Route planning for the Garmin 2730??

[Trashman]

I'm ready to order a GPS the choices are the Garmin 2730 or 376c. Those with the 2730 how are you programing your routes, on the unit or with a PC? Those with a 376c how many 256m data cards be required for a trip from Dallas to Chicago taking back road like I plan for the moonshine run?


I've read all the post here on both the 2730 and 376c and understand that if I get the 2730 I will have to get Garmin to send me the City Nav. DVDs

Thanks in advance for ya'lls help.

[STeve1300]

AS for the 376C, (I just bought a 276C and havent played with it yet) it will take a 512MB card. When I inquired about capacity, I was assured 512 would cover a route as you depicted. Specifically someone said they loaded the entire half of the US from the Mississippi westward, buy eliminating L.A. from the data. To be fair, others reminded me you get the whole USA on the 2730. I opted for viewability and portability.

[Trashman]

Which mount did you get for 276c?

[STeve1300]

Which mount did you get for 276c?

I picked one up from Cycle Gadgets at the Motorcycle Show. I think it was $10. That was just for the plastic bracket. The bracket then mounts to a standard "Diamond shaped" RAM mount base, which mounts to the RAM arm (various lengths) and finally to the RAM ball in my riser plate.

Cycle Gadgets (http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/RAM/?Item=RAM)carries all that stuff, and GPS units too, but I found the best GPS prices at GPSdiscount.com (http://www.gpsdiscount.com/products/autogps.html)

[Trashman]

Thanks Steve, they were $9 cheaper on the unit and $10 on the software saved almost enough to pay for over-night shippig.

[nunns]

Just got my Garmin 2730 about a month ago so I've just recently been through all this. While you can do your route planning directly on the GPS unit, I find this to be EXTREMELY cumbersome, especially if your route has very much detail. I've found it vastly easier to do my detailed route planning on my PC and then downloading the info to the GPS. The software you use to do that route planning is called MapSource and unfortunately Garmin has chosen not to ship it with the 2730. However, if you call the Garmin customer service they will send you a copy (with unlock codes) of MapSource in DVD format only. Others have said that they like MS Streets & Trips much better for route planning. I've used Streets & Trips extensively and while I do like it, I actually find MapSource to better suit my tastes. Oh well, to each his own. After considerable head-scratching initially on how to go about this route planning thing with the Garmin 2730, I think I now have all the bugs worked out. If you have questions, don't hesitate to give me a shout at nunnallee@earthlink.net
Nunns

[jeffmiller]

I do mine right on the Garmin itself. Just as easy and less work as doing it on the PC and dumping it.

[Trashman]

I purchased the 376c model. Being able to take the unit into a restruant and do route planning while taking a break was the deciding factor.

[Austin city limits]

I purchased the 376c model. Being able to take the unit into a restruant and do route planning while taking a break was the deciding factor.

GREAT!!!

I KNEW that there would be some 276c's,,,and a TON of 2610's,,, at least a few 2730's,,, and now,,, a 376c!!!

I get to walk out in my sock feet in my driveway and lust after all of them too!!! :D

[Diggers1300]

You need to only contact Garmin if you previously purchased a unit that did not come bundled with the software. I emailed them that I thought it was an oversight by them not to include the software. Here is the response I that received from Garmin today:



Thank You for contacting Garmin International!

I am happy to help you with this. The 2720 is shipped with the City
Navigator DVD so you can load the software to the computer to be able to
preplan your routes on the computer and load them to the 2720.

If you have any additional comments or questions, please do not hesitate to
contact us via email or at the number listed below.

Best Regards,
Rick Patterson
Product Support Specialist
Garmin International
1200 E 151 St.
Olathe Ks, 66062
1-800-800-1020
www.garmin.com
Fax 1-913-440-5488

[Diggers1300]

I purchased the 376c model. Being able to take the unit into a restruant and do route planning while taking a break was the deciding factor.

You can do that with the 26xx and 27xx.
Check this out...

http://www.touratech-usa.com/shop/search.lasso?SearchTerm=065-0700