School Me On Current GPS's Please...

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Everett80

Everett80

10 Year
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
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Hey guys, I'm a bit lost on what to look for with all the new gps's out there. The last time I purchased one and knew a little bit about them was over 5 years ago. I searched a bit here and didn't find any basics... Everything has changed so much I don't even know where to start.

I'm looking for a good portable unit that I can use for Off-Roading, camping, hunting etc. On-road navigation would be nice if possible as well. Easy and detailed maps are important, able to see Forest Service Roads would be awesome... easy to use... You know, the "perfect" unit ;)

What are current models capable of now? Any new features that are must haves, and any that are just bling?

Thanks! Sorry for my ignorance.... :cheers:
 
well, I was just thinking the other day that the cost of a car GPS would go a good part of the way towards getting a tablet gizmo incorporating a GPS (don't they all?) with a huge screen and running any number of google earth and google maps kind of soft...
 
I replaced my OEM radio with a pioneer AV+Nav headunit (avic-120bt) for turn by turn nav. The pioneer has no offroad mapping but it does support navigating to coordinates.

For offroad NAV I will be using Apple's iPad in a custom mount (installation to start in a couple of weeks) using a combination of GPS apps. An iPad (wifi+3G) works great as a nav unit. Many of the better apps allow you to cache maps to memory so even when out of data coverage you still have maps. Motion-X GPS by Fullpower is a great app for offroad NAV and costs a whopping 2.99. I've tested it (unmounted) and it works great.

http://gps.motionx.com/ipad/overview/
 
Huh. That would be great if it works well with a tablet. I'm a little suspicious, wondering if the GPS function is as strong/accurate/reliable as a unit that is made specifically for that. I am very interested on how you like your ipad setup when you get it all setup and have a chance to use it in remote locations without any cell service RobRed.
 
An issue with using a device like an iPad or similar is battery life. A good portable mapping GPS can last 20+ hours run time on a pair of AA batteries and more sets of batteries can be carried along.
 
Bogo said:
An issue with using a device like an iPad or similar is battery life. A good portable mapping GPS can last 20+ hours run time on a pair of AA batteries and more sets of batteries can be carried along.
Click to expand...

True, but because of the size of an Ipad, for me it would stay in the rig with a charger. I can't quite picture pulling out an ipad in rainy WA on a hunt tracking my position! So I guess a tablet would be great in vehicle for offroad use, but that still begs the question, what am I looking at for a good portable unit? I've been looking more since I've posted this and have found some interesting ones, but ya... for $500-600, I might go with an Ipad first.

Unless someone here has direct experience using one with the use we've talked about, I don't think I'll take the bait to be the first one... I still have my concerns with it. Post up if you use one please!!!
 
The mapping unit I use is a Garmin 60CSX which is no longer made. I like it as it can get a lock in dense tree cover and canyons. It handles topo maps. BTW, there are many sites that have free maps available for Garmin GPS units as the data format for Garmin was reverse engineered first. I don't know anything about the current crop of GPS units. If it can get a position lock as good or better than a Garmin 60CX or 60CSX then it should do fine anywhere. The 60CX and 60CSX use the SIRFstar III GPS chip set and for it's day it was the best consumer GPS chip set out there.

Edit: Seams to still be available for $220ish at various places.

Edit: I use a big MicroSD card in it and download large areas of topo maps to it using Mapsource from Garmin. Also I have it record my route to the CF card. Note, doing that at high rates, like 1 second between fixes, will eventually wear out the MicroSD cards. I keep a few on hand. When it initially powers up and doesn't display the topo map I switch to the next MicroSD card.
 
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From looking at various web sites it looks like the Garmin GPSMAP 62 series is the replacement. The 62S adds a 3axis compass which would be nice. It also adds a barometric altimeter over what the plain 62 has. I'm not enamored with the barometric altimeter in mine and wish I could turn it off to save battery power. The 62ST adds wireless, which to me means yet another useless feature destined to not be used and wear battery power down faster. I note that the 62 series says they have 100k topo maps for the whole USA loaded, you have to use Mapsource to load them on the 60 series. Mapsource is $99ish, but if you wish to load any third party maps, you need it. There are freely available higher resolution topo maps for most western states and Canada.
 
