Does anybody here have any experience with a handheld GPS? I am trying to decide what I need or want to take with me while Camping and ATVing. I want one that can mark a waypoint.....say for camp.....and get me back after riding several hours.

I don't want to break the bank. I just want to know if there are certain features that are definately worth extra money....that would be a mistake NOT to buy.

I am kinda partial to Garmin products......but I can't really tell you why. What would you buy and why? What would be the best value for my money? Ebay?

Thanks for any and all advice!

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This won't be much help but a friend of mine has a Garmin (not sure which model) for this same thing and is happy with it.

 

I got 2 Garmins, they seem to pick up better that some others I have been around (heavy tree cover, large hills, etc). The one thing that suprized me when I got them is. In the woods, you can mark all the points you want, and it will tell you the direction of your camp.... BUT it won't tell you point by point directions on how to get back. Sure you can make it "back track" but unless you want to ride all those same miles back (exactly how you came) then your on your own and just have an arrow saying "this direction". Mine are older ones but seem to work great, if your going to use one on a 4-wheeler, and hiking, I would say get one that is relatively cheap, that way your not worried about babying it, nothing is worse than buying something to fit a need/want but paying out so much money that you spend more time worrying about it, then actually using it... If your just wanting to mark way points and use it for trails then you might look at just a cheap simple Garmin E-trex series, it will do what you want, they float, nice bright color, long battery life, lite, tons of accessories, and you can find them on sale for less then $100...

One thing about a GPS and deep woods, always take a compass back up with you anyway... These things are tough, but remember they are still electrical devices. Also wouldn't hurt to carry a couple of spare batteries with you... (the e-trex takes 2 AA's)...

 

I have a Garmin 60C and its awesome. I use it for 4wheelin and hunting mostly. I've have a few other older model Garmins prior to this one also and the 60 series beats them all for all around performance. I have also compared it to the e-trex, and other brandnames as well. The 60 picks up well under cover, has lots of features, is waterproof, etc. And the newer 60Cx and 60Csx come with a few more features and removable memory cards to store roads, routes, topography, waypoints, etc. My dad and I use a the computer program called mapsource to transfer data to and from the comp/gps. Its unreal some of the things you can do with it, but like Asher said, if you just want something for a few waypoints and trails then something small and simple will get you there. Look at some reviews too.

 

I have the garmin 76S..I made sure I got one that you can put a "External Antenna" to it..it has saved me many times on the ATV, otherwise with out the antenna, in the deep woods canyons it lost reception....I'm now looking for a new one for the car..those small screens can be hard to see, when mounted on the handle bars..I'm looking at a garmin 4.3" wide screen..but its now comfusing with all the new models available...check ebay..also.

 

I love my Delorme PN-20 and kind of want the new PN-40.

Best personnal GPS I've used. I love the support and the ability to do so much more with the software you can buy. Its one of the only handhelds you can make your own maps in GIS and put them into your handheld. I'll admit the PN-20 is a little slow, especially with larger maps. Im told the new PN-40 makes up for that a lot. The Topo software that comes with the handhelds is really good, but I recomend the Xmap software if you want to make your own stuff with GIS imagery.

If I had the money and wanted the best Id just go buy a Trimble. Ive used them for work a lot and love them. Just a little pricey and not neccessary for a casual user.

Good luck in the search.

Have a good one.

 

Thanks so far for everybody's input. My problem is that I really don't know what I need or want it to do.

I want it to mark way points, of course. But also what about elevation? Temperature?


Asher I looked at the ETrex (online) and I have certainly considered it for the good price. I don't want to spend more for a "fancier" model if it's not needed. But I hate to buy a cheap model and regret later that I didn't get the better one for a few dollars more.

I have looked at the 60c and 76 models too. Anymore advice? I know basically nothing about them. I'd rather make an educated buy than buy blindly.

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I've got a Garmin E-Trex, the yellow one that sells for $100.00, and it does everything I want it to do, but I use it when fishing, not 4 wheeling. In order to make an educated buy, seems you need to define what you want it to do??

