Mexico's Bicimaps vs. E32 maps?

After doing a search on both map sets and looking at their websites with the latest updates, I'm still a little confused. Both map sets sell for about $105 but, which map set would be a good choice for riding both on and off road in Baja? Also, I would like to ride mainland Mexico next year using the same map set.

I'll be installing the maps on a Garmin 60csx.

From my personal experience on living, trail riding and exploring Baja starting on basic compass and Baja Expedition map on my car, to garmin 38, 45, garmin II, garmin III, garmin V and presently my trusty 276c and 60cs that i switch back and forth beteen bike and truck.
U have all maps available for Mexico.
Fort the most accurate and most up to date Topographical of Mexico, nothing and i mean nothing beats E32 maps. I recently upgraded to the 2010 revision and the WOW factor is amazing.
Again only way you can tell is to do a comparison betwen all masp which i do own and on my bike i toggle between bicimapas and e32 when i am on in Tijuana, Tecate and Ensenada but when the pavement ends...
E32 all the way. I have a place down in valle de guadalupe and recently 7 riders rode from my house to rancho Melling at sierra San Pedro Martir to wartch this years Baja 1000. We did the traditional ride that most off roaders take between Ojos Negros to Mike's and beyond and next day rode the coast doing the race course and being passed by many leftover participants that were way over due to the finish line and the accuracy of the maps is spot on.
Hope this helps anybody that likes exploring baja .

E32 has more off road detail which by most reports are pretty accurate. It has more trails than bicimapas. By the way, with E32, "Brecha" means dirt road, "Verada" means trail.

E32 does not auto route and Bicimapas does, if that's important to you.

I have both maps but have not done enough comparisons to recommend one over the other. Both providers are putting out updates every year, so the support is good.

Flip a coin and pick one

Hill climber, Glad you brought this up. i forgot to mention that observation. that is the reason why i have both mapsets depending if i am drivind/riding in town or hitting the trails. off road dont need no stinkin autoroute...

Yeah, for the extra $100, it's worth it to have both. I've only once had to refer to both maps to figure a shortest way out... E32 had the answer!
Put some waypoints in, look at the gps when you figure you need to and you're good to go

Thank you for the responses. It looks like the best choice for me is the E32 and I'll also pick up the Baja Almanac (still a paper map guy at heart).

I am very close to making the decision to buy the Cartografica E32 map. There are a couple of things that are holding me back.

First I am a Macintosh user. The website says that the E32 map is Macintosh compatible, anyone tried this map who is a Macintosh user?

Second, I currently own a newly locked, formerly unlocked copy of BiCiMapas Mexico GPS Atlas v3.2 upgraded to v3.8. Garmin changed their unlock code system to eliminate hackers. This has caused big problems for those of us who have the BiCiMapas Mexico GPS Atlas. Upgrading Garmin Map Install to a later version than 2.1.1 will cause the map to lock. In addition, upgrading Base Camp for Mac to the latest version 3.0.1 will cause the map to lock. What has Cartografica done to overcome the Garmin lock problem?

Third, I've seen some screen shots of the Cartografica E32 map that display the area from Tecate east to Rumorosa BC Mexico and south to below Rancho El Compadre on the El Compadre road. When I compare this screen shot to the same view using the BiCiMapas Mexico Atlas, there are clearly many more ranches identified on the Mexico Atlas map. The E32 map clearly has far more roads and topographical detail displayed, however. The names of the ranches are very important for navigation. I do not know the version of the E32 map that I saw, it could be old and all of the ranches are now listed on the latest map. The Mexico Atlas was version 3.8.

Fourth, there does not seem to be any retail outlets in the USA for the E32 map. I'm in San Diego, CA and dealing with a Mexican retailer is not a big deal to me, but it would be nice to buy the product in the United States.

Fifth, I could just upgrade the BiCiMapas Mexico map, but they do not support Macintosh. I would have to buy the PC version, ask someone with a PC to load Map Convert, download the map to their PC, convert the map to the Macintosh compatible format, load it to my Macintosh, do this each time I want to upgrade the map program and hope that their PC map will continue to work as Garmin fights off the hackers who caused this problem to begin with. And, other than the issues that I listed above, I think the E32 map is a superior product that comes in a Macintosh compatible format.

Can anyone offer suggestions on what to do? Could someone post a screen shot from the latest version of E32 of the area that I described above, so I could compare with my version of BiCiMapas? Thanks for any help on this perplexing dilemma.

