What GPS would you recommend?

Norman321 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2008 Posts: 6

Hi All,

I'm looking to get a GPS to use mainly for walking in the UK. What I would like to know is do any support the Ordnance Survey grid reference system.

mikealder · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:00 am Post subject:

Hi Norman, Welcome to the forum, most units for walking will do OSGB but what is your budget and do you want OS Mapping with your position shown on the map as well as your route or just a simple indication of present posiiton in OSGB format - Mike

Norman321 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2008 Posts: 6

Thanks Mike,
I quite like the look of the garmin Oregon or possibly the Nuvi 500. I would prefer to see some sort of map. Also think it would be useful to have auto sat nav.

mikealder · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject:

The main problem with a unit for in car and walking often presents a "Jack or all trades but master of none" type scenario with the device being suboptimal for both modes of use.

If you really want to pursue this approach I would consider a PDA with built in GPS, a decent car cradle and navigation software. For outdoor walking use get an Otter Box to waterproof it and make it more resilient to knocks/ bangs with some Topographical mapping package like Quo or Memory Map.

If you want the ultimate units then the separate devices offer the best solution in terms of functionality, there are loads of options and this could get costly, electronic mapping isn't cheap!
A basic TomTom One or basic Garmin would suffice for the car costing around the £100 mark, although the top end PNA devices can cost over £300.
For Walking I use a SatMap Active 10, great device but again not cheap once you add in the maps - Mike

Norman321 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2008 Posts: 6

Thanks Mike.
All I need is a GPS to give me OS coordinates so I can refer to a map when we ( as usual ) get lost on a walk. Just so we can get our bearings and find out how to get back on track. The Sat Nav part would be a bonus.

philpugh · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:52 pm Post subject:

Any of the non-mapping (i.e. inexpensive) GARMIN models should do what you want (i.e. display OSGB position). With software like MemoryMap or Anquet on a PC you can up and download tracks, waypoints and routes PLUS get a specific paper map with routes/waypoints plotted for the walk. Have a look at the ETREX / GPS60 models. Unfortunately the more sensitive chip sets seem to be in the higher end (mapping) units and I would recommend the more senitive units esp if you do a lot of walking in trees.

This is what I did for years (starting with OZIExplorer and scanning my own maps) until recently when I got a Colorado 300 and have added Topo UK V2 (no where as good as OSGB maps - but you do get rivers and contours well plotted). But I still use with MemoryMap and take printed paper maps for walking. Comes from being an "old-school walker" using 1:63360 mapping The modern 1:25k maps are there just to help my ailing eye-sight. : Laughing Out Loud

At the end of the day you may not be able to resist the OREGON - it's nice to get the newest! But it's not inexpensive and you will want to add one of the mapping products onto it as the base map is all but useless for walking.
_________________
Phil

ronbo2571 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 11, 2006 Posts: 4

Buy a Garmin eTrex Legend HCx from Amazon,£135 approx.
It has the latest chipset and acquires a signal in seconds,doesn't lose it ,batteries last for ever and the screen is readable in the brightest of sunlight.
My Satmap didn't do this so I sold it.
Buy the older Memory Map software direct from the supplier at about £15 a map and buy the Garmin GB topo mapping UK for £125 from amazon.
This is what you do:Load the garmin map to the GPS,plan your route on memory map,send to GPS and your route will be displayed on the Topo map on your unit.
The topo map is a stripped down version of OS,it has all contours and paths so is handy if on a hill and you wish to change your route,you can look for a path.
you can plan routes with TOPO but I find it easier using memory map and then sending to GPS which is preloaded with topo

barbiexx · Occasional Visitor Joined: Sep 03, 2008 Posts: 11

When in the UK I use a combination of two devices. In the car the Road Angel Adventurer with the OS Maps on SD Card. Whilst caching it is the Garmin Colorado with the Topo maps.

Not cheap but they do exactly what I want them to do

philpugh · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:10 am Post subject: Re: What GPS is best for walking?

Norman321 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2008 Posts: 6

Thanks for all the terrific advice.

I think I've finally made up my mind to go for the simple solution. I will prob get the Etrex H just to see how I get on with the GPS. I decided I don't need a map on it as we generally have one with us anyway. Cheaper than having to get all those maps again as well.

angelinalove · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 01, 2008 Posts: 6

I would say Garmin Quest.
This is easy-to-use unit is loaded with the high-end navigation features from our most popular GPS navigators, and best of all, it's portable. So, you can use it in multiple vehicles — or slip it in your pocket for handy street-level directions when you're navigating on foot.

Norman321 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 30, 2008 Posts: 6

Just a short update. Today we used our newly purchased Etrex H for the first time and was really pleased with it. It certainly helped on our short 5 mile walk. Thanks again for all the advice.

geesss · Banned Joined: Feb 29, 2008 Posts: 18

hehe...good luck

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