I'm looking for a nice, economical handheld GPS to mount in my truck. Anyone have any recommendations?

 

I have the same year of 4Runner you do, and I have the economical Garmin E-Trex GPS which can be had for around $109 now.



You can get the bracket at Pro Fit.

We have a member on the forum that can get them for you.
His name is Mark, but I forget his username here.

Here is a pic of the Radio Shack bracket that goes onto the Pro Fit mount.
It can hold a GPS or a cell phone.
Mount

 

How do you like your GPS?
Any features you don't like/wish you had?

 

It's a good GPS, but basic.
I'd like to replace it with the Vista model which has 24 MB of RAM I believe, and many more features.

But really this one does the job quite well, and you can hook it up to a laptop in your rig with software and see on your screen on a map when you are moving.

I also have the power cord for it so the batteries don't wear down.

A member who has the same model who uses it a heck of lot more than I do is Toddski.
Maybe he will see this post and give you some feedback on the unit.

 

Wow, that ProFit VSM is bloody pricey
I'm at the checkout page wondering if I should or not

 

I have the E-trex Legend with the car mount and i love it. It wasn't too much and can still load maps. 8meg of memory. Not as much as the vista but for me it works awesome. Some of the other products such as the rino series are fairly good as well and have the frs as well. Can't use the other radio band up here in Canada without a licence. There is a good place in Calgary that sell only GPS units and with the exchange still favourable that might be a good place to look if you want a mail order place. www.gpscentral.ca
Just remember that the prices will be in Canadian dollars, so you can take about 25% off them.

 

That was a good way to kill an hour
Now what?

 

Now you can have some fun figuring out how to use it (if your not an expert allready)

Here is a good cordinate translator

and a Good place to punch em in and get your position..just remember to put a - (negitive) before your Longitude datum- or you'll end up in China

 

i have a magellan meridian gold. got it as a b-day present last year. was $250 with a 50 rebate. it does moving maps and also has a slot for a memory card (extra maps) i love it does everything i want. also have a vehicle mount, but havent mounted it

 

Go with Garmin I've tested a lot of other GPS system being in the military and Garmin is the fastest at aquiring satelites and keeping a signal. The etrex models are very easy to use and have a lot of upgerades.

 

I have an eMap Deluxe though I'm looking to upgrade and will be putting it up for sale soon.

(emap, 32mb memory stick, pc serial cable, car charger, car mount, case, mapsource software if anyones interested)

 

Thats funny, I was going to say that Garmin was crappy...I know because I am in the military and all the garmins we have used have been crap .. though, all the reports on the Garmin 60 series have been good.

I'd try Magellan.

 

If you get Magellan you're stick with Magellan. They will only work with Meridian software. If you already have mapping software like MS Streets & Trips, make sure the new unit works with it.

 

I've never used GPS before, was playing with it all last night.
In the states, it's very detailed correct? As in you can see streets etc?

I just went for the barebones etrex so I can find my way back to the truck when I go on several day long camping/hiking trips with no trails. Would be nice to have a little virtual trail to follow on the way back. Seems to work great, bought a $10 cell phone vent mount from Walmart for my truck. It came with 3M tape to stick the little knob on the back of the GPS. Didn't work worth a damn so I used some Krazy Glue

 

When I used to sell GPS at Cabela's, we used to do these customer clinics where we would have up to 30 or 40 employees wandering around the property trying different GPS units. Generally, we found the Magellan units to be more accurate, but the user interface and software support of the Garmin products to be easier to use and more detailed. Basically the were all good and very close. Magellan is trying to get back in the game with their new models. They are also coming out with new software soon--anybody know if it is out yet?? The new models, Sporttrak and up can use MS, Delorme etc. software.

 

I have an Etrex. I use it when hiking canoeing, and geocashing though. I would like to see how you could get lost in the Canton area. Anyway, it is an excellant model for sombody that would use it like you and I do. Very cheap, very effective. If you decide you need more, you can always Ebay it and trade up, they don't wear out. If you have the cash, go for it, but never rely on it!

 

You really want the e-trex Vista... This was told to me from a lot of guys who use GPS professionally. However, this was back in early 2002, things may have changed.

 

I have a Garmin Legend and love it, but I know from personal experience that the Magellan units have a stronger antenna... thats the only thing I like better about them...

 

My friends and I use the Garmin Rhino. It's cool because it also has the two way radio feature. When you key the radio it shows your coordinates on everyone else that is in your groups GPS. This comes in handy when you wander off and get stuck. Like that ever happens.

 

From what I have experienced with the Magellens on the ground in Iraq is that when we turned them on they sometimes took 30 minutes to aquire satellites and the Garmins only took a couple of minutes. Time is precious when your getting shot at!