POI feature a lot. Emergency dispatch centers use similar tools. Loaded into their software is a search feature. Type in a location name and it provides the dispatcher with a number of options. The selected feature is displayed on a map. Based on this location the dispatcher is then given a pre-planned listed of emergency equipment to dispatch to the incident. The mapping gps users can use this feature by selecting a waypoint or by moving the pointer to a map location. And then by using the correct menu option.
If I am using a non-routing gps such as my Garmin Legend it provides a direct line bearing to the waypoint. So I must use a little common sense being I am driving and not flying.
My wife had already informed me that she did not want to take the river route.
Another feature that is pre-loaded into Garmin mapping gps units is the "Exit" feature. On InterStates it gives you the exit number closes to your location. Not only does this feature provide the exit number it also provides a list of services at that exit, such as resturants, gas stations, motels, and RV services. This information can become dated by it is helpful. Example the brand name of a motel or service station can change.
The internet pc owner has a number of mapping and trip planning options. I went to my Microsoft Streets and Trips software and did a little trip planning. It took the freeway until I needed to get off on surface streets. It also showed me that the freeway trip is 15 miles longer then the Interstate.
One of the reasons I have not purchased the updated routing software is that it eats a lot of memory. It would work great in my 76C but I would have to give up some other map coverage. Without a doubt a very good arguement in favor of a new 60Cx or 76Cx or other brand of gps which uses memory cards. Just have a number of pre-loaded chips on hand. One for topo and the other for streets.
