What GPS to get ???

[Loose Goose-Terry#1]

  I am so bad at getting lost that my wife says she wants to get me a GPS.  I think one that reads MPH in BIG numbers would be great.  How about hand held units so I won't get lost out in the woods looking for outfalls? 
Any suggestions from those in the know woould  be helpful. 

Terry

[bvillercr]

Try Garmin.  A lot of woods riders use it to track where they have been and how to get back.

[Peter Jack]

I use a couple of different Magellan models depending on what I'm doing. I think whether you go Garmin or Magellan depends on the same sort of logic that involves Ford vs. Chevy (i.e. - very little but very strongly opinionated). The best thing is to go to an outdoor store where the person serving you knows something about what he's selling and can demonstrate the various displays. You can then make up your own mind.

Some of the new automotive systems may also do the job if it's strictly for your landspeed vehicle.

Pete

[racefanwfo]

garmin gps is the best.
the gps store is where i buy all my gps products.
they are on line at  thegpsstore.com
handhelds sell for one to three hundred dollars.
units that give you turn by turn directions sell for three hundred to one thousand dollars.
 
i have more gps units than any human should be allowed to have
if you have any questions give me a call 818 822 5266 will help any way i can.

mike

just checked the gps store web site
nuvi 660 is 469.95 no tax ups ground 4.95 2nd day air 9.95
foertrex 201 139.95     same             same

[Jonny Hotnuts]

I just got the Garmin Nuvi 660.

This is the one we will be using for our car. Super easy....tons of features and a good sized speedo when in display mode. I also have it in my truck for everyday use. I must say that I damn near crapped myself when I got on I-5 and it said "accident 1 mile ahead, take next exit to avoid".....the thing saved a hour out of my day.

It was on sale for 450$ at best buy (they suck but it was a good price). The MSRP is like 800.

You can take the unit out of the automotive dock and use it as a handheld.
The only thing I dont like about it is the stupid nag screen you have to see every time it starts up saying Garmin is not responsible for anything stupid you do.....after seeing it 1000+ times I feel that I have gotten the point.

I recomend this unit.

[smcleod007]

The Garmin Foretrex is a great little unit for measuring current and top speeds. It's made for trail use, so there are no road maps installed which makes it kind of expensive for what it does, but it has built in batteries and is water proof and easily straps to your handlebar or dash with its velcro wrist strap. It also has big easy to read numbers while in flight. It comes with a USB charging cradle so you can down load your runs to a computer for comparison. Paul Livingston of FL Racing told me about this model. It's almost perfect for Land Speed Racing.










GPS mounted on handlebar





GPS mounted to dash






Or you can wear it on your wrist

[salt27]

Terry;
I have used both Garmin and Magellen. My Magellen failed while on friends haybusa at Bubs, it was less than a month old and I had problems with the warranty. The feature the Garmin rhino has that my Magellan did not is a top speed recall which I find very useful. Most handhelds have screen selections so you have some options on mph display. The big trick to using them is allowing for the lag in readout.
just my 2 cents worth
Don

[Freud]

Be certain to check battery life.

FREUD

[fastesthonda_jim]

I use a Garmin e-trex, except I think they might be discontinued.  About $150-$175 for a whole bunch of features and a cute little program you can download that will give you elevation readouts every second so you can tell if you're going uphill or downhill, a definite advantage when you're searching for the fastest line down the salt.   

Oh yeah it gives you speed and how many feet you cover each second too, although accuracy is a bit flawed, but you can see where you shift and what the overall trend second over second is.

And the Top Speed readout is always within 1mph of the Back Door speed.

Keep the shiny side up (unless you run a liner [if you don't unnerstan' ask Kent])

Jim

[isiahstites]

Keep the shiny side up (unless you run a liner [if you don't unnerstan' ask Kent])

Nice one Jim.........the brown shorts award.

Scott

[F104A]

  I still use my handy compass and a road map. Haven't gotten lost yet! If all else fails, my wife will make me ask directions. Never fails............Ed

[Seldom Seen Slim]

F-H Jim:

I have an E-trex -- but not the manual, and for sure no cord for downloading.  Where'd you get your peripherals?  What site has the downloads?  My direct email: jonwennerberg@nancyandjon.org  Thanks.

[fastesthonda_jim]

SSS,

Call Garmin tech support and ask them to send you what you need.  They were really cool about how they handled everything including a $50 re-build of my e-trex when it had gotten damaged.  BTW, you need a download cable, a 9 pin serial port (or a USB or a PCMCIA adapter) and the CD for the reading software.  Then you can just download your run info into a spreadsheet and "massage" away!

Phone: 1-800-800-1020
             913-397-8200
Fax:       913-397-0836


And here are some notes I wrote to myself about how to convert the "Tracking" feature to one second intervals.  BTW you get something like 2500 datapoints (seconds) of information before it starts to overwrite itself:

1) Go to the Main Menu
2) Select the Tracks icon
3) In the upper left hand corner, select the single page icon
4) Select the option for Setup Track Log
5) Change the Record Method from Auto to Time
6) Change the Interval to 1 second

And keep the shiny.... er ummm, I mean the rubber side down (sorry, Kent)

Jim

[Dean Los Angeles]

I have the Garmin E-trex Legend (since Jim told me to get one.) $114 at Walmart.com

I use GPS Utility to download. GPS Utility - For managing, manipulating and mapping GPS data It charts the full data at one second intervals. It even can save it to KML. Kinda cool to see two runs at El Mirage, and the returns plotted on the lake bed in Google Earth.


Oh, and I came down the return road on the first run, but not on the second. I had a pit crew that was desperate for a porta potty!

[bvillercr]

Can you recal your speed at different points or seconds after a run, and if so what type would do this?  Also when buying a unit how can you find out how fast in mph will the unit record?  The saleman don't seem to know.