Mexico with Garmin Garmin Street Pilot C550
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18 years
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I was at a Fry's Electronics after Thanksgiving sale this a.m. intending to look at the Garmin Street Pilot that was being sold at $300. off the regular price. When they showed me the size of the box, I immediately bought one... my first GPS device. I used one a few months ago in a rented car and was really impressed, this little Garmin was a WOW! I got it working in the parking lot and it directed me home nicely even though I chose to ignore the directions to the freeway, preferring a street route. It did not scream at me like the rental car did, just kept quiet as long as my route was proper, then gave me instructions when significant turns were important.
Now for my question: I notice that there are no maps for Mexico and the North America maps that came installed don't go down that far. The device has an SD card slot and I installed a 2 GB card in it. Is there anywhere I can get a Mexico map that can be installed on the SD card? Garmin does have some Europe maps on SD card for sale and they cost several hundred dollars. Their Web site says no CD maps available for models that come preloaded.
I download some POI files from this site, those are really neat. Thanks guys.
Mexico maps
Garmin sells Mexico maps on SD card that work with c550. List price is $250. Here's a link:
City Select Mexico
The Garmin web page is a little confusing because it only shows models that use microSD. However, you can go to the c550 page and find Mexico listed under recommended map products.
As far as alternatives, POI files can show you the location of particular landmarks, but they don't contain any road information. Without proper road maps for the area, all you would get is an arrow pointing straight to the destination ("as a crow flies").
JM
Garmin Mexico Maps
Thanks JM for taking the time to explain about maps for the C550. Looking into City Select Mexico, I find that it only covers a few main roads and select cities. The price is too much for my interest.
And about the POI files for areas where I don't have the maps, you are right, just a track line and a can't find the map message. Kinda, interesting though.
Now, I am exploring what the "Map Source" software on CD could be used for. Maybe, I can use it to add maps to the 2GB SD card that I added to my new C550?
Russ