adding waypoints

Some GPS models let you enter locations directly into the GPS (usually as waypoints). This feature is common on handheld models but less often found on automotive nav systems.

The nuvi 350 manual mentions you can navigate to coordinates by selecting Where to > Coordinates. This doesn't create a waypoint, but it might be useful for you.

JM

Thanks for the reply. But what would be the difference between a "coordinate" vs. a "waypoint"? Not having looked that close at the offerings (the people at the local Bestbuy & Circuit City were about as new with GPS as myself) it's pretty hard to get much info off of the boxes or the manufacturer's website.

If I had to "guess" I'd say that if I'd enter a coordinate to go to, I would enter the longitudinal and latitude coordinates and this would take me to the place where X marks the spot. A waypoint might have the coordinates plus a physical description and possibly a phone number of an attraction which I could load on a SD card???

pardon my stupidity,

Joe

Your guess is fairly accurate.

Waypoints are saved locations. On some GPS models they're called "My Favorites" or "My Locations". As you guessed, you can also enter a description. For C330 and nuvi 350, I'm pretty sure they're stored in the GPS memory (not on the SD card).

If you navigate with nuvi 350 to a set of coordinates using "Where to" > "Coordinates", you can mark the location when you get there and save it under "My Favorites" as a waypoint.

Someone who has a C330 or nuvi 350 may be able to tell us if you can create a waypoint on the GPS with a manually entered set of coordinates. I wasn't able to find a clear answer in the manuals.

JM

Another thing I should mention is that many models, including the C330 and nuvi 350, have the ability to load custom POIs (points of interest) from a PC.

Custom POIs are very similar to waypoints. Both are a location with a description.

Some key distinctions include:

* waypoints can usually be created manually on the GPS
* custom POIs usually need to be created and loaded from a computer
* the GPS can usually store more custom POIs than waypoints.
* waypoints on many models are limited to a maximum of 500 locations

JM

Can I add poi & waypoints on the same SD card as my MP3 music or Audio book? Will this work with red light & speed zones? Will the GPS use both at the same time? Will this increase the 500 locations limit of the GPS?

Waypoints are similar but not the same as Custom POIs. C330 and nuvi 350 can work with several thousand POIs at at the same time. For waypoints, Garmin specs say they are limited to 500 locations max.

With nuvi, you can save custom POIs on SD card along with other files (e.g., MP3, JPG, etc.) With C330, you must load them into GPS memory via USB cable. C330 cannot read custom POIs from a SD card.

AFAIK both C330 and nuvi store waypoints in internal memory (not on SD card). I don't know for sure if this is the case for nuvi models.

Bottom line: you're not limited to 500 locations with either model if you use Custom POIs instead of Waypoints.

JM

YOu can't load coords directly on the c330. I wish that were true but it isn't. Of course it is just as simple to load poi which are based off of long and lat. And what is cool about garmin is if you ask for a dvd with the mapsource (the software that the 320 uses because the 320 only allows you to load maps to a sd card) you will get it. I asked if it were possible to download the mapsource software because i wanted to plan a trip and use waypoints. They did better and sent a 6x6x6 box containing a dvd with mapsource on it. I was extremely happy with their customer service. for the 330 i'm not sure what the sd slot is for but i know you can't load poi to it.

Check out the handheld outdoor gps units, they might have long and lat input support. almost all car units won't because image the lawsuit against garmin because some idiot got in a wreck trying to put in a total of 14 numbers (long and lat) for some destination while driving. Poi support long and lat so load them before you hit the road. Im extremely satisfied with my c330. It does have some issue locating the satellites if you turn it off in one place and drive somewhere else and turn it on. Other than the long satellite find it is perfect.

Why is it that the phone numbers are missing digits when transferred back to the gps after adding the phone numbersto the waypoints? I have moved commas, zip codes and stil no luck. I had to delete a few of the waypoints that were affected and put them back in again in order for phone number to attach properly.

I don't believe this was answered for you yet. You don't need excel to edit the custom poi files, you can do it with any text editor. There is a standard format for the .csv file described on this site. When you get more involved, read the getting started and the faqs.

Excel will remove a leading zero when saved as a csv file.

PoiEdit will truncate to five digits in the Lat/Lon positions.

Did you review the csv file in a text editor? That may show the problem.

The waypoints are already in my GPS with the correct format as the waypoints are people, places and things that are currently on the 2007 maps so there was no problem for the GPS to locate them and allow me to ad them as my favorites along with phone numbers. The problem comes in when I transfer my waypoints to Mapsource. Mapsource is jumbling the phone numbers in with the zip codes or it is cutting the phone number into a partial number with missing digits. I have tried to make adjustments in the comment section of Mapsource under the affected waypoint but no luck and when I exited out of mapsource and just happened to scroll through my waypoints in my Gps is when I discovered that Mapsource had cut most of the phone numbers attached to them. I didnt know Mapsource did this cause if so I dont like it. I liked the fact that it allows you to add numbers to your waypoints but not the fact that is distorts them. Also, mapsource actually changed waypoints that I had not even selected.

Anyone have an answer or suggestion for me?