teejayh Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Hi, I'm looking for a new gps, and I know that these questions get asked all the time. So sorry for a repeat. Anyway, I'm looking for a device that does maping, that can be used in a car, as well as for geocaching so something that works good. I'd also like it to have a SD card option so that I can upload maps to it when I'm doing a multi-state trip. I'd also like a color screen but thats just something to nitpick at. I plan on using this for offroading and visiting ghost towns and what not within Utah, Nevada, Idaho, California, Colorado, Arizon, and the New Mexico areas. Some trips will involve three states at a time. I also want to be able to store detailed city maps for the major cities in that area as well. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...44&vi=tech-data The Garmin Quest seems to do most of that, but it does not have a sd card, and I don't know how many detailed maps the 115 meg will fill. There is also the Garmin 76CS http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...ronics&n=559944 It seems to have the same limitations as the Garmin Quest. There is also the navman icn510 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...onics&n=1065836 From what features its listed, it sounds like it would be a great fit, even over the garmin units, and its small and compact and portable too. The problem is after reading some of the reviews on amazon's site, people complain about bad maps and whatnot. I'm just curious what you all would recommend, or what other options i should look at as well. Thanks. Quote Link to comment
+Night Stalker Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 I use the 60CS. It only has 64 meg of RAM, but I am able to load up to 3 states at a time as long as they are not heavily populated. For instance Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming with memory left over. The largest area I have done was Idaho, Montana, and the LA basin all the way out to Yuma Arizona. This was City Select. some states the Topo maps take up more memory. Quote Link to comment
+IVxIV Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Have a look at any of the Lowrance iFinder series, they pretty much all do what you're looking for. Just depends on how much $'s you want to spend The iFinder basic starts at around $120 and at that price it still incorporates SD/MMC memory cards. Top of the like is the iFinder PhD that adds to the pot all the compasses barometers etc that you may or may not find useful. The Lowrance TOPO and street maps are very well detailed. Quote Link to comment
+treasure_hunter Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Lowrance is my favorite GPS we have the Ifinder Pro, and you can build and customize maps. Thats the only way I would buy a GPS, if and only if you can create and upload maps. Quote Link to comment
+miles58 Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 In addition to what IV x IV and treasure hunter had to say, when you go to buy the map software, get the mapcreate 6.2 and not the 6.3. The 6.3 is a PITA about registering SD chips. You can put most of what you want on a 256 meg chip and all of it on a 512 megger. There is no penalty I have found to having more in a single map file on a big chip. The is no advantage I have found to having one (or more) small maps on a chip. I would go here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW and buy one right off. I use it in the woods, under bad conditions, when the unit is velcroed to the dash and find it a very useful tool. The cigarette lighter plug is great for in the car. The antenna is a powered antenna so it will add considerably to the battery drain so get yourself some rechargeable AAs too. Quote Link to comment
teejayh Posted June 23, 2005 Author Share Posted June 23, 2005 Thanks I'll start to look at the ifinder units. Its too bad they dont have color screens though. Quote Link to comment
+Docapi Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 You might want to check out the Magellan Explorist 5 or 600 as well. Auto routing, color screens, SD capability on both of them. Quote Link to comment
teejayh Posted June 23, 2005 Author Share Posted June 23, 2005 I'll check that out too. I called Lowrance today, and apparently they are coming out with a color screen version of the PHD this fall, so I might wait the few months for it, and just buy a elcheapo one now. I dunno. too many choices and not enough options on them heh. Quote Link to comment
Team GeoSpeedy Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I'll check that out too. I called Lowrance today, and apparently they are coming out with a color screen version of the PHD this fall, so I might wait the few months for it, and just buy a elcheapo one now. I dunno. too many choices and not enough options on them heh. I think Lowrance might be a great choice if you want to wait, and also for your inexpensive hold over model, too! They're really not a bad deal at all, just not as popular (yet). On the other hand, it's possible to find a Magellan Sportrak color on the cheap now that they're being phased out. Nice size for either auto or hand held activities, and I think the auto routing using Mapsend Directroute is fairly good. Plus it can fit in one of the generic hands-free car cell phone holders, so no costly OEM stuff to buy. -p Quote Link to comment
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