Laptops

[twowheelstom]

i bought a asus vivobook 14 inch windows 11 laptop online order, and i hope when it comes i can download Basecamp on it

[Mzokk]

But now the I pad is my fall back solution. Wifi Access from my phone hotspot if I need it. I have a lifetime subscription to MyRouteApp, which I rarely use - I still prefer Basecamp - mainly because MRA does not do Garmin's Waypoints, and you cannot create your own POIs and have them transfer to Zumo Favourites - but it works well on the ipad. Later Zumos with Drive and Tread apps allow gpx files to be emailed and transferred to the Zumo. Im not sure whether Smartphone link for the 590/595 does the same thing. I never tried.

@jfheath I also use Basecamp and MRA. What do you mean by "MRA does not do Garmin waypoints". When creating routes in MRA Any of the waypoints/shaping points (MRA speak/Garmin speak) can be converted into Via points (Waypoints in Garmin). Also if you have POI's you can transfer these to your POI library in MRA. Then if you create a route in MRA you can tick your custom POI's in MRA and these are transferred to your Garmin device along with your route and Track and end up in your Favourites.

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I don't particularly like this method as for large POI datasets. The one above is for picnic areas in Ireland and I have one for public loos (being a man of a certain age . But this clogs up your "favourites" on the device and I prefer .gpi files for that purpose. For small data sets (I.e Castles near a tour route) the MRA method would be fine.

I use MRA on tour now with just my phone for planning and a big paper map for the wider view. Then transfer the routes to my Garmin XT via drive. For older devices (I have a 340, 390 and BMW nav4) you can transfer routes from MRA direct to these units using a cable. I plug the Garmin cable directly into my Android phone via a USB A to C adaptor. The old units appear in google files app on the phone and you can transfer the GPX files directly to the unit or an installed SD card.

[jfheath]

Hmm

I asked MRA about this a while back. Maybe they have improved - I wanted to create my own POIs, include them in my routes - and have them appear in Favourites. They said No. Why would you want to do that ?

Let me check out what you suggested.

[jfheath]

@jfheath I also use Basecamp and MRA. What do you mean by "MRA does not do Garmin waypoints". When creating routes in MRA Any of the waypoints/shaping points (MRA speak/Garmin speak) can be converted into Via points (Waypoints in Garmin). Also if you have POI's you can transfer these to your POI library in MRA. Then if you create a route in MRA you can tick your custom POI's in MRA and these are transferred to your Garmin device along with your route and Track and end up in your Favourites.

I know that you can get the inbuilt POIs to appear in your Favourites / Saved / Waypoint store on the Zumos.

What I have been unable to do is to create my own POI and have that transferred. I note that there is a new to me Upload feature. Perhaps that is what you mean? I'll check out what format these have to be in.

Just for info - a Waypoint in Garmin is a bit like a POI in MRA.

Any route point can be set to via or shaping.
But a Via point is not the same as a Waypoint. A waypoint is pre-saved and can contain additional information (eg address, phone number etc).
Zumos tend to treat Waypoints (whether set as Vias or Shaping) with a little more respect - they don't change their name or position, for example.

[jfheath]

Yes OK. Got it.

Many thanks for that insight. I rarely come back to MRA - partly because of that stumbling block - I could not find any way of doing it before - but it must have been a couple of years ago, and their support didn't help.

I was just creating a file of nice little hotels from a book I bought - just last night. So I had a simple GPX file handy - and it imported easily and I could build a route from it, and the waypoints were declared properly and will transfer to the Zumo.

Will it convince me to use MRA instead ? I don't know. I've got lifetime membership - probably a little short of lifetime !

Thanks.

[Mzokk]

I'm not sure when the facility was added I've only used the app since June 23. Its fine for small data sets like for example I used it in Ireland last year for the Photo Rally with 27 points across the country. But for large data sets it makes favourites hard to find and gpi via POI loader is a better option. I use Qgis to mine data from OSM.

This is amenity loos for the UK and Ireland. I have them loaded as POI's in my Garmin devices with a 0.5 mile proximity warning, which is visual and a raspberry blowing audible warning........because while I'm retired my mental age is 9

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I tend to use basecamp to pre-plan routes but also keep copies on MRA. I sometimes use MRA but the big advantage for me that its easy to create bespoke routes "on the fly" on my phone (or an Ipad) without having to cart a windows device around with me when on tour. During my first tour using MRA I took an I pad with me. The last couple of times I just used my phone and plotted the routes off a paper map. If required I could change plans or edit the routes saved on MRA on my phone. For a small screen solution its very easy to use.

[jfheath]

I agree - I have found the Ipad very useful with MRA when a complete change of the original plan was called for, and being able to email it the gpx file to the phone and send it Via Drive was excellent. I suppose I could have ipad paired to the XT as well as to the phone - I never tried that at the time. But the ipad would be off completely when navigating, so there would be no risk of interference.

I like the idea of mining data from Qgis. I have that and use it occasionally - but never have done for that. I have to remind myself how to use it, each time I load it up.

[twowheelstom]

I sent my new Asus Vivobook 14" laptop back because it refused to do Updates on Windows 11, so my wife bought a new Apple iMac 2024 and gave me her old 2013 High Sierra iMac to use, I'm on it now, and not doing too badly since I am an only Microsoft Windows person and know nothing whatsoever about Apple lol. but making slow progress with this out of date dinosaur
now I'm thinking of trying to download the Garmin programs Express and Basecamp on this iMac, I think this old computer has uses, since it has a 1TB HDD, wish me luck lol.

[twowheelstom]

after shipping my windows 11 laptop back, I am now thinking of switching operating systems from microsoft windows to apple macbook

[lkraus]

I'm convinced there are "Apple people" and "PC/Android people", with brains wired completely differently.

Use whatever works for you.