Garmin Edge

brian4610 said:

I'm soon going to be buying a new bike and computer and was curious about what the features mean on the new Garmin Edge 705...it says it comes with loaded 'basemaps'...what is a basemap? i saw where you could buy maps for it...what is the benifit there? i'm not saying there isn't one, just what is it? if i don't buy maps, and i go out for a ride, will it tell me where i am, where i'm going, etc?

thanks for your help...

The 205/305 don't have map displays. They can display a course track, i.e, where you've been but contain no street data, so you can't really use them for navigation unless you use the compass and can interpret longitude/latititude data on the fly. The newer models will be able to display street data which you may find useful for navigation. I believe they aslo may be capable of providing turn-by-turn directions. A basemap is simply a map file that provides street visualization. In this case, benefit is in the eye of the beholder. I wouldn't find it terribly useful.

fleshbroiler said:

The 205/305 don't have map displays. They can display a course track, i.e, where you've been but contain no street data, so you can't really use them for navigation unless you use the compass and can interpret longitude/latititude data on the fly. The newer models will be able to display street data which you may find useful for navigation. I believe they aslo may be capable of providing turn-by-turn directions. A basemap is simply a map file that provides street visualization. In this case, benefit is in the eye of the beholder. I wouldn't find it terribly useful.

The 305 will warn you when you go off a course that you've programmed in, and point you back. But yes, there's no street map as such. Frankly, I rarely even use the course feature on mine, but I love it anyway.

brian4610 said:

I'm soon going to be buying a new bike and computer and was curious about what the features mean on the new Garmin Edge 705...it says it comes with loaded 'basemaps'...what is a basemap?

The basemaps are fairly crude maps, that typically only contain major arterial roads and interstates. For use with a bike they are unlikely to be of much, if any use at all. You pretty much have to buy their roadmaps in order to use the device to its potential.

Dietmar said:

The basemaps are fairly crude maps, that typically only contain major arterial roads and interstates. For use with a bike they are unlikely to be of much, if any use at all. You pretty much have to buy their roadmaps in order to use the device to its potential.

so than what is a basemap? if i roll out of my house now, what would it look like? are the maps that you can buy more detailed? i'm unfamilier with whats around me (just moved) and want to know where i'm headed....

brian4610 said:

so than what is a basemap? if i roll out of my house now, what would it look like? are the maps that you can buy more detailed? i'm unfamilier with whats around me (just moved) and want to know where i'm headed....

The basemap would be mostly empty right around your house, unless you live on a major highway. Here in the US, what is included in the basemaps are interstate highways, state routes, and maybe a half dozen to a dozen or so of the major thoroughfares in a city like Chicago. The maps you buy from Garmin, on the other hand, will include all of the official roads (all those that have some sort of a road sign, or a name), so if you leave your house and ride down Sparrow Court, say, and turn into Penny Lane, for example, you will see each of these little sideroads on your device, labeled and named.

Oh, and the detailed maps typically also contain information on "Points of Interest", like gas stations (yeah, maybe not that important on a bicycle), restaurants and such.

Dietmar said:

The basemap would be mostly empty right around your house, unless you live on a major highway. Here in the US, what is included in the basemaps are interstate highways, state routes, and maybe a half dozen to a dozen or so of the major thoroughfares in a city like Chicago. The maps you buy from Garmin, on the other hand, will include all of the official roads (all those that have some sort of a road sign, or a name), so if you leave your house and ride down Sparrow Court, say, and turn into Penny Lane, for example, you will see each of these little sideroads on your device, labeled and named.

Oh, and the detailed maps typically also contain information on "Points of Interest", like gas stations (yeah, maybe not that important on a bicycle), restaurants and such.

great, it seems like most on the board don't feel that it's really important, but that sounds pretty cool...

so if you buy tthe maps, could you use this in your car as a regular GPS?

brian4610 said:

so if you buy tthe maps, could you use this in your car as a regular GPS?

Yes, that will work just fine.