Garmin MetroGuide DVD ROM (USA)

If you are navigating in an established area that's been around for more than three or four years, you'll find the maps to be pretty helpful. They are very detailed, and I've found that even if a restaurant isn't properly located on the map, the marker is usually within walking distance of where it should be. Note though, that because this map data is rapidly aging, a lot of these restaurants have gone out of business and no longer exist.

I live in Los Angeles, and the area is so big that Garmin split it up into two maps on this CD. One covers just about everything west of the 710 freeway, and another covers everything from the 710 east out to Palm Desert and Orange County. The problem is that these two maps are like 7 megs EACH.

If you live in the Los Angeles area and require full coverage, the 8 MB of the eTrex Legend just isn't enough to hold it all at once. That's not a big deal for me, but it would have been nice to know that beforehand.

If you have a need for coverage of the entire LA/OC area, you'd be much better off with an eTrex Vista which has 24 megs of memory (and costs more than twice as much as the Legend!)


Best maps for Garmin GPS   June 13, 2003
Alan Hamilton (Phoenix, AZ USA)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

Note that although v5 is now out, it's really more of a map data vendor change than an "update". The interface is identical, and much of the map data is, too. The main differences will be in Alaska and Hawaii. You can use the map viewer at Garmin's web site to check out what the v5 maps look like.

Also, MetroGuide v5 can only be used to create routes on a PC. You cannot use its maps to create routes on a StreetPilot or other GPS that does its own routes. You can use the City Select CDs to do this.

Finally, if you're wondering what the difference between this and Roads & Recreation, that is intended for older and low memory (1MB or less) units. If you have 8MB or more, get MetroGuide.


very good product   September 3, 2002
Nikwax (Portland, OR United States)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful

I purchased the MetroGuide for use with my StreetPilot (original version). With a large slab of memory (I bought 64mb) I can load the entire state of Oregon easily, or the I5 corridor from Canada to Mexico. This gives me street-level mapping with "you are here" capabilites, lists of restaurants and other businesses (obviously not completely up to date but pretty good), and as an unexpected bonus, all of the forest service, private, and logging roads that I have been on, which makes this more than a "metro" guide. It also has navigational markers (who knew there were so many in the Columbia River?), mountain peaks with elevations. It is also updated regularly by Garmin to address bugs (but not to change actual content).

Cons: the "find" command is clunky and hard to use (works better on the GPS). Apparently could be used for trip planning but has minimal functionality in that department. No way to get updated content. No campgrounds, monuments, historical sites or markers.

When I bought my GPS, the dealer recommended buying the MetroGuide as the best product for the StreetPilot (I was looking at Roads and Rec but he said MG was way better). Looking at comparision maps on the Garmin site, I'd agree, the MG has it hands down over Roads and Rec. Not a perfect product but a heck of a lot of mapping that can get stuffed into a handheld device.


Red Alert...Not compatible with Garmin GPS III +   March 31, 2001
M. Parks (Clinton, MO United States)
8 out of 17 found this review helpful

The MetroGuide is NOT compatible with the Garmin StreetpilotIII +. I purchased this on reference that other customers who hadbought the Streetpilot III+ had bought the metro guide. Go for Roadsand Recreation! See Garmin FAQs...


Works Great on My Garmin   February 1, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Much has been written in these Amazon.com reviews about the problems with this product. And, I find it hard to disagree with much of what has been said. However, when I load it into my GPS Map 76S it is a beautiful thing. It looks better on the GPS than on the computer. I also like the ability to build, and save, routes on my computer and then load them in the GPS as needed. It is much easier to use a full computer screen and a mouse to click the waypoints, rather than using the much smaller GPS screen and controls. Probably my biggest gripe is the pre-defined areas that can be loaded to the GPS. One corner of New York City is on the New Jersey map. So to get the as small part of the western side of the Island of Matthatten, you have to use valuable memory loading the top half of New Jersey. MapSource is not as nice a map as my DeLorme, which I use all the time on my computer. However, this is the only game in town for use with the Garmin GPS. If you want a map to use on your computer get DeLorme or the Microsoft product, both of which are cheaper that MapSource. If you have a Garmin GPS this is a product, despite some flaws, does work very well.