Gps feedback wanted

[Switch]

Looking for some feedback on "A good GPS". What,s every one riding with, which one's should I stay away from. What are some features I should look at when buying one? Any feedback would be appreciated. The need for a GPS arose this weekend sledding in and around Long Lake, boy did we get turned around alot, good thing for the pocket compass!

 

[teeroy]

I use the Garmin Rinos, they are the ones with the built in FRS/GMRS radios. I like the Garmin products, there is a lot of support and plenty of available "aftermarket" maps that work with them.

 

[BombardierBratz]

Check out the GARMIN product line-up. One of the two biggies, MAGELLEN is the other. I have the most experience with GARMIN.

Back in the day when R.A.M. (random access memory) was at a premium, the price of GPS units were higher depending on how much ON BOARD R.A.M. they carried. There wasn't the option to add memory, so they could be a bit cumbersome because the companies tried to squeeze so many applications into a limited amount of space. The new models have the micro SD card port on them for upgradeable memory. Now you can drop 16 GIGS of memory into micro SD slot and POOF! a whole new world of possibilities!

A GPS reciever is pretty much the same on all makes and models, (connect to a sattelite, relay information down to a few meters) The different recievers do a little more as the price goes up, but thats the hardware in a nutshell.

The real magic lies within the software and display the unit has. I wont list all the bells and whistles of all the models, but ask a simple question: "What do you want to get out of it". My answer to that was as follows:

1. Find base camp as fast as possible.
I managed to get me & my wife really lost in the bush. (I have no sence of direction - how many times have I discovered "Im going the wrong Wayne .... (thanks to my freinds & family for that little nugget lol)"
- be aware of the lower models that only have the functionality to simply point to base camp "as the crow flies" = quad trails don't go in a straight line. I never want the feeling of being lost, the sun going down, one quad out of fuel being towed by the other that is also on fumes. Not fun.

2. I wanted a display that is in colour.
Its easier to tell what lies ahead = is that topography lines to a steep hill, or a lake? Stuff I need to know

3. Ease of use.
I have an older GARMIN VENTURE. Not of the bottom of the line, it was $150.00, but DAMN! I felt as if needed an engineering degree to run it! I now have the GARMIN LEGEND Hcx and it so much easier to use (maybe finally mastering the older one helped - obviously! hehe) it was $350.00 and in my humble opinion well worth it.

4. Routing.
The ability to create routes "stand alone" is invaluable.
The older units could do this, but only the high end ones. They had more memory, but the SD card technology wasnt incorporated yet, so they were limited, and pricey!

5. Tracking.
This means to drop "bread crumbs" and draw the actual path you have taken on the screen itself. After a week of quadding / camping its cool to see where you've been. I carry a laptop & printer with us camping and use the transparent overhead sheets to print out our uploaded data, then overlay it on the actual overlay area map. We build up a binder with all the tracks we accumulate and will eventually get true mapping layout of our favorite quadding areas. The "Trackback" function is nice to follow your exact route to basecamp if the need should ever arrise.

5. Upgradeable memory (R.A.M.) and support software.
GARMIN has published TOPO CANADA and METRO CANADA. Use these on your home computer / laptop to upload "MAPS" into your device with preprogramed waypoints, P.O.I. (points of interest) details, roads, highways, other usefull data. Be aware of the memory limitations your chosen unit has - it can fill up fast. My old unit could only hold six "maps" (a map is an area of all data inside a SECTION of land) witch was about 1.6 mb (mega bites) each. With the SD card slot & an 8 GIGABITE card, I have all of Canada in my GPS. I also justifly the cost of the unit and added on software (besides the peice of mind) by adding another program to the mix. Its called SITE FINDER. It's a third party company that has built a program to convert L.S.D. (Legal Survey Discription) into longitude & latitude). I work in the oilpatch, & this is the way we mark where the wells are. It can lead you to the exact location of the drilling / service rig. This has saved my butt countless times from being late / lost on the way to work. That software was $250.00, it adds the the Metro & TOPO Guide of the GARMIN software.

Summary: Keep in mind that most mapping was commisioned out of the USA many years ago. As areas grow, the maps get out of date. Hopefully they upgrade the maps they sell someday. In areas in Red Deer, there is whole areas that are residential and it just shows you standing in a feild. What ever unit / company you choose to go with, play with the unit & figure out what you want to get out of it. There are "classes" held by the knowegdeable people on the site, at rallies and the such. If you have questions, hell, PM me & I'll help you out!

One last thing. Get a unit capeable of GEOCASHING! That is so much fun, and the kids love it!

 

[woodies]

530 garmin all the way, pick up most of the other brands radios and the gps is easy to use. has back trac feature if it socks in, big bonus feature!

 

[BombardierBratz]

The etrex line up is small enough to mount to the handlebars of your machine for constant review. You can use your other hand on the bars... or the beer, however you roll! We have powerports on our quads, you can get the car charger cable & run off of the quad's power to save your batteries for when you need them. The newer models are alot easier on batteries IMO!

