Handlebars
NAXJA Member #135
- Location
- Albuquerque, NM
Technology marches on...
Do you have a cell phone with internet access? Google Maps on my Droid kicks @ss over any GPS I have owned for road navigation and especially for finding points of interest. Use your phone for navigation in civilization. I feel sorry for the suckers that buy cars with the factory navigation system. My $200 phone routes faster and easier, including voice searching and is always up to date. Just updating the map is a $400 proposition, at least on Lexus cars.
Maybe other makes are more reasonable, I don't know. Google Maps also has terrain, satellite and traffic layers that can be selected. Of course this is all dependent upon having a 3G signal, choose your carrier wisely.
A handheld Garmin GPS will serve you well for hiking and trail use. There is really no good reason to buy any other brand of GPS, other than being cheap or wanting a big, expeditiony display hogging room on your dash. If you ever use an FRS radio while you are hiking I would highly recommend the Rino series. It is like the love child of a 60Cx + a FRS radio in one compact waterproof package. You still will need to buy topo maps for it, this will add another 100 bucks or so. It is pointless to have a GPS that will not display a map and route you on the roads and trails it contains.
Yes, 20 tracks can be 20 separate trails, which can all be displayed at the same time, with different colors for each one if you desire. This is a rare and handy ability that is gradually being phased out of the Garmin line. The newer ones can store an unlimited number of tracks on the memory card but will only display one at a time. All of the outdoor units can be set to write your tracks to the memory card, archiving everywhere you have been with them.
Do you have a cell phone with internet access? Google Maps on my Droid kicks @ss over any GPS I have owned for road navigation and especially for finding points of interest. Use your phone for navigation in civilization. I feel sorry for the suckers that buy cars with the factory navigation system. My $200 phone routes faster and easier, including voice searching and is always up to date. Just updating the map is a $400 proposition, at least on Lexus cars.

A handheld Garmin GPS will serve you well for hiking and trail use. There is really no good reason to buy any other brand of GPS, other than being cheap or wanting a big, expeditiony display hogging room on your dash. If you ever use an FRS radio while you are hiking I would highly recommend the Rino series. It is like the love child of a 60Cx + a FRS radio in one compact waterproof package. You still will need to buy topo maps for it, this will add another 100 bucks or so. It is pointless to have a GPS that will not display a map and route you on the roads and trails it contains.
Yes, 20 tracks can be 20 separate trails, which can all be displayed at the same time, with different colors for each one if you desire. This is a rare and handy ability that is gradually being phased out of the Garmin line. The newer ones can store an unlimited number of tracks on the memory card but will only display one at a time. All of the outdoor units can be set to write your tracks to the memory card, archiving everywhere you have been with them.