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A lady needs help purchasing a GPS


Spiker_

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Her husband is on active service is the middle east. She's posted this question elsewhere & I was wondering if you good people would have some suggestions.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Mrs. GunnFixr:

[QB]I need help picking out a GPS reciever for GF. He asked me to go to the store and get the best one they had in stock. They had a couple of different best ones in stock and I don't know which one to get. I have kinda decided on the Magellan Platinum because it has a compass on it also. however, any input is welcome since the sales lady knew even less than I did. I know that there is another brand out there i think its called Garmin (?). Can anybody tell me how these two units compare and if $300.00 really gets me the best? From what I could gather, I need to get one with military mapping because that's what they teach them to use. I also need to know where I can get a downloadable map of Kuwait and Iraq that he can use.

Asking me to buy a GPS is like asking him to buy dogfood, and he knows nothing about dogfood.

Please advise.

Elisabeth[/QB]


 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains unchanged. And it is in that twilight that we must be most aware of the change in the air - however slight; lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas, United States Supreme Court Justice

 

[This message was edited by Spiker_ on March 17, 2003 at 11:28 PM.]

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The Platinum is an excellent GPS. He will need an SD card (128MB for $48, 256MB for $70 from costco) if he wants to add any maps to it above and beyond the basemap of the Unites States.

 

I looked at Kuwait and Iraq on mine and it has the borders and quite a few cities, but I don't see any roads. To get the roads I believe he will need this Software. This means he will need access to a computer, or the maps will need to be downloaded and installed prior to sending the GPS.

 

By the way, Kuwait city is at approx

29° 23N

47° 58E

 

Don't forget the Rebate

 

Also, don't forget some screen protectors from Strong Engineering to protect the screen from getting scratched by the sand.

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Without a doubt the best. If he will be in the desert, it will work fantastic....

 

Mike. Desert_Warrior (aka KD9KC).

El Paso, Texas.

 

Citizens of this land may own guns. Not to threaten their neighbors, but to ensure themselves of liberty and freedom.

 

They are not assault weapons anymore... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WEAPONS!

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quote:
Originally posted by Rubberhead:

I don't think a unit that needs an SD card would be a good choice for a sandy environment.

 

I think a well-sealed GPS V is a good choice.


 

The SD card slot is INSIDE the seal on the Meridians. You do not need to remove the card once it is inserted.

 

Do any of you Garmin user know if there are Iraq/Kuwait maps available for the GPS V?

 

homer.gif

"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand."

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When I used to deploy to that region, my GPS preference was the eTrex. Small, easy to keep handy and really quite rugged. You tend to carry a lot of gear around, so bulk and size do tend to make a big difference. As for any of the old antenna debates, tree cover isn't going to be an issue, but canyons might be, in which case the patch antenna generally works better. Anything will work however, and I even managed to get by a couple times on a Magellan 2000. You just had to be careful about trying to keep it from getting to hot or the screen would go blank and it would shut down.

 

Last time I looked, which was a while ago now, there weren't really any uploadable maps that were worth much for that region. Maps are still an area in which things have a lot of room for improvement.

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I have both Garmins and Magellan gps units.

Check my profile.

 

The Meridian Platinum would be the best caching unit, but the Garmins have much better tracklogging than the Meridians.

 

eTrex Vista has up to 10,000 trackpoint memory now with the latest firmware, and the GPS V has a 3000 trackpoint memory.

 

The Meridian have just one unbreakable tracklog, no matter how you use the gps. It looks messy.

 

The Garmins start a new tracklog segment each time the recieve is turned off then back on. You will know where and when you used the gps, when you highlight all the tracklog segments on the map, after downloading the tracklog to the computer.

 

I wish that magellan will improve their firmware to support better tracklogging.

 

ONE BIG THING, IS THAT THE GPS V HAS A DETACHABLE ANTENNA, AND THE MILITARY PERSON CAN USE AN EXTERNAL ANTENNA WITH THIS GPS.

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I hope the civilian GPS units don't let down the troops if they turn Selective Availability back on --- or if the opposition turns on their GPS jammers!

 

A lot of technology starts out under military development, then trickles down to the civilian market; now it seems GPS has come full circle. I wonder who makes the DoD's military-grade receivers. A battle-ready version of the Rino 120 would make a fantastic tool.

 

My vote is for the Etrex Vista; it supports Military Grids, it has a compass and altimeter, it's small and light, and it has been desert-tested by yours truly. The IPX7 waterproofing works just as well against fine sand. The 24 megs of ram aren't quite as relevant, since (I'm guessing) the military doesn't have maps of Iraq in a format downloadable to Garmins. But he can always use them for geocaching when he gets home.

