Handheld GPS

[Bluto]

Well for aviation I can't recommend anything but for driving I have a TomTom One and it's pretty sweet. You can find them on Ebay for $260 or so. I also use it on my motorcycle and is very easy to use.

[HuggyU2]

Our overseas squadrons have purchased Garmins exclusively. We used to use the Pilot III a few years back: it was very good. If you can find a used one, it would be cheap. I don't think they make it any more.

Next, we went to the 196, then the 296. We also bought some 96's. Everyone loves the 196/296. No one likes the 96. I tried it once, and went back to my old Pilot III.

The menu's on the 196/296 are intuitive, and the large screen is really nice. If you're just doing G.A. flying with it, a used 196 on eBay might be the way to go.

I just used a 396 a few months ago on a trip. It had an XM radio subscription to get weather radar. Very handy.

I have no experience using them on the road/highways.

Note the 196 in the photo on the far left canopy rail. Those mountains with snow ain't the Sierras, either.

Edited April 10, 2007 by Huggyu2

[Guest jmmccutc]

I've been a CFI for a while and if it's a hand held GPS i've probably used it...(damn students always lookin for the easy way out)...i agree with the comments about the Lowrance...really capable machine, but you can't see the thing when your flying...the Garmin's are pretty nice, you mentioned the 96c i'd try and find a straight 96 (cheaper), it's my "favorite" handheld, no frils, good battery life, can go "DIRECT" anywhere i'd like...the really nice thing about the entire Garmin line is the usability, it's easy...

However my best recomendation is the NACO line...easy to transport (folds up to almost nothing), vivid color in anylight, and really user friendly (everyone i've used has a line on it from where i started to where i was going and all i had to do was follow the line), and the best part is you don't have to purchase the entire US "database" at one time, you can just get sectionals of it..

[Right Seat Driver]

I have a Garmin 96, it is simple, durable, and works great for GA. I couldnt see spending around $100 or so more for the color screen of the 96C. My recommendation would be the 96 for simple everyday VFR GA stuff. As said earlier, battery life is very good on it as well.

Edited April 10, 2007 by awol406

[Goblin]

I have a Garmin 96, it is simple, durable, and works great for GA. I couldnt see spending around $100 or so more for the color screen of the 96C. My recommendation would be the 96 for simple everyday VFR GA stuff. As said earlier, battery life is very good on it as well.

Considering I use awol's GPS all the time, i have to agree...the 96 is awesome

[Baseops.Net]

I concur with the Garmin 196 - I have used it extensively and found it intuitive, easy to read sceen, and you can even download PFPS routes / information right onto the device.

The 296 adds color, but for about double the price.

[M2]

I just ordered a Garmin Nuvi 350 after my bro-in-law visited for a week with his. Damn thing is really useful, even in a town where you think you know how to get around. It got us home from the Alamo on a route I have never taken, but which probably saved us 5-10 minutes over my usual route. Plus it not only tells you directions, but gives you the street names as well. That's a cool function. The GPS I had was an old Magellan Pioneer that I bought while in Bosnia nine years ago. It needed replacin'...

I paid $377 for the NUvi from Amazon. I also ordered Garmin's Topo 2008 DVD for about $80, it works on the Nuvi but there are some functions that work on the City Navigator street maps that won't work on the topos, but the maps are pretty detailed and about all I need for my off-road adventures in the Jeep.

My bro-in-law researches every electronic he buys to death, and GPS Magazine rated the Nuvi 350 as their #3 top GPS system (the Nuvi 680 was #1 and Nuvi 660 #2). There is also a lot of good info on buying GPS on that site, as well as some pretty extensive reviews. Be sure to read the 'What to look for in a new GPS' article.

I was just wondering what GPS folks use in their cars, hiking, etc...

Cheers! M2

[Baseops.Net]

My primary GPS for the outdoors is the Garmin 60csx -- totally badass GPS receiver. It has the super-sensitive antenna able to pick up satellites under a thick forest canopy and even indoors - I have the street maps loaded as well as topo maps for where I go hiking and other points of interest such as trail heads, etc.

I used Falconview at work to plot my hiking (over a 1:24K map), created a form-70 (at 1 KCAS speed) and then transcribed those points into the GPS (using the software) for detailed and accurate waypoionts to back up my map reading. Also, the gps is truly waterproof - so I can take it kayaking as well. It fits add-on memory cards to you can upload whatever you want to it. It also does route-computation for the car and fits comfortably in a pouch on the front of my pack or in my pocket.

For the car I have a TomTom Go510 (received it as a present) - it works great, touch screen, voice, all the typical car stuff.

[Guest Rainman A-10]

Magellan Meridian Color. I bought it a couple years ago. I don't use it in the car, just hunting and Geocaching.

Works great for what I need.

[HuggyU2]

Currently flying with a Garmin 296 and Pilot III, in both military and civilian applications. Love both. The 296 is nice, but having the 396/496/whatever it's called would be huge: on cross-countries, having that near-real-time WX picture would be money. I flew with one back in Oct, and it made a big difference WRT weather.

