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GPS Brands? Good ones?

M

MrWizzard

Platinum Member
Hello, I want to get a GPS for my dad, he goes out on lot of backpacking/ATV/offroading trips. However I don't know what brands are good/rugged or where to even start looking, anyone know what I should be looking for? What brands are good? Not looking to spend much more than $300, though.

Thanks:beer:
 
Got a Garmin Streetpilot 2610. Does everything I want it to and also has an updated map for the house that I live in right now and the house/street is only 2 years old. Try amazon, and I believe they still have the $100 rebate going on right now.
 
Originally posted by: MrWizzard
Hello, I want to get a GPS for my dad, he goes out on lot of backpacking/ATV/offroading trips. However I don't know what brands are good/rugged or where to even start looking, anyone know what I should be looking for? What brands are good? Not looking to spend much more than $300, though.

Thanks:beer:
Click to expand...

i got one from Microsoft. BB has it onsale for $110. But you need a labtop or pda to get it to work
 
Garmin Rino 120. Both my dad and I bought one for hunting, backpacking, and canoeing trips. It has a 2 way radio & handheld GPS integrated into one unit, which eliminates the need to carry additional stuff. Its been bulletproof for me, so far. I've used it on 2 hunting trips, and 1 canoe trip.
 

Just remember that they usually don't come with detail maps, only a base map. You might want to look at the Garmin eTrex Vista, see if you can find a deal that includes the GPS and new version of the mapping software.
 
We got a Garmin eTrex Vista and the European Cities maps for our summer-long backpacking trip. Be warned that the accuracy of these GPS toys is very iffy in cities with lots of tall buildings or narrow streets, or even in outdoor areas with lots of tree cover. To make a long story short, it was very useful a few times, but most of the time it was extra weight (local, free street maps were handier). The plan was to sell it all back on eBay when we came, which is what we did.

I'm looking forward to the next generation of GPS which will work much better in tight areas (read about this in Scientific American). Anyway, if your dad doesn't go for month-long trips, you can get away with a GPS unit lacking a large amount of memory, because he won't need to load huge numbers of map sections. So, you can get him a moderately priced one and and in a good topographics map set from which he can load whatever area he'll be visiting next.

Good luck!!! GPS units are fun toys.
 
I would recommend at least getting a unit with basic mapping capabilities even if you don't want to get into your own maps and stuff, just seeing the major roads in the background gives you a sense of where the heck you are. ETrex Vista seems like a good choice.

You might check out this site too... It's about GeoCaching, but they have some good info on GPS Receivers...

Groundspeak Geocaching Forum
 
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