GPS V Replacement

[+CobraMike]

I'm sure this has been discussed here before, but the search on this forum isn't very cooperative.

 

I've been a Garmin GPS V owner for years and outside of a few serious limitations (19MB, Serial & B/W) I have been extremely pleased with the unit. But unfortuantely my GPS V has died and it's time for a replacement. I've been doing some research, and so far have found my options to be dismal; there doesn't appear to be a GPS on the market that is as good at both auto mapping and handheld use as the GPS V was 7 years ago!

 

At first the Orgegon looks pretty good, but it's inability to go horizontal and it's lack of standard automotive GPS features such as voice commands and a car mount in the box, seem unacceptable in a $400+ unit. And while many in the line of Nuvi series seem to be great auto GPS's at a reasonable price, they lack the needed features to be even a lackluster geocaching GPS.

 

Is there a GPS out there that will make me happy, serving both the automotive and handheld purpose I am looking for, or have all the manufactures missed the boat on this one?

 

CobraMike

[+Hrethgir]

What do you mean by it can't go horizontal? And if you add maps, it can do autorouting, but only with beeps to warn of a turn coming, no voice prompts. The DeLorme PN-40 comes with all the maps, but once again, just beeps, no voice. Really, I don't know of any handheld than can do voice promted autorouting. Best option, I think, is to use a dedicated car unit like a Nuvi for driving directions, and a handheld for caching once you get to the right area. This is what I do, I have a Garmin Streetpilot c510 for the car, and a Garmin Legend HCx (and soon a DeLorme PN-40) for when I'm on foot or on the motorcycle or bicycle. On the bike, it's just for make a track, and on the motorcycle, I can't hear voice prompts anyways.

[+Cache Viking]

My GPSV which I used since they first came out gave up the ghost recently. Still turns on but at random times just quites with a single horizontal line through the screen. Replaced it with a 400t. I know there have been lots of people with issues on the 400t but mine has worked fine from day one.

[+CobraMike]

Cache Viking, that is crazy, my GPS V started doing the exact same thing. I'll tuen it on and within a few minutes the screen goes off and I'm left with a horizontal line.

 

HondaH8er, by "go horizontal" I mean being able to turn it sideways so the screen layout is wider than it is tall. This was a feature of the GPS V, and makes a ton of sense to me. From my research, it is my understanding that the Oregon does not offer this.

 

I was afraid the 2 GPS solution may be the only good one, but I was hoping there was a unit out there I was overlooking.

[roybassist]

I've been doing some research, and so far have found my options to be dismal; there doesn't appear to be a GPS on the market that is as good at both auto mapping and handheld use as the GPS V was 7 years ago!

I had a GPS III+, which didn’t do everything your V did (no turn-by-turn routing or WAAS), but, as you are probably aware, also allowed rotating the display from portrait to landscape. When I upgraded to the 76CS, I was also concerned that I would miss the ability of the III+ (and the rest of the Roman Numeral family) to rotate the display; but if you have several data fields on the map screen, it ends up being practically square anyway, and it really hasn’t been an issue. When in the Garmin auto mount, which I like a lot, it stands up pretty tall on my dashboard. It was a little challenging to find a good spot where it would fit, but I succeeded.

 

Other than that, I can’t imagine how a 60 or 76 series wouldn’t be better than the V for both auto mapping and handheld use. I have since upgraded to the 76CSx, and I am as close to completely satisfied with it as I am ever likely to be with anything.

[+RRLover]

I seem to recall others w/older Garmins that demonstrated the same 'flat line syndrome' had it

cured w/a software upgrade, . . . if I recall correctly that is. Hope my EEG isn't 'flat line'! ;^)

 

Norm

[roybassist]

I seem to recall others w/older Garmins that demonstrated the same 'flat line syndrome' had it

cured w/a software upgrade

Interesting that you mention that...I happened to notice yesterday that Garmin released an update for the GPS V on October 30, 2008. I was surprised that they were still releasing firmware updates for a unit that has been discontinued for so long.