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**Which GPS unit to BUY???**


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Ok,

 

I have not started Geocacheing yet but have been reading a lot on the site.

 

There are alot of different GPS units out there with a big price range, sooo I am going to narrow down my question. In the price range of $300-$500, what is the best all around model you guys would recommend?

 

I will be using it for Geocacheing as well as horseback riding, boating, hiking, and car travel, etc. Would like it as accurate as possible and able to pick up in tree cover. Accuracy and user friendly would be at the top of my requirements. How does it compare with battery usage, what is the best kind of antena to use, do you need an external antena with a high end unit?

 

I am not married to any brand, but Garmin and Magellan seem to be the two most popular. I do like the units that have the capability to increase memory. (memory chips)

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you make.

 

Firetrkdriver

firetrkdriver@profirefighter.com

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The Plat is waterproof just the same as is the

Garmin GPS V.

 

I just bought a V and received it today so I'm still playing with it and can't give a full review yet. I can say that the V blows the Plat away because I was comparing between the two of them and leaning toward the Plat until I saw both of them together at Cabelas. As soon as I saw the V my mind was changed. Already I would love to have more memory as 19MB is not enough. Oh well that is the biggest thing that I wanted but also it was the biggest thing that I gave up. There were too many pros to the V that the one con of not enough memory didn't hold up. So far so good. I'm in the process of learning how to use the more advanced functions as the basics are pretty simple. Before the V I had a Lowrance Global Map 100 which I had for 4 years and I still love that unit.

 

So I spent many hours here and otherwise doing my research on which is the best GPS handheld out there and short of expandable memory I think I got it but still have a lot to learn about it.

 

Hope that helps, if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask because I was just in your shoes.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Proud New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

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I appreciate the candid comments on the Garmin GPS V. I agree with you on the memory problem, but I wonder just how much of a problem is it?

 

Not being familiar with what kind of info will fit into XX megabytes of memory, is it's capacity really restricting for normal use or does it just seem small in comparison to the other units?

 

I will say as far as a computer goes, more memory means a lot but you can have more than you'll ever need too!

 

I would be interested in hearing what you think after using it for a few weeks, to see if the memory issue is really a problem.

 

Thanks again for your help,

Firetrkdriver

firetrkdriver@profirefighter.com

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I have had mine over a year now, and there still isn't anything else to compare. I sell these things, and I could have any model of any brand, nd this is still the best! Yes, obviously I would like to have 40 Gig. of memory on board, but I have never lost sleep over 19 MB! In Topo, I can cover way more terrain than I could visit in a weekend, and in MetroGuide, it is adequate. When they offer the V with more memory, I will buy it, but they don't yet, so I'm happy. Like I said, there still isn't a better "dual purpose" GPSR out there. (dual purpose meaning off road "in my hand" use, and on road "on my dash" use)

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Kind of sounds like UMC chose the GPS V because of the looks. Hmm

I was very close to buying the GPS V. I had the online form filled out and was ready to click that order. Then I came to my sences. I had to wait for a month before I could place the order so I had time to read user comments and reviews. I read everything I could find. Cabelas, REI, CNET whatever I could find. I had to go Meridian.

 

So you have to seperate the unique features and decide what you most expect from your GPSr.

 

The GPS V has routing on the fly. Turn by turn directions. An external antenna jack. All the accessories come with the unit.

 

The Meridian has a potentially limitless expandable memory. It floats. Short list Huh?

 

Unit accuracy was the most important thing to me. All the comments and user reviews steered me to the Meridian. I bought a 128meg card. I can put half of the northern hemisphere on my Meridian. I have the entire country on CD. Not just one region. Although the GPS V deluxe has the whole country.

My friend has the V. He loves the routing. However he is not happy with the way it loses satellite lock, and his position wanders all over. When my Meridian is rock steady.

 

Preparation, the first law to survival.

39197_400.jpg

Mokita!