Good luck!

 

A couple of years ago we bought a Garmin Quest thinking we would use it on the boat and in the truck. I guess I'm to old cause the only thing we can find with it are restaurants. And before you ask, No I couldn't program my VCR either!
Jay

 

I know that sounds like an easy question. But I don't know. I have survived for 42 years without one so far...

Definately get me back to camp. It would be nice to know elevation at any given point. Perhaps the temperature outside..but that isn't that important. Maybe use it in my truck as well....to navigate around cities I haven't been?

I am planning a trip to New York City soon. Can I use it while I walk around there?

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Ill tell you what I did to decide.

I found some forums. Just like the DTR.

Now, one forum was at Delorme's website, so some people were biased, just like here. It gave me a good feel for the product though.

I found hundreds of reviews on Garmins, Magellans, and a few others. Overall, you can get a good idea if a product is good by watching some forums for a few weeks and seeing what people are asking about.

Sitting down and deciding on the intentions will help you decide. If you want it for hiking, 4x4ing, boating. Some are more geared towards a purpose. I picked mine for my purpose.

I almost went with a Garmin, I don't recall the one, but it had a built in two way radio. (need a license to run short wave though) Garmin has some nice stuff and I really considered a nice cheapy entry level unit like an Etrex.

Not me, I need to be picky. So I got what I got. I really wanted a nice Trimble, but couldn't justify it too the wifey.

Just start searching, Google is your friend.

Good luck.

 

Well I don't know of any GPS that doesn't tell you exact position including alt. But I am not sure of any that will tell you temp... If I was in your shoes, I would look at a low end GPS that doesn't have any extra ports on it. The reason is because it is just another hole to get dust, dirt, water, etc inside when you are wheeling. Even the low end ones will give you probably more way points then you will ever need... and the low ends one only have a couple of options (that works really well with the KISS theroy). When shopping for a unit, make sure to search for the accessories that you can add to the unit (custom fit, not universal), and the price for the accessories. Remember the best GPS out there is useless if you can't get accessories to mount it to your bike safely at a reasonible cost. Another reason I like "cheap" is because if it does get smashed, stolden, lost, your not crying as much over $100 as you would be over $300 unit...

Forget the idea of having a GPS to use when traveling in a car and will work well in the woods/hiking. You could spend $250.00+ on a unit that has maps, etc.... BUT it will be bulky to carry and the screen will be too small when driving to see and much more fragile. Why not just go get a $100 hand held for carrying and then purchase a seperate $100 GPS for the car. This way you have the best of both worlds at a cost of less then a "jack of all trades, master of none" single unit.

I have a garmin XL12 and the e-trex for hiking, boating, jeeping... I have a tomtom GO300 and 730 for road trips and work... Plain and simple a expensive multi use unit will not even be as good as a pair of low end dedicated units.

 

Asher, I think you are right. I need to just get the low end Garmin (ETrex probably) and try it out a while. Later I can move up as new technology comes out and I find a need for more than just setting waypoints and getting me back to camp.

3 years ago I spent $3 grand on a Mitsubishi HDTV big screen tv. It has all these bells and whistles that I don't even use. What I should have got was the same TV for half the money.....that just acted as a monitor for my HDTV cable box. Point being........It is easy to overbuy with something we THINK we HAVE to HAVE. And we don't.

And I would be crying a lot less if I lost my $100 ETrex instead of a $3-500 something else.

I may not buy anything. But if I do, I guess I will take ur advice and go low end....for now.

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Again, I appreciate everybody'd input. I went ahead and bought this off of Ebay. For $67 I figured I'd try it out. If it doesn't work out for me I can always get a nicer unit.


http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-GARMIN-eTrex...3A1%7C294%3A50

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I use the Garmin Legend, the blue one. I use it atving, boating and for road maps when traveling. I paid 89.00 on Ebay last year and you can catch them on sale for about $100.00. It will get as simple as marking a way point and giving you an arrow for which way to travel or you can show your tracks.