Managing GPS Receiver Memory

If you own a GPS receiver that uses a memory card, congratulations! I personally like the versatility these receivers offer (such as stuffing a bunch of maps onto a single, large-capacity memory card). This section talks about how to get the most out of your memory card GPS receiver. If your GPS receiver uses only a cable to connect to a computer, you can skip this section. Better yet, read along to see how memory cards work for transferring data.
If your GPS receiver supports using a memory card, you have some significant advantages when exchanging data with a computer, including

• Upload speed: Uploading maps from your computer to a GPS receiver is considerably faster with a memory card than via a serial port cable. Because GPS receivers communicate at a fairly low baud rate, transferring 10–20MB of map data can take a long time (up to hours depending on how the serial port is configured).
• Affordable and practical: Memory cards have gotten inexpensive over the years. You can load frequently used maps on several cards and not bother with repeatedly uploading data from map program CDs. You can easily pick up a 128MB memory card, which I’d recommend as a minimum size, for under $40. I like to use Froogle (http://froogle.google.com) to find the best prices online.
• More storage: Memory cards give you considerably more storage than GPS receivers with fixed amounts of internal memory. You can currently purchase memory cards that provide between 8–512MB of data storage. Handheld GPS receivers that don’t support memory cards might have only 1–115MB of internal storage.
• Versatility: You can use the memory card in your PDA, digital camera, and cellphone (if all the devices support the same type of card).
• Minimal settings: When using a memory card, you don’t need to worry about COM ports, baud rates, and protocols when transferring data. (However, if you’re using your GPS receiver with a laptop and cable connected to a moving map program, you still have to contend with getting all the settings just right.)