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Hand held GPS recommendations please

Discussion

3 replies
Posted by Ralph Yakaboski on March 2, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Looking for recommendations/suggestions for a hand held GPS unit. Will be spending six weeks camping/hiking in Grand Teton National Park/Forest with side trips to Yellowstone this summer. I already have a GPS unit in my truck that will satisfy the need of traveling roads and highways. What I'm looking for is a good waterproof hand held unit that I can use for hiking that shows foot trails, lakes and waterfalls with the capability of saving waypoints/locations. Most importantly, at day's end, it has to get me back to the campground or where I parked my truck.

Thanks.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on March 2, 2010 at 3:05 PM
I'm a big fan of the Garmin 60CSx, after owning a depressing long list of earlier Garmin products. You'll have to buy a map chip or struggle through the ridiculously over-complex process of downloading and installing maps. But once they are in, the 60CSx does great. Rapid signal acquisition, excellent USB connection to your computer, and decent battery life.
Posted by Ralph Yakaboski on March 3, 2010 at 10:23 AM
Thanks Jim. I am a Garmin user/fan and I will look into the 60CSx.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on March 9, 2010 at 6:56 PM
I have had a number of Garmin GPS devices, currently have the Oregon 400t. I have had a Garmin 12 (I think), Vista and have used the 60C and 60CSx. The early models had truly horrendous user interfaces. The Vista was the first model that had a relatively intuitive GUI.

I would recommend either the 60CSx or the Oregon. The downside to the Oregon is that the screen can be hard to read in some lighting situations and the accessories are very difficult to find. But the graphics are improved and the touch interface is intuitive and easy to use. The battery life is a bit shorter on this model though.

The 60CSx is also an excellent performer with a good feature set and an intuitive user interface. I like this model as well.

Its worthwhile to invest in the 24K topos as well. Get the 4-state versions if you can. They greatly improve the functionality of these devices.

The delorme handhelds seem well done too. The map detail isn't as good as the 24K garmin detail, but better than the default 100K Garmin data. The two I've seen seem to work well.