Mexico's Bicimaps vs. E32 maps?

Holy smokes what detail-----------------I've got tracks all over Baja and zoomed in on them for a look ----------most of the time the tracks were on a road or trail on the map. I was so amazed--------I switched back to my very old baja map in mapsource and it was almost useless.

I've got one track over El Mano pass Southwest of Canon De Guadeloupe (Baja) that I only know of one person to ever try that remote route---------his track was shown right on a road or trail-------like I said amazing.

No auto routing the only drawback-------I can lay out routes but they will have to be point to point.
I agree-----------be nice to have the autorouting maps too.
But --------when in Mexico I avoid the cities like the plaque ----and that's where they would be most handy I would think.

Jilioins of POI's.

I don't really need the topo lines and really don't want them on my gps screen----but my 276C has the ability to turn off topo lines----------or as least it does with garmins topo maps.

Now----------I just need to go-------------calling my buddy "Dingleweeds"

Lucky turd-------lives right down close to the border.

BigDog

i disagree. all depends on how you use it.

since it's routable, Bicimaps is extremely usefull for those that are traveling the mainland and sticking to paved and primary dirt roads ie those visiting colonial cities and such and need to find the way through.
if you've ever driven through cities on the mainland you'll understand why routing is essential. i have and my gps was the only way i would have gotten though places. things are not organized nor labeled like in the US. funky 1 way streets are everywhere and roads don't go straight through. more than a few times i ended down an unknown street and need out to the next city. even pre-planning the route on a computer and then transferring to the gps didn't fly down on the ground. with auto-routing, i would select the road or next area over i needed to go on the gps and start moving. auto-routing and auto-recalculating got me through. E32 would not have been the choice here.
the 2013 Bicimaps is extremely packed with roads now.

on the other hand there were times i was riding remote dirt roads and there was no detail on Bicimaps but E32 did show the way. for Baja yes E32 is ideal if you would only choose 1. for the mainland savvy travelers have both loaded & choose Bicimaps if only choosing 1.

you have to buy CA maps separate from Mexico.
http://www.bicimapas.com.mx/LatAm_Eng.htm
http://www.bicimapas.com.mx/MexicGPSAtlasEn.htm
if you are planning a US to Panama run this winter then these 2 packages would be the ultimate for your GPS.

My apologies... I should've mentioned that I was referring to the Baja only in endorsing e32 map. e32 is my favourite map riding offroad as well as planning and laying a track (not a route) down to transfer to my 60CSx. Before finalizing the track, I always cross reference the track to a bicimapas map to compare as well as google earth to verify accuracy too.
I haven't travelled the mainland since 2004 (didn't have gps in those days !!) so can't speak to the detail and accuracy there. Paper maps and compass was the order of the day then!!!!! Maybe it's time to upgrade my bicimapas to the latest map, as I do use it on occasion.

I have Garmins latest City Navigator on a Nuvi which includes Mexico. Recently it did an excellent job finding my way through Mexicalli and Ensenada (again, Baja). All highways travelled were very accurate in upper Northern Baja. The 60CSx has the topo maps on it which I brought out when I was tracking down a remote pit during the last Baja 1000. (One can never have enough gps units, you know )

I'm curious as to what gps you're using with bicimapas and e32. Routing on my 60CSx sucks............ that's when I bring out the Nuvi. Bigger screen and voice prompts help in heavy traffic.


Looks like the best option is to purchase both (or three) and have the best of all worlds It's what works for me!!


I'm interested in BigDogs comment with his 276C having the ability to turn off topo lines. Maybe it's time to add another gps to my inventory.

Cheers

Yes---I always turned the topo lines off with the 276C-----------I swore the 60CSX has that ability too.
You can still buy 60CSX's as everyone knows---------but the 276's have not been produced for years and it's rare you'll find one for sale. I bought several in the last couple of years so I'd have them till I died.
I think everyone that is wanting new------is buying the Montana----and I don't know if you can turn the topo lines off with it or not.

BigDog

I'm a long time 60CSx user and do not believe it is possible to turn off (hide) the contour lines. Setting the detail level lower and turning on "De-clutter" may help with how busy the screen looks but some contour line remain.

I know my old Garmin V had a setting for what zoom level contours displayed including "Never".

Would love to know if this function has been added back for the Montana.

Bruce

Yeah, I was all over the "turn topo lines off" on my 60csx, but can't find any way to do so. Sure would be a great feature to have. It seems the only way to define a track line and topo line is to change the color of the track. (Being color deficient adds to the challenge!) Blue line during the day and white line during darkness.

Any montana owners know if this feature is on their units?

I think I'm going to pursue the notion of finding a 276C unit.

The Bicimapas Atlas for 2013 contains Mexico and Central America in one package.

<<<new for="" 2013<="" b=""> we now include our Central America GPS Map in a single package with topographic coverage with 20 meter (60 feet) contour interval in all 7 countries: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.>></new>

oh nice. i missed that. that is now THE gps package for those riding mexico & CA.

60csx won't do it. I use Base Camp on my pc and there's an option there to do turn the lines off.

For US I use 24k maps. Is the 100k better in the sense of less clutter when following a track? Any down side to the 100k?

going to baja monday and I need to buy e32. where the hell can i buy this from online??
thanks

marios

Did you try their website?
http://www.cartografiagps.com/mape32/presentations.htm

Has anyone successfully done this installation? After some struggling, I finally have the map installed onto an 8GB microSD card in the unit, after changing the device from MTP to a mass storage device so that windows would recognize the card. But the GPS won't read the map - at all. The only thing I can think of is that I had purchased this maps under the unit ID of my old GPS (streetpilot 2820) and perhaps there is a disconnect with the Unit ID of the new 350LM.

I have updated the software/firmware (2.7) of the 350LM so there should be no issues there. I have tried a clean reload the maps using Mapsource, after the firmware update, in case there was a problem with the original download to the card. The only thing that changed was the message the 350LM gives on start up. Before firmware update it said "cannot activate map", now after firmware update and clean download to 8GB card in device it says "cannot unlock maps". Neither do the maps appear in the list of "mymaps" in the 350LM menu system.

I had contacted Bicimapas via their facebook page and their advice was to update firmware on the 350LM, which they said worked for them. I did that and no luck. I have since contacted them and not received any reply.

Anyone have luck with this?

Marc

You need to get a new unlock code based on the unit ID of your new GPSr.

Got it sorted out with help from Bicimapas. And yes it was the unlock code. They sent me a new one and bingo... Unlocked and working. Thanks for the reply!!

Has anyone put the bicimapas 2013 on a Garmin Montana?
Their web site says to use mapsource but I don't think my Montana will work in anything but basecamp.
The last trip to Mexico I screwed up the down load of my E32 maps and don't want to screw up again.

E32 just released version 2014.Its got some tracks for baja and copper canyon included.I am going to try it out next month in baja.Problem is that the gps is smarter than the operator.

Anyone know how the Bicimaps compare to the Garmin Mexico TOPOs that seen to use the Bicimaps db ? particularly for Baja ?

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/digital/prod127966.html?pvID=128254#gallery-dialog

The quality of the Belize and Guatemala maps are quite a bit lower then the Mexico map.
Most of the small to medium towns only show the main road. It was enough to get by but no where near the detail of the Mexico map.