GPS Question

[renodesertfox]

Howdy,
If you had $150 to spend on a beginner level GPS that has connectivity to a PC what would you purchase?

[JohnJohn]

Howdy,
If you had $150 to spend on a beginner level GPS that has connectivity to a PC what would you purchase?

mostly for pavement or off road use?

[renodesertfox]

GPS Quest

Off-road use why?

[JohnJohn]

Off-road use why?

couple reasons -

Most of the units out there do a decent job at covering the paved roads. Only a few give National Forest service roads. I would look into a Garmin with Topo.

[renodesertfox]

GPS Question

Thanks JohnJohn, I'll give it a try. Just learning, trying to teach this old dog new tricks!

[Bigdog57]

Those that go down to back road and trail level will be higher priced than what you stated you wanted.
I paid $117 out the door for my little Magellan eXplorist 200 - it's pocket sized and rugged. BUT.... no external vehicle power - batteries only, and it doesn't have download/upload capability, the internal map only goes to state and major county road level.
It's good for highway travel by MC - shows me at a glance if I get off track. Much better than having to stop and wrestle with a paper map!
I also use it for off-road to show the track I have been laying - "bread-crumbs" to find my way back out, and to compare later to a paper map so I can update the map, write in POI, etc.
So, it serves me well.

But to do really decent back-road navigation, you can find some reconditioned or used units on ebay for $400 or so, that sell new for $600 to $700. Those units can navigate you to someone's doorstep from several states away! You can also program them to ignore major highways and 'take the road less travelled'. A riding buddy does that when we are 'adventure riding' in the boonies. He has a nice Garmin unit.
Of course, any computer is only as good as the data it is given. He has followed a track the gadget calls 'road' and ended up in someone's backyard, or on a deer trail. The map data isn't always correct.
Some new units have a "topo" feature great for hiking - but be wary of it when driving. It can try to take you across some rough terrain! That feature tends to ignore roads.

[renodesertfox]

Gps?

Howdy BD,
Yep, you're right, man they can be expensive! So I'm going to wait a while longer. Don't have the extra greenbacks at present. Besides I got teach myself. And besides if I give out exact locations of where we like to camp, the next time we'd go there the place would be crawling with tourists. Haha! Thanks for your imput and I even sent young x-buck sarge a pm too. He answered and even invited me to SD to teach me them skills, but I only get down there when the va doctors want to re-value my bad back, so that won't be any time soon. Hey, I did like them photos you did of your mc meet in January! Now that it's getting to be spring what plans have you for camping?

[Bigdog57]

One of my riding buddies is itching to go camping soon. I am too! He knows a good spot down further south in the local National Forest that sounds real good! On a lake, so we could do some fishing too.

[richardvg03]

As of today I own 5 GPS systems!

[renodesertfox]

Gps?

Howdy,
Well what do you know, my bride got all excited about the GPS thing. I said to her to forget it because I'm just a photo guy that always takes a ton of equipment out when I go down-range, and a GPS unit is just something else that I would have to worry about. So she said, forget you, I'm buying one for herself with a contour map software. So she bought the top of the line Garmin model, and now she'll have more fun camping remotely and knowing where we are. She said that she could even put in the points as to where a particular flower is located at, and I said ok if you want too, but next year that plant could be destroyed by wind, motorcycle, atv. whatever. So now we got one, and I don't have to mess with it, she can. Thanks for all the interest you all put in! Thanks!

[richardvg03]

Garmin Nuvi 780??? You can use your GPS to put in the cordinates to the campsites I have put up!

[renodesertfox]

GPS? Resolved

Howdy,
Well now my bride is really getting into GPSing. She just bought a GPS 60CSx with topo maps and is really liking it. It will almost make tea too! Anyway, she is planning on using it in the kayak and already she has used it in the car; she can tell me how fast I'm going, what the color of the road is and how many tires are on the car. Now ain't that just grand! Hey, thanks for everyone chipping in, my wife really likes GPSing! I'm glad I can put a smile on her face in more than just one way, thanks!

[jpurdy]

nice GPS. Don't forget the car charger.

[richardvg03]

If it's a vehicle GPS then it's more than likely NOT water proof so I wouldn't suggest kayaking with it.

Also, check out geocacheing!!

[Bigdog57]

It IS waterproof.....

Here's the dope on the 60CSx:

http://www.megagps.com/gpsmap60csx-e...blememory.aspx

A very nice GPS indeed, and pocketable too! This might be my next GPS, when I decide to upgrade.

VDF, the little lady made a very good choice!