Ok, I really want to get a gps unit. I dont know the differences between any of them and what to expect. I dont want to spend more then 300 preferebly 250. I saw on a site were sombody uses his to mark all the trails so he has a map of the land and terrain and also he has the trails he took marked. I want one that can do that(maybe all of them do that, i dont know). I dont want to sound stupid but i really am out of the loop on these gps units and i think they are pretty cool. Anybody want to chime in a help me in a certain direction of what i wanna get. Thanks

 

I have the basic GPS unit from Garmin...the eTrex. It was cheap enough and is nothing special as all I wanted from it was to clock speed on my atv. I would like to get one that has maps etc....but no more than I use mine, why pay the money.
I have a handlebar mount and a 12v adapter so I can plug it into the Rancher's 12v outlet. I t keeps up with total miles and hours when I go out plus the compass etc.

For the money you want to spend, you can get a good unit.

Others will chime in here hopefully to give you some suggestions. I do know that if I buy another one....it will be a Garmin.

 

I found this site very informative.

http://gpsinformation.net/

 

I don't use GPS on the quad but have had quite a bit of experience with them on the boat. Garmin is my brand of choice. I would suggest you go to a few dealers with different brands and tell them what you want to do and see what they have. Some models are very easy to use and others are a real PITA. Lots of bells and whistles available and I fell for one unit that had so much stuff on it it was almost impossible to use. Unless you really want to spend a lot of time learning to use the unit you buy, and plan on using it a lot so you stay familiar with it, I would really recommend staying with one of the simpler units that is easy to use.

Screen brightness and contrast is another major issue. Some units look fine in the store but get them out in the sun and you can't even tell if they are on. I know of nothing other than direct sunlight that you can use to test this. Any artificial light source won't wash out the screen like the sun.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

I would suggest Garmin brand as they seem to offer the best support and "on line" updates avail through their website (www.garmin.com). I like a GPS that has a daylight readable screen (TFT) and mapping. The Garmin ETrex Vista CX or GPSMap 60CSx have expandable memory available through smart media cards (some of which can be purchased from Garmin with maps already configured).

I have a Garmin ETrex Vista C (color screen - daylight readable) with 24 megs of memory (not expandable) and purchased a mapping program (CD rom) from Amazon .com. This combination allows me to download the maps for the area I am interested in before I go, and yes, I carry the GPS on my Polaris Sportsman 500 on a homemade cross bar made out of PVC pipe pained black. It is water proof, dust proof and I have yet to destroy it (very unusual for me). I can see the map and compass the whole time I ride, I can mark waypoints (points of interest) on my laptop map before I go and download everything to my portable unit. It will last for 20 plus hours on batteries alone, but I plug it in to the 12v outlet on my quad. If I find something interesting, I can mark it on my handheld unit and transfer it to my laptop and save it there for later use.

The GPSMap 60CSx has one of the fastest microprocessors on the market (not important until you miss and turn and are waiting for the unit to recalculate your route!!). If I were to buy one today, I would purchase the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. One of the greatest mistakes you can make is not buying "enough" GPS at the start. You will learn to use it quickly (on both your quad and other vehicles) and will later appreciate the $$ you spend now.

 

i have 2, 1 with maps and 1 without. in my opinion you only need the cheapo because you will be using it to follow you tracks back.

 

i have the basic yellow etrex (about $100) and the etrex vista cx. on the atv i usually use the basic yellow etrex. it plots my tracks and waypoints so i can find my way back to the truck, and is easier to work while on the go. i can download the waypoints and tracks into Topo! or Mapsource to work with on the computer. the basic yellow etrex will not accept maps but you can upload waypoints and tracks from the computer.

the vista CX has all the features, expandable memory with the micro sd slot, and it accepts maps from any garmin Mapsource cds, and has a basic built-in map of the major roads.

so what i would do is get the basic yellow etrex and the National Geographic TOPO! Ohio software. this will get you your maps with your tracks and waypoints, and you can print out topo maps with your personal trails and stuff like that. you can free hand a route in the topo software and upload it into the etrex. the cost of the two of these should be around $200 total or less, and will give you lots of features. and with a little of the money you have left over, you can get the RAM gps mount for your atv.

monty

 

so you can get a cheapo gps and load the topo and you can have maps of your own??. I dont know if you guys know la matrix (or somthing like that), but on his site he has his trails mapped out and its on a topo graph so you can see the terrain and elevations. That sounds like a good idea if you can just get the cheapy gps and get a topo add on if i am understanding this right.

 

Ten dollar helmets are for ten dollar heads.

You get what you pay for.

I like maps. I don't always go home the way I came. I like to have options. I want to see where I am on a map, not just a track on a screen.

I like a GPS with a compass. I like a GPS with an altimeter.

If someone in my party gets hurt and I need to know a shortcut back to help (if there is one), I would hate to think that my plan would be foiled because I didn't have the best equipment possible.

If I see something in the distance, I want to know a way to get there.

To me, the downloadable mapping is worth the extra money.

In answer to your question, you can only download maps to "map capable" GPS units (such as the ones I mentioned in my first post).

 

i always carry topo maps and compass anyway, no matter which gps i have working. i am always fully prepared to navigate with paper maps if need be. the Garmin Mapsource is 100k, so detail is not great at all. if it were a serious matter you should have 24k maps and compass to work with. it would be risky to try cross country navigating with just the 100k map. so i guess i can't agree with using the current gps systems in our price range for a safety device.

i have the yellow etrex and the Vista CX. i use the cheap one on the atv most of the time.

but yea, the yellow etrex will not accept maps. it will just show your tracks and waypoints. it will, however, download those tracks and waypoints into mapping software in your computer so you can see on your computer the topo map with your tracks and waypoints on it. the national geographic TOPO! software will show the elevation chart of your tracks, too. these maps can be printed or saved to CD also, so if you want to take that trail again, you can upload it again and have that trail in your gps.

this is only my opinion of course.

monty