Best GPS for me?

[doubleDang]

Looking for a Christmas gift. He needs one for horseback riding, camping, & hunting in national/state parks.

 

I am new to GPS's and all he's had are old b&w outdated ones. I know he uses them for marking the trails and setting waypoints.

 

One thing I know he wants (if it's a feature) is determining distance traveled from point to point, NOT as the crow flies. Does this make sense?

 

What Unit do you guys recommend? Thanks.

[+webscouter.]

Garmin 60CX, or Garmin VistaH color

[doubleDang]

Thank you. Any others? What about the colorado?

 

Also, another thing he doesn't like about the Magellan he has now is setting waypoints takes a few button presses where his first one was just hit one button.

 

Are the Garmin 60CX, or Garmin VistaH color easy for setting waypoints?

[+Tequila]

Stay away from the Colorado or Oregon. It is still too new and has a bunch of problems. And if he is not geocaching, the paperless functions are of no use to him

 

The Garmin 60Cx or 60CSx are work horses. All the bugs have been worked out of them. They quickly acquire a signal and they hold it in heavy canopy. And the price has come down as they are nearing end of product life.

 

He will be very happy with the 60.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Tequila

[doubleDang]

Stay away from the Colorado or Oregon. It is still too new and has a bunch of problems. And if he is not geocaching, the paperless functions are of no use to him

 

The Garmin 60Cx or 60CSx are work horses. All the bugs have been worked out of them. They quickly acquire a signal and they hold it in heavy canopy. And the price has come down as they are nearing end of product life.

 

He will be very happy with the 60.

 

K. thanks! I'm gonna look into them.

[+PDOP's]

The Garmin 60Cx or 60CSx are work horses. All the bugs have been worked out of them. They quickly acquire a signal and they hold it in heavy canopy. And the price has come down as they are nearing end of product life.

 

Don't forget the 76Cx (same electronics) if he would prefer the keys above the screen. It also floats.

Edited October 24, 2008 by PDOP's

[eaparks]

Those of us in the older generation, like myself and I presume your father falls in this category, tend to prefer the 60CSx over the smaller Vista as mentioned because of the slightly larger screen size and the 60CSx has individual buttons for individual functions unlike the Vistas. The 76 series has the same exact screens and buttons as the 60 series, basically just a larger case (inabling it to float) and the buttons are at the top instead of at the bottom, like the 60s. From how you said he plans to use it, I'd believe he would prefer the 60CSx, which is what I have used for 2 years in very similar ways as your father plans to. I couldn't be more pleased with mine.

[+PDOP's]

One thing I know he wants (if it's a feature) is determining distance traveled from point to point, NOT as the crow flies. Does this make sense?

Do you mean on roads? Autorouting will do this on roads but not in the bush. After the fact the tracklog can be downloaded into MapSource and distances traveled determined.

Are the Garmin 60CX, or Garmin VistaH color easy for setting waypoints?

The 60/76 require a minimum of two button pushes ("Enter" twice) for a waypoint. Changing the name or symbol would add to this.

[+splashy]

For the 'normal' user the Oregon is a fantastic Gps basicly everything works fine, the touchscreen is veryyyy easy to use compared to buttons and as good as the 60 series might be, it's a end of life generation, buy a new(er) generation Garmin Gps.

[+splashy]

For the 'normal' user the Oregon is a fantastic Gps basicly everything works fine, the touchscreen is veryyyy easy to use compared to buttons and as good as the 60 series might be, it's a end of life generation, buy a new(er) generation Garmin Gps.

[doubleDang]

One thing I know he wants (if it's a feature) is determining distance traveled from point to point, NOT as the crow flies. Does this make sense?

Do you mean on roads? Autorouting will do this on roads but not in the bush. After the fact the tracklog can be downloaded into MapSource and distances traveled determined.

Are the Garmin 60CX, or Garmin VistaH color easy for setting waypoints?

