View Full Version : Handheld GPS
rhett270
11-30-2008, 12:49
I am thinking about getting a GPS for under 250 dollars for hiking and on the road. What is a good GPS for this. I was thinking maybe a Garmin eTrex Legend Cx or a Magellan Triton 400.
You can get the Vista Hcx (http://www.amazon.com/GARMIN-010-00630-00-Vista-HCx-Receiver/dp/B000PDR1LS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228065354&sr=8-1) for $214 or the Legend Hcx (http://www.amazon.com/GARMIN-010-00629-00-Etrex-Legend-Receiver/dp/B000PDR27G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1228065430&sr=1-2#) for $180 at Amazon. Earlier the had decent deals including a case and Topo software but they've gone up.
I have the Legend C which has been a great GPS but only holds 24MB and no SD card. I was able to upload about 2000 miles of Topo maps for the CDT. With City Navigator I'm only able to do metro Atlanta if that. Something that holds a 1GB card would be much better and you can easily switch from Topo to City.
garlic08
11-30-2008, 18:17
My wife says look at geocaching.com, go to the forums, there's a "garage sale" there if you want to find something used for a good price. Lots of folks upgrading and selling their old stuff.
She says Sly's Legend C is a good buy, but you do need to upload maps as you go.
optimator
11-30-2008, 18:28
I have a Legend and it does everything I need it to do, Good GPS.
I love my Garmin Vista but I wish it would pick up the GPS signal better than it does. Some models do a better job with the GPS signal but cost much more.
I love my Garmin Vista but I wish it would pick up the GPS signal better than it does. Some models do a better job with the GPS signal but cost much more.
I've had good luck with the Legend which is basically the same as the Vista but I've only really used it out west. The Hcx series supposed to pick up signals better under tree cover and in canyons.
ATX-Hiker
12-01-2008, 11:12
It's a little more than you wanted to spend, but I have a Garmin 60Csx and I love it, you can pick them up for 300-350. It can accept up to a 2GB micro SD card for storing maps. It's really cool, and with the antenna I've been in heavily wooded areas and it still picks up a signal.
MaineSurveyor
12-01-2008, 14:04
I'd go with the Garmin Vista series (I have one) rather than the Legend series because the Vista has a built-in electronic compass which you can use when you're not actually moving. I've researched all the new GPS-r models and if I could get a new GPS-r ($$$) I'd go with the Vista Hcx model.
I'm sort of a GPS beginner. But I played around with a Garmin for a few months and found it confusing. I traded it for a Delorme "Earthmate, GPS PN-20," The Delorme found more satellites, more quickly. I was mapping trails to help me produce maps for our town land trust preserves within an hour of opening the box and charging the battery.
Delorme is a Maine company, though it produces maps and atlasses for many states. Its Maine Atlas is mandatory for finding your way through Maine's unorganized wild lands. I don't know if they make the Earthmate at their Maine factory or not. Probably not. But I find it useful anyway. I paid $250 for mine a couple of years ago. It may be cheaper now.
Weary
I'm sort of a GPS beginner. But I played around with a Garmin for a few months and found it confusing. I traded it for a Delorme "Earthmate, GPS PN-20," The Delorme found more satellites, more quickly. I was mapping trails to help me produce maps for our town land trust preserves within an hour of opening the box and charging the battery.
Delorme is a Maine company, though it produces maps and atlasses for many states. It's Maine Atlas is mandatory for finding your way through Maine's unorganized wild lands. I don't know if they make the Earthmate at their Maine factory or not. Probably not. But I find it useful anyway. I paid $250 for mine a couple of years ago. It may be cheaper now.
Weary
Yeah, a friend had an Earthmate and it looked like a great GPS. Somewhat bigger and heavier than a Garmin but good detailed maps.
Here's a link for the $250 bundle from REI
http://www.rei.com/product/759729?cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-datafeed-_-product-_-759729&mr:trackingCode=3ED02D98-13BF-DD11-9B0F-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA
Others here...
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Earthmate,+GPS+PN-20&oe=utf-8&cid=17475755897909570194#ps-sellers
I have the Earthmate PN-20. I'm fairly new with it... it's mostly a toy, for now. Last summer, in Vermont (near Maine Junction) it couldn't get a lock while in the woods. This last weekend, on a short AT hike in Fahnestock Park (north of NYC, near the Hudson) it had no trouble. I'm a long-time fan of DeLorme maps and gazeteers, so that's why I chose the PN-20 as my first GPS. It is a bit heavy and bulky compared to some units I've seen. It claims about 15 hours of battery life (uses two AAs.)
MoBill122
12-01-2008, 17:33
I use an old Magellan Meridian Gold, that gets me around just fine. I don't depend on it to show me the way through the woods, only as sort of assurance, of where I think I am on the map. Gives you an idea how far you've walked during the day... and perhaps how far you have to go to a planned camping spot.