Good luck with bicimapas. The software has never worked well with my Garmin 550 and the support sucks.

There is another Good option, you might want to check it out http://www.cartografiagps.com/index2.htm

regards

Omar

Omar,
I sent an email to the CONTACT address for Cartografica GPS with questions about the E32 map, I never received a reply. See my questions and concerns above, posted by BAJA FOOL.

The questions I would like you to answer are:
I have a Macintosh computer, running OSX 10.6.3. Is your map
compatible with my computer?

Have you solved the problem that Garmin created when they locked your
maps?

Are you going to add more names of ranches, especially for Baja
California and Baja California Sur?

Do you have an American source for your map?

When I look at the ordering instructions to buy online, the ad shows a
picture of a CD, but the description says that the MAC version is only
available as an Internet download, I am confused. This is what the ad
reads:

E32 CD-MAC
GO GREEN
Available on Internet
version only

Hello Bajafool I dont remember recieving your mail but I can gladly answer your questions right here..

- the map E32 2010 is compatible with Mac and works ok but for the moment you need to have Roadtrip v. 2.0.1 and mapinstall 2.1.0 so the map can work.

- we are working on solving this issue with the codes, maybe in a month

- we allready added thousands of ranches a litle towns to all mexico since this 2010 update

- we do not have a distributor in the US yet

- the picture of the CD is just to ilustrate the section but the mac version is only available by download, actually for outside Mexico we only have the download version available.

regards

Omar Ortiz

Omarin,
I sent you a private message.

Baja Fool

Bajafool we are pleased to inform you that we have solved the issue with the map E32 not working with the new versions of Roadtrip and Mapinstall for Mac and the new versions of Mapsource and BaseCamp for PC, you can purchase your map now.

regards

Omar Ortiz<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
Director<o></o>
Cartografía GPS<o></o>
http://www.cartografiagps.com<o></o>
http://cartografiagps.blogspot.com<o></o>

Omarin,
Thanks for the update. I apologize for the slow response to you.

I used the E32 maps for a short trip down to Northern Baja last weekend. They worked great, the whole transfer into Basecamp for Mac was easy, and the mapset had even the smallest goat trails. Good stuff.
Thanks, Omar.

Mtndragon,
The issue that I was discussing with Omarin was that Garmin made some software changes earlier this year to improve security that caused his Mexico map and the Mexico map produced by BiCiMapas to lock (e.g. you could no longer view the maps on your computer or reload them to your Garmin GPS).

The only way to view/upload the maps was delete Map Install v.2.15 and use Garmin MapInstall for Mac v.2.11 or earlier. If using a PC, you had to use a Map Source that was earlier than version 6.15.9 (i.e., v.6.15.7). In addition, the update of Garmin´s United States and Europe map, would lock your maps on your computer.

Base Camp for Macintosh was affected similiarly. If you updated from Base Camp 2.1.1 (Mac) to Base Camp 3.0.1 (Mac) your map would become unviewable.

So, do you have the latest versions of Map Source for PC or Map Install and Basecamp for Macintosh? Are you using the latest version of Cartograficas E32 2010? Is everything working OK?

I want to buy the latest Cartograficas E32 map for Macintosh. I do, however, want to ensure that it will work in every way with the latest versions of Garmin Map Install, Base Camp and Road Trip for Macintosh. Do diligence, do diligence, do diligence.

Bajafool-
I am running the latest versions of Basecamp, Mapinstaller, and Mapmanager, as well as the latest version of the E32 maps. Everything worked very well, and it was seamless. I did purchase the Windows version of the E32 maps, and then converted it for Mac, as I wanted to have a Mapsource version of the E32 Maps as well. I was/am a little hesitant to completely use the Mac/Basecamp side, as I am very use to Mapsource. Basecamp for Mac still crashes a bit, and won't send data straight to my Zumo, but for the last Baja trip I did, and the current trip into the Sierra Nevada that I am on, Basecamp worked, and I see myself using the Mac side and Basecamp more and more in the future. I actually prefer sending the necessary maps to the GPS with Mapinstaller, and the latest version of the E32 maps played well with everything.

Mtndragon,
Thank you for the feedback. I definitely am more impressed with the quality of the Cartograficas E32 map when compared to the BiCiMapas Mexico GPS Atlas. I guess it is time to get on with ordering a map. By the way, over on the Garmin Mac thread in the "Layin' down tracks" forum, there is a brief discussion of the demise of Road Trip and info on the latest (last week) update to Base Camp for Mac. See this link at pages 106 to 107: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331421