Whats the best gps for offroad navi

dodecagon2000

Adventurer
I'm starting to do more and more long offroad trips to Mexico, Baja and national parks across the US. I was wondering what peoples opinions on the right GPS for the job. i was thinking either Garmin GPSMAP 478, or the Lowrance Baja540C...what do you guys think....maybe just a simple handheld would do the trick
 

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
We've done a series on off-road nav in FJC Magazine (starting in April)..you can download all the mags for free at http://www.fjc-mag.com

The short version (in my opinion)
1) Always take really good topo paper maps
2) For handheld, any color garmin GPSMAP series is great. I use the Legend CX because it's small & easy to carry when i'm not in the truck.
3) For nav systems, You can't go wrong with the Baja 540 or even 840, but they're not in-dash, so space can be an issue. For in-dash, the Kenwood 8120 is the grand-daddy. It'll do TOPO maps (either from Garmin or custom made), it plays dvd's, mp3's, etc. and it's very customizable.

I'm hoping to get an 8120 for my b-day this month :)

Good luck!
 

ebfrizzle77

New member
dodecagon: i've been looking around alot, i would prefer a hand held multipurpose GPS as long as the Topo maps are of good enough quality for my offroading. What I've found are the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx and DeLorme Earthmate PN-20 in my price range. Garmin goes a step up with Colorado series. The Lowrance Baja series look pretty impressive but they would be a larger in car only model. Let me know more of what you find. :088:
 

fetus

Observer
The Lowrance Baja 540 is an impressive unit. I got to mess with one at this years Shot Show in Las Vegas. Some of the other handheld Lowrance GPSs will also start to incorporate aerial photos.

I started using a Garmin GPS III back in 1998. I used it in conjunction with Delorme Topo maps.

I then started using a Garmin GPSMap 60CS in a Ram Mount attached to my windshield. The map is pretty small and it is a chore to enter coords or find waypoints. The topo features are ok, but it is difficult to get a "big picture" of where you are at or where you are going. This is my preferred unit when on foot.

I got a Garmin Nuvi 760 for Father's Day because I wanted to be able to route to addresses in town or out of town without having to Mapquest or GoogleMap everything. I also was able to upload Garmin Topo 2008 onto a 1gb SD card. I don't think it shows contours that well, but all the water features and most dirt roads and trails are on it.

I like being able to enter coords via the touch screen. Much faster but harder if you have big fingers. I can route to the closest hospital or police station or gas station with a few touches of the screen as well. Whether the hospitals have a 24 hr emergency room or trauma center is unknown. I like this unit because I can use it to navigate long distances on roads where I am unfamiliar with the restaurants, lodging, and what not. You can search for Asian, Mexican, or Fast food restaurants or certain brands of gas stations. Certainly handy.

So now I find myself using the Garmin 760 for navigating offroad more now. The GPS Map 60 is in a pack. I still use maps though so I can see exactly where I'm at or where I'm going.
 

soonenough

Explorer
fetus said:
I got a Garmin Nuvi 760 for Father's Day because I wanted to be able to route to addresses in town or out of town without having to Mapquest or GoogleMap everything. I also was able to upload Garmin Topo 2008 onto a 1gb SD card. I don't think it shows contours that well, but all the water features and most dirt roads and trails are on it.....So now I find myself using the Garmin 760 for navigating offroad more now. The GPS Map 60 is in a pack. I still use maps though so I can see exactly where I'm at or where I'm going.
I've tried briefly to do some researching of this online, and I've found contradicting facts. If you have an SD card w/ Garmin's topo maps on it, will the Nuvi accept them and display them normally? I've read some reports saying that it doesn't work at all, some say it works with limited functionality, and some say it works perfectly :confused:

I ask because I have a Nuvi 750, and rather than buying a 2nd unit for topo-type navigation, I'd like to just buy the Garmin topo maps and load them onto the unit I already have. Not to mention, as you said, that big screen is really nice.
 

fetus

Observer
I think you can add Garmin Topos preloaded on SD Cards or upload Garmin Topo 2008 to the SD card, which is what I did. I think there is a 1gb SD card max, I may be wrong.

