GPS

[Vagabond]

Would like recommendation on a GPS. Not the auto kind, but the outdoors type. So many choices for all kinds of prices. Very confusing.

Thanks.

[Clif]

Whatcha want it for??? How acurate? Battery life/time? Waterproof? Memory? A few of the options that make a difference in what would be suggested. Some geocaching websites would have lots of info on this also.

Like you say too many choices. What you want/need it to do will help us narrow it down.

[Vagabond]

More details. Haven't ever had one. I like to hike and I have looked at paddling in some of the wild life areas such as swamps and bayous. A couple have indicated a gps might be necessary to ensure not getting lost. That sounded like a good idea. I have already looked at a few and thought long battery life and waterproof would be a good idea. Not familiar with geocaching which I assume would require a great deal of accuracy. Keep from getting lost would not require that kind of accuracy. Like my camera, long battery life is always important to me. Hate anything that runs off AAs'. Water proof would be nice but not that important to me.

Hope that is enough detail. Any information would help since I am starting from zero.

[Clif]

Actually, if it is too precise it kinda takes away some of the fun of looking for caches. You gotta use your bratn too.

A couple of other considers... screen size. How good are your eyes? I have a garmin color legend ($200) and it works fine and and happy with it but sometimes hard to read, or bring my reading glasses along.

Unit size.. battery life and unit size were the 2 winners in buyig the one I did. You can get them with card slots and or more memory if you are going to be putting more maps into them. I needed better maps. But hanging on the pack, boat thwart, or belt and this little unit is almost forgoten. Fits into most shirt pockets too. Some of the newer units are a bit larger. I have never ran out of memory for waypoints but manage mine regularly. Easy to save in a computer and reload later.

Recharge batteries are suggested. If you run out of battery my unit can change and pick up where it left off. Gives plenty of warnings. The lit screen uses way faster than normal display.

Are you familiar with how they work? leaving a track on the screen? That was one of the main reasons I wanted one. I know my car is east of here, but this ridge or that one??? After I got it I use it in ways I never thought about. Maybe that $50 more would have been worth it for the next step up?

I am out of touch with the newest models. Have had mine about a year and a half. Some of the discontinued models would be a better "deal."

Where are you dalli bubbahama?

[robkanraft]

I have a Magellan Explorist XL that I’ve learned to love. It was not my first choice, but I got a sale price too good to pass on. It is water resistant, Magellan claims submersible, rubberized and a tad bit big and heavy, compared to some of the Garmans imo. However it has a huge color screen that is great for my eyes, and is/was a newer generation of sensitivity and it works well under heavy cover and in canyons. We used it to navigate through 89 miles of Deso/Gray canyons in Utah this summer. It was awesome to be able to look at the color screen and compare it against our paper topos and field guides to know exactly where were at, which canyon, mountain and river rapids. We found ruins and artifacts using known waypoints that we would have never seen or found without it. You can turn off the illuminated screen to extend battery life. Using the screen in all its glory, it does tend to consume 4AA batteries pretty quickly. We planned on using a set per day, however with conservation practices did a little better. Don't forget, in addition to your new GPS, you will need to acquire mapping topo software to really find your way around off-road. Until I figured it out (thanks Cowper) I fought mine the first month I had it, but now wouldn't leave home without it!

[Cowper]

OK, outdoors as primary focus, features for auto use not important to you. Here's a cut-to-the-chase recommendation:

Garmin eTrex Venture HC. Price is very reasonable; small, waterproof, can download enough topo maps to cover Arkansas or any one state you might be vacationing in at the time. Doesn't float, but can be easily attached to something that does. Also has Garmin's latest generation of receiver, which picks up much better under heavy tree cover than previous generation. (Heavy tree cover = swamps)

Don't be confused by several similar-sounding models. It is the Venture HC. eTrex H, eTrex legend C, Legend Cx, eTrex Venture Cx are just a few of these "almost the same" names.

Two AA rechargable batteries will last all day if you leave the unit on continuously. Using the GPS to check location several times per day, but then turning it off, one set of batteries lasted me over 10 days on a recent extended trip. They would have lasted the entire trip if I had been more careful about turning the unit off when not in use.

You'll also want a copy of the US Topo software; it covers the entire US, even though you can only load one part at a time into your hand-held unit.

Disclaimer: I'm not up on the Magellan line, so my recommendation is based on Garmins. Both companies make good units; I think and have read on the internet that Garmin has the lead on customer service.

[Vagabond]

Thanks Cowper. I had been looking at the garmin etrex series but was very confused by all he different models. Have one question. Had been looking at the Venture Cx ($175 at amazon). One reason is it has a card slot for expanding memory. Not sure whether this really expands the memory or just allows you to load into internal memory from memory cards. Ok my question. Do you prefer the Venture HC ($159 at Walmart) because of the receiver's capability or another reason? If the receivers are the same wouldn't the card slot be a good thing to have?

