Part of the post I am replying to asked:
"Is it worth the cost of purchasing a CD-Rom to download maps?"

That I can't answer directly but have some comments and questions.

I just received a Garmin Etrex Mariner which is a Venture plus a marine mark database built in. These are both non mapping units.

So I have been doing some on-line investigation. The Garmin "BlueChart" map/software is not cheap at $152 MSRP which includes 1 "unlock" of one of the regions on it.

My related question:

Is there any cheaper shareware or freeware available for basic way point entry and track viewing using charts or maps?

I downloaded and have been trying out "GPS Utility" (http://www.gpsu.co.uk/). It seems like a nice little program to capture and map waypoints and tracks from the GPS and to enter waypoints and tracks back to the GPS. However, it does not come with maps. You can overlay any map you can download or scan over the GPS map. You can then visually see where you went or do data entry for loading back on the GPS via point and click. Note by entering a track via point and clicks over a map, I can upload a simple map (ie body of water outline) to the GPS.

Is there any other better, but still relatively cheap, software like this out there? There seem to be others but I have not had time to explore them all and am looking for suggestions.