Handheld GPS????

[fishaholic18]

My father is looking to buy a handheld GPS for hunting and traveling, any suggestions on which brand/model would be good for this?

[capesams]

only sug. I have is to go check them out and look at the size of the screen;s and get one that you can see...their very small......garmin is good.

[Fishpart]

My brother the Mapping King recommends the Garmin Etrex Legend for value. The only thing is it could use more memory. One quadrangle is more data than it can store..

[Bill L]

Boaters World has the Garmin WAAS GPSMap76 (Black & white) on sale through the end of Sept for $200. Not familiar with the unit, but looks like a good deal

[JohnR]

I have an Extrex Legend - nice unit. Will be backup for boat too...

[fishaholic18]

What do you think about the Magellon Explorist?

Meeting your more advanced navigational needs, eXplorist 200 features TrueFixTM technology, an 8 MB built-in North American background map plus 8 MB of memory to save up to 5 track log files, 500 points of interest and 20 routes. The built-in map includes roads, parks, waterways and more, to help you find your way. Put the power of easy-to-use and affordable GPS in your pocket.

[Saltheart]

I had a $100 garmin hand held for several years on my sailboat and I could tell you within about 10 feet where I was. Once I got that the older and more expensive loran never got turned on again. These days the ones with the chart capability are very nice.

[BassyiusMaximus]

. . . GPS' back in 98 when they were under $100, for what it was, non-mapping, it did the job. I had to program all the waypoints/goto's and the unit would tell me which direction to go and for how far/long, and I'd get from place to place at night or in the fog, or in the fog at night which is what we really needed it for.

The issue with those units/non-mapping, was one had to travel from line to line or one could run aground.

I have the Magellan eXplorist 300. I went with the Magellan because I am used to its functions and the layout and the 300 had just what I needed to get out in the fog or to get home in the fog and at night. The mapping function that is available on the majority of GPS' is AWESOME! I go out at night knowing that if the fog rolls in, I'm getting home, that is unless the unit fails somehow, but I'd still make it home on my sly and cunning (ha).

The unit has a built in basemap of the world and has all kinds of bells and whistles, some of which I could do without, but are nice to have, like a barometer/pressure altimeter/temperature, so for well under $200, I get it all. Battery life is good, the detail is more than enough, sure, the screen is small but thankfully my eyesight has not failed me yet, and I don't need color for about $100 more. The 300 heats up pretty fast/acquires position quick and has WAAS which is short for, it is darned accurate. Battery power supposedly lasts for 14 hours, the old ones were rated at around 24 hours because of their simplicity, and I will agree that around 14 hours sounds right with good batteries but put the light on for night use and they go pretty fast, much like the display on cell phones, I use "Ultra" batteries for everything and when my stockpile of good AA's runs out I may switch to Lithiums since I know they last way longer and to me are worth the extra $$$.

So all in all, there are a number of GPS' out there, the majority of which are either Garmin or Magellan and there are pros and cons to each, but I've been quite happy with the eXplorist 300. On another note, the tide was slack, and I put the boat on the "Fluke" mark I had made earlier in the year, and as soon as little sister put her bait down, she was on, it worked!

[RIROCKHOUND]

Garmin 76S Map;
It is our back-up system on the r/v when out high end (several K) Trimble goes down... nice, simple to use and readable screen....

[fishaholic18]

I can get the Magellon 200 for $95.00.
Do you think it'll do the trick or should I hold out for the Garmin?

[fishsmith]

Keep plenty of extra batteries, i've got the magellen 315 (5yrs old) and it eats em up, but it does work like a champ. for traveling you may want to get one with street maps.