 

[stripe]

I use the Garmin 60csx works good you cant go rong with the Garmin line up

 

[Murminator]

I use the garmin rhino 520 works awesome radio kinda sucks though

 

[redrum]

I use the Garmin 60csx works good you cant go rong with the Garmin line up

I agree... I have the exact GPS and have been very happy with its ease of use and performance...

 

[2003Summit]

Like others have said, the Garmin tends to be the one you want. Technically they are quite a good GPS, more than that, they are so well supported and loved there are a lot of little extra's you get with them, like support in any GPS related app or vehicle mounts, knowhow etc. Things like being able to overlay maps other people made onto your map can be really nice and garmin supports this well. Garmin also tends to spend a bit more money buying a bit better map data, and this shows in the final product. (although none of them are every as good as you want them to be, I do find Garmin to the be best for this application).

The smaller GPS like the etrex if you are on a budget, or the more expensive ones like the Rino, Oregon or Colorado if you want the best. A lot of what BombardierBratz said. Most of those older hard to use GPS are gone, anything modern is easier to use. It is expected that any handheld mapping GPS (at least from garmin) can do tracks, routes, waypoints, POI etc. and do it easily. $150 models can do this now. However, do to the mapping needs something like the "eTrex Vista H" with topocanada added is probably going to be the minimum you want.

A good place to see all that is available and to compare features is

Purchase GPS Car Navigation Systems, GPS Devices, Handheld GPS, Garmin GPS Watch, MagellanGPS,TomTomGPS, GPS Maps & Software, Phones
and
Handheld GPS Comparison : GPS Handheld Navigation : GPS CENTRAL Canada GPS Sales

GPS Canada in edmonton is a local place to buy them if you don't want to buy on line.

Also, I'm going to state the obvious here, but you want a hand held for what you are doing. Like one for hiking. Do not try to use a car/bike/marine GPS for sledding/quadding, it's the wrong application and they purposely make them suck for the wrong application so you have to buy more than one. "Handheld/Outdoor" is what you want here.

IMO: Definitely you want some kind of mapping product, color is optional - non-color Garmin are very functional, senors don't help you as much as you would think so maybe don't bother. Expandable memory quite is nice - almost a necessity, you can hold more maps - although you can get a fair bit in if you are careful with just 24m. Getting add on software like TopoCanada is a must as well if you are buying a model that doesn't already include it. Not having good topo maps loaded up for the area you are riding makes it way less useful - this is a requirement. Having a high sensitivity receiver is also a requirement from my point of view as cloud cover, tree's/canyons are all problems. Any Garmin product with an H in it has one in the hand held line.

Having your GPS mounted on your sled is a real plus. Stopping every few minutes to check the GPS when are trying to find your way back really sucks. Plus you can get your bearings better if you check it as you ride. I would get one that mounts well to the sled if I was buying another. The xtrex are good for this as are others. Warning: Don't get over reliant on the GPS. If that sucker fails and you haven't been paying attention, now you are really lost!!

 

[Sleeper700]

The Garmin Etrex Legend HCx is now down under $240 at GPSCity (gpscity.ca), and a 2GB card is $9. This is probably the best bang for buck deal around for a very capable gps. The Vista HCx has an electronic compass and altimeter, but I don't like the accuracy of them, and it isn't worth the extra $50 IMO. You can get 2 different style of mounts for the Etrex series (one replaces the battery cover with a cover that clips onto a handlebar mount, and the other has a dual pivot arm with a mount that the GPS snaps into). I wouldn't go with any other brand than Garmin. The ease of upgrading maps and the amount of accessories are just 2 of the advantages that none of the other brands have. I have used the Etrex, Etrex Legend, Etrex Summit, Etrex Venture, Etrex Legend HCx, GPSMap60, and GPSMap72. I recommend the Legend HCx hands down. Just my 2cents

 

[sumx54]

Lately I've been using the new Garmin Oregon 300 touch screen. So far so good. It has all the bells and whistles and is nice and small. One thing i don't like about it is the though of having to rub your muddy fingers across the screen all the time. Not sure if it'll hold up but they say it will. Tons of memory and real easy to use. I've tried the Rhino and they work good too but found the radio to be kind of a POS. I also have extensive experience with quite a few models of Magellan GPS's and they all work pretty much the same as Garmin but I've found the Magellan's have weak internal electronic parts and seem to crap out WAY more often. They can't take the vibration or impact like a Garmin can.

 

[Murminator]

Lately I've been using the new Garmin Oregon 300 touch screen. So far so good. It has all the bells and whistles and is nice and small. One thing i don't like about it is the though of having to rub your muddy fingers across the screen all the time. Not sure if it'll hold up but they say it will.

Make sure you buy screen protectors

 

[Mike270412]

I've got a Gpsmap76csx (Garmin) So far I'm real happy.It's waterproof and fairly rugged.Leave it on the handlebars and its still kickin.

 

[sumx54]

Make sure you buy screen protectors

I did't even realize you could use them on a touch screen... cool I'll look into getting them. Thanks Murm.