Have an extra one, if you're interested... much less than $300. <g>
buckwheat
12-01-2008, 19:43
Although I'm fairly new to hiking, one of my first purchases was a GPS. After reading up a bit, I too chose the Garmin 60CSx on a price/performance/portability basis.
I have to say that I use it a lot to prevent myself from becoming disoriented learning new trails. It is very, very useful in that regard. The "breadcrumb" feature gives me the confidence to embark down a trail not really sure where it leads knowing that I can probably get out of trouble just as fast as I got into it. And for me, that's pretty damn quick.
I also like some of the ancillary features: knowing how far I hiked helps me train and track my progress; how much altitude I hiked, walking time vs. standing time, onboard compass should I need to get oriented to landmarks in cloudy New England weather, etc. Being able to mark my position, or the position of interesting landmarks is really, really nice.
Having said all that, I'm really disappointed with the default map. I paid about $300 for my unit. It has major roads and some less major roads, but does not display even my own street that I live on. It's apparent to me that the default map is deliberately low res, so that you have to spend extra for higher resolution road maps. I can use the GPS for navigating the interstates and two-lane roads, but when it comes to surface streets, forget about it unless you pay for high-resolution maps.
There are other limitations that I don't like either. I love the ability to import a track that someone else has created ... and yet, the damn thing limits the number of points on any given track (which is a map of a trail) to 500 discrete points. Thus, you kind of have to sacrifice some resolution or end up spending all your time importing lots of smaller tracks, and there's a limit to the number of tracks you can store.
Battery life is a real issue with me (it uses 2 AA batteries). I haven't been satisfied at all with it. I've gotten maybe 12 hours average per battery set. That blows if you ask me. Using it on a thru-hike would probably be out of the question due to weight considerations of the batteries alone.
On the whole, I've found that as long as I use my GPS for the things that it's good for (breadcrumbing, hike stats collection, marking) and don't rely on it to do things it's not very good at (road navigation, multi-day backwoods nav), I'm fairly happy with it.
The technology and costs have a LONG way to go before I'm totally satisfied with it; and certainly you shouldn't rely on it to eliminate the work of proper hike and route planning. No way would I bet my life on the thing, that's for sure. But if you're a gadget-head, you should probably get one.
Cheers,
Buckwheat
MoBill122
12-01-2008, 20:44
GPS mapping sucks .... My TomTom.... Google Earth... MSN Streets... and others all show my house ONE MILE up the street. My house was built 10 years ago !! geezzz
I'm sort of a GPS beginner. But I played around with a Garmin for a few months and found it confusing. I traded it for a Delorme "Earthmate, GPS PN-20," The Delorme found more satellites, more quickly. I was mapping trails to help me produce maps for our town land trust preserves within an hour of opening the box and charging the battery.
Delorme is a Maine company, though it produces maps and atlasses for many states. Its Maine Atlas is mandatory for finding your way through Maine's unorganized wild lands. I don't know if they make the Earthmate at their Maine factory or not. Probably not. But I find it useful anyway. I paid $250 for mine a couple of years ago. It may be cheaper now.
Weary
Here are some reviews that some may find helpful:
http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/PN20/images/PN20_reviews.pdf
Having said all that, I'm really disappointed with the default map. I paid about $300 for my unit. It has major roads and some less major roads, but does not display even my own street that I live on. It's apparent to me that the default map is deliberately low res, so that you have to spend extra for higher resolution road maps. I can use the GPS for navigating the interstates and two-lane roads, but when it comes to surface streets, forget about it unless you pay for high-resolution maps.
Yeah the highway base maps blow, so if if want that feature you need to buy City Navigator and the software only works on one GPS.
I found the topo maps pretty much right on when I used mine on the CDT. It wouldn't have every trail or road buy when used in conjunction with paper maps it worked perfectly.
Maps, compass, GPS in that order.
I have the Earthmate PN-20. I'm fairly new with it... it's mostly a toy, for now. Last summer, in Vermont (near Maine Junction) it couldn't get a lock while in the woods. This last weekend, on a short AT hike in Fahnestock Park (north of NYC, near the Hudson) it had no trouble. I'm a long-time fan of DeLorme maps and gazeteers, so that's why I chose the PN-20 as my first GPS. It is a bit heavy and bulky compared to some units I've seen. It claims about 15 hours of battery life (uses two AAs.)
I would get about 1.5 hours under field conditions not 15 with the PN-20. I posted my observations about it in another thread. Someone from DeLorme found it on here and contacted me about it. I see they now have the PN-40 which from the advertising postcard says it has corrected the issues I had with it. However that arrived a couple of days after my new Garmin GPSmap 76CSx...
I use a Garmin Rino 130, I bought 10 of these in bulk off of a guy on ebay a few years back, came in handy when a huge group of friends and I hiked a presidential traverse, The GMRS radio would automatically talk to the other GPSs and we'd see their location on our screen and we used the FRS radio capability to communicate.
The Rino 130 is so far the only GPS i've ever seen that has an accurate Barometer / Altimeter within 30 feet or so. We all calibrated our radios at the base and had consistent readings over the course of 3-days.