Reth

I just got one at Sams Club in Cockeysville, Maryland for $119.91. They still have about two dozen. This value pack includes a 256 MB SD card, case, and Mapsend Topo. The item number is 1673 PORT GPS (at least I think that is it).

Sams Club has the Magellan Explorist 400 Wilderness Bundle (in store only) for $119.95. Can't beat that deal and it has everything you need.

I am interested in buying a GPS unit that will serve a few purposes: 1. For hiking or trail running and keeping track of my milage. I like to see where and how far I have run either in the woods or in the downtown canyons. 2. For marking old foundations and such, and other points of interest that I come across. 3. Possible geocaching. 4. Downloading and mapping capabilities. I think the Garmin wrist units aren't versitile enough for my purpose. I am not too concerned about the size because I would keep it in my hydration backpack when running. I don't need autorouting. I have been looking at the Garmin 60Csx, Lowrance Expedition, and Magellan 500/600. Is the Garmin really worth the extra $100 plus for the unit and Topo software?

If both of these units use the SirfIII chip why would one outperform the other as reported above? Why does Lowrance state their unit has 16 channels when the SirfIII chip supposedly has 20? I finally got a reply from Lowrance regarding the sensitivity of the Expedition and here is what they stated: Sensitivity Tracking -150dBm Reacquisition -147dBm -141 hot/warm acquisition 135dBm cold acquisition

I have seen a post somewhere that stated the Lowrance Expedition C uses the Sirf III chipset. I have emailed Lowrance and they replied that that information was proprietary. So I then emailed them asking what the sensitivity rating of the unit was and they never replied at all. Does anyone have this info? I am considering purchasing this unit, but now I am having second thoughts based on my experience with their customer service.

I am looking to purchase my first GPS unit. I will use it primarily for hiking in predominantly heavily wooded areas. I will probably also try my hand at geocaching. It looks like I can obtain either the Lowrance H2O Plus package or a Magellan 400 package with their topo software for about the same price - slightly over $200. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Where can I find examples and comparisons of the topo software provided by Garmin, Magellan, and Lowrance? I would love to see side-by-side comparisons of the same map region. Which provides the most detail and is the most accurate?