inexpensive handheld gps advice

The groundspeak forums (gps & technology subform) is pretty decent. It's a geocaching site, but it's pretty active with talk on various models and deals. You might try your question there as well.

I use a garmin 60csx and like it quite a lot. Honestly, I've heard bad things about the magellan triton series. However, I have not used one firsthand.

I can't give you any concrete product suggestions. There are so many variables.

I've been a GPS receiver owner since early 1995, and I have used them on my job, so I take performance seriously, and I taught classes on it for years. I've used one or the other on five continents, and one sort of saved my a$$ one time. I've owned only Magellan and Garmin products, but their are some other brands.

The simplest GPS receivers have very simple features. They show you a bunch of numbers in latitude/longitude (or similar scales), and you have to look that up on a paper map. You can mark your position, like the position of your Jeep, and from miles away, the GPS receiver can point you back to your Jeep in terms of distance and direction.

The next family of GPS receivers has all of the simple features, and then they have a map database built in. In some cases, that might mean topographic maps, and in other cases it might mean streets and roads. Some GPS receivers can be switched from one map database to another, like topographic in the woods, and streets when you are in town. In some cases, the map database is built-in from the factory, and in other cases the user has to add maps from a computer-based DVD.

When you think you have some brand and model picked out, you might want to go to some electronics retail store and see if they have a demo unit that you can hold in your hand. The reason is that some have a large display, and anybody can read it. Others have a small display, and they might not be good for some people. You almost have to see it to understand if it is right for you.

–B.G.–

…

All handheld GPS receivers have a built-in antenna. Some can also accept an external antenna. That is an extra cost to buy an external antenna, but in a few cases they can be very handy.

For complicated reasons, I generally used an external antenna on my first Garmin receiver, which is 13-14 years old now and still working fine.

If you use a GPS receiver inside a car, sometimes an external antenna can be useful. Some GPS receivers are designed for a car, so they use +12VDC car power. If you mount the thing too far toward the driver (too far under the metal roof), the internal antenna cannot "see" up good enough for the satellites, and accuracy suffers, so the external antenna on a cable can be placed on the dashboard to fix that. If you mount the receiver up on the dashboard, it can see up better with the internal antenna.

Then you dismount that GPS receiver and carry it into the woods and back out again.

–B.G.–

I'd definitely recommend getting the best Garmin Etrex hcx unit that you can afford. I bought the best one, the Vista Hcx for $150. You should be able to get a Legend HCx in your price range as well. Both have fast reception, color mapping, external microSD card slot and good battery life. They're my favorite budget units!

For me, it'd be a false economy to buy a cheaper etrex unit (not an HCx) and sacrifice those features.

PS: I bet that buying used from this website's gear swap is the way to go!

I mainly use an etrex purchased second hand off ebay for about $50. I most often use it to simply point the direction and distance back to my vehicle following day hikes or evening hunts. Here's a road… now which way to the truck? If I can mark a few known points in the general vicinity thats usually enough to get myself oriented. It also has other basic functions such as generating a track log which can be useful. I have used some of the higher end devices but for the most part don't find the additional features worth the added complexity. To say nothing of the cost. The etrex I can just pick up and use. So I see its relative lack of features as its best feature. Besides we'll be doing all this stuff on our phones before long anyway.

Agree with the notion you can't go wrong with an etrex, and to stick with the latest HCx models, which have much-improved reception over earlier editions. (Older models get lost in the woods, literally.) I'll recommend a Legend with its color display and mapping capabilities. The more expensive Vista adds barometric altimiter and magnetic compass but these aren't necessary and have a power cost.

They've been out long enough to be available used, cheap, or just shop the sales. One dealer I've had good success with is GPScity.com.

Good luck,

Rick