USA Maps - any alternatives to TomTom?

[chapsworth]

I'm off to the US and am looking for some mapping software. We are touring on the motorbikes and I don't specifically need routing capabilities but it would be nice to record where we have been (although I may use my Garmin Etrex for this and download to Mapsource later).

I could get the US maps for my TomTom Navigator but it's a lot of money for one visit. Does anyone else have any experience of any alternatives?

Thanks in advance.

[philpugh]

If all you are doing is logging your progress then your Etrex would be the best idea - but you will need to off-load the tracks each day. I don't know how many track-log points that model uses but it won't be enough!

You could try and buy a cheap GPS unit when you are over there.

You could scan maps of the region(s) you intend to travel and use OziExplorer www.oziexplorer.com to calibrate these for use on your PDA.
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Phil

[Darren]

You could also take a look at Mapopolis. They offer a trial version and all the maps can be downloaded from their website.

See our review here.
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Darren Griffin

[DLCPhoto]

For logging alone, you might consider Delorme's BlueLogger. It can store up to 50,000 waypoints internally. And you can program it in terms of how frequently it will store points, varying it according to your speed of travel, by unit of time, etc. Very versatile.

You can also get it with Delorme's Street Atlas 2007 HandHeld software, for a nominal extra cost. The U.S. maps are pretty good. The main complaint is that it doesn't handle routing on the device very well (very time consuming), but it doesn't seem that's what you need anyway.

The BlueLogger comes with a car-charger, so battery life would not be an issue while you're riding (assuming you have a plug open on your bike).

I've used the BlueLogger for a couple of years now, and like it a lot. For navigation, I use TTN5 on my TX, and it makes for a very portable and versatile combination. When I'm out doing photography, I use the BlueLogger just to record my location, for later reference to geolocate my images.

Hope this helps.

[chapsworth]

Thanks for your replies. It's a few months before I'm off to the US so I have some time to investigate, and maybe even save up to get Tomtom.

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