UK Digital Maps Version 2 Northern England and Central Scotland

This software shows a large area of OS maps, that on other mapping software programs would cost a lot more. Usefully it covers the Lake District, North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales National Parks.

The maps are accurate, and this software has probably saved its cost in new maps several times over. The ability to interface with a handheld GPS really allows me to use the GPS to its limit; without the mapping software the GPS would just be a toy. I really like the ability to ride / walk a route then download the route and any interesting waypoints I mark back onto the map.

The problems come about from the software interface, if you make a mistake mid route, then you may as well start again. Once you have finished a route, minor adjustments are almost impossible to make, this means you have to start again! There is no way of converting a downloaded track into a new route for upload to the GPS. More options are needed for the line type for the route, a dashed or translucent line would allow you to see the path type on the map when following a route. To get the elevation files onto the system took several hours, and a huge amount of guesswork; the help file was useless. I think its a case of nice idea, poor excecution. If you are good at IT then its a bargain and you can work around the problems, but if your computer skills are limited you will be banging your head against the wall with this software.

I bought the Scotland and Northern England maps because I think that OS maps are excellent and these ones look like the business at a good price. If you want to look at and print maps on your computer, then these are good and I'd recommend them, but if you want to use them with your GPS, you might like to skip to the last paragraph.

The search is good offering a lot of detail - right down to the names of farms and such, and you can also enter co-ordinates (such as grid refs or lat and long) to be taken to the spot. You can't search for road names without buying the additional roads overlay. The interface tools are simple enough too - making it easy to operate once you spend five minutes reading the manual or help. The 3d view is gimmicky but fun, and you can steer a little aeroplane about if you want to - not a huge amount of practical use but does pass the time. The maps are 2004 I think, and based on OS ones, so the detail may not be that current. Certainly there is stuff in my local area that doesn't appear on them although it has been there for a while, but I guess this is a limitation of any map.

However, perhaps you are planning to use them with your GPS?. Before I purchased I went to some trouble to make sure that the mapping software would allow me to exchange routes, tracks and waypoints with my GPS - (Magellan 210). Although I got an assurance in writing from Fugawi that it would be possible, in fact it isn't. It's taken me about 3 months of negotiation with Fugawi to get this sorted out, and we're still going! They accept that I was given wrong information by their sales department prior to purchase but we're still not clear what they are going to do about it. They have also promised a patch to make it work, originally by mid October past, but this hasn't been forthcoming. So, rather like the previous reviewer, my advice is to check very carefully for compatibility before you buy.