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I think you need to decide exactly how you are going to use your GPS.....If I needed one in my car I wouldn't hesitate to get the Garmin V, but I needed one for Geocaching, backpacking and SAR...for me the Magellan Meridian Platinum had features that worked for what I was going to use it for, plus it was hard to pass up the $249.00 price.

 

You named quite a few different things you will be using it for, what will be the main use????..the car travel would fit the Garmin V, but your other uses seem to favor the Magellan.

 

icon_biggrin.gif____________________________________________________________

It's not about the mistakes we make, it's about what we learn from them....

 

[This message was edited by mtnsteve on October 03, 2002 at 10:38 PM.]

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I think you need to decide exactly how you are going to use your GPS.....If I needed one in my car I wouldn't hesitate to get the Garmin V, but I needed one for Geocaching, backpacking and SAR...for me the Magellan Meridian Platinum had features that worked for what I was going to use it for, plus it was hard to pass up the $249.00 price.

 

You named quite a few different things you will be using it for, what will be the main use????..the car travel would fit the Garmin V, but your other uses seem to favor the Magellan.

 

icon_biggrin.gif____________________________________________________________

It's not about the mistakes we make, it's about what we learn from them....

 

[This message was edited by mtnsteve on October 03, 2002 at 10:38 PM.]

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The GPS V runs around $410.

 

The Meridian Platinum is $249 from shopharmony.com. It locked on to seven sats, four at full scale, in my living room when I first powered it up and took a little over ten seconds to triangulate. It takes a lot to make it lose sat lock.

 

I never looked at the V because of the price. The only reason I went with the Plat was because of Harmony's steep discount. Their price put it in the "yeah, but for just a little more, I can get _____" range.

 

It would be nice to have turn by turn routing, but my personal usage of it would not justify spending that much more, so I'll "settle" for great satellite locks and a GPS that will float if it drops into water.

 

BTW, leatherman, your avatar is hysterical! I'm a stagehand, so we debate over which brand is better all the time. It kinda reminds me over debates on here: Garmin/Gerber vs. Magellan/Leatherman

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To start off, I'd like to comment on this one, "satellite lock is always relative." You might get full lock with elevation triangulation included but you might be living on a hill/house with lots of windows, etc, etc. Or my quad antenna would have poor reception if I'm camping under redwood giants in the middle of a valley.

 

Anyway, my experiences with the GPS V:

 

1. I'm from California and you don't go anywhere around here without driving. As it happens, that's one of the reasons why I bought the V. Automatic ON-THE-FLY routing and re-routing. I like to explore side roads and this makes me an awful driver if people are with me as I never admit I'm lost. Well, if you know where north is, you're not lost. Well now, the V could help you two ways. First, it tells you where the hell you are immediately and your orientation in cartographical space. Second, it gives you options on the fly whether you'd want to take a detour of (.5 mi,1 mi, 2 mi,etc.) en route to a waypoint or destination. In cases of traffic jams in unfamiliar areas, this is a life saver. Or if you suddenly made the wrong turn, the V would automatically recalculate the fastest way to get to your destination. It even has choices for the recalculation: quickest, quick, better route, best route.

 

2.19 megs of storage is enough. I mean, it's like having one of those circa-1998 hard drives. Back then, 20 gb was a lot. Well for me, it suits my needs perfectly enough. You just have to know how to appropriate your space. All the extraneous stuff gets cut out. Like fat, it's baggage weighing you down.

 

3. Functionality, hmmm...I'm new to geocaching and I have just used my unit for the lst couple of days. From what I could see however, this unit fits my needs for now and the forseeable future.

 

4. Price?

That's why we have this site and Ebay.

 

5. Garmin has a reputation of acknowledging the needs of its consumer base quickly and efficiently. They regularly update maps, firmware and software. You could find numerous positive experiences with customer care among these forums.

