GPS opinions...
 

After my outing yesterday I realize i need a new GPS. My 8 year old Garmin 12 is not cutting it.

I want something that has a easy to read screen, can be mounted or portable, and like most of the new GPS's has local information like places to eat and get gas.

I would like to see pics and get info on the different ones you guys are using..likes and dislikes, and prices. Thanks.

I really like my Garmin i3. It was pretty cheap, does everything I need it to do (basic GPS functionalities like driving directions, POI's, etc.), and here's a link w/ pics:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ghlight=garmin

The absolute best value for a GPS with a large screen, built in map and expandable mapping capabilities is the Lowrance IFinder pro. I got a new one for $150, it was absolutely fantastic, even came stock with lists of interstate exit services.

I will be getting another one soon (destroyed in car fire).

I have a Garmin III+, Garmin V and a Dell x51v PDA with Tomtom Navigator 5 and their bluetooth receiver.

The Dell/Tomtom combination is by far the most expensive, fastest and prettiest. It has the worst method of selecting points of interest and is just about useless off-road. It's time/distance calculations are laughable, I took four hours off its estimate for San Francisco, CA to Port Angeles, WA and halfed its estimate for Nephi, UT to Tonopah, NV. The Tomtom maps are significantly out of date, like three to five years, and also often off by as much as quarter of a mile (worst case was south of Banff where it had me driving south on the frontage road on the other side of the freeway). From an 'exploring strange places' perspective Tomtom's POI database (specifically gas stations) is dangerously incomplete. Driving east out of Death Valley on 374 towards Beatty, NV it was still telling me that my closest gas station was back through Death Valley in CA. The data available from the GPS isn't in the same class as the Garmin either, you can't even get things like altitude and trip distance. The bluetooth receiver is very small and neat, but it has no antenna connection (not that it actually needs one) and it switches itself off after not having anything to talk to for a while. So you can't install it somewhere out of the way and forget about it, so it has to be to hand, and for signal that really means on the dash, so you might as well leave it powered, so you might as well have bought a cheaper USB device. Knowing what I know now I'd have bought the Holux GPSlim 236.

I've also used iGuidance and it was awful.

If you want a small GPS then the Garmin V is still kind of OK, sadly the latest software revision has a habit of throwing its hands up in dispair when it needs to re-route. It is so slow that it often shows the guidance for the previous turn, rerouting takes a very long time compared to the Dell/Tomtom solution. It takes forever to load the Garmin maps (an hour) and the 19Mb isn't enough to cover a day's driving. But if I wanted a reasonable chance of knowing how long it was going to take me to get somewhere, or I wanted a reasonable chance of getting out of somewhere I'd got lost in I'd rather have the Garmin than the Tomtom.

If you read the Amazon.com reviews for the Tomtom nav 5 with bluetooth and the Garmin GPS V you can see what I really think of them. I think I have the top review in both cases.

Sadly it's an expensive business finding out which software and devices are actually any use, reviews on Amazon are still mostly of the "wow! gps!" variety.

I wish Garmin offered a generic PDA solution that I could use with the Holux receiver.

I need a PDA all the time for keeping track of meetings and contacts, so adding a little bluetooth receiver made sense. But so far I don't think there is actually a good PDA software package yet.

Anyway, that's just what I have experience of.

I own a Garmin GPS V and am relatively satisfied with it.

POI database is new enough to be useful. Works well offroad and for hiking, geocaching, etc. However, the route calculation times on it are pittiful. Purchasing a GPS is all about how much $$$ you want to spend. The more you spend, the nicer the GPS (obviously). I'd kill to have a new Garmin 60C...

I have a Garmin etrex Vista C, Hand held, with the mount I mounted it to the front window this weekend when I went up in the hills. Worked Great.
The longest track I have is just over 500 miles and it only took 50% of the space for that track. The "C" means it has a color read out screen. That I like.
$251.00 Simi water proof, I wanted that.

If I go handheld it looks like the Garmin 60cs or csx, but I am stiill thinking about something like the Garmin Streetpilot i5 or c320. I want a color screen with good road map capabilities.