There are certainly pluses and minuses to each solution.

A dedicated GPS unit is more rugged out of the box but iPad can be equipped with a very rugged case.
Battery life on the iPad in Full GPS mode is about 3 hours. I would not use it outside of the rig.
Screen glare is only an occasional issue - 3M has an antiglare material that can be put over the screen to kill that though it's not a big deal to me as I prefer the feel of the raw glass.
I have used the iPad for a year with GPS apps right along side of a Garmin 276c and Pioneer Avic Nav and it's just as accurate as a dedicated GPS units. I'm using the 3G + Wifi model which has dedicated GPS chipset and magnetic compass. The Wifi only model is not suitable.

I think the iPad (tablets) really offer an advantage of continuous upgradability. Motion-X is constantly improving the apps (free updates). Version 15 in only 3 years! It only gets better.

Apps I use:
Motion-X GPS HD (Cacheable Maps)
Motion-X Drive HD (Prob best turn-by-turn available)
ScenicMap West, Central and East (these live in memory and require no data connection)
Google Maps
Google Earth
 
Counter argument: Well...my experience with the apps available for topo off-road for the iPad have not met the results I was hoping for. I still prefer my Lowrance Baja 540C (as hard as it is to admit that one due to Lowrance being such a total POS company to deal with) for hard-core off-road mapping. Its much easier and quicker to scroll around while driving than the iPad for starters.

The iPad apps have potential but you have to admit off-road 4x4'rs aren't their design center nor their money maker...Motion X HD included. And for those that want more than a small plot of hi res topos on board it takes an inordinate (like weeks!) amount of wifi time to download the map tiles.

What WOULD be ideal is a full OS in the form factor of an iPad like tablet with the ability to load mapping software of your choice via DVD or whatever.

Now for city type naving assuming you anti-upped for a cell contract the iPad is neat. But no turn by nav with GPS alone...which sucks. Garmin needs to work with Apple to sell their GPS technology for use on an iPad and win some customers back...
 
I happen to think that pinching and zooming with your finger tips is pretty easy while driving. In fact the render speed of Motion X is super fast compared to even the most robust dedicated mobile GPS.

It's true that if you want to cache maps to Motion-X it takes time to download but once done there they stay. I downloaded Big Sur to Cambria at 10/16 and it took about an hour to down load. FWIW All 2GB of ScenicMap West (or east or central) reside in the on board memory of the ipad.

Actually there are many GPS turn-by turn apps that dont require data connections like Tom-Tom, Magellen, NaviGon and several others. BTW the way there is no cell contract with the iPad... it's a month-to-month deal. The most Garmin could offer is there version of interface and maps - the GPS technology in the iPad2 is much better than most dedicated units.

I personally would never rely on one method of mapping - I happen to think the iPad fits into a system of navigation.
 
I picked up my first GPS this year a Garmin 450 and added the 24K Topo maps and really like it. It has a big enough sreen and resolution for driving and is small enough to put in a pocket for hiking away from the vehicle.
 
Everett80 said:
Huh. That would be great if it works well with a tablet. I'm a little suspicious, wondering if the GPS function is as strong/accurate/reliable as a unit that is made specifically for that. I am very interested on how you like your ipad setup when you get it all setup and have a chance to use it in remote locations without any cell service RobRed.
Click to expand...
All GPS technology uses basically the same chipset, it's the front end and box that varies from one manufacturer to another. In the case of a plug in or external GPS tablet/laptop unit the front end is handled by the mapping software.

The antenna will be the major factor in locking a signal, most hand held GPS's actually benefit from an external antenna when used in a car because the body acts as an RF shield.

The problem my friends that use Ipads have is that the maps take forever to download.

The set up I'm currently considering is an Asus Eee net book a Pharos USB external GPS and Overland Navigator map software. The complete bundle will be more expensive than a stand alone GPS but will offer a lot of features that a GPS doesn't.
 
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