Installing new maps onto my Garmin 2557LMT

I suggest that you start by looking over the information here https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/maps/on-the-road-maps/c452-c... .Once you decide on the maps you want you will see different tabs for

Overview
Requirements
Accessories
Coverage
Compatible Devices

I believe a lot of questions will get answered once you review the information.

Thank you for your reply. I have already visited that web site but it does not answer a number of my questions. Is the download similar to downloading updated maps? When I download the map is there an option to go to the external drive? Should I download the new map onto an external drive on my laptop then move the microSD from my laptop to Garmin device.

I’m just trying to figure out what is the best way to get the new map onto my Garmin device.

You can now buy and download supplemental maps through Express. It will install the map to your internal drive if there is space or ask for a SD card if there isn't.

The advantage of buying the card from Garmin is you can sell it on afterwards as the map is locked to the card not the device. The download is locked to your device so is of no use to anyone else.

Thanks for your reply.

Would I be required to use basecamp if I purchased a SD card with the map on it? Currently I use Street & Trips to plan my trips and then upload the routes onto my Garmin.

Does the device give me an option of which map I want to use when I turn it on (assuming that I have the micro SD card installed)?

Kinda odd that a microSD card is cheaper than downloading the map.

Can I restore the Garmin device if I run into an issue by simply coping the files from my laptop directly into the device?

Cheers,
Art

Yes, I suspect you would need to use BaseCamp but I've been using it for years for planning trips on my handheld and auto devices and find it easy to use, others will disagree

No option to choose a map when you turn on but you can enable/disable maps through the menus, but provided the maps don't overlap you can leave them both enabled.

Not sure what trouble you envisage but always wise to make a backup. If things do then go wrong having a backup may help, depending on what has gone wrong.

Thanks for your reply.

I am currently using Streets & Trips to create a route and then upload the GPX file directly into Garmin.

I really need to know if Basecamp is the only option if I add additional maps.

Is there anyway to confirm this?

Cheers,
Art

Deleted because answer was incorrect after re-reading the OP. Sorry.

You can always send a gpx file to your device, as you've done in the past. However if as you suggest you are going to buy a map on a sd card or download a map to one then you will need some way of viewing that map if you wish to plan routes using it, BaseCamp will do that for you.

Whether Streets and Trips will allow you to do so I'm not a 100% sure as it's a long time since I had anything to do with that program but I don't believe so.

There are a couple of points you need to be aware of if you are using S&T to plan your routes.

S&T routes only load the start and end point to the Garmin. Any waypoint information or shaping data is not loaded by Garmin so the route needs to be checked closely. Otherwise the Garmin will recalculate the route based on its own internal routing engine. The only way to get a truly customized route is to either do it on the unit itself (a real bear) or use BaseCamp which can have a learning curve. Thankfully there are some decent tutorials and videos on how to use and set up BaseCamp.

As to your second point about viewing other Garmin maps, BaseCamp is your only option. MapSource can also be used, but it was discontinued by Garmin a few years ago and is not readily available to my knowledge.

... MapSource is still available, but unlike BaseCamp cannot read maps from a card so isn't really suitable.

Thanks. I think I now understand my confusion.

I can safely upload a map directly into my Garmin device via a SD card or I can upload the maps from Garmin via Garmin Express onto my device. Once the maps are installed I can create routes via Streets & Trips and upload them to my device.

Basecamp comes into play if I want to download a route from my Garmin device onto my laptop. So far, I have not needed to do so.

I think I got it – thanks.

One last question.

If I copy all of the files from my Garmin device onto my laptop as a backup, can I simply copy these files back to my Garmin device in case I need to restore my device?

Cheers,
Art

You can either load the maps to your sd card or your device, but if you use Express it will do one or the other automatically depending on the amount of space needed and what is free on your device.

BaseCamp comes into play IF you want to route plan using the maps on your device. If you're quite happy sending a .gpx file created by another program direct to your device you don't need BaseCamp. Be aware though you might not end up with the route you expect.

You should certainly make a back up of all the files on your device. Just note that IF something goes wrong simply copying them back may not resolve the problem.

Thanks for that tip!

Do you have a better way to restore the Garmin device if I need to? There is a tutorial on backing Garmin files but I don't see a tutorial on restoring.

Cheers,
Art

.. is described in the manual. After that if things go wrong it very much depends on what happens. Provided you have a full backup your best bet is to come here and ask when it happens

Thank you