 

6.To be improved on:

For lack of a better term, the V looks 'too nice'. Now don't take this literally as the construction specs make the V at par with the Meridian. They have the same waterproof standard of IPX7. Let me allude to a comparison between a Ferrari and say a Camaro. The Ferrari performs better, looks nicer and costs more. The Camaro less so but not a lightweight in its own right. However, if you want to suddenly have the urge to practice drifting on a gravel raceway, I would sooner drive the Camaro as I would be stupid to let even a minute pebble scratch the undercoating of the Ferrari. Same way with the V and the Meridian.V performs better, looks nicer and costs more. However, I would sooner hurl a Meridian at a mountain lion's face to save my life than let a scratch appear in the face of my V's screen.

 

I know this is a very lengthy post, prolly bored you to death. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

 

icon_biggrin.gif

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To start off, I'd like to comment on this one, "satellite lock is always relative." You might get full lock with elevation triangulation included but you might be living on a hill/house with lots of windows, etc, etc. Or my quad antenna would have poor reception if I'm camping under redwood giants in the middle of a valley.

 

Anyway, my experiences with the GPS V:

 

1. I'm from California and you don't go anywhere around here without driving. As it happens, that's one of the reasons why I bought the V. Automatic ON-THE-FLY routing and re-routing. I like to explore side roads and this makes me an awful driver if people are with me as I never admit I'm lost. Well, if you know where north is, you're not lost. Well now, the V could help you two ways. First, it tells you where the hell you are immediately and your orientation in cartographical space. Second, it gives you options on the fly whether you'd want to take a detour of (.5 mi,1 mi, 2 mi,etc.) en route to a waypoint or destination. In cases of traffic jams in unfamiliar areas, this is a life saver. Or if you suddenly made the wrong turn, the V would automatically recalculate the fastest way to get to your destination. It even has choices for the recalculation: quickest, quick, better route, best route.

 

2.19 megs of storage is enough. I mean, it's like having one of those circa-1998 hard drives. Back then, 20 gb was a lot. Well for me, it suits my needs perfectly enough. You just have to know how to appropriate your space. All the extraneous stuff gets cut out. Like fat, it's baggage weighing you down.

 

3. Functionality, hmmm...I'm new to geocaching and I have just used my unit for the lst couple of days. From what I could see however, this unit fits my needs for now and the forseeable future.

 

4. Price?

That's why we have this site and Ebay.

 

5. Garmin has a reputation of acknowledging the needs of its consumer base quickly and efficiently. They regularly update maps, firmware and software. You could find numerous positive experiences with customer care among these forums.

 

6.To be improved on:

For lack of a better term, the V looks 'too nice'. Now don't take this literally as the construction specs make the V at par with the Meridian. They have the same waterproof standard of IPX7. Let me allude to a comparison between a Ferrari and say a Camaro. The Ferrari performs better, looks nicer and costs more. The Camaro less so but not a lightweight in its own right. However, if you want to suddenly have the urge to practice drifting on a gravel raceway, I would sooner drive the Camaro as I would be stupid to let even a minute pebble scratch the undercoating of the Ferrari. Same way with the V and the Meridian.V performs better, looks nicer and costs more. However, I would sooner hurl a Meridian at a mountain lion's face to save my life than let a scratch appear in the face of my V's screen.

 

I know this is a very lengthy post, prolly bored you to death. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

 

icon_biggrin.gif

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I would really be helpful if everyone would take a moment o change their profile to indicate where they live so it would show up with your posts. Without that bit of information, all the time you spend typing out information and opinions and your experiences doesn't help too much. Where you live is critical.

 

For example, antenna sensitivity is different if you live in treeless desert area vs. the northern woods. If you're describing how great your etrex is in picking up satellites, where you live obviously will effect what your answer "means". Likewise, discussion on whether you have enough memory in your unit without mtelling us where you live has no value to anyone. I live in NYC which eats up ove 15 megs of Metroguide routing data in a 15-20 mile radius of Manhattan.

