GPS
- Thread starter cjaj_70
- Start date
garmin makes some good ones depends on what ya want it to do
What do you want to use it for?
dudewizr
Registered
i have a garmin Etrex legend. very simple to operate and more features that you can shake a stick at. i've had it for 3 years and paid $225 but i think they are around $175 now, check out BIZRATE.com for a good price. about the size of a cell phone and very lightweight. everything (feature) you can think of. it will even tell you which exit off the freeway has gas, mcdonalds or rest ares. top speed, moving time, avg speed and the list goes on.
Here's 3 Garmin GPS's I'm familar with:
Model GPS-V - small black and gray screen, overall small unit (fits in pocket), minimal bells and whistles, inexpensive.
Model 76CS - small color screen, about same size as GPS-V, nice large database of information (Points of Interest), more expensive.
Model 276C - easy to read larger screen, large database memory capability, a true multiple purpose (biggest bang for the buck) gps. More expensive yet. I use the 276C on my bike, in my cages (easily transportable), boat, and hiking. It's a fantastic unit.
The key to a good price is to use a discount clearing house. A couple of good sites are: www.gpsdiscount.com and www.gps4fun.com
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Model GPS-V - small black and gray screen, overall small unit (fits in pocket), minimal bells and whistles, inexpensive.
Model 76CS - small color screen, about same size as GPS-V, nice large database of information (Points of Interest), more expensive.
Model 276C - easy to read larger screen, large database memory capability, a true multiple purpose (biggest bang for the buck) gps. More expensive yet. I use the 276C on my bike, in my cages (easily transportable), boat, and hiking. It's a fantastic unit.
The key to a good price is to use a discount clearing house. A couple of good sites are: www.gpsdiscount.com and www.gps4fun.com
Hope this helps. Good luck.
really depends on what you want it to do as mentioned previously. I have a Street Pilot III and love it, others use the GPSV or etrex and similar units. Check out GPS City for comparison shopping. Their prices are inline with most online stores, but they carry just about all makes/models so you can figure it out there
Have to agree with FJ but will add three other options.
GPS-III Previous version to the V. Can be found for $100 or less used. Has mapping but very limited capacity. Uses same accessories as the V. On the cheap fine, but the V with the software is worth the upgrade.
Quest. Same height and width as the III and V but 1/2 depth. Color more resolution. Accessories harder to come by and more expensive. Nice unit
The III, V, and Quest are easily stored in a pocket.
The 2610 and the 276C have a screen that is twice as large. They are a bit more difficult to take with you or secure. But, they will easily fit in a tank bag or larger jacket pocket. The 2610 is a bit more difficult to see and uses common CF removable memory. The 276C uses the same display technology as the Quest (TFT) as it is made for marine use. It is much more visible in bright sunlight than the 2610 or the Street Pilot III. The 276 does use a proprietary removable memory. The 2610 is also touch screen wich is a bit more difficult with gloves. A 276C and a Street kit can run about $900, but I think it is the best choice for long distance riding. I use mine in the truck as well.
My top 3 picks depending on your budget. All of these use the same mapping software.
GPS-V
Quest
276C
That is still a bit open ended. All come with a base map showing the US interstate system and part of the major streets. This works fine if you stay on the major arteries. However, I like to seek out more the smaller towns and roads. For instance with my GPS III and Roads and Rec software (not as near advanced as City Select) I cannot load all of the Dallas/Ft Worth metro, close but not quite. Now if I want detail on the trip there, I’m out of luck as well. If I’m headed to Eureka Springs, I can load most of NW Arkansas in the whopping 1.4 meg of space.
The V, 276 and Quest uses City Select which handles auto routing. It also has specific info for points of interest, lodging, dining, fuel etc. Although the V has about 20 meg of space, you’ll not be able to load much more. RR loads by counties, CS loads by regions which are much larger in area coverage. The same amount of coverage takes much more space with CS because of the routing and POI’s. So if you want to add the detail of the route you can fill up the space pretty quick. I know you can use RR in the V. I heard it will load in the other but have not tried it in my 276C.
You can route of the base map, which is fine for a car on the super-slab, but I prefer the secondary roads on the bike. You have to have the detail loaded to route on the smaller roads.
The quest has 112-115 meg of memory. I use a 128 meg in my 276. I have the DFW Metro, All of Oklahoma, the northern 2/3 of Arkansas, lower 1/3 of Kansas and MO, part of northern Texas all loaded. The more densely populated an area, the less square miles you can load. The 2610 and a 1 gig card will hold 85% of the US detail. The 2620 (otherwise identical to a 2620) has an internal CF hard drive with the entire CS loaded. It is a bit fragile and most recommend avoiding it with a motorcycle.