In the map selection is setup, you can select the NT road maps or Topo Maps. I selected both and they seem to work ok. I'm not sure how well in 3d mode yet.

Here is a screenshot of my Nuvi 760 showing some terrain at 0.5miles scale.

The only downside is that you're limited in battery life if you remove it from the vehicle. If its strictly inside, it shouldn't be a problem. And you would only be able to upload a limited number of maps, not the whole US, I think.


nuvi-760-topo.jpg
 

Bergger

Explorer
I also use my Nuvi for off road navigation now. The Lowrance Expedition is saved for hiking. I have the Nuvi 660. I bought a cheap 2 GB card and loaded the Topo 2008 on it along with a bunch of mp3s and photos. Now I have topo, music and photos all on the Nuvi. I use city streets for the pavement and once off the beaten path turn that off and select the topo. It works great. Just remember the Nuvi will not be able to give turn by turn directions when using the topo.
 

soonenough

Explorer
fetus / Bergger - thanks for the info.

Ok, so here's another question. If Topo works on the existing Nuvi's, is there any advantage to having the new Nuvi 500 / 550, other than the fact that it's IPX-7 waterproof rated and it comes with Topo so you don't have to buy it separately?
 

fetus

Observer
I think its all dependent on what you want to use it for. I use the 760 strictly in my vehicle. The 760 is a big rectangle that is cumbersome to hold when walking.

I can use my GPSMap60CS in the vehicle, too. But I use it when afoot now mostly or geocaching.

The GPS Nuvi 500 seems to be a compromise unit, the screen is smaller, and it doesn't seem to bring much else to the table except being waterproof.

I've also had limited success with the Nuvi autorouting me on unimproved mining roads.
 

Bergger

Explorer
As mentioned above it depends on how you plan to use it. For me the Garmin 550 makes no sense. I have a Lowrance hand held unit that I use for hiking and climbing. The Nuvi 660 is strictly for the vehicle. It has a larger and higher resolution screen than the 550 which I really like for driving. I also got my Nuvi for just over $200 as it is now a discontinued model. That leaves lots of extra cash for other things like software. I'm not a big fan of the cross over gps. They seem to be a bit awlward for handheld use. I prefer a vehicle system and a separate handheld system. Heck you could probably get a good older model Nuvi and handheld system for the price of a new Garmin 550. But if you only want a single system the 550 looks okay.
 

esh

Explorer
Take this with a grain of salt; my comments are based on what I do and not what you may do. Have yet to apply this to out of country, so ymmv.

For detailed exploration, I think you lose a lot without some kind of PC. 7.5' maps based off USGS maps are where you get a) historical data, b) richer set of POIs and c) names of nearly everything around you. GPS units cannot accomodate that much data (yet), about 3-4GB per state. Paper topo maps, likewise, are completely impractical unless you are on foot or in a confied area. Any GPS with tracking can get you out of an unknown area and tell you where you are . A compass with local maps (like a state/natl forest map or a gazeteer, something around the 100K level) will get you to a major road, in case of "systems failure."

Most modern units with any kind of decent basemap will have a majority of dirt/gravel roads around you. I don't see a lot of value in the "topo" line of products for GPSs. They just don't bring the level of detail that interests me- ruins, caves, waterfalls, historic sites, springs, etc.

In Oregon, recent US Natl Forest maps have become increasingly better quality. Unfortunately and ironically, everywhere around large population centers is becoming closed to travel.
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
I have a Magellan Crossover and a Baja540. The Magellan is MUCH more user friendly, though there is still a learning curve. The majority of trails I have been on have been on the preloaded Magellan map, but the topo detail is not great. The Magellan software is pretty bad, and it's tedious to enter in waypoints for route planning. It's also hard to navigate to those waypoints in OffRoad mode. You have to select each waypoint in turn, it will not automatically move on to the next one (or I haven't figured out how). It does sync fairly well and has a very good antenna strength. The built in battery lasts about 6 hours, and it's easily portable for goecaching. Oddly, it will sometimes lock up in Offroad mode but never in Onroad mode. It's not perfect, but it's not bad.

