hand held gps

[Gadgetman]

I'm considering buying a new handheld and am wondering about what people have and are happy with. What is the most user friendly/most functional. I have been using a Garmin 38 and have liked it but the old technology in it is sooo sloow that I cant take it any more. Am consideriing a Garmin 12 but want to know what you folks have to say.

[oldbullhauler]

Bought a Garmin RINO 120 last night, been playing with it at work and really like it. Same size display as a Etrex (small). Full features and 8MB ram. I'll take it on the ice tomorrow.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

I recently purchased a "Magellan Meridian Platinum". I love it!!!!!
I did some tests to see how accurate it was over the weekend, I was very impressed I was brought back to with in 5-8 feet each time. I mainly purchased it to use for Ice Fishing to keep track of the hot spots.

[Steve Foss]

Gadgetman: Lots of guys who post here have them. Check out previous pages of posts, there was one in particular leading up to Christmas where Fishnphyl was looking to get the Mr. a handheld, and asked for advice. Lots of good stuff here. Hope that post hasn't dropped off the board, there are so many posts that it could've happened.

Good luck.

[AaronM]

For you handheld GPS users... Do any of the units have latitude/longitude readouts? Just curious.

[This message has been edited by fishingfrenzy (edited 12-31-2002).]

[Benny]

fishingfrenzy, most modern GPS have Lat and Long read outs.In fact for the first three years I owned mine I only used them as I was used to the old Loran-C units.I still find it easier to use that screen than the mapping screens if I have drifted over the same spot several times.
Benny

[Big-Al]

ALL machines read out in L&L. Just have to configure them to do so. Read your manual.

[Dano2]

I was thinking of getting one too for pheasant hunting.
How much does a guy need to spend for a semi decent one?
thanks

[Swill]

Buy any of the Magellan Sportrak models they are great. They offer a lot of standard features for under 200 dollars plus they are easy to use. Also you don't need to worry about getting them wet or dropping them in the lake because they are waterproof and they float.
Another major difference is they use WASS technology which means that stardard gps sytems use 3 satelites to get you position when you enable wass you get a 4th for a more accurate triangulation. WASS will be the standard in a couple of years.

Just my 2 cents...

[AaronM]

So would the E-Trex give out Lat/Long?

[AaronM]

?

[Big-Al]

The Etrex and all the other garmin units come with Latitude and Longitude, DD MM.MMM(decimal minutes) as the default position format. Unless you have changed it, that is probably what you are in. You can change it to DD MM SS (degrees, minutes, and seconds) if you prefer. I prefer the former.

If your's is not in L&L you must be in UTM's or one of other dozen or more worldwide grid formats.

To change it got to the menu page, setup, units, and select lat & long in whatever cinfiguration suits you.

Read you owners manual. It really pays, especially when it comes to track and trackback features. If you are ever lost in a blizzard on URL you will love it.

[knoppers]

if money is no object, get the magellan meridian, I have the gold, it has 16mb of basemaps, but to do it right, get another memory chip, and download the topo cd into it. your looking at around 450 bucks, but set up this way, this thing is amazing.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

Knoppers;
I have a "Meridian Platinum" I love it!!!!
I also have the Topo CD Program and an additional 32MB chip. I am just currious on how "YOU" use the topo program and what does it really give you over the standard map???

S.D.

[This message has been edited by S.D. Ice Angular (edited 01-02-2003).]

[Guest]

I'm in the market for a new handheld unit and was wondering what the advantage of having larger internal MB ?
I'm leaning towards the Garmin GPS 76.
I'm not looking for one that will show me the way to China or road map stuff but one that I could hook up to my PC to take advantage of lake map programs like Hot Spots etc.
Also , is there any advantage to having a WAAS enabled unit ? From what I've heard the WAAS seems to be more hype ( due to lack of availabitlity ) than anything.
I'm by no means an expert on this stuff so this may sound rather dumb to those in the know.

Thanks in advance.

[Swill]

Geeman...by no mean is WASS a hype. That is like calling the DVD player hype when compared to the VCR

WASS is available almost

I can tell you that WASS was not the deciding factor which made me buy the Magellan Sportrak rather I liked that the GPS unti was waterproof and it floats. That way when I am in the boat and it starts to rain I don't have to operate the gps unit in a ziplock bag.

[Guest]

WAAS (EGNOS) was developed by Raytheon and the FAA for aircraft use prior to the deactivation of selective availability. It utilizes five satalites and ground becon stations to give a correction factor to GPS units. It is different than DGPS in that the signals go from satalite to ground becon back to satalite then to GPS. All GPS units require signals from thee satalites to give ground position and a fourth for elevation, there are 23 active satalites and one spare in orbit. Depending on your current location and time of day you could recieve five to nine signals. Where the satalites are in the sky from your position has definite factor in how accurate your GPS will be at that given time, due to length of triangulation. Just because a GPS is WAAS capapable does not mean it will constantly be in contact with a WAAS signal. With one WAAS satalite over the Atlantic and one over the Pacific, Minnesota is right on the edge of its coverage area.
A GPS recieving WAAS signals has a average accuracy of 3 meters (9') one with out is averaging 7-9 meters (21'-27'). So if the lenght of a boat difference in accuracy is crucial to you great, buy for everyone else it is just hype.

Rob

[Prudence]

I broke down and bought a Garmin GPSMap 76 last year and love it. Easy to read while mounted on the dash of my truck or ATV, plus the buttons are right on front(and backlit) instead of on side of unit.

If you're gonna mount on a machine, definitely grab a RAM mount for whatever you go with...easiest and most available accessories.

Check out http://joe.mehaffey.com/ for many different tests of most of the major GPS receivers.

[Swill]

I think the vexilar boys are in camp with the Garmin....

Great Link Prudence...
Sharing information is a great thing...

[Swill]

Another helpful web site for checking out different gps units is ...
http://www.thegpsstore.com/site/

[Prudence]

Swill- Is it that obvious that I am a Vex and Garmin guy!? lol

Research, research, research...

[Gadgetman]

Thanks for the great links guys, now I can stay up for many nights learning more about gps than anyone should ever have to know...which will further befuddle me, but at least i can make an informed decision Well I guess nobody said it would be easy parting with ones hard earned $

[lakevet]

Anyone have thoughts on the need for an external antennae? I am debating between the Magellan Sportrak Map and the Garmin Map 76 series. They both float which is an absolute requirement. I am leaning towards Magellan due to reviews saying they are the most accurate and its the least cost mapping unit. Any thoughts on durability?