OK so after a few weeks going back and forth with TV Nav where I bought the unit and Garmin, we finally got it all straight. The 378 comes with a combined CN NT and US Inland Lakes map DB. Becuse of this, there is no way you can load PC created routing to the unit. All manual routing must be done on the unit itself. I'm sure most of you can appreciate the difficlty in doing this. Myself, I have a lot of route files, and I like to DL other peoples files as well. These are all totally useless with this unit. Now the 478 does not combine CN NT with the salt water blue charts. Therefore you can load PC created routes to the unit. Luckily, TVNav is helping me out. They along with Garmin have agreed to exchange my unit for a 478. I can't say enough good things about Darrell at TVNav and their customer service. You can bet I'll continue to buy from them in the future.
Darrell is a good guy. He gets my orders, without having to be the cheapest, just for this reason. You have to wonder WTF Garmin is thinking sometimes. You would assume that any GPS, especially something as high end as a 378, would have complete Mapsource functionality.
Are you aware if the bug downlowding routes with the 378 have been solved ? I understand that City Navigator is at version 8 now ... Paul Jr R1200GSA oO
Ok I repeat my question: Are you aware if the bug downlowding routes with the 378 have been solved ? I understand that City Navigator is at version 8 now ...
I just spoke to Daryl and he called Garmin while I was on hold and Garmin says the problem with the 378 is NOT fixed. He is emailing them to see if he can find out if v8.5 or 9 (when it comes out) will fix the glitch. If so I'm buying the 378 over the 478. Seems better to me to have the maps you want on internal as opposed to external memory. :huh
If you look here http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap378/, at the bottom left you'll see a hyperlink that says "Important note about GPSMAP 378 Maps". I imagine as long is that is there, that means the issue isn't resolved. Unless you are a boater, it really shouldn't matter to you if you have the 478 anyway.
Word from Garmin via Daryl at TVNav is it will never be fixed. No holding out for version 9 cause it is not a software problem. Can't remember .... doesn't Garmin help those out who actually wanted the Inland Lakes etc. but had to get the 478 cause of the Mapsource upload glitch? I thought I heard they were discounting Inland Lakes or something like that.
You can get it from Garmin: http://www.garmin.com/cartography/inland/ Just buy it on a data card if you really need it.
I'm waiting to see if they will fix that too. I may wait to see what will be the next generation. New Antenna, 65000 color screen, Much faster CPU, USB2, et.c. et.c. et.c. It smells like they will not fix a soon to be discontiued product ... Paul Jr R1200gsa oO
I figured I could go a year or so without the routing capabilities, and they would have a patch for it. If they aren't ever going to fix it, I'll sell the damn thing and buy separate GPS's for the bike/car and boat.
Hello, First, I was wrong, the routing problem with the 378 is not solved. Chances are it will never be. Second, I upgraded my GPS with the latest CN database (GPSMAP 378 Inland Detail Map with Roads Update 3.10). I also update my City Navigator (in the PC) to version 2008. The result is you still CANNOT download routes to a 378. For those who need to plan routes on your computer make sure you buy something else than a 378. Regards Paul Jr R1200GSA oO
Hello, I forgot to mention something weird ... If I plan my road on the PC with Topo Canada, or Metroguide. And then I tranfert the road on my GPS 378, It works !!! It will work even if I disable Topo Canada on the GPS, but not if I remove my 256 meg data cards that contains Topo Canada ... :eek1 Let's say it's disabled, But still there ... Paul Jr R1200GSA
I bought the 478 for the reason stated above. Plus, I can use the salt water data here in San Francisco Bay. I figure if I need fresh water data later I can just get a card and stick it in.
