Is Garmin V A Good First Gps?

[CJ Cake]

Is the Garmin V a good first gps or should I buy a newer model? I have used the V before and it seems good to me but I have never used anything else.

[peter]

Is the Garmin V a good first gps or should I buy a newer model? I have used the V before and it seems good to me but I have never used anything else.

The V will work fine and can be found at very attractive prices. Its main limitation is the map memory capacity of 19 MB, but that's fine for local use.

[+S&G.Davison]

Adding to Peters comment V is a good GPS and IF got for a good price can be a very good buy.. I have 2 * V's and still use them .. (but favour my 76CSx obviously)

 

The V has not a Firmware UG since Oct 2003 so no new features ...

 

As the V is a discontinued unit I am guessing your buying second hand so its all about price IMO ... Also Assuming that the V's turn by tirn routing when Coupled with City Select is of interest .. if its not your into the much cheaper basic units ..

 

Depending on what price you can get a V for also consider the top of the raneg of the etrex family

 

eTrex Vista - 24M of memory but I do not think it does turn by turn routing

 

eTrex Legend Cx - USB connection, MicroSD cards for more storage (up to 1G), better battery life, Colour

 

eTrex Vista Cx - LegendCx plus Compass and Barometer

[+Night Stalker]

Renegade Knight has over a 1000 finds with his V and he refuses to upgrade unless they make a VI. It auto-routes so if you can find City Select 6 or 7 it will do about anything you want it to do. It is not a nice as the newer units, but it will cost you a lost less.

[CJ Cake]

The unit I am looking at is new but clearanced, I comes with a computer cable, city select 6.0, auto mount, lanyard, case, video....for $150.00. That is why I am asking, it sounds like a deal to me.

[+BlueDeuce]

The unit I am looking at is new but clearanced, I comes with a computer cable, city select 6.0, auto mount, lanyard, case, video....for $150.00. That is why I am asking, it sounds like a deal to me.

 

Heck ya! considering the price of CS and you should be able to get the upgrade.

 

My package deal was $200. Sweet even then.

[+benjamin921]

The unit I am looking at is new but clearanced, I comes with a computer cable, city select 6.0, auto mount, lanyard, case, video....for $150.00. That is why I am asking, it sounds like a deal to me.

Get it while you can.

[CJ Cake]

how would I go about upgrading the City Select 6.0?

[+GOT GPS?]

Renegade Knight has over a 1000 finds with his V and he refuses to upgrade unless they make a VI. It auto-routes so if you can find City Select 6 or 7 it will do about anything you want it to do. It is not a nice as the newer units, but it will cost you a lost less.

The non-existing GPS VI:

Would be so cool to have something that routed as well as the GPS V did, but was as fast as a GPS60Cx

The Garmin Quest is the best alternative GPS I know of.

 

What I loved about my GPS V's was how they sat on the dashboard, all the other GPS units except the IIIplus, did not like sitting on the dashboard, and were clumsy to use.

Edited July 24, 2006 by GOT GPS?

[kb9nvh]

The GPS V is/was a great GPS....I finally sold mine after I got my 60csx. I considered keeping it as a second unit but felt the deficencies (that always bugged me) were too great. My wife always complained about it being too slow to calculate a route. Adding new maps was a pain through the serial port (slow). YOu could not load anywhere close to all the maps you need for a complete route if its any real distance because of the limited memory (19meg).

 

I would say its a great off road gps, but a poor onroad gps. Dont get me wrong, it was good in its day and a flagship...but time moves one and the csx garmins just have too much over them. In my opinion.

 

 

Renegade Knight has over a 1000 finds with his V and he refuses to upgrade unless they make a VI. It auto-routes so if you can find City Select 6 or 7 it will do about anything you want it to do. It is not a nice as the newer units, but it will cost you a lost less.

Edited July 24, 2006 by kb9nvh

[byrdog]

I've owned a V for probably 4 years now. About a year ago I bought a 276c and last week a 60Cx. The 276c is awesome but huge. The 60Cx is pretty awesome but is still not "customizable" as the V. I really like the flexibility in the V, works quite well as both a handheld and road routing unit.

 

Makes my wife angry I have several thousand dollars in GPSs (and still looking for a good deal on a B&W Vista) and I still use my V almost daily. I Silly Putty the shoe onto the dash of my truck and lay the unit on the floor when I am stopped. While I would hate to have a window broken to steal it, I would replace it in a heartbeat.

 

This week I will try using the 60Cx laying in the cupholder and put away in the glovebox when stopped.

 

Bottom line, I won't part with my V

 

Scott

Owned and sold: 12xl, 2+, SP3, and Legend

Own: V, 276c, Venture, and 60Cx

[+Renegade Knight]

how would I go about upgrading the City Select 6.0?

 

If you buy it retail (no eBay) the upgrade to the current version of City Select should be free.

 

It's a good GPS. Best in it's day, and the form factor is hard to beat. I've come to like the color screens of the newer GPSs but not enough to actually upgrade from my GPS V. That's part of why I keep waiting for the GPS VI.

[+wickedsprint]

The V is a great GPS and while it only holds 19mb of memory it has a much more detailed basemap than most of the newer units, its basemap is actually the same as rand mcnally atlas large pages which seem to work for most people on cross country trips but for some reason is not good enough for most people when on a gps screen viewed in real time? I'm dead serious...go grab your rand macnally road atlas and pick a city..zoom the gps in until you see all of the roads..the Garmin V has the exact same roads, I don't need adress level routing when passing through a city.

 

I am keeping my V with a spare as well because I have it mounted to my dirtbikes handlebars via a shock isolated touratech mount..and it works very well where I don't desire too much map detail for quick glancing at speed.

 

I did however pick up a 76CX for my dedicated handheld since the V does motorcycle duty. So far it seems to be nice...with a 1gb card it holds the northern USA plus Canada with City nav 8. I can't wait for the 2gb cards to come out..if they ever do...

[+briansnat]

The unit I am looking at is new but clearanced, I comes with a computer cable, city select 6.0, auto mount, lanyard, case, video....for $150.00. That is why I am asking, it sounds like a deal to me.

 

$150 - buy it! The software that it comes with is worth $130 by itself.

[Xlobsterman]

Is the Garmin V a good first gps or should I buy a newer model? I have used the V before and it seems good to me but I have never used anything else.

 

I have one of the original Garmin GPSII models, (about 10+ years old) and recently purchased a GPSV because I wanted a gps with a mapping program. I have been using the GPSV for a few months now, and it is working great for me!!! I am using this gps mounted to my ATV so I can map the trails I ride near my home here in Nova Scotia. I am using the Topo Canada v2 software, with the topo maps uploaded for the area I am riding in.

 

Here is a pic of the gps mounted to my ATV;