Best GPS unit?

[Gizzit]

Has anyone had any experience with Magellan eXplorist 400 or 600?
I have seen the 400 advertised on TM for $245 and wondered what they are like. I had thought they may be ok for on foot as well as maybe on a bike.
I have read a few good reviews .... but you can't beat hearing from people from here ... first hand!
Thanks.

PS.

I have found two pretty good sites for reviews and details of pretty much any GPS you could want ......

http://www.gpslodge.com/

http://gpsinformation.net/

[NordieBoy]

One big plus for Garmin units is the OpenGPS NZ project.

The Explorist 600 looks like a nice unit though.

Are bar mounts available?

[vegeman]

Hi,
I've had handheld GPS's for about 13 years, and use them for bush, marine and generally anything. I'm am outdoor instructer and teach nav, with some recognisable qualification

Without a doubt the garmin X series GPS are the bomb, they have the very latest chipset which makes them detect satellites with far more sensitivity that anything commercially on the handheld market. These new units make previous units look last century. HOWEVER...I doubt that you would need this level of performance for road/track stuff...your choice there. I have a Garmin 60CSX, with a 1GB SD card and it gives me all the roads, all the marine charts, all the NZ topo maps, all the tides...everything, simply amazing.

Its my opinion that if you want a GPS, it might as well work well...otherwise, its just more crap to carry that doesn't perform when you need it. These units 'will' work anywhere ie. dense canopy, remote locations. They also work well in your pockets...so whereas the cheaper ones need to be mounted on the bars etc...you can leave this in your bacg or pockets.

There waterproof, only need 2 AA, bright, cope with direct sunlight etc.

As for powering it, I use sanyo 'eneloop' rechargeables...they are awesome, and far less hassle than trying to find alternate power.

The maps for these are 'vector based' (calulcated line drawings) which means that they are resolution independant so don't worry about 1:50,000 and all that stuff. MAps and PC software are 'raster based' and rely on bitmaps and certain number of pixels to represent the image...these are dependant on resolution.

I'll end the 'quick' reply now...as I feel I am going on :-)

LEt me know if you want more...

vege

[Gizzit]

One big plus for Garmin units is the OpenGPS NZ project.

The Explorist 600 looks like a nice unit though.

Are bar mounts available?

From what I have read on some reports, there are bar mounts and car mounts available. Good point about the OpenGPS project.

[Gizzit]

Hi,

...............
Without a doubt the garmin X series GPS are the bomb, they have the very latest chipset which makes them detect satellites with far more sensitivity that anything commercially on the handheld market. These new units make previous units look last century. HOWEVER...I doubt that you would need this level of performance for road/track stuff...your choice there. I have a Garmin 60CSX, with a 1GB SD card and it gives me all the roads, all the marine charts, all the NZ topo maps, all the tides...everything, simply amazing.

Sounds like Garmin rightly deserve their place at the top of the GPS ladder. I haven't heard too many bad comments about them, especially the latest models.

Its my opinion that if you want a GPS, it might as well work well...otherwise, its just more crap to carry that doesn't perform when you need it.

Couldn't agree more. waste of money if they don't perform accurately and reliably.

These units 'will' work anywhere ie. dense canopy, remote locations. They also work well in your pockets...so whereas the cheaper ones need to be mounted on the bars etc...you can leave this in your bacg or pockets.
There waterproof, only need 2 AA, bright, cope with direct sunlight etc.
As for powering it, I use sanyo 'eneloop' rechargeables...they are awesome, and far less hassle than trying to find alternate power.

Thats a real important consideration ..... using replaceable batteries instead of being stuck not able to recharge the unit because you are out in the boondocks somewhere. Thats an issue with the Magellan's.

The maps for these are 'vector based' (calulcated line drawings) which means that they are resolution independant so don't worry about 1:50,000 and all that stuff. MAps and PC software are 'raster based' and rely on bitmaps and certain number of pixels to represent the image...these are dependant on resolution.

I'm not sure i understand what you just said ... about the above. I want to be able to work with a map on the PC and load it onto my GPS. I know nothing at all about how it all works .... just as long as it does !!

I'll end the 'quick' reply now...as I feel I am going on :-)
LEt me know if you want more...
vege

Thanks for your educated input Vege !!