This thread is to compare memory map (mm) and tracklogs (tl) from the perspective of a user who wants to up/download “routes” and waymarks to/from a gps and print a map whose expeditions are limited to day trips usually within the confines of the north/south downs and the chlterns. Pretty simple I think. I now have two gps units, an etrex legend (which superceded the basic yellow model) and a geko 201, the latter serving as a warning that visiting ebay when not quite sober can result in you buying something that you don’t need/want just because it seemed like a good idea at the time. by the way, it is a fabulous little unit.
the software runs on a 500mhz pc with 73gb drive, 768mb memory and a decent graphics card (well it was at the time I bought it) running win98se. A faster machine/different operating system would, of course, speed up and smooth out the moving bits but it also masks the software speed. I’m also not going into details about how you do things because that’s what the help file is for which, in the cas of tl is downloadedable from their site as a pdf file. Makes a very interesting read. Whilst mapping is a great tool, as well as being able to print out as many maps as you want, it also complements a gps allowing you to down/upload “routes” (more about that later) and to download where you’ve been and of course being able to share “routes” which makes the package greater than the sum of its parts.
To avoid you having to wade through all this if you don’t want to, the recommendation of what to buy is simple.
If you are not/don’t want to load maps into a pda or other handheld device of that ilk, tl wins (but you will have to wade thorough to find out why and what its limitations are)
If you do want to load maps into a pda or other handheld device of that ilk then it’s mm for the simple reason that tracklogs doesn’t support this i.e. you can’t do it
I started with memory map (mm) 2003 south and upgraded to mm 2004 south. why? It was a product I’d heard of and it was readily available. Then trouble started. It was always temperamental when it came to printing, grinding away interminably before deciding it didn’t really want to print anything at all. Some days it just wouldn’t connect to the gps or would connect to one and not the other. It would freeze, perhaps from boredom waiting for me to click something. These problems were usually overcome by either shutting it down and restarting it or a reboot. I put these difficulties down to using win98. it also took ages to clear itself out of memory when shut down. After applying an mm patch for 2004 the software just didn’t want to work at all. The last straw! Being muchly mad about this I immediately ordered tracklogs england (life is too short, sod the money, I don’t care, let me escape this pile of s**te type of thing)
So onto a comparison.
Installation Mm – as each disc is a sell alone product, each disc had the software, examples and demo on it. As with loading any software, I usually install everything and then get rid of what I don’t want. Mm will install everything so you get 6 copies of the same exapmle map etc. after playing with the product you can then wotk out what to get rid of. A bit irritating.
Tl - Painless with the software immediately recognising where things are and what’s already been installed.
using Both are easy to use but do things in a slightly different way and some features are, well, more personal preference rather than the software.
Point, click and lay down your path –easy. Both print a route card with mm also showing bearings. Oh “routes”. For the record – a route is where you are planning to go. A track is where you’ve been. The gps will let you start a route from the beginning or the end and will also allow you to track back along the track you’ve made e.g. how did I get here, where am i? switch gps to track back and it guides you back along the way you’ve just come. You can save a track in the gps and then follow this like a route……getting confused yet?
Mm makes a distinction between a route and a track and treats them differently.
Tl makes no distinction so the terms are interchangeable (read their help file, then read it a further 4 times so you can get your head around the concept, then read everything you can about gps so you know how the little beastie works and what its limits for tracks and routes are. Do not be afraid for eventually it’ll all sink in – think learning compass and map)
So I’ll use “route” to mean either.
Mm - route/track distinction can be mildly irritating but is something it’s easy to live with. It will allow you to convert a route to a track or a track to a route. I think it does neither of things very well, losing vital points on the “route”. This feature was hurriedly bolted onto the main software and it shows. It will also strip excess points out of a track but gives you no control over the amount it removes and doesn’t let you undo it. Tl – as there is no route/track distinction it doesn’t matter. It will let you (note! YOU rather than IT) strip excess points out of a track (e.g. on a straight line you only need the start and end points and not the points in between) and shows a nice little graphic of what it’s doing to the ”route”
You’ll understand the point of the point stripping when you learn about your gps but as a taster – you’re downloaded track may contain 1500 points but you can only load 750 points in a track back into your gps (of course, depends on the model) so you have to strip out all those useless ones.
