Gps?

[KaiserM715]

I have been thinking about Nav options for those of use w/o factory Nav. I was thinking something with options for streets as well as topo (handy for off-road). One option I ran across was the Garmin Oregon 400t (retail is $500) that comes with preloaded topo, but street maps are an extra $100.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=14904

Opinions? Other options?

 

[frogslinger]

I think I am going to just do a cheap NUVI for streets then add in a netbook with topo for when I start taking trips outside my local range....

 

[SVTRay]

Here is my set up...

 

[Falcon]

You bastard! I spit out my Hershies Kiss!

Falcon

 

[SVTRay]

You bastard! I spit out my Hershies Kiss!

Falcon

Sorry about that, I couldn't resist.

 

[DJ BFG]

that is way too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[frogslinger]

to get back to the original question I think one of the better manufacturers is Lowrance...

I believe you can even get the Sirius weather on their unit...

 

[NoCaDiver]

The iPhone, I know it's not a GPS, has an app called Topo Maps available from the app store for $7.99...works on iPod Touch also. There are a few GPS navigation apps like TomTom and NAVIGON available as well. If you have an iPhone these apps are cheaper than buying a separate unit, but since iPhone doesn't currently allow multitasking it may be impractical for some.

I bought my brother a Garmin Nuvi, not really a handheld unit, and he loves it...don't know if they have topos available though.

 

[SVTRay]

I use a Garmin but more for street traveling, so my model doesn't have any topo map features. Anyhow, I'm kinda with NoCa on this one although I would suggest a Droid phone instead.

 

[MarkT]

You can load topo maps on most of the new Garmin's... there are even sources for some pretty good free maps. Here's a link to one...

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/

(the IbycusUSA is a pretty decent map)

The maps coexist on the unit and you select which one you want to view using the menus. (easiest method is to load the alternate maps on SD cards... one map per card)

I looked into the Lowrance (they used to have some nice "Baja" models) but the company doesn't seem to support "land based" navigation like they used to... and they are very expensive.

I like that with the Garmin you can find and use "aftermarket" maps and easily upload waypoints from other people's adventures. I'm not sure that is possible with some of the other units on the market.