What I Have And Like, But What I Want. Help

[+Team Shadowbox]

I need help on buying a GPSr. I purchased and used the Garmin GPS V. I love lots of stuff about it. The things I don't like, and would like to change is USB instead of serial, and more memory. The thing I really like is the car mount and also hand held usiblity of the unit. When I buy my next unit I don't want to lose that. I have only had the Garmin for about 2 weeks. It is our first GPSr and we love it. I just want a faster connection and more memory. Color would be nice, but not a requirement. I have 30 days to send it back to Amazon. I want a faster unit. The processor is slow in this unit also. I know its an older model too.

 

Please recommend me a good GPSr that has these features.

-Hand held and car mount included

-USB connection

-More than 19mb (possibly flash memory expandable)

-Garmin brand if possible

 

We found our first cache today and the whole family had a good time.

[+Miragee]

I have the Garmin Vista C, my friend has the Garmin GPSMap 60CS.

 

I got the Vista C for about $280.00 and the auto navigation kit, plus cigarette lighter adapter, and City Select software for about $145.00. The Vista C has 24 MB of memory, the Map60C/CS has 56 MB.

[+Cymbaline]

You don't mention your price range, but from Garmin here are the "best" choices:

 

Vista C, GPSMap 60C/CS, GPSMap76C/CS. Memory is 24/56/112, respectively.

 

You mention Flash memory, however. Garmin doesn't do that in their "handheld" or "transportable" units - just their higher-end dash-mounted units.

 

For Flash, you need to seek Magellan.

[peter]

Another one to consider is the Garmin Quest. It sells for about $340 which includes the City Select-NA (v7) software, auto mount, computer cable, 12 VDC power cord, and speaker. It has 115 MB of memory for downloading maps and a 13 MB autorouting basemap, USB and RS-232 connections, and an external antenna MCX jack. It's very small and light and I find it easy to use as an outdoor handheld. It also has the usual IPX7 waterproof rating.

 

The main drawback for some types of outdoor use is the internal Li+ cell. It's rated for 20 hours of use, but presents a problem on multi-day bicycling or backpacking trips. There are some work-arounds using holders with 4 AA cells to recharge the Li+ cell but it's not ideal for applications where you'll be away from power sources for a long time.

[+Team Shadowbox]

Sorry for not stating my price range. I would like to stay below $350. Looks like I need to check out the quest. The reason I didn't look at that one is because I didn't think you could change the screen orientation from landscape to portrait, depending on which way it was held.

 

I really appreciate your help. I like the idea of getting everything in a package like I did with the Garmin GPS V deluxe package. It included the vehicle mount, car adapter, software and serial cable. I don't need replaceable batteries. I don't get away from a/c power like that

[peter]

I didn't think you could change the screen orientation from landscape to portrait, depending on which way it was held.

You can't, but I didn't find it to be a problem to hold it horizontally. The map part of the screen is pretty square in any event once you include some data fields. Both the Quest and the V strike me as being relative 'bargains' in Garmin's handheld lineup due to the inclusion of the map software and accessories.

[+user13371]

...Garmin doesn't do that in their "handheld" or "transportable" units ... you need to seek Magellan.

Or Lowrance In other words, anybody except Garmin.

 

FWIW, Lowrance is also a price-beater when it comes to full featured packages. My iFinder H2O, with mapping software, expandable memory, and a handlebar mount for my bike came to less than $280, delivered.

Edited September 12, 2005 by lee_rimar