gps units

[dickie]

For some time I have been considering the purchase of a GPS unit. In fact I received one for Christmas several years ago but returned it because of accuracy and frustration in trying to program the thing.
If you fellows that own and use them could help,I would like to find a moderate priced ,simple to use and accurate one (closer than 300 yards from the marked site).
Any comments and help appreciated.
Good fishin from Beaver Falls,Pa.

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[Bob Horn]

I bought a Garmin 176 a couple of months ago. With the waas on it has accuracy for me so far down to 7.6 ft. It normally is between 13-18ft. The unit takes memory cards so you can do different thing with it. It`s priced at $499. I like the unit so far because I can use it for roads or marine. Hope this helps. Fish On

[jeff127]

I own a garmin 12; I use it alot and have had no problems with the unit. I would highly recomend this unit for anyone looking to get their first one. It is very easy to use, compact, accurate, and inexpensive(~$150).

jeff

[Steve Foss]

I bought a Garmin ETrex a couple months ago for $119. It's a bare-bones hand-held unit that doesn't have the giant database of built-in maps. It's small, very easy to use, and accurate to within 15 feet. Actually, the 15 feet part depends on whether you're getting a good read off the satellites, but it's always within 50 so far, even on a not-so-strong signal. Last week, it brought me to within 4 feet of holes I'd drilled a couple weeks earlier and marked on the unit to find again. Not bad.

I love the thing. Wouldn't want to be without it now.

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Steve ([email protected])

[Ruegs23]

I have a garmin emap that i picked up used for a good price and I love it. Very easy to use and pretty accurate. It is more of a road unit than an outdoor unit but I use it for fishing all the time. FOr traveling it has every main road in the USA built in and for freeway travel it tells you what kind of services are off the exits and where to go to find them. I think brand new this unit runs around 200 bucks, but a gps is really a neat peice of equipment to have. Last weekend on red, there is no way i would have found my way back to shore without following the gps. It is a neccesity for me.

[Guest]

i have a garmin etrex. it's great for finding hotspots. i also use it alot as i can monitor my trolling speeds with it. is definitely alot more accurate with speeds than my humminbird

[metrojoe]

I just purchased the Garmin 12 a couple weeks ago. I used it twice to return to a mud flat 5 miles out on Mille Lacs and both times I found my old holes. Very simple to use.

joe

[smallies24]

You shouldn't ever have a problem with accuracy anymore. It was last May, I believe, when the military adjusted the availability of their satellites. Before your accuracy was between 30 and 300ft 90% of the time. Now it should be between 3 and 30ft 90% of the time. Any GPS with a 12 channel receiver should have this accuracy. My suggestion would be to get a Garmin. Which one depends on what you'll be using it for. They have numerous models and are the most user friendly models I've ever used. Hope this helps.

[Guest]

I purchased the Garmin 76 not the map 76 about two months ago for $220 dollars at Cabelas(I saw Gandermountain has them now). This one has the WAAS feature(which helps with correcting slight satelite errors... in thory) It has brought me back to within 5ft of a spot on White Bear and aided my exit on Mille Lacs which can be tough in the dark. The main reason I bought this one is to help with icefishing, but I also got lost deer hunting in the big woods last year, I'll see how it works there too. My old man has Garmin 12 thats a few years old and it was only a few feet different from mine.

[Willy]

If you're looking for a handheld, buy a lowrance globalmap 100. It is very easy to use and is the best handheld on the market hands down.

[ifalls_archer]

I just bought a magellan 320 and have been amazed at the accuracy of these units. I can't really recommend any unit, too new. However, for the $170 I paid for it, I am very pleased. It is also capable of hooking up to my computer for waypoint management, I think this is important since entering all that waypoint data via keypad can take a while.

Hope this helps.
Brent

[cdnfisherman]

I have also been thinking about getting a GPS. I don't think I need anything too fancy, just like to mark some sunken islands, etc. while fishing. How important is it to buy one that is WAAS enabled??

Thanks.

[Mille Lacs Guy]

I have a Garmin GPS 45 XL and have had a lot of problems with it. When it is very humid in the summer a "fog" develops under the screen making it hard to see. The unit is also suppossed to be water resistant. I was on Mille Lacs a couple of years ago and the unit got wet from spray from the boat and it shorted out, I sent it in and they sent me a new one. That same thing happened again the next year and I had to pay $80 to get a new one, as it was off of warranty.

This shouldn't happen. The unit didn't even get that wet. Another problem with this particular unit is it only tracks 8 satelites. I bought the unit in 1996, so it is a few years old. It has a hard time picking up a signal when you first turn it on. Sometimes takes a few minuts. A friend of mine has an Eagle that works really well and I have a Lowrance GPS/Sonar on my boat that is awesome. Maybe the new Garmins are better but I wouldn't buy another one.

[fishfearme]

I also have a garmin 45 I purchased in 95'. It is a little slow when you start it up, but is accurate within 20 feet and very easy to operate. I've never had problems with the unit fogging. Sounds like you are storing the unit when its wet or something. Mine has been very reliabe for the past 7 years.

[This message has been edited by fishfearme (edited 02-18-2002).]

[Iceboy]

Hi - while the eTrex base model works, the eTrex Legend is the greatest value for the money. Much better resolution (many more pixels), mapping capability (which you will want after a while), a sweet interface that uses a ClickStik for navigation, and tons of extras that the plain eTrex doesn't have. In fact, a good friend of mine put his base model eTrex up on hsolist the day he saw my Legend (so that he could buy a Legend) - it is that good! Spend the extra $110 and get an eTrex Legend online for $210. I got mine at GPSCity.com and couldn't be happier.

Also, check out this site for tons of good info on GPS's in general:

http://joe.mehaffey.com/

Here is their quote on the Legend:

While the basic eTrex is not among our recommended models, the eTrex LEGEND and VISTA certainly are. Both are high quality and full featured MAPPING GPS receivers that users will feel comfortable using for both automobile navigation and hiking and even recreational marine uses.

Iceboy

[This message has been edited by Iceboy (edited 02-18-2002).]