GPS unit recommendations

[Jeep or Tacoma]

gps units

I have been using gps units for along time I had a sony in my 95 blazer sport I have a garmin now, But don't like the screen. The best ones That i ever owned hands down was the lowrance. I had a chart plotter with a big screen maybe 9 inch diagonal and had it mounted into the console of my chevy truck.. It was awesome too bad the idiot who installed the torsion less bar coil over suspension screwed it up beyond all drivability otherwise I might still have it. I have also lowrance baja in my h-3 now in my jeep use the stock one form the manufacturer. I have also had a parsonic? and another one I can't remember the name but I like the lowrnace because you could down load a lot of maps on sd cards and just plug and play. they also gave you distances and had decent too maps something I find very useful you could load all kinds of land marks too. I think some one needs to come out with a gps that uses google earth and topo combined overplayed on it. Maybe they have and I don't know it. That is what I would buy. other wise a lowrance very rugged water proof and reliable.

 

[Talcabin]

How about this:
http://gps.dualav.com/explore-by-lifestyle/aviation/xgps160-for-efb-apps-new/

This looks like an incredibly accurate unit, $125, bluetooth to your device, used by pilots. Teamed up with Gaia GPS ($20) - seems like it would be great, but no experience with it - does anybody have any?

My question would be memory for downloaded maps? The global topo map backroad capability has me very intrigued, especially for upcoming SA travel. Need to find a good iPad mount, probably a RAM mount?

 

[grizzlyj]

Hi

I don't know how it compares but I've had Garmin Western Europe on my Iphone 5 for about 2 years and its fab. A RAM Xgrip keeps it in place, it does need 12v all the time on a trip and sometimes its routing is a bit weird to save what ends up being a very short time. It is a bit too small, meaning stopping is sensible to change anything or make sure the passenger is familiar with it. It doesn't need data, all maps on board.

The fact that it fits in your pocket all the time means that's once you've stopped and are discussing where to next etc whether on a long trip or just out for the day, means different routing options and times can be worked out during the conversation. You get back to the car with what you're planning already set to go. Two friends and I just took two weeks from Santander, Pyrenees, French Med coast, Route Napoleon, Monaco, Marenello, Garda, Dolomites, Stuttgart, Nurburgring, Calais via as many small twisty roads as time allowed, me navigating with that and each country's atlas. They drove, each with a Tom Tom (which is very handy to give an idea of how tight upcoming bends are for the driver) but the Garmin was faster to route, easier to use, and easily zoom-able and pan-able even on the small screen, with photos and video in your hand at the same time. The same software on a small tablet would be very good and I think my next step.

 

[salty chicharon]

What unit ?

I still don't see a clear choice for a stand alone GPS unit, I understand everyone has different ideas about what is needed to navigate,but I find it interesting that one unit dose not stand out. I like the Delorme maps for each state, but I still want a GPS and I was counting on the folks on this forum with much more experience to help steer me towards the "Best" unit.

 

[stingray1300]

I've been using Garmins since 2001. Will not own any other brand the others always end up with "issues" of various types. And no, your cell phone/iPad will not do what a real GPS unit will do where you have no cell signal. Always have a cell signal? Then you're not really going anywhere interesting... :elkgrin:

 

[Jeep or Tacoma]

best unit by far

for an in car unit the lowrance chart plotters are heads and tails above the rest. I have been running hard mountt Gps units since 94, in that time i have had one of the first soni. a panasonic 3 lowrance 2 garmin. In an old chevy truck than had the stacked center console i had a custom lowrance with a 10 inch screen chart plotter it was great you could get distances from point to point. something I have yet to find. It also help addresses. but the reason I got it was that it had topo maps built in and you could download addition topo, turn on and off various layers like, PARKS VS PRIVATE LANDS etc. The garmin I have now when I turn on the topo doesn't even line up with the street maps. I just switched from dedicated GPS to a tablet and it rivals my old lowrance except the lowrance is much more sturdy.

