Pricey map cards............

originalpickaxe · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 06, 2008 Posts: 3

It is a shame that the Active 10 SD cards are so expensive particularly at the 1.25000 scale. I have however now got full UK coverage at 1.50000 courtesy of Ebay and have made a considerable saving by doing this.
If in the future I feel I would like certain coverage at 1.25000 I will check Ebay first and if I can't find it I will consider buying new and then selling it after I have used it. From what I can see it is not unreasonable to expect about half your money back when you sell a memory card.
Hopefully as Active 10 users grow in number a lot more second hand card availability will follow which should reduce costs for us all. Very Happy

Bosun · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject:

I can see your point that the map cards are expensive but from what I read this is mostly down to OS licensing,which admittedly doesn't make it any better,ALL OS digital mapping is expensive.I can't quite comprehend this as I would have thought the OS would be wanting to sell as many maps as possible so why make the licensing so expensive which deters people from buying it.Just look a the comments about SatMap,good unit but the mapping is expensive time after time.

As far as the 1:50000 GB maps go if you were to buy the whole lot in paper format ( 204 I think ) it would cost you in the region of £1400 ( at £6.99 per map ) so set against that I suppose they look pretty reasonable.

Personally I would be cautious of buyng maps on E Bay unless you have a trusted and dependable supplier as I would imagine they are easy to copy if you know what you are doing ( and a lot of people seem to with this sort of thing ) I imagine there is even the chance it could damage your SatMap.

Ian

originalpickaxe · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 06, 2008 Posts: 3

Yes you are right to be cautious. Anything bought through Ebay can be risky. However I have to say that in 6 years of using Ebay I have had very few problems with stuff I have bought . I would however advise anybody to track back through the feedback comments of a vendor and look for time of membership , number of trades done and the % rate achieved for those trades. Other than that there are no guarantees. However I do now have Full GB North for half the price it would have cost me new. Smile

lucevans · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:42 pm Post subject:

It is the single most frustrating thing about the Satmap. However, my ire is directed at Ordnance Survey for charging such ludicrous licence fees.
Wasn't there a green paper recently that recommended certain types of public data (as opposed to personal data) held by government bodies be made freely available? If I remember correctly, The OS was a named example of such a body. I'm sure the managers at The OS hate the idea, and will spout the usual stuff about needing to be a profitable business, but in my opinion organisations like that should be run as not-for-profit outfits for the advancement of the entire nation.

Bosun · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:57 pm Post subject:

There is much talk ( quite correctly ) regarding the OS licence fees.Has anyone any idea what they actually are ?

I looked on the OS site a while back but couldn't see any figures for commercial use.

I tend to agree with Lucevans that such information should be freely available but while ever hived off Government departments need to make a profit I can't see that happening.I read somewhere that in 2010 the Government in order to claw back its VAT cuts etc. would be selling off even more of the family silver and the OS was one of them.They would quite happily sell the NHS off ( well more than it already is ) if they thought they could get away with it so I don't suppose selling the OS off to private hands upsets anyones morals.

Ian

lucevans · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:03 pm Post subject:

jonesbach · Regular Visitor Joined: Jun 07, 2008 Posts: 185

davidor · Regular Visitor Joined: Nov 14, 2008 Posts: 117

So, when Satmap do a 'special offer' and sell maps at half price through their website, do the OS give them discount, or is perhaps the OS fee not as large as Satmap like to make out?

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