I'm needing a reliable GPS I can take on long trail rides. All I need it to do is mark my beginning location and maybe a few interesting spots along the way. It should then be able to guide me back to where I started. I also want it to be inexpensive. I'm considering the Garmin Etrex. Anyone else have one? or what else would you recommend?

 

I really like the Garmin III Plus GPS that I purchased from Boatersworld.com for $279. Same unit at WalMart for $349. Real easy to use and I do some pretty good treking without worrying about getting turned around. Check your e-mail,,,I sent you some pictures of a mount I made for it. Good Luck...

 

The GPS III is nice and i had one but it has NO memory, only like 1.4 megs. I brought it back and go the GPS V. it has 19 megs of memory and a larger resolution display than the GPS III. It also has auto routing which is awesome. It comes with the city select CD, pc cable, cigarette adapter and auto mount. I highly suggest getting roads and recreation mapsource cd though, its way better than city select, but it doesnt have all the restaurants, gas stations, addresses and phone numbers, etc. If you ATV, roads and rec is the best. it even shows streams and small trails sometimes. I found it the cheapest here GPS CITYOnly 370 bucks....!!!!! thats silly cheap, I paid 415. Don't make a mistake buying the GPS III Plus. It's nice but with such little memory you can barely put any maps in. I live in chicago and I can load the entire way to UP Michigan along the expressway and the entire state of michigan with maps from the roads and rec CD and still have a lot of memory left.

heres pics of my GPS V on my p650 with the RAM mount GPS PICS

 

Lackdog, that's a pretty impressive site you have there. I did consider purchasing the Garmin V also but I was totally unfamiliar with them at the time. I didn't want to sink too much money into one without knowing how to use it. I heard they were very complicated but I feel I have mastered my Garmin III Plus to a good working knowledge level. I haven't loaded any maps on mine yet because I'm not sure if I should go with the topo map software. I'm not interested in seeing highways and restaurants but I do want to see trails, graded roads, etc. Maybe I'll upgrade my GPS after a while if I find I'm running short on memory. Thanks for your input....

 

Preacherman

The garmin GPS V is exactly the same as the GPS III Plus. I used to have a GPS III plus too. The only differance is the GPS V has a higher resolution screen, alot more memory and some other features. Most notably the auto routing. It comes with the mapsource city select CD which has street level detail and all types of info on restaurants, accomodations, airports, etc with addresses and phone numbers. That CD is good for travel, but when you get in the woods its almost useless. The mapsource roads and recreations CD is what i use when ATV'ing. It shows major trails, dirt roads, streams and ofcourse paved roads and is excellent. What ever you do DO NOT BUY THE US TOPO. It's terrible and will be totally 100% useless to you. Trust me, the topo cd is only good if your a topography guru. When/if you get map CD's you'll see why you need more memory... to bad you can't just slap more in the GPS III Plus,

Happy riding

 

I have the Garmin E-Trex and it works great. I was in Glamis for spring break in 2001, I put in the coordinates for all the major hills up around Glamis, and it led me to every one. I just strapped it down the the gas tank and it worked great. Also easy to use. I highly recommend the E-Trex.

 

I have the Garmin gps III+ and love everyting about it except the memory sux. I want the gps V.

I also use a Ram Mount.

gps

 

Just upgraded to a Garmin GPS V from the GPS III. Had been using the GPS III for years and while I was on a trip to Black River Falls, WI to ride the GPS III lost all of it memory. Still may try to see about getting it fixed, but decided to purchase a new GPS V. Went with the GPS V because all of the accessories that I have for the GPS III will work on the GPS V. I use the Garmin Bike Mount to mount to the P650. My brother made a custom bar that we bolted into the mirror mounts on the P650 Handlebars. Install Bike Mount to it, and GPS is always right where I can see it. Really looks cool. Have some pictures on web site. Will add other pictures later.

 

Uncle,,,Do you have any idea what may have caused your memory loss? Did you have other maps downloaded into it? I've had pretty good luck with my GPS III Plus but haven't loaded any additional map software. BTW, my GPS was helpful recently when I rode the Coal Creek Mining area west of Knoxville.

 

Check out Garmin's Rino 120. It is a GPS and FRS/GMRS radio combination unit. It is supposed to be available next month. Check out the features at Garmin's website www.garmin.com. I believe it has a price of $249 list. You should be able to get it for around $219 on the net. I'm thinking of getting one for myself. Tell me what you think.