So to answer you question, it still really depends on how you want to use it.
+1 Garmin 276c
I would not recommend the GPS V. It has a very slow processor which leads to slow screen redraws and very slow route recalcs. I missed many a turn with that unit and sold it. Also very limited memory for maps/POI's.
The 276 is also waterproof. I don't leave home without it on my bike or in the cage.
I would not recommend the GPS V. It has a very slow processor which leads to slow screen redraws and very slow route recalcs. I missed many a turn with that unit and sold it. Also very limited memory for maps/POI's.
The 276 is also waterproof. I don't leave home without it on my bike or in the cage.
No problems out of my GPS V.
I had the chance to borrow a V for a bit. If you leave the map with North up, it eliminates some of the screen draw issues. Miss a turn and you’ll be waiting a while for it to re-route. Plotting your route on a computer and turning off auto-route in the unit is supposed to help, but what if you change you mind on the trip, I do quite often.
The Quest is supposed to have a faster processor then the V. I had one in my hand but did not get to use it on the road.
The 276c has the fastest performance I have seen. Another plus for the 276 vs the 2610 the 276C has a built in battery. You don’t have to have it hooked to power to look at the route. Take it in the diner and check it out while you are waiting for the burger to come off the grill.
I think all of the Garmin units meet the IPX7 waterproof standard. At least all of the ones I mentioned do.
Just a clarification the garmin GPS III does not allow you to upload detail from roads and rec...the GPS III+ DOES (I've owned both).
I use the Quest now, but its somewhat expensive(450-500). The Garmin V is a good compromise for price and features/memory and you get autorouting.
If you want something cheap a used III+ would probably be ideal and you still get a lot of features. All 3 mentioned have a built-in basemap.
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wickedsprint
Registered
gps V is a great unit for bikes since it is compact, has an Ok basemap and still autoroutes. Go to www.gpsinformation.net for reviews on most made. I have a 96C for flying, same case/screen as a 76C except with aviation oriented database.
Good catch! Yes I was referring to a III+
If you want inexpensive buy a Whistler Galileo Elite 200.
You can pick one up brand new on Ebay for less than $100 bucks. It has built in base maps and comes with detailed mapping software in which you can store a ton of info in its 32 megs of memory. It's so detailed I can pull into a Burger King parking lot and "Burger King" will come up on the display. Want to find a street, restaurant, hospital, hotel ect? Do a search within a specified amount of miles and it will show you the location along with the establishments phone number.
I've had mine over a year and love it, very durable, great display with an indiglo type backlight, water proof, good battery life and so many features it takes a book to list them all. Only complaint is that it only shows current and average speed with no window for top speed. I haven't gone into it yet but it may record top speed in bread crumbs mode.
Best part is that it costs far less than just the mapping software alone for the overpriced "popular" Garmins and about the same price as the bottom line yellow eTrex that's about as useful as a paper weight.
You can pick one up brand new on Ebay for less than $100 bucks. It has built in base maps and comes with detailed mapping software in which you can store a ton of info in its 32 megs of memory. It's so detailed I can pull into a Burger King parking lot and "Burger King" will come up on the display. Want to find a street, restaurant, hospital, hotel ect? Do a search within a specified amount of miles and it will show you the location along with the establishments phone number.
I've had mine over a year and love it, very durable, great display with an indiglo type backlight, water proof, good battery life and so many features it takes a book to list them all. Only complaint is that it only shows current and average speed with no window for top speed. I haven't gone into it yet but it may record top speed in bread crumbs mode.
Best part is that it costs far less than just the mapping software alone for the overpriced "popular" Garmins and about the same price as the bottom line yellow eTrex that's about as useful as a paper weight.
I echo the others about the GPS-V. Its processor is much slower than the newer units. You really notice it when you zoom in and out and the unit has to re-draw the maps. The zooming (in/ou) difference between my GPS-V and my 276C was like night and day! Sold the V the other day.
wickedsprint
Registered
The good thing about a garmin V is that it has a pretty extensive basemap wheny ou see what you are askingofit, if you open upa larger rand macnally road talas, the pages that have an entire state on them, the gps has THAT level of detail for the whole USA, when you need residential detail, it will hold more than most of us will need for adress searching in a day. I typically only load the smallest chunk that has the adress I am looking for. By doing this it also seriously increases the redraw rate and the recalc rate if you miss a turn. I also find that when going cross country all you care about to leave a town are the roads it already ha sprogrammed anyhow. The 96C I have for flying is nice since it holds 119mb of mapsource data, but it NEEDS it since the basemap holds a bit less detail to start.
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