INsr5runner

Hey guys, I am looking at getting a gps, because I am spending some time in the woods in a month, and would like to have one that can plot points, so I can find my way back to the campsite/truck. What do you guys have? And do you have it mounted in the rig...how?

I looked at the new rino's :eek: those are sweet. I might try to get this guy I work with, who works at Galyans also, to give me his discount!

base554

I have a rino 120 and I love it. It is a combination of a 2-way radio and GPS with frequencies compatible with most 2-way radio's including all of the motorola line. If your buddies have one, every time you transmit on the radio, your position shows up on his GPS screen and vice versa. Pretty cool toy. I don't have it mounted in the truck. I just use it hand held.
You can also buy software upgrades and download them onto your GPS. Topo, city streets, etc.

minidisc8

Personally I am a fan of something like the Garmin V. I currently have a III+ pilot and it is great. I love the built in maps. Mine is not mounted in the rig yet...someday.

Sporin

I'm getting either the GARMIN RINO 110 or the GARMIN eTREX in April. They have a vehicle mount too.

I want a good compass, speedo and trip odo in the truck. Plus I dig gadgets. For around $100 the eTREX looks like a deal. I'm going to start doing some GeoCaching too. (http://www.geocaching.com/)

Automotive mount:
http://www.offroute.com/product/view...84&CatID=14180

91Runner

This is the GPS I have... the eTrex Legend


I wanted to get one that was nice and portable (that I could carry with me when I go hiking, and mountain biking, in addition to offroading) I've had it since October, and I think it's great. I mean it doesn't have a ton of memory (I think it has 8mb) and I haven't had any problems with it, and overall I'm really happy with it.

airrikk17

i have a garmin handheld , i think its the 3 plus , its a bit older , but any gps you can get is a positive . i think a lot of preferecne is going to be placed on how much money you want to spend .
i like the sounds of that gps/rs radio combo , that would be awesome , i got my garwin for a job i did a while back and it servered my purpose jsut fine at the time . but i also carry motorola talkabouts in my truck too , if i could eliminate one more bit of cluter and combine the two that would be cool.
i belive most gps have a screw hole similar to a camera mount hole , and it would be very easy to create a mount for inside the vehicle for them if needed , but i think most companies also have mounts availble too .

erik b of oregon

midiwall

I've got a Magellan Meridian Gold and love it.

Generally, I think that the button layouts on Magellan's boxes make more sense that those on most of the Garmin boxes. Both are excellent product lines, you won't go wrong with either one.

Try to get some hands-on time with a variety of units to see how they feel in your hand and how the menu systems are to navigate through.

One thing that can shoot the price of a GPS box through the roof is the addition of an *electronic* compass, so try to decide if you really need it or not. Any GPS will give you a compass heading, but only those with an electronic compass will give you an accurate heading when you're not moving, or when you don't have a clear view of the sky. Otherwise, a heading will only be accurate once you move the unit 10-15 feet in a clear enough space for it to see the satellites.


Something to take a look at is the Magellan SporTrak series. The software is VERY similar to the Meridian series, but they're about 1/2 the cost. Plus, they float!

Whatever you decide on, check eBay for pricing. There are always good deals to be had there on GPS units.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

I have the old yellow Garmin E-Trex that first came out.
Nice little unit, and it mates upto my laptop just fine with both software suites I use.

But I may end up getting the Vista model down the road 'cause it has some more features on it like 24 mb or memory to store more info.

I have mine mounted to a Pro-Fit mount, with a Radio Shack bracket on it to hold a cell phone or a GPS.

http://pnw4runners.net/tando/mod4.jpg
http://pnw4runners.net/tando/mod4a.jpg
http://pnw4runners.net/tando/mod4b.jpg

And to provide full time power to the little bugger, I wired up full time 12v in the rig for it.
http://www.pnw4runners.net/tando/mod40a.jpg

monkeynuts

i have the vista and i love it. i had researched them a lot before i ended up with this model. i like having the ele compass and barometric altimeter a lot. it's amazing how much this thing has kept my dumb a$$ from getting lost in the middle of the desert.

Firefyter-Emt

Garmin V all the way!!!! Sure if you only use it in the woods the others are ok.. But with the V you get real time turn by trun driving on road as well.. I have almost all of Massachusetts in it (Yes, even Boston) and I use it all day 5 days a week to locate places (about 10-20 a day) and it is amazing.. It has an off-road setting and you can change the layout so that the screen rotates.. Plus it comes with a great dash bracket (with a little flaw on needing a flat dash that I have a solution for...

This is the old dash mount.. I have a new way to hold it in the factory mount.. I did not like having it too far down in the dash..
I now have it up on top where it belongs..

But by far this is the best GPS out there.. I have seen and played with the Streetpliot III but it is way too big and you are missing a few options..

The V will run you about $400 but it is so way worth it it is not funny!


Here is the GPS site for the Garmin V

Darren

I still use my Trails Illustrated maps. :alien: Fun to look at, I guess.

Maybe someday I'll get one of those things that require batteries.

trd90toyota

I really can't aford to get GPS, so I use the next best thing. I use two things one is a string and tow is a trail of Jelly beans.

ltflint

I too have the etrex Legend. $199 at Target with a $50 mail in rebate from Garmin. For that price it really can't be beat. It has a built in basemap of the US and will hold 8MB of detail maps from Garmin Mapsource CD's.

Robinhood150

I got a garmin legend for xmas and I love it. It was a life saver in Vegas. It showed the roads to take to avoid the congested strip and left breadcrumbs so that I knew how to get back. The best thing was we were looking for a department store and just typed in the name and it came up with 4 stores in the area. Really cool.

I do wish I had gotten the Vista though, for the larger memory. The trip from san francisco to vegas required about 4 maps from the cd map. Since the legend only has 8megs I had to download the maps from the laptop as we were driving. Kind of a pain.

Steve

rowan

i have the same one as corey.. an old yellow etrex. it works fine for me. you'll definatly want a cigarette plug adapter thing for power... i just put my in my radioshack cell phone holder. works great. can be a little hard to get at the buttons though but no big deal.

its not an ideal setup.... but it works

transalper

I have a Garmin GPS12map with a RAM mount. Great setup. Only downside is the lack of internal memory. Whatever GPS you get, just make sure it has decent basemap. Here's a pic:

jalaber

Hey Corey, need a Garmin Vista, how about this...

Staples sells it for $349.98

Amazon sells it for $284.94

Call Staples and have them 110% price match it to Amazon. So you save $71.54 off $349.98 = $278.43

Then apply Staples Coupon Code # 79473 (expires 02/21/03) for $50 off, so far we are at $228.43. If #79473 is expired try 75278 or 79248.

Apply your local tax rate to this price.

Then send in the $50 Garmin Vista Rebate

Your Cost...$178.44 + Tax.



:pat:

monkeynuts

jalaber -

next time i need to buy something, i'm calling you to research it for me!

Dr. Zhivago

I have my specialized training that I received while in Boy Scouts for finding my way around.

Dr. Z

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Jalaber, that is great info.