mcb Posted March 20, 2002 Posted March 20, 2002 Check this out geocachers. A GPS that will allows loading of USGS topo maps into them. It also has a 320X240 color display, floats, built in compass, and SD memory expansion ability. It look like they did their research. They evey mention Geocaching in their brochure. http://www.navitrak.com/handheld.html I got to have one of these. Supposedly if you order it before March 31 you may be able to get a 50% discount. I got an email from TopoZone about it and am definilty look into this. Anyone want to buy a Garmin GPSMAP 76 later mcb Quote
+Alan2 Posted March 20, 2002 Posted March 20, 2002 Their web page release is in winter of 2002 and price hasn't been determined. Bet it's expensive though. Looks verrry interesting! Alan Quote
mcb Posted March 20, 2002 Author Posted March 20, 2002 I found a little later that it looks like the early units are going to go for a wooping $625. That at the 50% off. Man!!!. Little out of my price range. I guess I will just have to wait until later. My girlfriend with two rings will kill me if I spend that much on a GPS. mcb Quote
+Prime Suspect Posted March 21, 2002 Posted March 21, 2002 From the picture, it looks like the display screen is only about an inch across. It appears to be located on the top edge of the unit. Quote
mcb Posted March 21, 2002 Author Posted March 21, 2002 Yah the screen is a more like the viewer in a video camera. Not the best for driving but made to be rugged for backwood navigation and visable in any light. I just wish it was a little cheaper. The fact that it uses SD memory and can be loaded with USGS topo data. I talk to someone from Navitrak today and they were pretty nice. I guess I will just have to wait and pick one up used latter. mcb Quote
+Renegade Knight Posted March 21, 2002 Posted March 21, 2002 Right idea, looks like a pain in the butt to actually use. I can just imagine actually trying to walk with that thing to your eye. Or will it solve the have to be moving problem by an 'electronic gyroscope' Quote
+LarsThorwald Posted March 21, 2002 Posted March 21, 2002 I don't know. I think this thing makes my Vista look like a pretty good deal! Charlie "One should never begin a journey by heading in the wrong direction." Quote
jfitzpat Posted March 21, 2002 Posted March 21, 2002 I don't know, 1:250,000 sounds pretty useless for the 'standard' topo maps. Though, if they put a QVGA 3V connector on it you could hook the display up to the spiffy sunglasses I saw at Comdex... -jjf Quote
+offroute Posted March 22, 2002 Posted March 22, 2002 Those who really want USGS topo maps in their GPS should look at what National Geographic Maps offers with their TopoSync software. With it installed, any GPS/PDA combo can download their USGS map data (24k, 100k and 500k) and view their progress. You can also annotate the maps with symbols, lines and images. Go to www.topo.com for more info. Quote
mcb Posted March 22, 2002 Author Posted March 22, 2002 I talked to a person from Navitrak yesterday. She was very nice and told me that the unit can also use USGS 1:24,000 quad data. This is some of, if not the best, topo data out there. They are throwing a CD full of the 1:24,000 data for free if you order before the end of this month. SO if you order by 3/31 you get the unit for 50% off and the good topo data. Its still $625 even at the 50% off. It would suck in a car but for backwoods navigation I think it would be the best. Because of the way I use my GPS the viewer instead of a screen would be perfect. You could hold it up to your eye see on the map where you are and then use the onboard compass to turn you whole body to face the correct direction. One eye looking at the GPS the other looking for a land mark ahead to walk to. Put the GPS away and start hiking. This is basicly the way I do it now so I really like the idea of the layout of the unit. mcb GPS-Yote Quote
+Hawk-eye Posted March 22, 2002 Posted March 22, 2002 Is the screen ... like an eye piece where you look into it and can see the display or is it like the mini screen on my Sony DSC-P5 where it's hard to see detail? If it was like a video camera viewer ... that would be great ... although it might take some getting use to. I am a little gun shy of ordering something that has not been produced before ... I think ... maybe that second or third production run would be better. Would also give you a chance to let others do all the product testing and debugging of their customer service Quote
+PDOP's Posted March 22, 2002 Posted March 22, 2002 Wouldn't this display be awkward for keying in text? You would be constantly switching between looking in the eye piece and looking at the keys. Edited - I gotta learn how to spell Quote
mcb Posted March 22, 2002 Author Posted March 22, 2002 No there are only two keys and a four direction rocker. I was looking through the quick reference manual for the unit and it seem to be a very windows like interface with pull down menues and such. Personally I like the camcorder type eye peice. You don't have to worry as much about scratches and you get color screen with out eating batteries for a large PDA type color screen. It definitly isn't going to be the GPS you want for driving, but if I was going to be doing alot of backwood hiking, camping, hunting, geocaching then this unit would be great. If it is truly built to Military specs as far as ruggedness and water proofness then that should be one tuff unit. Definitly not the jack of all trade that my GPSMAP 76 is but I definitly would love to give one a spin in the woods. later mcb GPS-Yote Quote
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