BlueNav vs. BlueChart

[foxden]

I am not looking for an evaluation of Magellan vs. Garmin GPS, but rather a comparison of the nautical charts they use. I understand the BlueNav (Magellan) contains 83 different charts and once unlocked a user can download any one of them for use. With Garmin, my understanding is that while the CD contains many charts you only unlock one that you can use, if you want others you need to buy additional unlock codes.<br /><br />Is this correct, and which do you users prefer?

 

[dingbat]

Re: BlueNav vs. BlueChart

The Magellan website says that you can only unlock one area so it's no different than Garmin it appears.<br />As for the charts. The Megellan Bluenav website is pretty bleak so it’s hard to tell anything at all about this product, but it appear that I would need to purchase 3 charts to cover the same area my Bluechart covers with just one.<br /><br />I’ve owned Magellan units and have now got Garmin and I don’t think I’ll be changing back anything real soon. Get he Bluechart

 

[foxden]

Re: BlueNav vs. BlueChart

According to what I read it said "Once your CD is activated, MapSend BlueNav charts can be uploaded from your computer to a Secure Digital (SD) memory card via the built-in SD card slot of your Magellan Meridian GPS receiver or directly to the built-in memory of your SporTrak Pro GPS receiver. This MapSend BlueNav CD North America is ideal for mariners who wish to utilize a large number of charts interchangeably by over-writing new charts for each new journey" <br /><br />This sure implies you can use any of the charts, just one at a time.

 

[swist]

Re: BlueNav vs. BlueChart

From what I know the Bluecharts are supposed to be closest in apperance and level of detail to the NOAA paper charts. Too bad they're proprietary to Garmin.

 

[oldgreybeard]

Re: BlueNav vs. BlueChart

If you buy the blue nav CD you can load any chart onto the SD card. You can then replace it at will with any other chart on the CD. The documentation is correct that only 1 chart may be open at a time on either the PC or GPS unit. Also you can not load charts on more than 1 SD card.

 

[dingbat]

Re: BlueNav vs. BlueChart

I went thru the steps of ordering a chart on-line and was asked to select either a XL NA or local NA CD that covered my area. I choose to use a XL chart and used the menu to select the Chart XYZ that covered the area in question. So far so good. When I went in to look at the details of chart XYZ it shows me that the area is divided up between 3 different charts and here in lies the problem. If you can only have 1 one of these "sub-charts" open at a time then they are pretty useless to me since I typically travel in an area that would require me to load at least two charts at a time to cover my travels .

 

[PeteHarris]

Re: BlueNav vs. BlueChart

I have garmin Blue chart ... Yes you can only unlock one "region" at a time, but that region contains all of the NOAA charts, from the big gods eye view down to individual high detail charts of inlets, etc. You switch charts based on your zoom, or manually. My "region" covers Charleston, SC up to the DELMARVA penninsula (chesapeake) to include rivers (potomac, neuse, etc) and anything else saltwater (core sound, back bays, etc).

 

[Constancia]

Re: BlueNav vs. BlueChart

Bluecharts user here. Just upgraded to version 6.5. These are the only charts I've used, so I can't say anything about the Blue Nav ones. As others have said, you can unlock one region. The region I use covers from northern California all the down past Cabo San Lucas, as well as the Sea of Cortez where I fish most often. That's a big area. The level of detail in the charts is excellent. My only gripe would be having to fork over another $75 to upgrade a region I already paid for, but I guess they've got to pay for doing the upgrades somehow. <br />I do trip planning on the charts, have all my reef fishing coordinates stored on the map, and upload my trip logs after fishing trips to analyze where I was and what I did. I'm able to use the charts with my GPS 76 map handheld and the new 162 fixed mount unit on my boat. Easy to use and no problems so far.<br /><br />Stuart