 

[moabian]

I've been using GPSs and teaching land navigation (maps, compass, gps) for 25 years...since long before Selective Availability was turned off. I've used DeLorme, Lowrance, and Garmin and have always found the Garmin's to be easier to use and more appropriate for our use (Search and Rescue) in this area. We have been buying Garmin GPS units exclusively for all of our members for over 20 years. My current favorite is the Garmin Montana with its rather large screen compared to most GPS units. I would not buy a GPS anymore unless it had satellite image capability. I've never had a single problem getting the maps to line up on the newer GPSs...whether it was streets vs topos or topos vs satellite images. That sounds like either defective maps or a problem with GPS configuration.

 

[Christophe Noel]

I've been using Garmins since 2001. Will not own any other brand the others always end up with "issues" of various types. And no, your cell phone/iPad will not do what a real GPS unit will do where you have no cell signal. Always have a cell signal? Then you're not really going anywhere interesting... :elkgrin:

Any newer device with cell service capabilities will have a GPS chipset that will read GPS and GLONASS signals just fine. It need not have cell signal or even an active cellular service contract. If you want to bolster that performance, or add it to a non-gps chipped device, you can use any number of plug-in receivers like a Bad Elf, Dot, etc.

You only need an active signal if you're using that signal to feed the device map data in real time. For many apps like Backcountry Explorer, MotionX and others, you simply need to download map segments prior to leaving a signal, either cellular or WiFi. Soon we will be able to get Google Maps offline, which will be super sweet. Not a death knell for a real GPS, but...getting closer.

 

[DanCooper]

Garmin Montana

IMO, the Garmin Montana. Larger screen, greater capacity for storing waypoints. Using OSM (Open Street Maps) you can download maps from just about everywhere in the world and get by. I use JaVaWa Device Manager to manage the maps on the Montana, and store the maps on SD cards that I can swap in and out of the laptop and Montana when I cross borders (I generally have a map for each country I plan to visit . . .). The Montana can be mounted vertically or horizontally.

But remember what 1LegLance says: "They lie!!" "They" meaning GPS units, and he may include maps in that rubtric as well. Summer before last the dang Montana told me to turn right when I should have turned left, took me back and forth across the Tajikistan/Krygyzstan border (and I also inadvertently wandered into a little bit of Uzbekistan, a real no-no) and I wound up entering Krygyzstan without inspection and therfore illegally. Whoops! Fortunately, it cost $2.50 US to get an exit stamp.

But the point is, even with my paper map back-up, the machine foiled my best laid plans. It was all in my misunderstanding (perhaps misapprehension is a better word) of the routing feature. So even though I had a very able device, and a good understanding of maps and getting from A to B using GPS, maps, pencils, and compasses, I lacked some specific knowledge of the full feature set. That is the reason I took every navigation course that Overland Expo offerred last May, and I learned from every one of them.

Just an opinion, but the Garmin Montana is the best of dedicated GPS devices (out of 7) I have owned.

One last thought: If you are travelling outsde the USA and you want to have a smartphone backup to your GPS, I would recommend an Android device over the Apple eco-system. Android is less expensive, and that is what most devices are run on outside the USA. I travelled in Europe and Central Asia in 2014 and 2015, and used both. The Android was my go to phone for mapping type uses, and later on, for communication as well.

 

[PPCLI_Jim]

I am running a Garmin Montana 650 T has a camera which will gps waymark me if i ever want to get me back there. I have run this unit on my motorcycle the Wandering Buffalo a Suzuki DR 650. Its also been in my Suzuki Samurai, and now its in my Isuzu Trooper. I use it in my boat also I used the BC Backroads gps mapset. Its mounted with a RAM mount {powered}

 

[kojackJKU]

I always loved the iPad too because it could do everything in a single unit. The thing that drove me crazy was always downloading the maps and deleting them. If there was a way to get an iPad with an insane amount of memory or compressed files like I think the stand alone GPS units use then I'd love that.

I'm thinking I might try what airmapper suggested with using a GPS like the nuvi, then also using the iPad for really detailed stuff. Plus I'd still like to have the iPad for movies, music, etc.. If we want it.

Get a lepan mini android tablet. All the apps that the ipad uses, but you can install SD cards to save maps on.