 

Remember to throw in the see-through protective case accessory. And batteries. Lots of batteries.

 

Garmin units with Military Grid support

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Thank you all for your input, it's most appreciated. icon_smile.gif

 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains unchanged. And it is in that twilight that we must be most aware of the change in the air - however slight; lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas, United States Supreme Court Justice

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Magellan is owned by a french company. I have heard a rumor that when used in military operations, they only track back, not forward. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead in the Iraqi desert with a magellan. The ribbing I would get from the other soldiers for having something french..... I would rather be caught sleeping with a poodle!

 

Mike. Desert_Warrior (aka KD9KC).

El Paso, Texas.

 

Citizens of this land may own guns. Not to threaten their neighbors, but to ensure themselves of liberty and freedom.

 

They are not assault weapons anymore... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WEAPONS!

Link to comment

Wow, what a load of hype and blather in a lot of the answers.

 

Look at all the answers you got. The problem is that you asked what the best GPS is. What no one here has told you is that there is no "best" GPS yet. They all have good and bad aspects to them. They all should work fine in the desert.

 

You need to figure out if he is just going to use it in the desert, or if he is going to also use it at home when we're done kicking butt in a few months. If the latter, what will he be using it for. It's easy to buy one for the desert, only to find it to not be the "best" one once he's out of the desert.

 

Garmin V

+ Auto routing

+ Quad antenna

- 19MB of memory that must be loaded via a slow serial port.

- Too much money

 

Garmin 76S

+ Quad antenna

- 24MB of memory that must be loaded via a slow serial port.

- Too much money

 

Etrex Vista

+ Small and lightweight.

- Patch antenna that is the Pits in the trees (should not be a problem in the desert).

- 24MB of memory that must be loaded via a slow serial port.

 

Magellan Platinum

+ Quad antenna

+ Memory is on SD cards that can currently use 256MB and possibly more. Want more space, just buy another SD card. Installation of maps is USB 2.0 fast using an SD card reader.

- No auto routing

 

The SD cards will not be a problem in the desert. It is installed in the watertight sealed compartment under the batteries.

 

Magellan is a company in California, USA. Yes, they were bought by a French company (Thales is all over the world, but the headquarters is in Paris) in July of 2001, but your GPS is being built by Americans. I still regret having learned this as I would like to boycott buying any French stuff. icon_mad.gif I had the same problem when I wanted to boycott buying stuff from China after the airplane incident. The problem was I just about couldn't buy anything that wasn't made in China. Too bad Garmin doesn't make a GPS with a Quad antenna, auto-routing, and SD cards, otherwise I might have to switch sides.

 

I usually bash the Etrex series, but this is one time I would recommend it as one of the better choices for military use because of its size. The antenna will be no problem in the desert.

 

A downfall of Garmin maps is that they are too expensive, and you only get a portion of the states, not all of the US like Magellan. I think they might be a little bit more accurate than the Magellan maps.

 

Too bad we cannot mix the best of the Garmin and Magellan GPSr's and have one real best overall GPSr. Sounds like a new thread to me.

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I would have to agree with Magellan boy regarding maps for the Garmin products. I have sold quite a few eTrex Legend's and eTrex Vista's because of the size and features they have. You can get a general map of Kuwait and Iraq with the World Map CD-ROM ($85 additional cost) To offset that cost Garmin is giving you $50 for purchasing the eTrex Legend or Vista ($205 and $285 price respectively) before the rebate. I try to discount my prices as much as possible for our military personal.

Taylored GPS

http://www.gpsworldsupply.com

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I would have to agree with Magellan boy regarding maps for the Garmin products. I have sold quite a few eTrex Legend's and eTrex Vista's because of the size and features they have. You can get a general map of Kuwait and Iraq with the World Map CD-ROM ($85 additional cost) To offset that cost Garmin is giving you $50 for purchasing the eTrex Legend or Vista ($205 and $285 price respectively) before the rebate. I try to discount my prices as much as possible for our military personal.

Taylored GPS

http://www.gpsworldsupply.com

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quote:
Originally posted by 3fros:

A downfall of Garmin maps is that they are too expensive, and you only get a portion of the states, not all of the US like Magellan. I think they might be a little bit more accurate than the Magellan maps.


 

I agree with most of the comparison that 3fros presented, but question this one. I'm using Garmin's MetroGuide-USA maps and don't seem to be missing any of the states - it definitely covers all 50. I'd rate Magellan's MapSend Streets&Destinations as much better than Garmin's Roads & Recreation, but not quite as good as MetroGuide.

