Until I gave my eTrex Legend to my son I was a very happy owner. If you want to load topo maps on it you have one brand choice Garmin MapSource. The MapSource United States Topo covers the USA, they also have Topo software that covers Canada, the US National Parks. If you want to head for Mexico I can find a source for you. Depending on the area you want to load on your Legend it will hold between 30 and 35 maps.
But you do have the option of transferring waypoints, tracks, and routes back and forth to other vendors mapping software. I prefer USGS State series topo software. And I transfer data to USGS maps and print them. I have also used an older version of the DeLorme Topo software. When I am out hunting I have topo maps printed off my USGS State series, not from the Garmin software. When I am geocaching I will have maps printed off the Garmin United States Topo and off the USGS States series. When working a major incident I used DeLorme Topo software because in provide street names and contour lines. The downside was that I found some major errors in the location of roads in one canyon. It put a road on a canyon wall where no road existed.
There are map developers in other countries that Garmin has share it's code with. You can find them at the Garmin website if your are travelling out of country.
Many software outfits say they are compatiable with Garmin, Magellan, and other manufactures gps units. What they do not tell you up front is the gps manufactures protect their unit software code so that Brand X maps cannot be loaded on their units. The manufactures are in business to make a profit. One way of protecting that profit is limiting the source of maps that can be loaded on their maps. They all insure that there are less problems with the mapping software a because it is designed to operate without problems on their gps units. You can find free updates for your Legend at Garmin.com and Garmin is always update the basic MapSource software.
I understand that their are some hacks out on the internet for the Garmin gps units. But if the hack fails you lose.
A couple of days ago while out hiking I setup my 76CX with a waypoint that I had created with my Garmin Legend. The waypoint is a surveying point that has a good view of the sky. The Legend created a good waypoint a few years age and the 76CX was at zero feet when I stood on top of the point.
In the MapSource software I have saved a file with my waypoints, tracks, and routes. When I got my next Garmin gps I was able to upload those waypoint to my new gps.
