Handheld GPS question

MDM · Dec 10, 2009

I want to get my dad a GPS. He needs one that will work on road trips and a hunting trip into the Colorado mountains. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone if I could find a handheld unit that also routes will on the highway, but I want it to have the voice feature while giving driving directions. Anyone know if there is such a unit? I have seen a few handheld units that offer turn by turn driving direction, but they don't mention if they are voice command type directions. Any recommendations?

Mickey_Fx · Dec 10, 2009

Magellan at least did have a multi use model. Son has one, it handled on-road, off-road & marine nav. It is several yrs old so suspect it is no longer a current model.

Travelover · Dec 10, 2009

I'd go to the Garmin and Magellan websites and see if there is anything there that fits your needs. The price has really come down on auto units, so you may find it better to buy two - one for each need. I just bought a refurb Garmin 255W for $130 - it replaces a unit I paid $500 for 5 years ago.

Wayne County Hose · Dec 10, 2009

FYI I have a Magellan Roadmate 1412 and hate it. It is not very user friendly. I will not be replacing it with another Magellan product.

Let me know if you find something you like. I also would like a unit I can put in my vehicle, carry with me, and bring in the boat.

themichelob · Dec 10, 2009

MDM-I have the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx--it is a great unit. With a few accessories, I use it in my truck, boat and handheld. No voice, however. Regards, Mike

PILOON · Dec 10, 2009

Garmin have models that are car mounted but also are programmed for biking as well as walking trips.
Check them out!
The one I have is about the size of a pack of cigaretts and so very handy.

Scooby074 · Dec 10, 2009

I have a Garmin C60 (0lder verson of the c60x mentioned) . its been great. Tough. A good outdoor handheld. Not bad in the truck but the data entry, like when your trying to input a address, is miserable for a car unit.

Plus it as no voice. If your looking for a good handheld first and auto second, and can live without the voice, id recommend the garmin.

GPS with Touchscreens make much better auto units than typical handhelds. Off the top of my head i cant think of any reasonable priced waterproof touchscreens, but i havent really looked lately either.

jpm · Dec 10, 2009

i have a garvin nuvi . it works great in the car voice comes over the radio. it pops out of the car and becomes a hand held

johnk · Dec 10, 2009

themichelob said:
MDM-I have the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx--it is a great unit. With a few accessories, I use it in my truck, boat and handheld. No voice, however. Regards, Mike

I have the same unit and have the topo and city navagator for it along with the great lakes charts. Great unit. It is outdated already and i guess you would need to search the internet for the latest and greatest. Electronics change every day...........

pdseifert · Dec 10, 2009

themichelob said:
MDM-I have the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx--it is a great unit. With a few accessories, I use it in my truck, boat and handheld. No voice, however. Regards, Mike

I also have this unit and use it the same way and love it. I do wish it had a voice sometimes my self. It will prompt you turn by turn. Look it up on youtube and there are a number of videos on it and many others.

JohninCT · Dec 10, 2009

I have a Garmin Nuvi 500 that comes preloaded with street and topographical maps has voice directions for driving. I bought it at Cabella's and I like it. It's not the most compact of units, but I like and need the larger screen. Battery life with the decent sized color screen is excellent.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=13424&ra=true

CurlyDave · Dec 11, 2009

I used the Garmin 60CSx for hunting until this past season, when I upgraded to a Garmin Rino 530 HCx. While the 60 CSx was very good, the 530 HCx combines a radio with the GPS. The radio broadcasts your position to other Rino units every time you talk on the radio. And, the radio is very high quality. Best hunting GPS ever IMHO.

As far as I can tell, the car navigation function is sufficiently different from the hiking/hunting application that a second unit is needed.

I know you can take your car GPS afield with you, but think about what happens when you unexpectedly get caught out at dark. By morning, your battery is dead and no place to plug the unit in. With a hiking/hunting unit, I just pop in some fresh AA batteries and I am all set for another day.

quackaddict · Dec 11, 2009

just make sure it's a Garmin

WayneB · Dec 11, 2009

I agree with the Garmin GPS as the way to go. I have had several of their GPS systems and now us a NUVI 760. You can use it in and out of the car, but I am not too sure if it would be the one I would buy for hunting. One for sure it can even find your car in a very large parking lot in Washington DC! Battery life is an issue with all of the multiple use GPS systems and the handhelds have a longer batter life and most of them are waterproof too, which is a plus

I think it would be better to go with maybe the Oregon model. It gets expensive if you go with the high end 500 series, but man it has a bunch of options that would be fun to play with, but lets face it you are out there hunting...

Garmin Oregon Handheld GPS Receiver, Portable GPS Navigation Systems at g.factoryoutletstore.com

Just wondering if any of you hunters have used or own the new Astro?

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=209&pID=8576#

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/alt-image.do?pID=8576&img=productImageLarge

jinman · Dec 11, 2009

I have a Garmin GPSMAP 60CX and find it is very good for outdoors and finding where I am located, but not very good for use in the car to navigate a route. With either function, you'll want to look at buying a big memory chip and the additional maps for streets or marine applications. The cost of the basic unit is only about 75% of the cost of having a really functional unit. I think I may buy another GPS for my car and just keep the 60CX for backup and outdoors.

MDM · Dec 11, 2009

I think I'm going to buy two seperate units for the car and hunting. I think I'm going to buy a Garmin Nuvi 205 for the car and a DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 for hunting-these are on sale at walmart.com for $200 right now.

charlz · Dec 12, 2009

Another Garmin 60csx user here, I have a handlebar mount on my dirtbike and have taken it all over the mountains and desert. Has the sensitive chipset, have never lost signal with it yet. I have only used in in the car with pre-plotted routes, it beeps when you get close to a turn and beeps a little different right at the turn... not sure you really need voice. Trick is all the software you have to buy, terrain maps for offroad, city maps for the cities and I think waterway maps for marine use.

Timber · Dec 12, 2009

My Blackberry does all that in 1 device. Personally I travel light with gadgets, only problem with GPS is you need clear access to satellites.

WayneB · Dec 12, 2009

charlz said:
Another Garmin 60csx user here, I have a handlebar mount on my dirtbike and have taken it all over the mountains and desert. Has the sensitive chipset, have never lost signal with it yet. I have only used in in the car with pre-plotted routes, it beeps when you get close to a turn and beeps a little different right at the turn... not sure you really need voice. Trick is all the software you have to buy, terrain maps for offroad, city maps for the cities and I think waterway maps for marine use.

My first Garmin required buying all of the maps and then the updates too. The last one I bought the Nuvi came with North American City Maps loaded and you can down load the others for a price. I purchased the life time upgrade from Garmin for my unit and can download the upgrades when ever they are available. On the road the Nuvi has certainly paid for itself just being able to find the Dunkin Donuts! But, I do not think they make a nice protable device to carry out in the woods.

charlz · Dec 12, 2009

WayneB said:
My first Garmin required buying all of the maps and then the updates too. The last one I bought the Nuvi came with North American City Maps loaded and you can down load the others for a price.

The only downside I have heard to the 'preloaded' maps is you can't 'download' them to make space on your device, they are on the memory chip and if you swap in a blank one you have space but no maps unless you buy the uploadable ones.