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Garmin nuvi 205

  • 27-08-2011 10:06pm
    #1
    subscriber
    Registered Users Posts: 895 ✭✭✭


    I have a garmin nuvi 205 satnav for about a year now but it doesent seem to have the updated maps like the m6 motorway on it and a few others. To update maps or download new maps is nearly 2/3 of what the unit its self cost in the first place. Madness.

    Does anyone know where I could get my hands on updated garmin maps free on the interweb? Cheers in advance if so


Comments

  • #2
    heepie
    Registered Users Posts: 59 ✭✭heepie


    That looks like a total rip of, that you don't get the updates maps after you buy the device. You would think that will included on the price, any future updates of the software. As you said you only had it for a year, what do they expect for you to be buying maps every few month?

    pd - Sorry but I don't have a clue where you could get maps.


  • #3
    gerryk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭gerryk


    Use OpenStreetMaps. If the device has an SD card slot. All you need to do is place the OSM maps (converted to Garmin format) in a directory called /garmin on the card, select the map on the satnav, and you're good to gp.

    Have a look here... http://gerryk.com/node/26


  • #4
    subscriber
    Registered Users Posts: 895 ✭✭✭subscriber


    gerryk wrote: »
    Use OpenStreetMaps. If the device has an SD card slot. All you need to do is place the OSM maps (converted to Garmin format) in a directory called /garmin on the card, select the map on the satnav, and you're good to gp.

    Have a look here... http://gerryk.com/node/26

    Hey gerryk, thanks for the info. looks like exactly what i need. Little help though please, im not overly techy so I need a a pointer.

    I downloaded the ireland map both with contours and witout contours to a 4GB Sandisk SDHD card. This card is actually belong to my digital camera as my Garmin nuvi never came equipped with one, although it does have a port to except one. No joy though, didnt show anything different on the GPS. Just same old maps.

    Do i need a particular type of SD card or similar for this to work or will the one I have do the trick? Confused. Other than that i dont where I am going wrong as I unzipped the files onto the card I have using winzip ang everything looked to download properly.

    Would appreciate a few suggestions as to where I might be going wrong with this...


  • #5
    gerryk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭gerryk


    Hi... I have had success with this particular map: http://andrewmccarthy.ie/osm/gmapsupp.zip

    What you need to do is create a directory on the card called 'garmin' and unzip the above file into that directory. It is important that this file is called gmapsupp.img

    Then insert the card into the GPS, press 'settings' followed by 'maps' followed by 'map info'. This will list all the installed maps. You need to deselect the Europe NT or whatever Garmin map you have installed, and click the map you want to display.

    Another map worth trying is here. http://talkytoaster.info/110826-IE-gmapsupp.zip


  • #6
    subscriber
    Registered Users Posts: 895 ✭✭✭subscriber


    yes that seems to have worked. I havent taken it out in the car yet but from scrolling on the touch screen I can now see the M6 motorway which I never could on the old edition of the garmin map.

    The way the network is lined out on the screen seems very convoluted and over crowded compared to the garmin map but im sure it will still do the trick wen im driving.

    One last question, is ok for me to load multiple maps onto the SD card and then pick and choose which ones I want to use at different times or will it confuse the device if I have too many maps pre loaded onto the Sd card?


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  • #7
    Inspector Gadget
    Registered Users Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭Inspector Gadget


    I tried the Open streetmap stuff, found the data to be less than perfect. A LOT less than perfect. But it is free.


  • #8
    gerryk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭gerryk


    subscriber wrote: »
    One last question, is ok for me to load multiple maps onto the SD card and then pick and choose which ones I want to use at different times or will it confuse the device if I have too many maps pre loaded onto the Sd card?

    Not really. The maps have to be in one file.


  • #9
    gerryk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭gerryk


    Inspector Gadget wrote: »
    I tried the Open streetmap stuff, found the data to be less than perfect. A LOT less than perfect. But it is free.

    I'd be curious to know what deficiencies you noticed. I agree, it is not perfect, but it is improving.
    You do know you can edit the maps yourself, right?


  • #10
    Inspector Gadget
    Registered Users Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭Inspector Gadget


    gerryk wrote: »
    I'd be curious to know what deficiencies you noticed. I agree, it is not perfect, but it is improving.
    You do know you can edit the maps yourself, right?
    To be honest, it wasn't for me, it was for my Dad. The maps were excessively "jaggy" (like they were logged from a non-DGPS-capable system, or a drunk driver), many of the Irish-derived placenames out near home looked like a toddler was mashing the keyboard, and I seem to recall that some of the routes it was calculating were barmy and/or impossible.

    In short, yes, I could have fixed placenames, etc., over a short radius, but short of going out and driving the routes myself with an accurate GPS system it would have still looked like a drunken spider's web. I'm not sure that if I tried some sort of smoothing algorithm, for example, that I'd do more harm than good.


  • #11
    Slick50
    Registered Users Posts: 1,062 ✭✭✭Slick50


    subscriber wrote: »
    I have a garmin nuvi 205 satnav for about a year now but it doesent seem to have the updated maps like the m6 motorway on it and a few others. To update maps or download new maps is nearly 2/3 of what the unit its self cost in the first place. Madness.

    Does anyone know where I could get my hands on updated garmin maps free on the interweb? Cheers in advance if so

    The lifetime maps may seem dear at first, but if you consider that you will get updates for four or five years if not more on them, they really aren't excessively priced.
    Though getting free maps is very satisfying, it really isn't worth the hassle, IMHO.


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  • #12
    gerryk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,726 ✭✭✭gerryk


    Slick50 wrote: »
    subscriber wrote: »
    I have a garmin nuvi 205 satnav for about a year now but it doesent seem to have the updated maps like the m6 motorway on it and a few others. To update maps or download new maps is nearly 2/3 of what the unit its self cost in the first place. Madness.

    Does anyone know where I could get my hands on updated garmin maps free on the interweb? Cheers in advance if so

    The lifetime maps may seem dear at first, but if you consider that you will get updates for four or five years if not more on them, they really aren't excessively priced.
    Though getting free maps is very satisfying, it really isn't worth the hassle, IMHO.

    For me, it's less about the cost and more about frequency of update. The OSM maps are updated continually. I started using them last year, since both the Galway - Dublin and Galway - Limerick motorways were incomplete in the 2010 release of the official maps, but the OSM maps had the roadways in their entirety.


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