Hand Held GPS

[Danny_Labrador]

Ones to stay well clear of ?

Models that are the best?

Anyone got any firm opinions ?

There seems to be a bewildering range to choose from.

 

[Stingo]

My rule of thumb is that I should be able to use it without looking at a manual.

 

[dralex]

I've used quite a few, mainly Garmins and Magellans.

I love my Garmin GPS72 and find it very intuitive with a good display size and lots of display options. It also has NMEA output through the power cable. It lasts about 12 hours on a set of batteries.

 

[trouville]

I agree!! Garmin work well for me! I bought a magellan which is totaly user unfriendly no one i gave it to could use it even with the handbook!!!!

I threw it overboard but it floats and bangged against the hull to be brought back so i still have it!

I also had a Sony which broke down!

My garmin 120 which i bought new in 1987/8?? i forget exactly when never went wrong and i never read the hand book!! But could add way points and navigate to destination!The menue is easy well thought out!

I only realised how good the garmin was when i bought a magelan!!(which i now use to find when my girl freind leaves my landrover! This summer she brought it down to La rochell and forgot where she parked it???(she dosent like it even though its a super aluminium 1958 seiries 2 one of the most modern advanced 4x4 made!)
Now she has to switch on the GPS and that then plots the track form landy to boat and back!!!!!

Buy a garmin!Price quality and ease of use!!

I will watch this post to see if or what other GPS are recomended surly the garmin cant still be the best???Can it?

My girlfreinds not hear so i drank a couple of glases of wine to help my back which i think hurts?Dosent help the post thought!!

 

[Danny_Labrador]

Umm… strange thing that, I’ve noticed it, women don’t seem to like Land Rovers!

 

[peteandthira]

Raymarine RC 400 is great at the helm if you can afford the chart cartridge.

Also have a Magellan Sportrak Colour which comes with charts for all of Europe. Uses diddly squat power when plugged in and we use it as an anchor monitor overnight. Very handy.

Pops

 

[Boathook]

I have a garmin 76. A few years old now but easy to use and good quality screen

 

[JonBrooks]

Stingo has it spot on there.
If you can't drive it without the hand book be worth steering clear.

I love the Garmin kit and have used it for many years.
On the boat, in the car, on the bike and walking.
I liken them to Nokia phones, they all tend to fly the same.
Drive one you can drive them all.

The Etrex is a good starting point.

Garmin service is also second to none if you need help ater sales.
Many threads on here praising them.

I would also go for a hand held with a NMEA output.
This will allow it to be used as a back up for other kit like a DSC radio.

Best of luck

 

[franky]

Garmin definitley I use a Garmin 12 on the helm and have a garmin 72 as backup mounted on bulkhead.Both user friendly and with the link cable it is very easy to download waypoints from the computer.There are usually very good offers at LIBS>Whichever you buy decide beforehand what you want to use it for.If you want map display you will have to go up the price range.

 

[trouville]

Why do you use the garmin 12?? Its the model befor the 72???

When i was looking for my garmin 72 i could never understand why the garmin 12 still cost more than the garmin 72

Anyway there both great to use handhelds!

 

[davidhand]

I've had two Garmins both are excellent. Had a Magellan once, piece of crap, the guy at West Marine agreed they have had their quality control problems.

 

[Cotillion]

I love my magellan. It's very easy to use and tells me exactly where I am in the world. I've taught it to show me what obstructions are ahead, the direction to go, how quick (or not) I'm going, what time I'll get there and much more. It even knows how to work the tiller pilot.

It won't do the antifouling though. Batsrad.

 

[Bald_Dad]

Garmin also get very good press in terms of after-sales-service if there is a problem. A colleague sent one back which was well out of warranty and got a new replacement by return. I've heard other good stories too.

My only experience of handheld gps is the bottom of the range GPS60 and I'm very happy with it after a year.

Malcolm

 

[trouville]

I just looked at the Garmin 12 and 12XL Ive never used the 12 its the model before the 72. Why dose the 12 and 72 cost the same at £110 but the XL cosrs £160!!

I was told XL means the screens a couple of milimeters larger. Why is the 12 so very popular?

When i drew up my short list i came down to the 72 and etrex the etrex being smaller and at £60 half the price or the 72!I bought the 72 anyway!

Why is the Garmin 12 still such a very popular handheld??

 

[Omatako]

I use Garmin 76 and have noticed that the 72 is less expensive but looks exactly the same. Less features?

There was a problem with some of the earlier 76's where the keys broke out of the rubber overlay they were a part of and that exposed the innards to moisture. Mine did that but was replaced FOC when handed in to the dealer.

Also, I use Seapro as a navigation system which readily downloads waypoints to the 76 but I can't get it down load complete routes. It's a bit of a pain when the routes have to be manually reconstructed from the waypoint library in the hand-held.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[oceanfroggie]

Garmin

Simply the best for this type of application.

<ul type="square">[*]GPS72 - Great all round hand held (no maps)
[*]GPS76 - Same as 72 but can have external aerial (useful in steel boats)
[*]GPSMAP76 - Same as 72 but with mapping, mono, difficult to see chart
[*]GPSMAP76CX - Colour hand held plotter (SD cards)
[*]GPSMAP60CX - Colour hand held plotter (SD cards) - NICE
[*]GPSMAP276C - Portable - not hand held, but the bees nees 4" colour screen, car also
[/list]

The 76 series are class and even float. The 60 though has the buttons below the screen so is easier to operate one handed, and the batteries last longer, and it takes standard SD memory cards. I've used the lot, love them, and especially their PC software (ie MapSource) for hooking up to all these models (ie planning, backup, waypoint, route, track editing, etc).

Geonav 4C with Navionics looks good value if you get the UK charts bundled.

 

[srp]

I've got the basic 60 (mono screen, no maps) and I'm fairly pleased with it. The one thing I don't like is the way it displays the heading as S, SW, etc instead of as a compass bearing in degrees. Unless, of course, I'm being dim and have yet to find the option in the menu to change it.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Yes you can - switch it to Degrees in setup menu, and you can even choose TRUE or MAGNETIC /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[oldharry]

[ QUOTE ]
I bought a magellan which is totaly user unfriendly no one i gave it to could use it even with the handbook!!!!

I threw it overboard but it floats and bangged against the hull to be brought back so i still have it!

[/ QUOTE ]

The Garmin wouldnt have floated! I have both - a Garmin and a Magellan. I find in practice I tend to go for the magellan - easier to use, and better display. The Garmin gets relegated to acting as GPS i/p for the DSC radio.

What worries me is they dont always agree about position, speed etc - which one is more accurate? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[trouville]

Which Magellan have you got?
When i bought mine its becouse id waited untill almost the day before i left for the Baltic becouse there was to be a garmin promotion at compass i arrived on wensday the promotion haveing started that weekend to find theyed sold out!!!!So i took the Magellan!

Its not so much user unfriendly(which it is) but the menus dont display the info i want which is generally my possition speed and direction to my waypoint which the Garmin dose!

Garmin says they float i just havent tried it!!!!