Hope you don't mind the question. Just kind of wanted to understand the differences a little better. Thanks.

[David Mac]

The card slot allows for extra memory. I have the 60Cx (larger color screen and a few other frills) and a 2GB card for it which allows me to upload the entire USA topo set or the entire USA street maps at once.

Of course the only usful effext that has had was that when I have been traveling cross country I haven't had to jack into the laptop and update the maps.

The other useful bit to the slot is that you can buy micro SD cards with the maps already loaded to them if you go someplace you don't have the software for. The only downside to this is that if you swap out the card you are taking out whatever maps you have already loaded until you swap them back.

[Woodchuck]

Don't put a lot of money into a dedicated GPS device just yet! PC Magazine had an article about Nokia spending 1.8 B to buy Navteq which is a GPS software company. It seems they are going to greatly expand the use of cell phones with GPS capablity. It should be great for ones that need a little help from all the separate toys we all need.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2192153,00.asp
I can't wait...

[chippimp]

garmin's customer service is the best!

i bought a garmin nuvi for my vehicle this summer, only to find the maps were somewhat dated. i e-mailed customer service and the reply stated that a 2008 map update would be out in about 3 weeks and they would send me one free of charge. (an $80 value) they sent it, i downloaded it and everything is fine.

last month, i bought a garmin edge for my bicycle and could not get the unit to talk to my laptop. after e-mailing customer service, i found that "vista" was not compatible with the disk that came with it. they e-mailed me a new compatible download the same hour, and i was good to go.

i bought the edge because of the excellent response for service on the nuvi.

[Vagabond]

Thanks for all your help. Both the posts here and the PMs'. Lots of good information. Think I am going to go with the Venture HC bundle at d*ck's sports. $229 and $30 rebate. Includes U. S. Topo software.

Now if I get lost it is you all's fault (kidding). Mike

[Cowper]

Had been looking at the Venture Cx ($175 at amazon). One reason is it has a card slot for expanding memory. Not sure whether this really expands the memory or just allows you to load into internal memory from memory cards. Ok my question. Do you prefer the Venture HC ($159 at Walmart) because of the receiver's capability or another reason? If the receivers are the same wouldn't the card slot be a good thing to have?

PM's have probably answered it, but for anyone reading the public posts:
YES, I prefer the Venture HC over the Cx due to the receiver's capability.
The card slot is a good feature, but less important than the receiver's ability to get a fix under difficult or marginal conditions. A GPS with no fix is - WORTHLESS.

And you mentioned swamps. A swamp, in the fog, with rain, creates conditions where only the best GPS receivers will maintain a continuous fix. And during a winter swamp paddle in flooded timber, in the rain, I rate the importance of a functioning GPS up there with while looking for your igloo during a snow blizzard.

You can have both features (and more) in the Etrex Legend HCx, for not that much more $$$. But if you are interested primarily in hiking, the Venture HC is a major bargain, and cheap enough that you could consider upgrading in a couple of years. Who knows what choices will be available to us then? (as some have already hinted at...)

[Vagabond]

Purchased a etrex Garmin Legend HCX (thanks for all the information) with Topo U. S. 2008 and a 2GB Micro SD card. I got error messages when I tried to load several states to the memory card even though the maps being loaded were only about 1 GB. Called Garmin Support and was told that there is a limit of 2025 maps on one memory card. The support guy said that is normally about 1GB. The area I was loading had 2491 maps. Really just wanted two states on the card but I loaded area between the states also. If I could start over I would buy two or three 1GB cards instead of the 2GB card. Especially since you can get the 1 GB micro sd cards for $15.
Just thought somebody might be interested in the limitation.

[David Mac]

I don't know if they will do it with that particular model, but the 60Cx used to have that upper limit issue as well and they fixed it in a firmware update several months ago. You might want to check for firmware updates down the road.

Another option is that there is a way to upload maps to the card while treating it as a USB disk-drive. You can upload one set of 2000 maps, re-name the file from "garmin.img" to something like "EasternUSA.img", then turn around and upload the other half of the US. You'll have to open the card as a disk-drive and swap the filenames around to access each set of maps (garmin.img is the one in use at any given time) but it only takes a second or two to rename the files instead of the 20 minutes or so it takes to upload 2000 maps.

To use the unit as a USB disk-drive there should be a function under "settings", "interface", "use as USB mass-storage device" though it might be different (or not available) on your model.

David

[Vagabond]

Think your suggestion will work with the etrex. As you suggested, you can change to "usb mass storage device" under settings. The computer than immediately opens as a disk drive. So thanks, this is a good work around solution. This limitation doesn't make sense to me and is kind of irritating. Reminds me of the days when you purchased a large hard drive and had to flash the bios and upgrade the operating system to get the computer to recognize the entire drive.

I asked the garmin support guy about a firmware update. He didn't think there would be a update anytime soon for the etrex series.

Mike