Friday 23 July 2010

Buying Bits

In a quandry right now. I want to buy a couple of maps for my Satmap GPS. I went down to the bookshop yesterday to compare the details available on 1:50K and 1:25K resolution maps. Obviously the 1:25K gives twice the detail and would be the best option to go for.

However its twice the price to buy a 1:25K (about £50.00) map on SD than it is to buy a 1:50K (about £24.00) map. I guess what I'm asking is: Have any of you used maps (either paper or digital) for cycling tracks or across country, and is a 1:25K map really necessary?

Looks to me like the cheapest place to buy the map SD's is from Satmap direct. I ordered a bike mount for it this morning - Amazon were cheaper for this than Satmap - so it really does pay to shop around.

What I want to do is get a map of Berkshire (my local area) and one of Hampshire which is where we plan to do a little cycling the following week in The New Forest. Following that I'll get one of Oxfordshire and possibly Buckinghamshire so I will have all the surrounding counties we border on. My problem is that we live so close to the county border that one map won't do.

5 comments:

  1. Nice problem to have mate, I can't offer any advice on your choice, except to say have you checked out any reviews online on the diff resolutions.

    Whatever option you choose I no doubt you will enjoy every minute you use your Satmap GPS.

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  2. Mate, I use 1:25 and find them invaluable out on the trail. 1:50 while useful is not quite there for serious MTBing.

    I'd go 1:25 every time. Can't comment on the electronic version though. A bit old school me!

    Hope that's a help.

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  3. Thanks guys. I tried to look for reviews or opinions on which resolution was best but couldn't find any and Google just threw up loads of random associations which weren't relevant. As it happens I noticed they do a map on SD of the WHOLE of the S.E England in 1:50K for around £50.00 so I decided to buy that and hopefully it will be good enough for my purposes.

    I dont think I would get it on Torrent as I gather the system seeks a code on the card before it will use it.

    At the very I get the whole of South East England for the same price as 2 counties.

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  4. well ya got me shopping for one now.....I was thinking it would be fun to get lost and then let your GPS get you back home.

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