I see there are lots of choices in GPS units, everything from a PDA with GPS like the Garmin iQue M3 to dashboard units to $2,000 in-dash NAV units with TFT screens. What I want is the ability to navigate on forest roads and know where I'm at. I have used Delorme Topo Quads on a laptop with a USB GPS receiver and the detail is stunning. Is it possible to get the same level of detail onto a compact screen?

Most portable/dashboard GPS units have less than 128MB of memory, which certainly won't hold my 7-CD Delorme program. Can I use a 40GB Ipod (or other storage device) to store maps for viewing on these units or am I stuck with laptop nav?

Thanks!
Ken

 

I don't think that you will find anything with the same kind of topo detail as the Delorme software. My recomendation; install a touchscreen monitor in your dash and run VGA cables and the like to some hidden place and your laptop. Poor man's carputer.

 

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Whatever I install in my vehicle must not be visible or it will likely be stolen. For that reason, I think a sunvisor TFT touchscreen might be the way to go. (It would also be more visible for gps guidance than a TFT screen installed low in the dash.)



Any other thoughts?

 

Most hand helds or smaller screens can't get into great detail with the maps as there is not nearly enough room. You would be better to install on of those TFT's as it would allow you to keep the detail yet not have to lug your laptop around all the time.

I just use a Megellan hand held, works great for what I use it for, wouldn't be something I recommend for someone who actually uses it to navigate to and from places though.

 

You can do a "poormans carputer" like nermalgod named, with a 7'' or 8'' touch screen with a removeable holding systems.

A friend of mine has a carputer similar to my 4Puter and uses a Lilliput 7'' Touch Screen attached to the dash. When he returns to home he takes off the screen with him and no screen visible hehe.

David

 

I run the Garmin StreetPilot-III and find it does a decent job for backcountry use. On the basic topo maps the road detail is OK but they are not routable, so no turn by turn info. On the latest Garmin topo maps (they have the major national park areas mapped) you do get fully routable backcountry roads and with the 24K:1 maps, the detail is a lot better than the 100K:1 maps in the basic topos. Hopefully they will come out with more map sets in that higher resolution and data content. They work great in Death Valley and most of the Mojave desert is covered as well.

 

Roger,
Will your GPS show (and label) the U.S. Forest Service Roads up in the highway 88/4 areas? I think the Delorme Topo Quads have me spoiled because they show just about every road ever created.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

They show many of the roads. The Roads and Rec maps label many of the FS roads by number, the older topo maps show the roads, but only as lines on the map. The newer topos have everything labelled but only cover National Parks for now (Yosemite, Sequoia, Kins Canyon in the Sierra).

 

i wish i had one of those garmin hand helds, my laptop is great for the truck, but too heavy and big to carry around in the woods. maybe i should just get a compass and an astrolabe.

 

I have a Garmin eTrex I used to use before my carputer... It worked very well, I always planned the routes at home with topo maps and the OziExplorer and then send the track and WP's to the Garmin.

Now I plan the route at home and send it to the truck via wireless

David