GPS receiver recommendations

[hammer]

Does anyone have advice on what kind of receiver to get?

I got a Magellan eXplorist 200 for Christmas but returned it because I wanted to be able to download maps from a PC and it didn't have a connection.

I'm mainly looking for something that will be reliable, relatively easy to use, and hopefully costs less than $200.

 

[riverc0il]

i am not familiar with the budget GPS receivers, but you will get what you pay for. what are you planning to use the unit for? you should buy based on the features you need and your intended use, not price, imo. i know we all want the best money can buy at the lowest cost, but you don't want something that is going to be consistently off on plots by 50 feet. if you plan on hiking through thick forest or doing something you need precise plots for such as geocaching, getting the most accurate unit possible is top priority. going budget is certainly acceptable for more open areas and less need for precision.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

Garmin Etrex

 

[hammer]

Garmin Etrex

I just saw the Garmin eTrex Legend 8 MB on Amazon.com for $118...is this the one or would you recommend a different model?

 

[koreshot]

Buddy has a Garmin Nuvi or whatever. He absolutely loves it. It definitely is pretty nice though the maps are still a bit wacky sometimes - not Garmin's fault. We took it on a trip out to Utah for a week and it was a big help in navigating, easy to follow, nice picture, etc...

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

what do you want to use the NAV for???

 

[hammer]

what do you want to use the NAV for???

It would be more of a toy than anything else, but I'd like to have something for short hikes and something that works reasonably well in a car. I have no plans to use it for Geocaching (I had to look this term up to know what it was).

The main problem with the unit that I returned was that the map it came with didn't go down to street level, so I'm guessing I'll need something that I can put detailed maps into.

This may be a tall order for an under $200 receiver...if I really need to go more, I'll most likely wait a bit at this point.

Thanks to everyone for their input so far.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

i have the etrex...came with the TOPO disk which is good for hiking and some limited boating....I bought the MetroGuide disk to use for the car...this is not the best unit for car/directions...small screen, not good to read when driving (I am getting the StreetPilot and using the Etrex for the boat/skiing/mtn biking/snowshoeing etc)....the Etrex is good because you can do your route on the computer and download it to your GPS......look around, there might be better units out there to serve both purposes....get a color screen, mine is mono and hard to read

 

[riverc0il]

Buddy has a Garmin Nuvi or whatever. He absolutely loves it. It definitely is pretty nice though the maps are still a bit wacky sometimes - not Garmin's fault.

the mapping software is garmin's fault imo, because they only allow their units to load TOPO software or what ever the company is and the topo maps are horrid except for the NP versions. garmin has been rather lax about pursuing better mapping software for use with their units, which was my biggest problem with garmin when i decided to by the csx60. i generally make my own maps using USGS data and some software at home instead of purchasing $100 worth of crappy maps.

 

[persee]

I really can't complain about the mapping software from Garmin, for my purposes. I've been using a Garmin 60CS for both car and hiking/boating and found it was pretty much the best way to go if you need 1 unit for both. It quickly locks its position and the color screen is big enough to use while driving - though not ideal. however this is really about as large a device as you'd want (and has the built in antenna) if you're gonna be carrying it around.

I'll likely be upgrading to a car-only model for driving just because having a larger display and bigger controls makes it easier to use while driving.

 

[loafer89]

I bought my Garmin IQ3600 in February of 2005 and just recently it fell off my dashboard after I had cleaned the dashboard and that made it slippery, anyway it hit the shifter and smashed the screen. Garmin sent me a replacement unit in exchange for mine for $75.00 including shipping, not bad.

We bought a Nuvi in July and during our trip to Sugarloaf in December half of the display stopped functioning, arrrgh, but Garmin fixed it at no charge. Overall I am very pleased with Garmin and would recommend them highly. I like to use the Mapquest software to save time and money on fuel when driving to a ski destination.

 

[andyzee]

the mapping software is garmin's fault imo, because they only allow their units to load TOPO software or what ever the company is and the topo maps are horrid except for the NP versions. garmin has been rather lax about pursuing better mapping software for use with their units, which was my biggest problem with garmin when i decided to by the csx60. i generally make my own maps using USGS data and some software at home instead of purchasing $100 worth of crappy maps.

Who makes the csx60 and which software do you use?

 

[bvibert]

Who makes the csx60

Garmin

 

[andyzee]

Any opinions on the following:

Garmin eTrex Summit
Garmin eTrex - Vista

 

[andyzee]

Ok, got it down to a Garmin eTrex Vista Cx or Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, not sure what the difference is.

 

[riverc0il]

Who makes the csx60 and which software do you use?

Brian already pointed out that Garmin makes the 60CSx. For software, I use TopoFusion and I roll my own topo maps, I refused to pay $100 to these crooked companies for their poor quality 100k topos and the National Forest maps didn't cover enough ground.

 

[thaller1]

call...800-322-5003... ask for Bill ..he'll set you straight on GPS... that's what my company does...

 

[andyzee]

Ok, finally purchased one of those GPS thingies. I got the Garmin eTrex Vista Cx. Now just have to figure out how to use it and how to download my own maps to it:???: :roll:

 

[skibum1321]

Brian already pointed out that Garmin makes the 60CSx. For software, I use TopoFusion and I roll my own topo maps, I refused to pay $100 to these crooked companies for their poor quality 100k topos and the National Forest maps didn't cover enough ground.

I have the 60CSx too, but I was under the impression that you had to use MapSource (which is Garmin's map software). I currently have City Navigator, which is good but I don't have any topo maps. Mine is used mainly as a cycling computer.

Does TopoFusion allow you to easily upload your maps to the device?

 

[andyzee]

I have the 60CSx too, but I was under the impression that you had to use MapSource (which is Garmin's map software). I currently have City Navigator, which is good but I don't have any topo maps. Mine is used mainly as a cycling computer.

Does TopoFusion allow you to easily upload your maps to the device?

That's everything that I'm trying to figue out at the moment. I've also found software for mapping other then TopoFusion. So now looking into which may be the best solution. Just got the unit last night, so not too far into my research