Best Gps

[leafdolfan]

just out of interest what is the best gps and why?

[+Miragee]

Just like the guy who drives a Dodge truck will tell you it is best, and the guy who drives a Ford will tell you it is best, the Magellan owners think Magellan GPSrs are best and us Garmin owners think Garmin has the best.

 

Then there are the Lowrance owners who tout that brand.

 

It really depends on how much you can afford and what features you want and who influences your purchase -- your Magellan-owning friends or Garmin-owning friends.

[+DoctorLogistics]

Am a Magellan owner who used the basic unit to start out. Spent last week with my brother-in-law who had a Garmin GPS 60CS and I was very impressed...used it for our rental car travels and only got lost when we ignored the unit! ...on the other hand, it's amazing what a couple of extra $100 will do.

 

So here's my question. I am trying to line up a Fulbright Scholar position for a semester in Austria or latvia and would be delighted to upgrade my unit to something like the 60CS. Any suggestions of the best unit specirfically to provide English instructions in Europe?

 

(you know the old joke...if you speak two languages you are called "bilingual", if you speak three languages you are called "trilingual"...if you only speak one language you are called "American!")

[Freightdawg]

Just like the guy who drives a Dodge truck will tell you it is best, and the guy who drives a Ford will tell you it is best, the Magellan owners think Magellan GPSrs are best and us Garmin owners think Garmin has the best.

Don't be silly. Of course Ford makes the best trucks!

[+briansnat]

There is no best GPS. There may be a best for your intended use.

[CenTexDodger]

And there is what you are most comfortable using. Garmin users tend to replace their units with Garmin because they are comfortable with them.

[+Mr Lost]

Good GOD! Not this topic again. Oh well, here we go...

 

IMHO, the best GPS would be a 60cs or 76cs (76? I think that is it...) with a SD card.

 

The software, autorouting, and 'cache marking system is simply better in the Garmin brands. So why did I own a Magellan Gold, and then upgrade to an eXplorist 600 after I lost the Gold on a 'cache hunt?

 

I do not like the memory limitations of the Garmin brands. It is the deal-breaker for me. I travel on occasion, and having the ability to load the entire United States on an 500meg, or 1Gig SD card is very appealing. Most Garmmin owners say that the memore that their units come with is fine with them. That is great for them, but not for me. Also, the Meridians float, and to the best of my knowledge, the Garmins do not. This is not that big an issue, until you drop one in deep water. Then it is the ONLY issue.

 

The Magellans are fine units, and I love 'em, but the garmins ARE better by most measures. There is some divegence of opinion on which brand is better at maintaining a lock on the birds, but it is really not that significant a difference, and for geocaching, both units are more than adequate. The Explorist is a great GPS, but it lacks the flexibility of the Magellan Gold. The Gold had the ability to chose from many different types of screens, where the 600 limits the owner to four screens. They are not bad screens, and for 95% of users, they are sufficient, but I liked some of the data screens presented in the old Gold. Ideally, Meridian will upgrade the firmware on the eXplorist series to accomodate this added flexibility, but I don't see it happening any time soon. At least not as long as these units are hot sellers without the added flexibility.

 

For the money, the Magellan Gold is an outstanding unit. It is a little bigand is Black and White, but the unit is very solid, and has great user flexibility.

 

Wal-Mart is currently selling them for $195.00, but if you shop around, you will likely find them cheaper online.

[kerecsen]

I am trying to line up a Fulbright Scholar position for a semester in Austria or latvia and would be delighted to upgrade my unit to something like the 60CS. Any suggestions of the best unit specirfically to provide English instructions in Europe?

I don't know of a dedicated GPS unit that would have detailed Latvia maps. So if you are going there, your best bet is probably some PPC based solution (like http://www.handmap.net/WinCE/Latvia-Maps-W.htm - this is likely the best detail you can expect ).

Austria is well covered by Garmin (for $300 for the EU City Select map), and several PPC software vendors (for less).

[bodycode]

My friend purchased a Garmin 60CS, a very, very expensive unit. It's got menus up the wazoo and almost every single screen is configurable and customizable to your liking. It's also as accurate as any GPS on the market, and it's screens are stellar to say the least!

 

The few things that really turned me off about it however, were this:

 

1) The unit must be held flat in order for the compass to work.

2) Limited memory that's not expandable.

3) User replaceable batteries but must be taken out to recharge if you chose to use rechargeable batteries.

 

Good points of Garmin 60CS:

 

1) Stellar 65,000 color screen

2) accurate

3) Great auto routing

4) Unbelievablly feature laden and customizable

 

My Explorist 600 has the following good points

 

1) A "Fluxgate" 3 gimble compass that can be held in any direction. Never wrong.

2) A built-in and easily replaceable standard LION battery that can be charged with it's power/data cable

3) unlimited expansion memory via SD cards

4) 14 hour battery life

5) Very accurate

6) 14 satellite lock-on capable, with it's Waas/Egnos augmentation reception.

8) Truly waterproof, better than Garmin

9) Light, small and built very well with excellent fit and finish

 

Bad points:

 

Poor 16 color screen

Nowhere near as configurable as Garmin 60CS (worlds apart!)

Immature software base since it's such a new unit

Relatively long lock on times

not ergonomic, "joystick button" a bad idea, also quite small buttons.

 

Ok, that's enough for compare and contrast. Overall, I'm very happy. It's a full mapping, totally waterproof unit with incredible all/plane compass, and it works like it's supposed to. What more could you ask for?

[+Rubberhead]

Coke - Ford - HP - Garmin

[+PhntmArcher]

Just to add a note for MrLost, the Garmin 76C/S do float. According to the Garmin website:

 

Water resistant to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (can be submerged in one meter of water for 30 minutes); rugged and waterproof housing that floats.

[+Marcie/Eric]

Coke - Ford - HP - Garmin

Pepsi-Chevy-LOL-Magellan

 

Had to oppose you..

 

I love my magellan. That's my only useful reply.