Re: Garmin 2820 - sorta sneaked up on me!

I'll try to address all your points in order...

I agree... the carpetbaggers at Garmin should be lined up and shot...

The memory in the 2820 is 2 gigabytes... If you open it in USB mass storage
mode, you can see all the files on it... (3 directories) the Garmin one has
this whopping great 1.2 Gig file in it.. (the maps)... and other
stuff...(voice files, etc.) If you download more maps, it (unlike Garmin's
I've owned in the past) leaves this big file alone, and makes another file
(with a simular name) that holds any other maps you downloaded.

I believe that the fiasco of microdrive use in mobile GPS's taught Garmin a
lesson... All the memory in my GPS is Flash.... one big volume if what I see
in Windows Explorer is right.. (may not be as I'm looking through Garmin
drivers) over 700 MB free, until I put all the speedcameras, and campground
in Europe into the custom POI database... plus loaded a couple hundred MB of
MP3's...

The 2820 has a nice big tracklog, and you can save it, display it, and
upload it with Mapsource... Downloaded track files however do not display on
the GPS at this time... It also has 4 separate mileage logs that you can use
to keep track of trips... haven't figured out a need for this as of yet...

My 2820 came with the very latest version of City Nav 8 NT (new database,
faster searches) Of course this comes with Mapsource... I also own CN 8 for
another GPS, and routes created on the older version recalculate on the GPS
when first opened... Routes created on the new NT version do not recalculate
on the GPS when first opened...

I have backed up that big map file using the mass storage mode,(took over an
hour).. I suspect, (but don't know) that if I deleted it, and renamed my new
map data (say I bought a copy of CN North America and transfered all the
maps to the 2820...) to the same name as the old file... that I'd have a new
default map load.. One day I may have occasion to test this theory... =)

To recap... you access this GPS in two ways... for GPS related stuff...
maps, waypoints, POI's, routes, tracks... you use the default Garmin mode..
it works with Mapsource, and I suspect the 3rd party apps... You want to put
Music files, or add to the POI functionality with special MP3 files
(tourguide).. then you use it like a USB Drive...

As I'm sure you are aware, Garmin have often in the past dropped some
functionality that some people have thought indespensible with new releases
Replaced it with other stuff, some of which seems pointless at first... but
I've gotta say that what my 2820 does (and I'm not talking about playing
music here) such as traffic information display, custom POI's, (traffic
Cams), user interface... is pretty darn good... The point about loosing the
"transparent" fields from the 2610 seems like something they could fix with
a firmware... just need to winge louder...

Al...

"Jack Erbes" <jackerbes@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5PudnWU3uOPKdF3ZnZ2dnUVZ_o2dnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Alan Adrian wrote:

I've not owned a 2720, but am in possession of a 2820.


Garmin seems to think it is unnecessary to share (or necessary to
obfuscate) some technical details.

Have you looked or used at your 2820 in the USB Mass Storage mode? Do you
know if that uses flash memory and how much is in it? And how much free
space it has on it?

The 2710 had internal flash memory but the 2820 makes no mention of how
map data is stored or the amount of storage available.

After the failure problems (particularly on motorcycles) with the earlier
models that had microdrives, one of the first things that crosses my mind
is what kind of memory does it have and how much much is there?

Do you know, can you save tracks to memory and then download or copy them
off in the mass storage mode?

From reading the online manual and the web page, I'm assuming that the
2820 does not come with a desktop application that will let you plan
routes and send them to the 2820. Nor does it appear to have any
capability for receiving routes and waypoints or for saving basic track
details like locations, times, speeds, etc., for later review.

They keep adding new features to these but as far as I'm concerned, the
units themselves are getting less capable with each new generation as far
as some of the classic basic uses for handling, retrieving, and using
data.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)


.

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