affordable/quality GPS units

[danhelmstadter]

I will soon be in the market for a GPS. Anyone have any reccomandations or warnings about specific units they care to share? I hear the garmins are good, but last time i checked they were in the 400 $ range - quite a bit more than I can afford.

[mkporwit]

The Garmin Legend/Vista HCx models have a very good chipset that seems to do relatively well under our dense foliage. You should be able to find the Legend HCx for a little over $200 and the Vista HCX for about $250...

[OlympicMtnBoy]

My Garmin Gecko 301 has a built in barometric altimeter but no fancy map displays and stuff. They are pretty easy to use and mine has held up really well over the last 4 or 5 years I've had it. They are only around $150 now, maybe less for the holidays. It's great for taking waypoints to follow back and checking your altitude and stuff.

[robertjoy]

I have owned three Garmins over the years. The most important feature in a GPS is the "high-sensitivity" receiver. This enables reception under tree cover, and of equal importance, faster satellite aquisition time. The older receivers are so weak and slow, that the user actually will avoid using them.

I have the highest respect for the Garmin 60csx mapping unit. It locks on to satelites almost instantly, even under tree cover. The fact that you can load topo maps onto the unit make it useable without stopping to locate your GPS reading on a paper map. On the screen you can see the topography or waypoints ahead of you. It is intuitive, which is a safety factor. Under very adverse conditions having the topo on the screen can eliminate serious misreading. Current cost online seems to be arount $300.

A compromise with the better chip set might be the GARMIN Etrex Venture HC for about $125.00 As it is different, I cannot vouch for it personally.

[rbw1966]

I've had 3 Etrex Legends--they are good units if you are using them solely for climbing/skiing but not so durable as some of the other models. You are limited by the memory size but you can still load maps onto them. I had all three replaced under warranty because I used them while dual-sport motorcycling and they just couldn't handle the vibrations.

 

I have the 60CSX now and its a much better unit but slightly larger and a bit heavier. It has the ability of adding more memory and with a 4GB card I can load topos and mapsource data (and you can switch between them)for the entire western US. I will disagree with the above poster about satellite aquisition--if you are in a new area it can take a while for the unit to lock on but once you have locked its very quick.

 

If you can afford the 60CSX I would do with that, but if you are on a limited budget the Etrex line is a worthy alternative.

[mike1]

Keep it simple and light and below $200... with no bells and whistles; the Magellan SporTrak.

 

[jhamaker]

I saw an add-on (hardware) for Smart Phones w/ a specific i/o port at Fry's in Renton for $40.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

I don't know about newer chipsets and stuff, my Garmin Geko 301 is a tad slow and doesn't work as well under really heavy tree cover, but in practice I take waypoints anytime I stop for a minute and it works great, I've never been in a forest so thick I couldn't find a patch of sky within 15 mins. It's worked great for mountaineering. I won't argue with folks with newer ones though or fancy electronic maps (weight is a concern for me too). The 301 is on sale at mgear.com for $130.

[Kletterhund]

My fifth and best Garmin yet the Vista HCx ... New on ebay with a memory 250-300. Locks under deep canopy, in steep canyons, in my freakin' cube ...

[Frikadeller]

I have a Garmin that has the built in two way radio. It's OK, and pick up the satelites most of the time, but suffers terribly under dense tree cover. I never use the two way radio part, so that was a waste of money. I would not reccomend it because of that, and because it is pretty heavy and bulky compared to other models that out these days.

 

Edited November 17, 2008 by Frikadeller