GPS recommendations

[Fubar1]

I'm looking at picking up a new handheld GPS for both work and play. Its been a few years since I've shopped around for one so my knowledge of whats good at there is lacking. I'm looking for one that works as good in downtown Baghdad as it does in the Colorado Rockies. Around $500 is my limit.

Thanks




Stay Safe All.

[The_Dirty_Name]

Look into the Garmin GPS 401.

She is about $200 dollars and change.

She fits on the wrist.

She has good batt life. (AAA).

[CarbineM1]

there is some good info in this thread


http://www.socnet.com/showthread.php?t=91564&highlight=gps+recommendation

[Silverbullet]

Go to this page and contact Joe via his email or phone # at the bottom. He's a member here and will give you a very good price.

http://strohmanenterprise.com/

[Scotty]

I concur with SB, I got mine from Strohman Ent, and love it.

Scotty

[bmbsqd]

Agree w/the Garmin recommendation.

However, for those just looking to get around in the US highways and bi-ways...the best I have ever had, bar none....Verizon Navigator. Of course you have to have Verizon acct. but it is better than TomTom or Garmin, IMHO.

[Fubar1]

Thanks for the hook up SB.

[low country]

Thanks for the hook up SB.

X2. Will be shooting out an email on Monday.

[CCo275]

Go to this page and contact Joe via his email or phone # at the bottom. He's a member here and will give you a very good price.

http://strohmanenterprise.com/

He's a member here?! What's his username? He is EXACTLY who I would go to. He is a GREAT guy and will definitely take care of you. I have bought the last five or six from him. I have the Oregon 450t and would HIGHLY recommend it. I use it for hunting all over the US and always carry it when I go to the Middle East. I have purhcased the updated maps for the ME and you can put the SD card into your Oregon and use them when needed. Then take it out once you get back so it doesn't take up memory. They don't have all the maps for all the places but the ones they have are very accurate and the unit is very small and easy to use.

I have looked at all the different makers and different sizes and styles and think there is no better units out there than they Garmin. Just my .02

Good luck.

[18C4V]

Try REI. They have a awesome return policy like Costco. I bought a 401 on line and I had to return it, since the screen got cracked and I had no issues with getting a replacement. The beauty is you can take it to any REI for the replacement/return.


The prices for the 401 on http://strohmanenterprise.com/ are awesome. How's the return/replacement policy there?

[Silverbullet]

Call Joe and tell him you're from socnet. He will take care of you better than costco or REI.

[Cop1126]

If you don't need mapping and want a great wrist GPS the Foretrex 401 is a great unit. If you want Mapping capability the GPSMAP 62S is my first pick. If Military I will show you how to get free overseas maps, just need a military email account. The maps are from Defense Mapping agency. If REI or Costco give you better service I won't charge you for it.

[Cop1126]

www.strohmanenterprise.com or joestrohman@gmail.com

[Rip Shears]

Go to this page and contact Joe via his email or phone # at the bottom. He's a member here and will give you a very good price.

http://strohmanenterprise.com/
Ditto. Joe is an outstanding guy. Very knowledgeable and helpful.

[ccorgr175]

Joe's on here??

The world just got smaller. ;)

Joe - the GPS "Wizard." Good stuff, good dude.


2%

[TS]

Ive been putting a Garmin Oregon 550t through its paces for a few months now and I love it. I was a little unsure about the touch screen with gloves and/or wet hands but it has worked flawlessly. The digital camera that geotags where you took the picture is really handy.

Retails around $599, but the 550 model is the same unit without the camera for $500.

[Cop1126]

Oregon is a great unit. Some issue are it can be hard to see in bright light and difficult to use with gloves. Look at the GPSMAP 62S.
I would feel really bad if you paid that much for a 550 or 550T. email me at joestrohman@gmail.com and mention SOCNET.

[Savoy6]

Many thanks for Silverbullet for putting me onto Joe. THANKS!!

[jicima]

06-08 I used a Garmin 60 CSX. Real good unit. Not a fancy touch screen like the new ones, but operator proof, easy to learn and had it all over AF and ALWAYS had excellent reception. Even got great reception riding around in lvl 7 armored land cruisers without having to use an external antenna or even keep it on the dash.

the CSX model has a micro SD that you can store your mapset on so if you needed to dump your info quick as long as it stored on the chip you could pull it relatively easily.

