This weekend I installed a new GPS on the boat - a Garmin GPSMAP 545.
This is the first new GPS I've had in 10 years - the old one is a
GPSMAP 175, a handheld mapper that relies on obsolete chart chips.

The new machine is awesome! Bright, crisp 480x640 color display, all
US charts built in, fast processor. The problem I have is that the
software seem a bit brain-dead compared to my old unit. I wasn't that
surprised that it had very few configuration options - the old 175
actually too many. But I was rather dismayed at the lack of
functionality with Routes.

First of all, it only holds 20 Routes. This is not a big problem, but
still rather surprising. But then I discovered that Routes are not
reversible, meaning that I would have to enter two routes for every
commonly used path. And while editing I discovered that this is quite
limited - it was impossible to add a waypoint to the end of a route!
And finally, this is no "table display" that shows a list of the
waypoints along the route, with useful bits of information like
distance, time, heading, etc.

Frankly, I can live with the limitations, but I can't help but wonder
why they took a major step backwards in this area. Am I missing
something? Is there a magic button the opens up the functionality, or
some option I have to buy? Or do they think Routes are a bad function
they would prefer to phase out?