The 60/76 require a minimum of two button pushes ("Enter" twice) for a waypoint. Changing the name or symbol would add to this.

 

PDOP's

No, I don't mean roads.

i.e. he goes on a windy trail ride, setting a waypoint at the start and finish, at the end he wants to know how many miles he rode. Is this possible?

 

yeah, pressing enter twice is easy enough.

[+embra]

Looking for a Christmas gift. He needs one for horseback riding, camping, & hunting in national/state parks.

 

I am new to GPS's and all he's had are old b&w outdated ones. I know he uses them for marking the trails and setting waypoints.

 

One thing I know he wants (if it's a feature) is determining distance traveled from point to point, NOT as the crow flies.

Of the criteria you list, quite a few models would probably work for him. I go along with the 60cx suggestions as a solid choice. However, I'd suggest you also take a look at Delorme's PN-20 and PN-40.

 

I don't know your budget, but they represent good value as they include the topographic maps for the whole country. The PN-40 is the newer one (due to be released any day), faster and spiffier. The older PN-20 is a little slow on screen redraws, which can be a problem sometimes when driving but is not a concern hiking or on horseback. Garmin models do a better job of autorouting (once you buy the needed software), but the PNs do a pretty good job of it if not pushed too hard.

 

With the aerial imagery that will be available through their annual subscription plan, I think the PNs may be some of the best GPS models available for hunting. Waypoint creation requires a minimum of two button pushes: one to create, one to save.

 

More food for thought...it looked like you were getting to a solution way too easily

[+Team CowboyPapa]

 

No, I don't mean roads.

i.e. he goes on a windy trail ride, setting a waypoint at the start and finish, at the end he wants to know how many miles he rode. Is this possible?

 

yeah, pressing enter twice is easy enough.

Yes, I expect so with most of the models mentioned above.

 

And certainly with one of the DeLorme models as I have those and have done such. One starts a "Track" recording at the start of the ride, clicks "Stop" at the end and then "Save". If you have selected, for example, a 10 foot recording interval (other distance and time interval options are possibel), it will record coordinates, elevation and time every 10 feet from which it can calculate speeds, distance, etc.

 

I've use this while exploring old, but unmapped, trails used by miners and loggers out in the back country in my Jeep. Then back home, I transfer them from my DeLorme PN-20 GPSr to the DeLorme Topo USA 7.0 mapping software (included with the GPSr) and superimpose it over the topographic map of the area to see where I've been. Similarly, I also construct a "projected" track on Topo 7 application and transfer it to the PN-20/40 before leaving. Then out on the trail, I see how closely the track that I'm following coincides with my projected track.

 

You might find that the PN-40 is overkill for the intended uses expressed above. However, it does have that growth factor. So if he ever does get the bug to do some geocaching, the paperless functionality is there, and if he ever succumbs to creeping mapititus, the mapping capabilities of the DeLorme handhelds is unexcelled.

 

Additionally,...... no, I'm out of gas.

[+PDOP's]

PDOP's

No, I don't mean roads.

i.e. he goes on a windy trail ride, setting a waypoint at the start and finish, at the end he wants to know how many miles he rode. Is this possible?

Yes by a few different methods. Most receivers now have a trip meter function so all he would have to do is set it to zero at the start. As I mentioned previously he could also download the tracklog to a PC and determine the distance that way (and would have a plot of his track too).

[+sportside]

PDOP's

No, I don't mean roads.

i.e. he goes on a windy trail ride, setting a waypoint at the start and finish, at the end he wants to know how many miles he rode. Is this possible?

Yes by a few different methods. Most receivers now have a trip meter function so all he would have to do is set it to zero at the start. As I mentioned previously he could also download the tracklog to a PC and determine the distance that way (and would have a plot of his track too).

Yup, trip meter is what he is looking for. I use it everytime I go out to see how far Geodog and I have walked. Even my Venture HC has it...