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quote:
Originally posted by 3fros:

Wow, what a load of hype and blather in a lot of the answers.

 

Look at all the answers you got. The problem is that you asked what the best GPS is. What no one here has told you is that there is no "best" GPS yet. They all have good and bad aspects to them. They all should work fine in the desert.

 

You need to figure out if he is just going to use it in the desert, or if he is going to also use it at home when we're done kicking butt in a few months. If the latter, what will he be using it for. It's easy to buy one for the desert, only to find it to not be the "best" one once he's out of the desert.

 

Garmin V

+ Auto routing

+ Quad antenna

- 19MB of memory that must be loaded via a slow serial port.

- Too much money

 

Garmin 76S

+ Quad antenna

- 24MB of memory that must be loaded via a slow serial port.

- Too much money

 

Etrex Vista

+ Small and lightweight.

- Patch antenna that is the Pits in the trees (should not be a problem in the desert).

- 24MB of memory that must be loaded via a slow serial port.

 

Magellan Platinum

+ Quad antenna

+ Memory is on SD cards that can currently use 256MB and possibly more. Want more space, just buy another SD card. Installation of maps is USB 2.0 fast using an SD card reader.

- No auto routing

 

The SD cards will not be a problem in the desert. It is installed in the watertight sealed compartment under the batteries.

 

Magellan is a company in California, USA. Yes, they were bought by a French company (Thales is all over the world, but the headquarters is in Paris) in July of 2001, but your GPS is being built by Americans. I still regret having learned this as I would like to boycott buying any French stuff. icon_mad.gif I had the same problem when I wanted to boycott buying stuff from China after the airplane incident. The problem was I just about couldn't buy anything that wasn't made in China. Too bad Garmin doesn't make a GPS with a Quad antenna, auto-routing, and SD cards, otherwise I might have to switch sides.

 

I usually bash the Etrex series, but this is one time I would recommend it as one of the better choices for military use because of its size. The antenna will be no problem in the desert.

 

A downfall of Garmin maps is that they are too expensive, and you only get a portion of the states, not all of the US like Magellan. I think they might be a little bit more accurate than the Magellan maps.

 

Too bad we cannot mix the best of the Garmin and Magellan GPSr's and have one real best overall GPSr. Sounds like a new thread to me.


 

icon_razz.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by Spiker_:

Her husband is on active service is the middle east. She's posted this question elsewhere & I was wondering if you good people would have some suggestions.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Mrs. GunnFixr:

[QB]I need help picking out a GPS reciever for GF. He asked me to go to the store and get the best one they had in stock. They had a couple of different best ones in stock and I don't know which one to get. I have kinda decided on the Magellan Platinum because it has a compass on it also. however, any input is welcome since the sales lady knew even less than I did. I know that there is another brand out there i think its called Garmin (?). Can anybody tell me how these two units compare and if $300.00 really gets me the best? From what I could gather, I need to get one with military mapping because that's what they teach them to use. I also need to know where I can get a downloadable map of Kuwait and Iraq that he can use.

Asking me to buy a GPS is like asking him to buy dogfood, and he knows nothing about dogfood.

Please advise.

Elisabeth[/QB]


 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains unchanged. And it is in that twilight that we must be most aware of the change in the air - however slight; lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas, United States Supreme Court Justice

 

[This message was edited by Spiker_ on March 17, 2003 at 11:28 PM.]


 

What is the best GPS

 

If you take ten people who each own a different GPS which one is best they will all have

a different choice, for a different reason. My choice in GPS is the Magellan Meridian

Gold. My reasons

 

1) Expandable memory with a Std. Chip

2) The Magellan Topo Maps include Street names, the Garmin do not.

3) The Magellan GPS Meridian Gold offers a Terrain profile as doe all Map capable

Meridians and Sportrak models.

 

When you shop for a GPS, go to a dealer that has more than just three or four models on

display, if they only have three or four that are not committed having a real GPS

department and more than likely are not familiar with what they can and Can not do.

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quote:
Originally posted by GOT GPS?:

The Meridian Platinum would be the best caching unit, but the Garmins have much better tracklogging than the Meridians.


I won't argue most of the points of your post.. as I've have very little experience with Garmin...

 

But one thing I can say that the Meridian has that the Garmin's don't is the ability to save virtually unlimited tracklogs.

 

Whether the tracklogs are better or worse, I cannnot say... but I can save tracklogs to a removable memory card, and with a 128 meg card, that's a lot of tracks.

 

Jamie

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