+MarcB Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 (edited) As some of you may know my SporTrak died on me so I need a new GPS. One problem, I don't have a clue what to go for! So if anyone can make a suggestion, here's what I need... > Colour so I can... X Display Fugawi/Memory Map OS Maps [ignore] > Reliable > Not too expensive > Not a SporTrak > Wouldn't mind a digital compass, though not essential > Easy to connect to PC X Runs off batteries rather than internal power pack [ignore] Thanks, MarcB Edited May 30, 2005 by MarcB Quote Link to comment
+Birders Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 <<Runs off batteries rather than internal power pack>> Not sure what you mean. An "internal power pack" IS a battery, albeit in a different shape. Our GPS uses batteries but we would prefer it to be re-chargeable. You mean you want to keep spending a fortune on batteries? (If you do, always use 7dayshop.com where they are dramatically cheaper than UK shop price). It MUST be Garmin - their legendary after sales service where they often replace devices well outside warranty with brand new ones is worth it's weight in gold. Your Sportrak would have been replaced had it been Garmin.. Reliability? Luck of the draw - our GPS12XL is about 12 years old, been all over the world and never caused any problems.... but you can read on here of people buying brand new gear which packs up in days. Make sure you have a good after-sales service (Garmin!) Don't know of any GPS which can display the maps you mention, certainly not Memory Map unless you go for a PDA with GPS... and that will cost you quite a lot. Quote Link to comment
+Naefearjustbeer Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 A pda is the only way that I know will display memory map quality maps, I saw an acer one on ebuyer with a built in gps, These are pricey and I presume hard on batteries. You could also go for pda and bluetooth gps combination!! But these this all use dedicated batteries not off the shelf aa or aaa types. Quote Link to comment
+sTeamTraen Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 If your budget is tight, try a Vista C. If you have a little more, look at the 60c or 60cs (the "s" gets you a real compass and altimeter). All Garmin handheld GPSr models run off AA batteries (apart from the tiny Gekos which use AAA). Only problem will be with the maps; you would probably need Garmin-compatible maps (MapSource). I don't know if topo walking maps are available for the UK in MapSource; I have them for Germany, and they are about to appear for France. Quote Link to comment
+MarcB Posted May 30, 2005 Author Share Posted May 30, 2005 Okay, don't worry about the second and final points - I can see having a non AA-battery power source could be an advantage. The Garmin 60c is looking good at the moment. MarcB Quote Link to comment
+Naefearjustbeer Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 I have the 60cs and it is the dogs danglies with lots of nice features, the 60 drops the compass and altimeter I think. Still I dont think they are that important its just I got an unbeatable deal for the 60cs. If you need a compass a proper one is always going to be best (no batteries required) Quote Link to comment
oddsock Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 The last time I looked Aspid shop were doing the Gpsmap 60c for £329.93 inc Free postage and discount for paying by Visa ..the 60cs was £366.03 .I don't know if Garmin have had a price increase or have been after them for under cutting every one else because at the time of the last Bank Holiday the 60c was selling for £309. https://www.aspidshop.com/export/store/defa...ort=3a&&page=12 Dave Quote Link to comment
+M3ZPY Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 I have been using the 60cs for about 7 months now and I am in total agreement with Naefearjustbeer - as I paid an extra £150 for the navigation kit and it gets me as close as pos by car although it can take you thru the odd bridleway/farmyard single track road to get to where you want to be. Plus if you go search thru the forum I think there was a topic on contour lines you could incorporate on your map screen - which I did and it is a godsend when searching for caches in places like Old Man Of Coniston where a few are placed bang on the contours so that makes leg work easier too. I can't fault it in fact for all the bits it has it is probably the best hand held unit in the gps world (to nick a phrase) Quote Link to comment
Mittellegi Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 (edited) We got 2 x Garmin 60c + 1 copy of city select europe for just over $1,000, postage included to a colleague's home address in the US. He brought them over to the UK just after christmas . We've never looked back. A huge improvement over the B/W Legend (which itself was an excellent upgrade from the 12XL). The colour screen is excellent. The auto-routing with CitySelect amazing. The contour maps sit transparently above CitySelect and are a extremely accurate (despite the SMC's disclaimer: get them here - Garmin Contours If you can find a friend in the US, I can recommend Tiger GPS (or take a chance and pay the import duty when the package arrives, but international shipping is expensive too). Either the 60C or 60CS, depending on whether you think the compass and altimeter are worth the extra. Only get the B/W 60 if you really can't afford colour. Edited June 1, 2005 by bexybear Quote Link to comment
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