Is it realy  the end for the older garmin models when it comes to map updates?

A partial YES, garmin only wants to sell new models and they stopped the support for the older models. I said a partial YES,  because there is something happening in the world of  the mapmakers.

In the year 2004 Steve Coast started with a project to make mapdata available for the public. This project is called Openstreetmap. A huge team of volunteers is working on the database to get is as complete as possible. Thansk to donations of Automotive Navigation Data, US Census TIGER and others, the database made a big leap forward.

This databse motivated a lot of other people to generate maps based on this database. One of the biggest collections of maps I’ve found on the internet is the Cloudmade collection.

Beside the last download link, you will find a lot of other download links here

If you want to read more about this project or you think that you can contribute then check out de Wiki and the openstreetmaps forum.

The “flitspaalkaarten” filled a gap in the original garmin information but the structure of the maps became obsolete. It was a hell of a job to add new parts or new information. For that reason, we did a total remake of the Poimap structure and database.

A new structure, a new website, the possebility to have worldwide coverage and direct user interaction. The Poi Maps are suitable for every type of garmin GPS that can handle CityNavigator maps. However the primairy design goal are the “older” models with no ore partial Poi support. Poi Maps is not using the small Poi memory, but the bigger map memory to store the information. This makes it possible that the “older” garmin models can store thousands of Pois.

Still users can’t directly add big amounts of Pois, but by sending there own Poi database to Poi Maps Europe it will be added to the Maps in the next update.

Next to the Radartraps you’ll find ATM’s and campsites all over europe. We are working on a database with motorcycle dealers and more.

You also find a forum for direct user support and a seperate F.A.Q. voor almost all your questions.

As of 12 juli version 3.0 is released.

The Poi Maps Europe team.