[M2]

The 60csx kick's ass, probably my next GPS purchase. It's very popular with the Jeep crowd. But my primary need is for road routing, hence the Nuvi...at least for now!

Cheers! M2

[Guest Boom]

Garmin c330. Love it.

[JeepGuyC17]

Garmin Streetpilot 2620 I bought a couple years ago. Very helpful for PCSing every 6-10 months during casual/UPT. The streetpilot 2XXX series is a little more bulky than some of the newer models, but they have tons of features, are rugged/water resistant, and the screen is visible even in direct sunlight

[DuckHunter]

I have the Garmin 60csx, works great for what I need. I use it for hunting, fishing, and just started using it for road navigation.

[Guest JimmyH]

Got the Garmin c330 as a gift not too long ago. Probably the most useful gift I've ever received. If I bought one for myself I probably would have gone with one that had the text-to-speech feature.. Considering the unbeatable price of FREE, I'm not going to complain about my c330. HIGHLY recommend having one of these GPSs in your car if you ever travel anywhere outside of work-home-work-home.

[ClearedHot]

I have the Kenwood KNA-DV4100 GPS Receiver;

Combined with the Kenwood Excelon DDX-8017 in-dash double din car dvd.

This setup saved me a multiple times when I was trying to figure out the mess that is Washington DC.

I also added the Parrot CK3100 bluetooth hands free cellphone link;

[M2]

Now the question is to spend the money for a traffic reciever and service subscription as to allow the Garmin to auto-reroute when there is congestion...anyone have one of these?

Cheers! M2

[shiznitobam_allstars]

...Geocaching.

What is that? I was in Pensacola with a bunch of navs who would try to find stuff with their portable GPS's, is this the same thing? They would get the coordinates from the internet. Seemed pretty gay.

And for thread continuity: I have a garmin streetpilot that I got at circuit city for $150. Works great.

Edited June 27, 2007 by shiznitobam_allstars

[M2]

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little monetary value. Today, well over 410,000 geocaches are currently placed in 222 countries around the world, which are registered on various websites devoted to the sport.

from Wikipedia

Cheers! M2

[LRU-6.9]

Garmin gps 18 for the laptop, handy for long road trips, and a garmin etrex legend for a handheld

[Guest ElRoy]

Garmin 205

Use it for just about every run or hike I go on. It is useful as hell if you are half way serious about running. For hiking you can mark points or insert them before you leave and it will give you a compass heading and distance. Plus all the other stuff it does like pace, distance, time, elevation, etc etc.

[EvilEagle]

Zumo 550 for the bike. I use it in the truck too, but primarily on the bike.

[Baseops.Net]

Sorry, forgot to include:

Garmin-196 to fly with - also plugs in great with Falconview / PFPS (direct "push" of flight plans, points, etc. via usb cable) and we've wired into the power supply on board so no need for batteries.

[egochecks]

Just got the Nuvi 200. It's a great little system. Mounts perfectly in the car but it's also small enough to carry and it has a pedestrian mode for when you're walking around. It also has a slot for a flash card so you can download POI's and update your maps. I love the thing. It's great to know you can go anywhere and never be lost. Plus it's great to know exactly when you'll be where you're going.

A funny story about the pedestrian function. My wife and I are "downtown" Montgomery doing some shopping. When we got out of the car I took it with me to see what the pedestrian function was like. When we were done and heading home I dialed in the TLF on base as I got back onto the interstate and waited for it to calculate the route. The thing kept re-calculating my route every other second and I'm starting to think it's defective all of a sudden. We went back on the same interstate the day before and everything was fine. Eventually I decided to exit the interstate like it wants me to thinking maybe today it just picked another route and this one might be faster even though it said we'd arrive in 2 1/2 hours when I knew we were maybe 15 minutes away. Whatever, it's a new toy so I'll see what it's trying to do. Up until now it's been dead on. About 20 minutes later and after taking the craziest side streets and routes we get back to the base. I stopped it from navigating and start trying to find out what the hell was going on with it. I found out that I had left it in the pedestrian function and it was basically freaking out as it thought I was walking down the middle of the interstate. If it could say more I imagine it would have said some thing like, "Re-calculating, re-calculating, re-get the hell off the interstate!!! What's wrong with you!?! Are you serious!?! GET OFF OF THE INTERSTATE STUPID!!! Re-calculating." It was great.

Anyway I love it and would recommend it to any one. Definitely one of my best all time purchases. If anyone knows more about adding additional POI's please post it. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how that all works. One website that had quite a few free POI's was poi-factory.

[M2]

My Nuvi 350 arrived on Friday, and I've been having fun with it all weekend. I also got the US topo maps CD, and loaded all of central Texas on it, about anywhere I have any chance of wheeling in the Jeep. Once I got MapSource loaded (the Garmin software), it was a snap. The thing is a blast, but it is a little difficult to hear the command prompts when in the Jeep with the top/doors off and the stereo blasting, but that's almost to be expected . It's just a freaking' cool gadget...

Cheers! M2