The Baja540 is an extremely capable, frustrating unit. It was designed over a decade ago, and the user interface, lightyears ahead of it's time back then, it's extremely dated now. Hard core users call it "that infernal machine". It does somethings fantastic, like follow tracks stored in memory, such as what the SCORE racing guys do. It has an amazing display, and it's highly configurable to display all sorts of information, in whatever location and size you want right overtop the map without losing the map in the background. Because my Jeep tires are significantly oversized, I use a large format readout of current ground speed as my speedo, and it works great. I also love the BRIGHT, dim, and keep-your-night-vision-dim display settings.

However, it's very finicky in what data you can load. To the best of my knowledge, you need to buy preloaded SD cards, or can ONLY use the propietary MapCreate software ($100). I think the machine can only read basemap files up to 450MB. A map of the southwest with only off road oriented points of interest spanning CA, NV, AZ and UT is 900mb, and it won't run. You have to break the files down into smaller chunks. Which is a bummer, because you are limited to a grand total of 5 SD cards for the life of the unit, and it tracks that through a mandatory Lowrance card reader ($50) that is slow (USB 1.0 I think?).

The MapCreate software is even worse that Magellan's software, and has to be manually patched if you want it to run properly on Vista, and it's a administrative rights only process.

I think the software and GUI from Lowrance is designed to piss you off and prevent easy use.

However, I recently learned that Lowrance has a new software utility (free download?) that can translate universal GPX files in the Lowrance format (ULR?) that can saved to a SD card on an non-proprietary reader and loaded (less than 450mb) into the Baja540 unit. I've not tested this, but it sounds great if it works.

Going with a Garmin would have been TONS easier, EVERYONE has software and maps for it, and there are tons of trails uploaded to the internet freely downloable without any headaches.

I am hoping someone like TomTom, with great customer support will build something like the Baja540, but with an interface designed by Steve Jobs at Apple, with standard batteries, standard memory card interface, Mac/PC compatible software with features of adding waypoints and building routes so easy it's almost fun! The market is wide open for such a device. If I had any money, I would build one and market it myself.

That's my dream....
 

locrwln

Expedition Leader
fetus said:
I think you can add Garmin Topos preloaded on SD Cards or upload Garmin Topo 2008 to the SD card, which is what I did. I think there is a 1gb SD card max, I may be wrong.

In the map selection is setup, you can select the NT road maps or Topo Maps. I selected both and they seem to work ok. I'm not sure how well in 3d mode yet.

Here is a screenshot of my Nuvi 760 showing some terrain at 0.5miles scale.

The only downside is that you're limited in battery life if you remove it from the vehicle. If its strictly inside, it shouldn't be a problem. And you would only be able to upload a limited number of maps, not the whole US, I think.


nuvi-760-topo.jpg

I am starting to look seriously at the Nuvi 760. A buddy and I have a question, I saw on one review where you can input lat/long coordinates and we were wondering if it will "autoroute" offroad. For instance, if you see a area you want to get to, can you input the coordinates and will it autoroute you there or will it just do the general direction and you still have to find the roads that go in that direction?

Thanks.

Jack
 

Ryanmb21

Expedition Leader
The new Nuvi's can hold a track, meaning you can plot out a path on the computer and transfer it over to the nuvi...this is who the gpsmap 60csx works also. My nuvi the 760 or 670 displays topos like the picture above but it won't hold a track.

IMO the track feature on the newer Nuvi's has some value.
 

locrwln

Expedition Leader
Ryanmb21 said:
The new Nuvi's can hold a track, meaning you can plot out a path on the computer and transfer it over to the nuvi...this is who the gpsmap 60csx works also. My nuvi the 760 or 670 displays topos like the picture above but it won't hold a track.

IMO the track feature on the newer Nuvi's has some value.

I'm sorry, but I am a little confused by your post. Does the 760 hold tracks or is it not "new" enough? I really don't use that feature, I am more of a map person who uses the gps to determine were I am and to help decide which road to take when I come to a fork.

Jack
 

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