Garmin Custom Maps Officially Available on Oregon, Dakota and Colorado
Yesterday Garmin announced (press release | blog) official software upgrades for the Oregon, Dakota and Colorado which include the Garmin Custom Maps feature. Garmin described Custom Maps as “a free, simple process that helps users transform the maps they currently have – in paper or digital form – into downloadable maps for compatible Garmin GPS outdoor handhelds.”
If you would like more information on how to use Garmin Custom Maps on your Garmin device see our original post, or check out some of our Custom Maps tips here, here and here.
To start using Garmin Custom Maps you’ll need to connect your GPS unit to your computer and run the Webupdater to install the latest software. The latest software releases for each of the units and associated release notes are provided below.
I’ve been testing with these changes since yesterday and I’m pleased to say that the Custom Maps feature is much more stable and performance has improved over the earlier beta release. I haven’t seen any of the shutoffs and instability observed during the beta period by many users who were using large maps. Several issues specific to the Colorado have reportedly been fixed as well.
Garmin Oregon 200/300/400 version 3.3
- Added support for Garmin Custom Maps
- Improved along road routing performance
Discuss on the Oregon wiki.
Garmin Oregon 550/550t version 2.6
- Added support for Garmin Custom Maps
- Added heading to geotagged photo EXIF information (see GPSImgDirection and GPSImgDirectionRef tags)
- Improved along road routing performance
- Improved support for importing geotagged photos to various desktop applications
- Corrected issues causing some geotagged photos to be drawn at incorrect location on the map
Earthcache icon support has also been added in this release.
Discuss on the Oregon wiki.
Garmin Dakota 10/20 version 2.3
- Added support for Garmin Custom Maps
- Improved along road routing performance
- Increased data field font sizes
Discuss on the Dakota wiki.
Garmin Colorado 300/400 version 3.1
- Added support for Garmin Custom Maps
- Improved along road routing performance
- Improved map panning and zooming
Discuss on the Colorado wiki.
Related posts:
- More Custom Map Updates and Garmin Dakota How To Videos
- Garmin Beta: Custom Raster Map Support for Oregon, Colorado and Dakota
- Tips on Garmin Custom Maps — GPS Visualizer Adds Garmin KMZ Support
- Tips on Garmin Custom Maps — Random Stuff
- Garmin Officially Releases Dashboards, Track Nav, Elevation Plot Improvements
November 24th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
[...] GPS and maps More info on custom maps: GPSFix: Garmin Custom Maps Officially Available on Oregon, Dakota and Colorado Garmin.com: Garmin Custom Maps Garmin.blogs.com: Garmin Makes Custom Maps Free and Easy [...]
November 24th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
While I am happy for the newer touchscreen Garmin enthusiasts having the capability to use overlayed Google .kml custom maps in their handhelds, as a longtime user of the sturdy, reliable and multiple award winning 60CSx, I feel like a red headed stepchild not having a similar ability. Yes, technology evolves, but the 60CSx is not exactly an astrolabe!
Couldn’t the boys in Olathe reward their older customers as well?