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The SporTrak Pro is considerably less than the GPS V, and does everything very well, including having 23 meg available for downloading. If I had the money though I would probably have purchased the GPS V for its higher resolution screen and its ability to give directions. I travel a lot and it would be nice to get directions to my jump off point when I am geocaching. I have wasted a lot of time trying to find the right road to get to the starting point. icon_smile.gif

 

Lost? Keep going. You're making good time anyway!!

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The SporTrak Pro is considerably less than the GPS V, and does everything very well, including having 23 meg available for downloading. If I had the money though I would probably have purchased the GPS V for its higher resolution screen and its ability to give directions. I travel a lot and it would be nice to get directions to my jump off point when I am geocaching. I have wasted a lot of time trying to find the right road to get to the starting point. icon_smile.gif

 

Lost? Keep going. You're making good time anyway!!

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I have owned a Garmin eMap for about 3 or 4 years now and I have been very happy with it. It's extremely easy to use and almost fool-proof. But once I started geocaching with it, I have found that it just wasn't up to par. So I recently bought a Magellan Sportrak. I have to say it is much more difficult to use. I don't know how it is with other Garmins but with the eMap, I rarely had to look in the manual. With the Sportrak, there were several things that I had to look up. Despite the shortfalls of user compatibility, it is much more accurrate, especially with the WAAS. By the way, this is the cheapest unit with WAAS capability that I've found. So I say, if you want ease of use and a dependable GPS, go with a Garmin. But with my limited use of Magellans, I have to say Magellans are more accurate, albeit harder to use. So you have to choose whats more important. Ease of use and not quite as good accuracy, or more accuracy but not so easy to use. As I like to say, any GPS is better than no GPS. Geocaching isn't rocket science, there's no sense in buying a $500 GPS if your only going to geocache with it. Well, there's my 2 cents. Cache on!

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OK, heres M2 cents worth,

 

NOT having played around with any of the Magi's, I dont know how well they work,I had scroled around on a freinds older unit(7-8 years old?) and was lost in all the menus in a heartbeat,dont know if the new units are more user freindly or not,but if they work as well as PPL here have been saying,they bear serious consideration.

 

I have a GPS76S,I've used it for about a month and a half now,and am VERY happy.the basemap loaded in it has been pretty accurate,its off on some of the newer roads but mostly correct(same with Mapsource R&R).I also use it mainly boating,it floats (yes I tested it icon_biggrin.gif),its as waterproof as any of the others out there,and the Mapsource Bluecharts are killer.

 

As for reception,I've taken it on several cache hunts and walks to hunting areas,and never had a problem HOLDING a signal under 2 story northern forests(Wis.-oaks,maples,pines) or in hilly areas,Idid see it struggle in a 60 ft. deep 100 ft wide ravine when I was tight to the rock wall,but it didnt stop workingand once I got in the ceenter it lock right back up tight.

Aquiring a signal under pretty dense cover took it a little longer(2 minutes) but I had also moved 150 miles since the last use.

 

The memory seems more than ample to Me, I loaded ALL of Wis. ,Minneapolis metro area,the northern 1/3 of Min, and the U.P. of Mich. and had some extra room.(from Mapsource R&R). right now I have all the charts for Lake Michigan loaded with LOTS of extra room.

 

The user interface for all Garmin units I've owned (gps 45&gps 12) and the units I've looked at(etrex,V,&gps76) seems simple to use ,easy to learn,and simalar(sp?).

 

If I had it to do over I'm not sure I'd get the 76S,I think for the 175$,the compass,baro. &extra memory werent really needed. I mean brunton compass10$,baro? what use? the extra memory?, well this was the kicker for Me ,but now that I've used the Mapsource,the 8Meg would have suited my use. also wish I would have shopped around,I bought from a chain store locally and got ripped bad. icon_mad.gif

 

over all on a 1-10 scale..GPSmap 76S= 8

 

PS-after reading your originalpost again,Anttena?-I had an old GPS45 that had a swivel ant,like the V,BAD idea in my opinion,WAY to fragile for and rugged use

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OK, heres M2 cents worth,

 

NOT having played around with any of the Magi's, I dont know how well they work,I had scroled around on a freinds older unit(7-8 years old?) and was lost in all the menus in a heartbeat,dont know if the new units are more user freindly or not,but if they work as well as PPL here have been saying,they bear serious consideration.