I am having a hard time with this one. I want to spend about $400 max. I have friends that have Garmin software, that is part of the reason I want to stick with Garmin.

I have been pricing on ebay and amazon. Where else can I get a good deal??

If you go w/ the i5, there's a bunch of places on the net that sell it for about $400. gpsnow.com is a pretty good site.

I really like the i3 and it's about $100 cheaper. To be honest, I've stored 10 states plus Western Canada on the 128 mb card. The hard drive in the i5 would be great but not for an extra $100.

ive said it before, and ill say it again, i love my garmin ique 3200.

images...
this shows it is a PDA and GPS device.. dual use that i get a lot out of!
http://www.prairie.mb.ca/images/ique3200_combined.jpg

here it is as i mount it and use it...
http://www.kidmoe.com/navi2.jpg
http://www.kidmoe.com/navi3.jpg

it goes for around $500 retail, i got it on ebay for $300. has voice commands, lists shopping and other points of interest, very easy to use, small and not in your face.

the cons are that you have to keep it in the charger or it will auto shut off every 2 mins to save batteries.. also, you need to buy a memory card to be sure it will hold all the maps you will need.

beyond that it is great :)

With the dusty conditions I wheel in I have decided against anything with a touch screen. I need something more durable. Looks like the Garmin 60c is the way to go.

Hi Marc,

I bought a 76CS over a year ago and am fairly happy with it. I was set on buying the 60 as I like the styling better, the 76 always looked upside down. The 76 however, at least when I bought mine, has about twice the memory of the 60, same screen and has a few other things the 60 didn't. Very happy I got the 76 as I use most of the memory it has. I can load most of CA, and parts of NV, NY, and Fl. with a little left to spare.

Only thing I don't llike is that it sits very tall making it dificult to find a location on the dash where you can still get reception and see it. Something like the quest would mound much better on the dash. Also the screen is smal, fine for street driving but topo use is challenging.

I was also considering a PDA based unit but with all the glitches that my PDA has I wanted something a little more robust and reliable.

I have both the garmin streen map set and low detail topos. Note that the street maps are locked and must be unlocked for your particular GPS so you might not be able to use your friends software.

Got mine at GPSNOW.com (4x4booxs.com, ...)

I haven't kept up on things since I bought mine so I'm not sure what is out there now. Hope that helps.

Marc do a search for the 60c in this forum, I remember someone had it and had some good observations pro/con for it.

Cheapest I found it on Froogle was around $330

I ordered the 60c from Amazon today for $319.99 shipped. Best deal I found anywhere.

The touch screen really isn't an issue if you use a protective film, Dell sells them cheaply for my PDA. What I'd be bothered about is dust finding its way in past unsealed switches and joints. Another plus for Garmin and their sealed units.

Another vote for the 60C.
It works great in the car (turn by turn directions with the software) and great with the Blue Chart maps for offshore. I've had mine for a couple of years and never had any trouble.

https://img486.imageshack.us/img486/1765/gps0102yz.jpg

https://img486.imageshack.us/img486/4345/gps0119ml.jpg

https://img486.imageshack.us/img486/6121/gps0094hn.jpg

marc,

if you are heading to DV at the end of the month, you can check mine out. i have a garmin 60cs and i had a ram mount which is by far the best mount that i've used so far. one thing though, is that the garmin topo maps did not do much for me out in the desert aside from listing the elevation ranges. but thats a software issue.

anyways, did a mini-review on the my 60cs. search garmin 60cs and you should be able to find it

thanks,
bob

I have Garmin StreetPilot 2720. Great unit, especially it has "turn-to-talk" function.

Jeffiries-where did you get that mount? I only saw the suction cup mount.

Bob, I will check out your writeup..thanks

I have the Streetpilot 2610 for urban travel and the 60CS for off-road travel and hiking (The topo maps are super for cut-lines and logging roads). Both GPS's use the same mount so switching is a breeze. However, for gas, hotels, points of interest, the Streetpilot series is still the best in my opinion (but since it isn't portable, the 60 series more closely meets your criteria). Congrats on the purchase :banger:

James

Anyone here use their laptop as their GPS? I was thinking of using my powerbook as a GPS, just still figuring out a low cost way for mounting.