Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am doing some shopping for a GPS unit. I would love to be able to hardwire a mounting/charging device into my car for use while I'm driving, and then be able to remove the GPS unit to use while hiking. I don't know if this product exists or not.

I am also interested to hear which units are favorites out there. I would, of course, like to use it for recording localities of snakes as well as route finding.

If you love or hate the one you have please let me know.

Thanks,

Jake

I use a Magellan Explorist 600. It's small and compact for hiking and you can load topo maps into it.
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Steve W.

That is actually one of the models I'm looking at. Do you ever feel like you need more memory to load topo maps? Do you ever use it for city/driving type navigation?

I havn't used it for city navigation. Although you can. It has quite a bit of memory for topo maps.
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Steve W.

Get a Garmin GPS MAP 76, you can charge it with a car charger (cig lighter), mount it on your dash with the nifty mount bracket, it already has the World Map on it, if you need to upload maps you can. As a side benefit it also offers a relatively complete set of navigational data for mariners as well. For you seasnake lovers!
Of all the units Ive used over the last 15 years, this one is the most useful for me. oh yeah it runs off of a couple of AA batteries as well.
Cheers
brett

One of the comparisons I looked at said that it did not have a digital compass. Is that true? Do you miss it?

it depends on the compass card you want to have showing, I can have a trackway, compass rose, or topo, its really personel preference.
Cheers
B

t

Jake,
Much like every other product, buying the unit is just the first step.
There's a full menu of attachments to go along with it and they all cost bucks.
Some 12 v converter cords can run 40 bucks or so!!!
Just a cord with a lighter end!
You can spend as much as the unit for the extra gadgets.

Oh yeah! did I tell you these things eat batteries like a beast.
Carry 2 extra sets cuz you'll be let down in the field.

My buddy has all the options for his magellan and I'm sure he spent 400 or more.

Of course tree cover will impede your GPS performance but there's not that many tree's out there!

Do a thorough search and check some outdoor forums before you buy cuz they all have drawbacks.
There is no perfect unit.

I have the little yellow gecko 201.
Small and works o.k. just carry extra batteries if you ever want to save your life with it. Good luck. Kenny S>

The $$ really does add up! It is interesting though that the top of the line hand helds (Garmin GPSMAP 76CS) are still only 1/3 of the price of the price of the good "in the car" units. Even after I spend the money for the adapter and $120 for the street software.

That Garmin will even map out a route from my position to an address if I want.

I probably shouldn't spend that much, but I have no doubt that I will!

Thanks for the help,

Jake

I have the Garmin GPSMAP 60CS and I love the thing. I did quite a bit of online research before buying one and decided on this one because of its weather proofing, sturdiness, and good antenna.

I also bought the car mount, the cigarette lighter cord and the Western US Topo software.

I actually used it to help me navigate in Panama a few weeks ago, although the maps of that area were pretty basic. It got rained on, dropped in the mud, etc. with no setbacks.

The problem with using any of these units for in car navigation is the size of the screen. It can be tough to see them clearly at times which could present a safety hazard if you were trying to read the GPS screen rather than watching the road.

I have done limited navigation with it in the US, mostly just for fun. A GPS unit and a real map is still the better way to do it.

I bought mine through gpsnow.com who had pretty good prices and speedy shipping.
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Chris Harrison
Does anyone else here think that these scrolling signature lines are stupid?

I just finished purchasing pretty much the same package. I found some very detailed and helpful information at gpsinformation.net.

After all my research I came to the same conclusions that you did.

thanks,

Jake

Buy a DC-AC power inverter. They are often around $30, and are incredibly useful for a variety of things, including charging a GPS. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised vehicles don't come standard with AC sockets. Oh well, how long did it take to realize that wheels and airline luggage were a good mix....
Shane

I purchased the Magellan Platinum and have been very happy with it. It's water proof which is great but it also tells elevation which I think is key for herping where certain herps only found above specific elevations. It has a built in weather station which trends barametric preasure to give you an idea of changing weather paterns. You can download/upload maps and routes and even shows what phase the moon is in. You can buy a program called "auto route" for road navigation. It will give audio signals if you miss your turn off etc. Hope this helps. Colin