I need a GPS recommendation

[rutwad]

I would like to get a GPS for off-road use. I do not want to spend much money on it since I probably won't use it that much, but I do want a fairly nice, capable unit.

What would you suggest?

thanks

 

[Shimon]

Do want one that can display maps? Color? Or do you just want a basic lat/long/compass type?

 

[archerynut]

What features are you looking for in particular? Garmin in general has worked very well for me in the past. What kind of price range would you like to stay within?

 

[LarryD]

I've got a Garmin Etrex Vista that I've used to point my way back to camp. No color screen but a big arrow that has always been dead on, depending on good open sky. It is an older model but has worked well for my needs.

 

[LGinIA]

I have a Etrex Vista, color model CX which works great. As others have mentioned, Garmin is good and you can pick up a lower cost unit that will probably meet your needs.

 

[johnk]

I have a Garmin 60cx and its great. The only way you can get lost is have the batteries go dead..............

 

[billbill1]

Garmin is the only one I've had my hands on but it was straight forward and easy to use. The one I played around with was about $150 new if I remember correctly.

 

[rich_ncal]

Some thing like the "Magellan eXplorist 400 Handheld GPS with SD Card Slot", would work for off road use. They have these on Amazon for about $160. I have the Magellan Gold which is an older model that works well for me.

Options I prefer for a carry or off road unit include, down load maps from a PC, a SD card and have AA batteries. I can carry spare batteries. I use rechargeable AA batteries that I also use in my camera and LED flash lights.

I purchased a Garmin c320 for my gal for X-mas. It is great for on road use but that is a different type of animal. I would not recommend that for off road use. It is designed to run on the car power supply and does not have batteries that can be replaced. Also the way these on road units give the directions and show information is not what is needed for off road use.

 

[caver]

My first GPS (Magellan) was right before they came out with 12 satellite units in the 90's. I used it for a week or so and took it back. The newer units came out and were much better with 12 satellites. Currently I have a 276C Garmin
for off road (motorcycle) and general travel. I also have a Garmin 76C for hiking. I've dropped the Garmin on concrete and they have always held up. I also have their software for maps so have stuck with the brand. I prefer the bigger screens and faster pan speed of the larger units. The 276C was recently bought to replace my older 176C.

 

[Jstpssng]

I would like to get a GPS for off-road use. I do not want to spend much money on it since I probably won't use it that much, but I do want a fairly nice, capable unit.

What would you suggest?

thanks

What, exactly, are you going to be using in for? I'm partial to Garmin myself; but that's all Ive owned for the last 10 years. Magellan is just as good; they just offer different bells and whisltes.

No matter what you buy, if you are venturing offroad please also learn and use good map and compass skills.
GPS will crap out due to dead batteries, dense cloud cover, (especially with snow) or heavy forest canopy. Also other factors... Sept 11 2001 I was in Upstate NY working on a timber cruise and couldn't figure out why my GPS was 1/2 mile off; I never found out what was going on until I got back to the truck at around 5 PM. Had I depended on GPS only who knows where I'd have ended up.

 

[K7147]

Rutwad!

I use a Gamin GPSmap 60CS with topographic maps loaded into it for off-road work and exchange the topographic maps with street maps for road use. Most all the new units are excellent with Garmin probably being the most popular. The site GPS4fun.com has some excellent product reviews/comparisons for all available GPS units although their prices may not be the best.

As these units are pretty much bullet proof I’d not shy away from a good used unit if price were an issue. Many folk buy them and are unwilling to put up with the initial learning curve and thus many perfect units are on the used market.

Have fun, Ken

 

[GaryM]

I have a Garmin Legend CX, with an SD card slot, that I received as a gift.

You can buy SD cards preprogrammed with Topo data, or download map data from your PC to the SD card. Be aware that the unit will not create routes based on the topo data, but will do so based on the road data.

It has a color display that's easily read in sunlight. Some units are hard to read in different lighting conditions. If you can, try out the unit you paln to buy in different lighting conditions.

I also have a C530 unit made for auto use. As mentioned, it's pretty useless for anything else.

 

[CurlyDave]

I would like to get a GPS for off-road use. I do not want to spend much money on it since I probably won't use it that much, but I do want a fairly nice, capable unit.

What would you suggest?

thanks

I have had several of the Garmin handheld units, and can give you a very important insight.

Most of the less expensive hand-held units do not work well if there is even moderate tree or brush cover. If you plan to use this unit primarily in open areas, almost any unit will work, but the mapping ones are much easier to understand.

Recently, maybe a year or so ago, there has been a great advance in handheld GPS units. I have a Garmin 60CSx, which has a SiRF GPS receiver. This thing works almost everywhere, trees, brush, canyons, etc. All the places where I either had to look for a clearing and then wait for a location, or where I couldn't get GPS reception at all now have good GPS reception.

Last fall, I was able to navigate 5 miles through very steep mountains with no trails and heavy tree cover, and come out within a few feet of a rendevous point.

These will set you back ~$400, but working in tree cover is a major advantage.

P.S. It took me several weeks of daily use to really become familar with the capabilities of the unit. I would go to work a few minutes early and spend some time navigating around the parking lot every day, and then walk for several miles on weekends in areas where I knew the roads.

We had 8 guys on our elk hunt and maybe 10-12 on the deer hunt, and most had GPS units, but had given up on using them due to complexity. I wasn't any smarter than any of them, but by practicing before I got out in the woods, I was the only one who could effectively use the GPS.

 

[jinman]

Dave, my wife bought me the GPSMap 60Cx handheld unit last year for my birthday. I bought the metroguide maps and downloaded about 57 Mb into my 64 Mb card for all of N. Central Texas up to OK City. I'm still fumbling with features and controls, but the darn thing finds satellites from within my house with a metal roof.

I may buy a topo CD and a bigger micro-SD card, but I'm really pleased with the Garmin. I would definitely recommend the Garmin, but I kind of got the impression that rutwad didn't want to spend that kind of money. However, I don't think he will be happy with anything less for on the trail.

 

[CurlyDave]

I would definitely recommend the Garmin, but I kind of got the impression that rutwad didn't want to spend that kind of money. However, I don't think he will be happy with anything less for on the trail.

That is exactly my impression also. I just wanted to let him know some of the advantages of getting something that works instead of spending less and getting something that will probably not meet his needs.

If you get another microSD card, any SanDisk card will work, no need to pay Garmin prices. Other brands may not work -- something about the voltages the Garmin unit uses.

I have the topo map set, and if you do any hunting or hiking, it is well worth it.