You can also use mapsource to upload custom mapsets based on tracks you make so if you're running out to desert meets outside Baghdad and don't want to come home the same way you went out, you can pretty easily plot a new course on your laptop and upload it for the mission.

Lots of good things to say about that unit and not really any bad. I still use mine, and have uploaded US topo mapsets to it for hiking and so forth. You can also put city maps on it as well.

[universible]

I've been using an Oregon 550, and though its been great for my first GPS...using it with gloves and also mixing different muscle memory from other gear like an iphone to the Oregon really causes problems for me. The touch screen is just so so, and it seems to have a lot of extra consumer / recreation programming I don't need. In other words, I think I just haven't set it up correctly. Pulling gloves and messing with it while in the bush is a bit annoying, though I can usually get the screen to work with basic flight gloves.

[Savoy6]

A trick to using the touch screen on the Oregon series is to use a pen or any other pointed type instrument (not something that will scratch the screen). Even without gloves, I would have trouble sometimes inputting numbers on my Oregon with my fingers.

The buttons (items on the screens) can be arranged so you do not have to scroll through to find what you are looking for. I have the primary use ones on the front screen and that saves time searching for the function needed.

[universible]

Hadn't thought of using a stylus, thanks for the tip.

[PAandWRITER]

Question from a dyed-in-the-wool technophobe . . .

How precisely can one of these devices map a path I took and then lead me back to it so that I can re-walk it?

I work with tracking dogs, and yesterday at my training club (Tornado Alley Schutzhund near KC) one of the guys mentioned a cell phone app that saved the position of multiple laid tracks to aid the handler in case the dog went off track. I didn't pay that much attention because I have an ancient phone that has no bells or whistles (can't take video, pictures, connect to the internet . . . anything).

But I was jealous since about the only tools I have to aid my weakening memory is a utility flag I plant at the start, a small handwritten diagram showing roughly how many paces I walked in a direction and what line-of-sight land feature I was walking toward, and some colored chalk that I sometimes use near an article (an item we plant for the dog to find and indicate) or a corner where I changed direction.

Unlike SAR trailing, sport dogs are supposed to track footstep-to-footstep with a deep nose, so it's really important to know exactly where I walked when I laid the track for training purposes and not be a few feet to either side of it. And there's nothing worse than having a handler forget exactly where the track is after it's been "aged" and then mistakenly correct or discipline the dog when it actually was doing its job correctly. While sometimes I can visually spot where I previously walked, often the terrain/vegetation doesn't allow for that.

So are these gps devices precise enough for that purpose? Are they overkill for what I need? Should I simply join the twenty-first century and buy a cell phone that does more than just make calls? (My phone's on its last legs anyhow since half the time when I flip it open to take a call, it stays dark, failing to recognize it's been opened.)

Thanks in advance for any help (and I'm sure my dogs second that :-).

[RetPara]

About 10 feet for civilian use. The 10 feet of slop is programmed into what civilian GPS can pick up on purpose. Military GPS is better. The more satellites that your system can see the better off you are.

I have an older GPS that I use just for hunting. I have not had an issue getting to a specific setup/stand site.

Here's a pretty geeked out answer.:biggrin:
http://www.trakgps.com/en/index.php/information/gps-articles-information/65-gps-accuracy

http://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/performance/accuracy/

http://www.spaceandtech.com/digest/sd2000-09/sd2000-09-005.shtml

[Savoy6]

The Garmin GPSs, which are the only ones I own, leave a "snail-trail" of the route you walk. It is easy to turn back and follow the snail trail back. For a trial of this technique, take the GPS for a walk around your block and repeat this event several times over a week to month. Do not clear the snail trail from the previous walks. As you do this walk more often, you will see how each one overlays and the degree of deviation you get. If you have roads or overhead imagery (Birds-Eye from Garmin), you will be able to see how it compares against that on known terrain from your streets. Then, once you go out into the woods, you will be able to apply some common sense to compensate for the error or drift mentioned above by RetPara.

Good luck.

[Ron Flowers]

I was introduced to Joe awhile back and though we have not met face to face, I highly recommend him! Always taken good care of me!

A gentleman, great prices...I tell veryone I think he would deal with about him.

It helps he's living near my place of birth, in God's Country Virginia.