 

I have a GPS76S,I've used it for about a month and a half now,and am VERY happy.the basemap loaded in it has been pretty accurate,its off on some of the newer roads but mostly correct(same with Mapsource R&R).I also use it mainly boating,it floats (yes I tested it icon_biggrin.gif),its as waterproof as any of the others out there,and the Mapsource Bluecharts are killer.

 

As for reception,I've taken it on several cache hunts and walks to hunting areas,and never had a problem HOLDING a signal under 2 story northern forests(Wis.-oaks,maples,pines) or in hilly areas,Idid see it struggle in a 60 ft. deep 100 ft wide ravine when I was tight to the rock wall,but it didnt stop workingand once I got in the ceenter it lock right back up tight.

Aquiring a signal under pretty dense cover took it a little longer(2 minutes) but I had also moved 150 miles since the last use.

 

The memory seems more than ample to Me, I loaded ALL of Wis. ,Minneapolis metro area,the northern 1/3 of Min, and the U.P. of Mich. and had some extra room.(from Mapsource R&R). right now I have all the charts for Lake Michigan loaded with LOTS of extra room.

 

The user interface for all Garmin units I've owned (gps 45&gps 12) and the units I've looked at(etrex,V,&gps76) seems simple to use ,easy to learn,and simalar(sp?).

 

If I had it to do over I'm not sure I'd get the 76S,I think for the 175$,the compass,baro. &extra memory werent really needed. I mean brunton compass10$,baro? what use? the extra memory?, well this was the kicker for Me ,but now that I've used the Mapsource,the 8Meg would have suited my use. also wish I would have shopped around,I bought from a chain store locally and got ripped bad. icon_mad.gif

 

over all on a 1-10 scale..GPSmap 76S= 8

 

PS-after reading your originalpost again,Anttena?-I had an old GPS45 that had a swivel ant,like the V,BAD idea in my opinion,WAY to fragile for and rugged use

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It is pretty rare for my meridian to lose lock and not able to get a sat. A few occasions it happens are in long tunnels with hills (never had a tunnel not surronded by hills, but it would probaly be the same result, but with more horizontal sats) and in my dorm room I can only get 2-3 sats (I am in the basement, surrunded by buildings and trees with a foot of concreate on the walls).

 

I usually can mantaine a lock inside my house, in the basement, inside a room with no windows. The lock places me approximately the right number of feet and direction to a waypoint that I marked out side of the house.

 

Wyatt W.

I have no idea where this fits in this post.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

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I stumbled on this thread while looking for something else. MY unit is from neither of the "Big Two". It is a Magnum NAV-40 and I've had it now for almost a month. My Magellan 2000XL died and I had to get something new. I found this unit by accident, liked what it had for the $$$ and gave it a try. I'm totally satisfied with it. It doesn't have any built in maps, but I've always used the "Map Atlas and Gazetteer" for out here in Nevada anywa :y. I think it works better in this area. Roads are at a premium - ha. There's nothing out there and I really wonder what a mapped unit would show.

 

I guess I'll see soon enough because we just traded in the broken Magellan on a SportTrack (my wife will be taking it as her 'personal unit') and it has some 'mappage'.

 

I had really good luck at the GPS Store.

 

www.thegpsstore.com

 

"Nobody cares what you REALLY do,

as long as the paperwork looks good"

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These are available at Sams Club brick and mortar and SAMSCLUB.com

$179.95 for the complete package.

Item: 258118

Everything you need except the hiking boots!

 

Full street detail of the U.S. in addition to points of interest (rivers, national parks, airports, etc.), waypoint and route management, address finding and measuring of distance between locations.