Printing Mm – lets you print a sheet choosing either screen, area, scale etc. simple. But only on one sheet. Prints a route card which also shows bearings.
Tl – as mm but, and this is where it really scores, it will spread your “route” over how many pages you want and what scale you want and lets you bump the map about to get it centred. You choose, along with amount of overlap – perfect for a laminating session of a5 paper. In a nutshell, its printing is vastly superior to mm. prints a route card but with no bearings.
Uploading Mm – will upload routes and tracks Tl – will upload a “route” as a route or a track or both.
Pretty pictures Both will give you a 3d view of the terrain and let you fly through it.
Mm – clanky via a bolt on programme. Tl – smooth and fast.
Mm has a gazeteer, tl doesn’t – so if you don’t know where somewhere is you’re buggered.
Software impressions Mm – this is a more mature product and looks like it is/was primarily aimed at the road user with it uploading maps onto other equipment. Spotted the market for outdoors people and pushed it in that area. The result is a core programme with clumsily bolted on extras that do the job but do not do it smoothly and well. It will export “routes” in a variety of formats that can be used by other software.
Tl – a programme designed/written by outdoor people and as such its features emphasise that heritage as everything works smoothly. Only exports in tl format i.e. you can only use it with tl.
So the conclusion is If you want to upload maps into a pda or whatever and you’re not too fussed about a paper map then mm is your chappie.
If you want paper maps and don’t want to upload to a pda then tl is the clear winner. If/when tl get round to proper connectivity then merely consider mm as a dinosaur.
(typed all this in word which wants to make capital any letters it likes!)
Its lost me a little bit, but thats not hard to do! For our World Masters event (mountainrunningkeswick.org) next September we tried MM to use the fly through. Hit all sorts of snags with OS rules and printing profiles, ended up using Anquet who were very helpful with our needs. Only used GPS in conjuction with OS digitised tiles for survey work.
Riveting frank,totaly rivating,you must be on a different blend of something then most,wot you got in your platypus?mate.i have just joined stuey and fort totaly lost?i am sure some om member is going to break this down, and put it in Beano terms?.
After fighting with maps and profiles for our junior British & Irish hill running championships today, TrackLogs simplicity sounds good. I also like the sound of hippy hippies......or is that hippie hippy's? Coat on........
no gazeteer on tl is a pain but is not a reason not to buy it - it's just an irrtation. comparison is really for those gps users who haven't got electronic mapping or those who may be considering one or both. the distinction between route and track is important because the gps thinks it is important whereas it isn't in real life. mm makes this distinction and it is a real pain. for the best explanation you'll get is to read the tracklogs help file where all of this is explained very clearly (ok so i had to read it 4 times).
the conclusion is simple in my view. irrespective of annoyances, memory map for uploading to a pda. only buy memory map if you want to do this for it has no other redeeming features other than a gazeteer whereas tracklogs doesn't (just like an os map). if you are considering buying an electronic map post crow then look at tracklogs or anquet and if anquet can upload to a pda then it's even easier - don't buy memory map.
To late, I already bought MM :-( I suppose I'd better get a PDA :-)
At least I've got the consolation that MM England, Scotland & Wales was only £160 at F&T with the 25% off offer in the summer. TrackLogs looks like it would cost £260.
getting the whole country for tha price was rather good. keep us informed with your progress with mm. then you can let us know if the saving was worth £100! :-)
oh by the way, what i forgot to mention is that with tracklogs you can get 1:25000 maps with your own centre coordinates (or postcode) in different sizes e.g. 25x40km, 40x40km - they work out about 2-3 times more expensive than paper maps. you can buy just one small map from tracklogs whereas you are stuck with a whole area with mm. an ideal way to upgrade your paper maps post crow.
