I don't think that there is a section for this so I will just post it up here. I am looking into buying a unit now. What kind of features and what not should I look at? I don't know much about the different systems out there but I know there are A TON of them. Any info or suggestions would be great! Thanks!

 

Depends on what you are looking to spend, and what options are inportant to you.

If you want tomething that can be affixed to your handlebars, gets good reception, and is small (and cheap) a Garmin eTrex is a good choice. This will give you waypoint mannagement, tracklog, speed (ave / current / max), and distance.

On my quad I have an eTrex Summit. Almost the exact same as the basic eTrex, but has a built in compass / barometer / altimeter. Stuff I don't really use, but the price was right (free...).

If you want a couple more features (like mapsets and street level detail, and lots of little bells and whistles) the eTrex Legend is a great choice (the color version gives autorouting and of course a color screen). I had one of these for geocaching and it was a very good unit all around.

I now have a Garmin GPSMAP 60cs, which would not be good for using on a quad, but is great for geocaching and navigating through new cities (I literally planned a trip from my home in southern california, through to jacksonville florida completely on this unit, used nothing else).

I have heard good things about the Magellan Sportrak series (and a couple bad things) but the only magellan unit I have personal experience with is the explorist 100, which is roughly equivalent to the eTrex and is a very handy unit itself.

I wouldn't buy anything with a name other than Garmin or Magellan on it, and for a quad I think the main features you need are waypoints, tracklogging, speedometer and odometer and these can be handled by nearly every Garmin and Megellan unit.

 

That is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much!! I think I am going to pick up the E Trex legend. Thanks for the input!

 

Alrighty then I just bought a Garmin eTrex Legend I cant wait to get it!

 

The original, or color? Either way its a great choice.

 

Just the original. Looks like it will get the job done [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I, too, own a Garmin eTrex, but a Vista. AWESOME unit! Even better with area maps loaded in from Mapsource (Garmin's topo software). Enjoy!
Kurt [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Hodr why the "which would not be good for using on a quad" statement? That is what I was going to get. Did I miss something? Thanks

 

I have a Melleglan sportstrack pro. Nice little GPS. Have used this on Hunting trips out west, and snowmobiling both out in Utah and here in Michigan. I agree that the topo maps or street maps (topo worked great for me- as I tend to use the unit where no streets are around) downloaded into the unit give you much more information. Helped get us back to the cabins in Utah during a nasty snow storm that blew in quickly!!! We would have headed the wrong way and it would have gotten us in trouble!!!

Good luck and enjoy the new GPS. They are amazing considering how small they are and the one you bought will do everything you need it to. I have used both Garmin and the Melgellan and the only reason I choose the Melegellan was the unit was a little easier to use with golves on.

Marshall

 

I said the Garmin GPSMAP 60C (or CS) is not suitable as a bike mounted unit because of two reasons. One, it is rather large (being the second largest current handheld unit from garmin I believe), but more importantly it has what Garmin calls a quadrifila antenna, rather than the old patch style antenna. This new style gets remarkably good reception when held in the vertical position, and pretty poor reception when horizontal (unlike the patch, which is ok vertical and great horizontal). So, the combination of the size, and the fact that you would have to mount it vertically to get reception would make it impractical if not impossible (I know that on my z250, and my friends 400 it would not fit without moving other harware around, and then it would be awkward and would get in the way alot).

Now please do not misunderstand, I have a 60cs and it is my favorite GPSr, and most Geocachers / Sportsmen (according to the forums I visit) agree, but it is not the best choice for the quad.

The eTrex line fit perfectly (I have mine right on the bend of the handlebar facing upwards with about 20 degree positive pitch and a 10 degree yaw).

P.S. the eTrex unit won't cost you $400 to replace when you roll your quad [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]