 

Features:

WAAS Enabled

12-channel GPS receiver

Displays your current location on a detailed street map

Gives you navigational information (speed, distance to go, time of arrival)

16MB of built-in memory, no memory cards needed

Get extra street details with included MapSend Streets CD

Rugged and waterproof, ideal for any outdoor use

 

Includes:

MapSend Streets CD-ROM

PC cable with cigarette lighter adapter

Vehicle mounting bracket

Wrist strap

Batteries

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I've been out of town and unable to check this thread for a couple of days. Glad to see all the different opinions.

 

Thought I would let you all in on my experience while in St. Louis last weekend. I originally posted this in another thread started by UMC...

 

Well, I finally got to put a GPS unit to the test this past weekend. It was one of the Magellan Never-Lost units that Hertz Rental Cars have started using. It is made especially for cars and not handheld so you can't compare it to handheld for GeoCacheing.

 

Anyway...part of the problems I am hearing with the Garmin V is locking on and holding. I just wanted to relate this to your problems. I was in St. Louis MO when using the Magellan in the car. When I picked up the car it locked on fairly quick, about 30 seconds. We decided to go to the Arch and the Brewerey and also a resteraunt located in the city. Long story short, when allowed to lock on in the open, it never lost signal and appeared to be right on the money by comparing it's map screen to the actual road we were driving on. It worked perfectly all over the city with tall buildings all around. Once we parked and got out of the car to sight see...when we got back in, it would not lock on anywhere in the city and even took a long time to lock on after getting back out on the open road. However, after locking on again it performed flawlessly like before.

 

From my limited use and from reading the posts of other's problems, I think allowing any unit or any brand time to get a good lock on sats will make a huge difference in the way it performs when under heavy coverage or limited reception areas. By the way, this unit had an external antena mounted on the trunk lid.

 

Hope this helps add a little more to the big picture. I think I will probably be going with the Garmin V because of the versatility. I will have to keep in mind to let it lock on good before going into heavy cover. If I were only using it in the car, that Magellan would sure be nice, except for the price tag of $1,400-$2,000 depending on model and gadgets.

 

I also like what GOT GPS? had to say, "How about a GPS V and a Meridian Platinum, those are the GPS units I have.

 

I use the Platinum for caching, and the GPS V, for everything else."

 

Maybe after I get the Garmin V for the car, if I get into the GeoCacheing heavy, I'll get a Platinum too!

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions, keep them coming.

 

Firetrkdriver

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I'm new to geocaching. But I have a Garmin III+ with thousands of hours use. (It's like the Garmin V but no route calculation and lower resolution screen). It doesn't lock well if started while moving on a curving road. Otherwise it does fine, I find it plenty sensitive and, without WAAS or whatever, it still can tell what lane of the freeway your in or within about 12 feet almost always. My wishes for bigger memory would be solved with newer units. It's very rugged, the dashboard and bicycle brackets work great and batteries last 30+ hours of use.

My remaining issue: Which does the best and most breadcrumb trails and easily loads them on a map on your home computer? I like to explore new areas and would like to record where I've been accurately so I can get there again. I like the topo map from mapsource but it's lacking in resolution. Is there a better basemap? Can I download my trip data to a computer and free up the GPS memory and print the map/trip? Can I plan a trip on the computer and upload to GPS? Could I also plug a handheld GPS into my computer while driving and have it show my position on a 14" screen?

These are the upgrades I'd like in a new unit. Is there anything like that out there?

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I've used both the Garmin eTrex Vista and the Magellan Platnum. I prefer the Garmin but hate the antennia. In dense growth or even in the open when obstructed it looses signal. I use the travel timer quite a lot icon_biggrin.gif

 

I prefer the antennia on the Magellan and don't care for the display icon_frown.gif

 

So, I have purchased a Garmin 76S. Most (if not all) the features of the Vista but antennia like the Magellan icon_biggrin.gif

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