I bought my GPS last Summer and it was well worth it. It paid off on my recent trip to South Dakota during the Fog and when I took an impromptu trip to Mt Rushmore.
I selected the PDA style because of its multiple capabilities. It is a PowerPC with the MS Office suite. It is an MP3 Player. With the wifi SD Mem card it is a wireless Internet computer (Small screen though). It is portable and can fit in my coat pocket. Compared to other GPS units, it's memory is not limited and is dependent on the installed SD card (up to 2GB) now.
The main downfall with the PDA is it is not rugged like a GPS60 or other similar units. But for my use, I did not feel rugged was a requirement. That should not be an issue for off road, but more so hiking.
There have been two things that bugged me about the Garmin M3 GPS PDA. The first is the suction cup mounting on the window. It holds fine for a few days and comes off after a while (Fortunately when the GPS has not been in it). Second, being above the dash, the screen gets blanked out by bright sunlight and is hard to read. No issues at night though.
So I fixed both issues..
Figured out in my drive to Rapid City, that if I held the GPS unit down in front of the CB, I could see the screen with no issues.
First I bought a 1.5 inch wide and 12 inch long bracket from Home Depot. I found it in the lumber section. They call it a Strap Tie.
I then cut it down to a 6 inch long bracket and painted it black.
I disconnected the PDA holder from the Suction portion of the bracket PDA. My bracket has two points were the entire bracket can be broken down. I removed the long screw to separate the suction assembly.
I then glued to bracket base to the 6 inch Strap Tie and placed a C clamp on it until it is fully dry.
Next, shoved the bracket under the CB in the ash tray slot. I put it below so I could see the CB easier and the leverage point favored it being under as the in dash part would push up and have no were to go.
Left the C Clamp on for 36 hours and is holding tight.
I selected the PDA style because of its multiple capabilities. It is a PowerPC with the MS Office suite. It is an MP3 Player. With the wifi SD Mem card it is a wireless Internet computer (Small screen though). It is portable and can fit in my coat pocket. Compared to other GPS units, it's memory is not limited and is dependent on the installed SD card (up to 2GB) now.
The main downfall with the PDA is it is not rugged like a GPS60 or other similar units. But for my use, I did not feel rugged was a requirement. That should not be an issue for off road, but more so hiking.
There have been two things that bugged me about the Garmin M3 GPS PDA. The first is the suction cup mounting on the window. It holds fine for a few days and comes off after a while (Fortunately when the GPS has not been in it). Second, being above the dash, the screen gets blanked out by bright sunlight and is hard to read. No issues at night though.
So I fixed both issues..
Figured out in my drive to Rapid City, that if I held the GPS unit down in front of the CB, I could see the screen with no issues.
First I bought a 1.5 inch wide and 12 inch long bracket from Home Depot. I found it in the lumber section. They call it a Strap Tie.
I then cut it down to a 6 inch long bracket and painted it black.
I disconnected the PDA holder from the Suction portion of the bracket PDA. My bracket has two points were the entire bracket can be broken down. I removed the long screw to separate the suction assembly.
I then glued to bracket base to the 6 inch Strap Tie and placed a C clamp on it until it is fully dry.
Next, shoved the bracket under the CB in the ash tray slot. I put it below so I could see the CB easier and the leverage point favored it being under as the in dash part would push up and have no were to go.
Left the C Clamp on for 36 hours and is holding tight.
