Garmin Mac Software

[spidennis]

Originally Posted by Superlight

Reading through the thread, and looking at a couple of the user-names and avatars, I was thinking - do these guys know this is a bike forum?

welcome to the asylum

btw, GarminMac may have single handled saved Garmin from it's recent past of PR hell, the code of silence. If it wasn't for him being here, I myself was going to look elsewhere for my next gps. He has also been at other forums as well. One man has done so much to save a company's reputation ...... and Garmin should know .....

[Scoop]

Originally Posted by dtaylor

And maybe implement that in the same way iTunes does, ie: in the left-hand pane, show Bobcat's folders of "playlists" in expandable folders in the top part of the pane.

In the lower part of that pane, have the attached GPS units appear, where they can be browsed, or have items dragged to and from, just like and iPod in iTunes.

+2

[2TrakR]

How about map display parity between BobCat & MapSource? See examples:
1. Military land does not display on Bobcat.
2. Road types are not easily differentiated, examples being primary and secondary roads. See Oak or King compared to 4 Mile or Military. MapSource shows these as two different line types, BobCat, not so much.

First MapSource


Now BobCat

[AugustFalcon]

Hey 2TrkR...

What map versions are you using? When I try to look at the same area on Bobcat on my PowerBook 12" I don't get nearly the detail you show until I go in to the 0.2 mile scale. Even my road names are different, i.e., they usually start with a cardinal direction (W or S).

It does show the different road types more clearly than yours by using either a solid dark line outline or a gray line outline along the edges of the "white worms".

I would include a screen shot but it looks like I have just killed Bobcat again

[Brent4ADV]

This is what my bobcat screen looks like at that intersection. This is with city nav 08 nt.

[2TrakR]

Originally Posted by AugustFalcon

What map versions are you using? When I try to look at the same area on Bobcat on my PowerBook 12" I don't get nearly the detail you show until I go in to the 0.2 mile scale. Even my road names are different, i.e., they usually start with a cardinal direction (W or S).

The examples are not OEM Garmin maps.

In my examples - The black lines (roads) are certified county roads (thick for primary, thin for secondary). Dashed lines are non-county/state roads.

As you can see from your screen capture, City Nav (and MetroGuide) omits a ton of rural detail.

[Brent4ADV]

Originally Posted by 2TrakR

The examples are not OEM Garmin maps.

In my examples - The black lines (roads) are certified county roads (thick for primary, thin for secondary). Dashed lines are non-county/state roads.

As you can see from your screen capture, City Nav (and MetroGuide) omits a ton of rural detail.

So I'm guessing that you created your maps?

[2TrakR]

Originally Posted by 01lc4intheham

So I'm guessing that you created your maps?

10-4

[Brent4ADV]

Well, as you can see, the difference between secondary roads for the OEM maps includes the border on the "white worms" (i.e. black or grey) and then dotted lines indicated gravel (I believe).

[GarminMac]

Originally Posted by 01lc4intheham

Well, as you can see, the difference between secondary roads for the OEM maps includes the border on the "white worms" (i.e. black or grey) and then dotted lines indicated gravel (I believe).

This is correct. Primary roads are slightly thicker and have a black border and secondary roads are outlined in gray. I think the map you created map have some attributes specified incorrectly.

[2TrakR]

Originally Posted by GarminMac

I think the map you created map have some attributes specified incorrectly.

Interesting that MapSource and the GPS units display them correctly, just BobCat is doing things differently. Perhaps there's a new standard?
If you pop up Garmin's Roads & Recreation in MapSource and compare it to BobCat, I think you'll see the issue as well.

I concur there is a tiny visual difference (in BobCat) between C-38, Passeheim Hill Rd & Dodge Lake Trl (three separate rd classifications). I find it darn near impossible to see the difference between W Otsego Lake and C-38. In contrast, the difference is pretty obvious in MapSource.

MapSource:


BobCat:


It would make BobCat MUCH more usable if the road types had more visual differentiation between them.
* These map screen samples are from Roads and Recreation.

[Steve W]

This difference in the visual representation seems to be happening in the GPS units themselves as well. BobCat and my wife's Nuvi portray the roads in a similar way while my 276C is more MapSource like. Is this new look a direction Garmin is taking? Personally I much prefer the MapSource look. As others have stated it (IMO) gives a more accurate and quicker overview of the roads on the screen.... Or maybe I'm just more used to it.

[AugustFalcon]

I sort of like the new "white worm" look now as I get used to it and now that it seems to scale properly as the map scale changes. With the MapSource look it is sometimes very difficult to see roads when there are lots of contour lines or other political boundaries.

If you have a an older version of U.S. Topo and look at US Topo East centered on Connecticut at the 5 mile scale there are more white worms than map -- totally unusable at that scale on Bobcat. This may turn into a problem on the newer maps when we get the ability to choose the map scales at which an item displays.

[GarminMac]

Originally Posted by Steve W

This difference in the visual representation seems to be happening in the GPS units themselves as well. BobCat and my wife's Nuvi portray the roads in a similar way while my 276C is more MapSource like. Is this new look a direction Garmin is taking? Personally I much prefer the MapSource look. As others have stated it (IMO) gives a more accurate and quicker overview of the roads on the screen.... Or maybe I'm just more used to it.

This drawing style used in Bobcat is pretty much a standard for the major map drawing applications at this point in time. (For example, take a look at google maps, mapquest, yahoo maps, Nuvi, etc). AFAIK, MapSource will be coming out with an update in the future with the same drawing style (to match Bobcat). I don't think you will see many newer mapping applications with the thin line style anymore because the "white worm" style gives (in general) a more accurate top down representation of the actual roads.

[GarminMac]

Originally Posted by 2TrakR

Interesting that MapSource and the GPS units display them correctly, just BobCat is doing things differently. Perhaps there's a new standard?
If you pop up Garmin's Roads & Recreation in MapSource and compare it to BobCat, I think you'll see the issue as well.

I concur there is a tiny visual difference (in BobCat) between C-38, Passeheim Hill Rd & Dodge Lake Trl (three separate rd classifications). I find it darn near impossible to see the difference between W Otsego Lake and C-38. In contrast, the difference is pretty obvious in MapSource.

MapSource:
(Image removed for quoting)

BobCat:
(Image removed for quoting)

It would make BobCat MUCH more usable if the road types had more visual differentiation between them.
* These map screen samples are from Roads and Recreation.

It seems like you are correct, the attributes are specified correctly, but the line styles are hard to distinguish between each other. We may adjust the line widths or change the border intensity to make them more distinguishable in a future release to help alleviate this. If you guys notice any other areas or maps that have issues allowing you to distinguish the differences in line styles forward that information to me and we'll see what we can do. Thanks for the feedback.