I Can Spend Around $250 For A Unit

[+ellijacket]

I am looking at buying my first unit. Will be for hiking/fly-fishing and geocaching. Auto-routing would be nice as we do travel some. I have to be able to load area maps. I can spend around $250. Am willing to go up or down a little to get a good fit for my needs.

 

Yesterday I asked about the eXplorist 210 vs. 400. I had narrowed down to these two but thought the better question might be what unit would you recommend in this price range for me?

 

Thanks.

[+ellijacket]

BTW, I live in the Appalachians and there is a lot of tree/leaf cover. I need a unit that gives me the best chance of keeping a signal in this type environment.

[Neo_Geo]

Are you factoring in the cost of the map software in your price range? If you want autorouting, then that's going to be roughly an additional $100.00. If you're willing to put out $250 just for the unit, then the LegendC or GPSMAP 60 would make you happy. If $250 has to include the software, then the GPS V is your best bet.

[+ellijacket]

The $250 does not have to include the software. I just want the unit to be capapble of doing auto-routing.

[+GOT GPS?]

The only one good enough the Autoroute out of the box, is the GPS V.

 

Of course, you could go with the Meridian Gold, but you have to buy the Direct Route Software, just to auto-route.

 

Didn't see your second post, so now I believe the Eplorist 400 is a good choice for the rugged country around the Appalachains.

Edited October 13, 2005 by GOT GPS?

[Neo_Geo]

LegendC Pros: Color (easier to see and read), small size - light weight,

LegendC Cons: No serial interface (no NMEA protocol output), no external antenna jack, slightly smaller screen

 

MAP 60 Pros: Serial interface allows for more communication choices for connecting to various devices and software applications. External antenna jack allows for more placement convenience - the LegendC can use a re-radiating type of external antenna, but it's more expensive and is a bit more of a hassle.

MAP 60 Cons: B&W - display harder to read, bulkier/heavier

[rontr]

Neo_Geo, just a quick question please. What is NMEA. and what is it used for? I have seen it talked about, but don't know what it is.

 

Thanks, Ron

[Neo_Geo]

NMEA = National Marine Electronics Association. They developed the standard for a communication protocol used in GPS receivers and other devices.

 

For the most part, most popular software applications (EasyGPS, GPSBabel, GSAK, MapSource, USAPhotoMaps, etc) will support the default Garmin communication protocol. But if you ever need to connect the GPS to another device (PDA perhaps or camera or some other particular applications on the computer), then sometimes NMEA is the only common language.

 

NMEA Data

Edited October 13, 2005 by Neo_Geo

[+Ole Cache]

Just for the record, tigergps.com is selling the Legend C for $209. Or at least it was at that price yesterday.

[rontr]

Thanks Neo Geo.

 

Ron

[+briansnat]

For hiking and flyfishing you will find the compact size of the Legend C to be a plus. It has a good rep for solid reception (Unlike its older brother the greyscale Legend) and Garmin's autorouting software is excellent. You an run both Mapsource Topo and City Select on the unit, but depending on the coverage you are looking for, the 24 megs might be a bit tight.