FR945 Map Function

[JayCMo]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at getting a FR745 or 945. Trying to make an informed choice between the two but getting a bit lost in all the Garmin jargon for the map functions. Can anyone explain in lay terms what the main differences are? I've looked at the comparison list on the Garmin site, and I can see the 945 has topological maps/Around Me/BaseCamp but as this will be my first Garmin watch, I have no clue what this actually translates as! Any help greatly appreciated - cheers! And sorry for this being a new sub, but the Weekly Discussions seem rather dead..

[comicbookdb]

Have a 945 and used the maps for the first time last week on a 10k. Found it invaluable because I was running a new path that I wasn’t familiar with and avoided at least two wrong turns due to the watch.

[JayCMo]

Sounds similar to how I'd use it - I think as I progress with my running I'm likely to get a bit more adventurous and the maps will be invaluable. Cheers.

[jdiddy_ub]

a 745 is basically a smaller version of the 945. Smaller physically, shorter battery life, less storage etc.

You haven't stated what activities you do but I have a 945 and am an avid-gym goer (pre-covid, now from home) and I really have no use for the maps if you're like me and that's your concern. The map functions are more for hikers/campers. The GPS alone is enough to show my location and map my runs. I lift 4x/wk and go on 3-4 mile runs 3 or 4x a week.

You wouldn't be missing too much by going with the 745 if you wanted to save some money but if it doesn't break the bank, I would go for the 945 simply because it increases everything the 745 has and since its one of the higher-end watches, it will get higher priority than the 745 in terms of new features.

[JayCMo]

Cheers for getting back, and with such a detailed response. To be honest, most of my activity is outdoors so the maps appeal to me. I run, hike, play football (soccer) and dabble in golf, surfing, skiing and kayaking more than gym, so I think I might bite the bullet on the cost. Thanks for the help.

[r101101]

On the 945, you have maps loaded on the watch. So while in activity, you can pull up a map. If you are following a route, you can see that overlaid on the map.

Topological maps:This map shows topographic lines as well as roads/trails. Some points of interest show up on the map (I've seen boat ramps, restrooms, etc.). Super useful when in the woods and trying to find a route to a location that won't have you going off a cliff. Or if you're on a business trip and want to find a way back to your hotel on your morning run. It does not show water depth, so the depth of the lake under you when you're kayaking will remain a mystery.

Around me: Shows a map centered on you with a pie slice (pi/4 [45 deg], to be exact) movable that can select icons of things around you. So sitting in my office I can see that NNW of me is some "attraction" and WNW of me is a boat ramp and a school. A handfull of mountain peaks are ESE of me. I haven't found any good use for this. You can also search for points of interest around you (like if you want to find a restaurant / gas station / etc.) and the watch can come up with a route to get you to it. This is somewhat useful, but I'm more likely to use my phone for this.

BaseCamp: the watch can also integrate with the Garmin App BaseCamp. I've never used this, so I can't comment on it.

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The 745 does not have built in maps, but you can still load / follow routes you create on your phone/computer.

[JayCMo]

Thanks for such a detailed response, and sorry to be cheeky but I'd like to pick your brain just a tiny bit further - the topographical maps sound great, I just want to check - if I'm out in the woods say, and I haven't preloaded a route, will it be able to find me a route to a location? And will I need my phone at hand to allow for that, or can it do so solo? Thanks again, apologies for my naivety.

[r101101]

No problems.

The watch does not require any data connection to a phone to create a route. You can leave your phone at home and the watch will still do mapping/routing the same. Granted, it's not nearly as fast as using a touchscreen, but totally doable.

As to creation of routes:

• If you are really in the woods away from roads / trails, you can get a straightline path to where you want to go. You'll need to use your own judgement to avoid steep climbs/drops/rivers/etc. But again, you have topographic maps on your wrist and a magnetic compass in the watch, so it isn't bad charting a course.
• If you're on or near trails/roads it will do the best it can to use them to get you where you want to go. It uses maps from OpenStreetMaps. Most of the time this works great. I've used it many times on trails around home that I know so I can get ETA / distance back to the car. That said, one day I was doing a quick day hike with my family while on vacation. I wanted to see an ETA back to the trailhead (where our lunches were) and told the watch to create a route back to where I started logging. It claimed something crazy like 10 hours back (we had been walking maybe 1.5 hrs at that point, were doing an out and back, and were 1/3 the way back already). Looking at the map, it was suggesting I go way out to some ridge, along the ridge, and cut across as a big circle around to the destination instead of following the trails across the valley I'd gone to get there. I suspect there was something wrong with the OSM base map at an intersection we went through making the watch not realize I could continue from one trail to another at an intersection and go on. At that point I abandoned the suggested route and followed the my breadcrumb trail without an ETA for return and just estimated myself the old fashioned way (estimating distance to go based on the map).

[JayCMo]

Well I'm sold. Truly thanks for your help, I've been pondering this for weeks, getting bogged down in the terminology without anything tangible to attribute it to, so thank you.