GPS advice - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

creekster · 06-05-2006, 03:09 PM

I want to buy a GPS unit but I know next to nothing about them. I am looking for something to be used on hikes and maybe on my bike. Any reccommnedations? Becasue I would not use it that often, I am not concerend about having the latest and greatest, just something functional.

All constructuve input appreciated.

Robin · 06-05-2006, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creekster

I want to buy a GPS unit but I know next to nothing about them. I am looking for something to be used on hikes and maybe on my bike. Any reccommnedations? Becasue I would not use it that often, I am not concerend about having the latest and greatest, just something functional.

All constructuve input appreciated.

I would also ask GPS enthusiasts if it is something that you actually use for fun and recreation, and how it makes things better. I have almost bought a GPS about hundred times (every time I walk into a camping outfitter store) in the last five years. But I choose not to at the last moment because I start to think this is just another example of gadget-lust for something cool that I won't really use that much.

What say all of you?

Zulu451 · 06-05-2006, 06:03 PM

I bought a GPS off of EBAY last year that has been great for about 150$. It is a Magellan, however, Garmin makes good stuff also. I would recommend that you go to www.geocaching.com, there they have a section on what features to look for. I would also recommend that you check out geocaching as a hobby. My family and I have had a blast with this game.

www.geocaching.com

DirtyHippieUTE · 06-05-2006, 07:17 PM

I have had a few GPS units... Here's my take (in response to both Creek and Robin).

GPS and bikes. If you're road biking, they're really useless. A decent computer will give you all the information you need. If you're mountain biking they can be good. You can track the elevation changes and the rate at which you climbed but other than that, they're not all that much fun. Most of the time you're on a trail and a GPS isn't going to do much for you other than add a certain geek toy fun element.

GPS and hiking. This depends on where you are hiking. Some people like them because they make it possible to get accurate progress reports in order to answer the old "are we there yet" questions. They are also very good if you are trying to find something in particular and you have found it on a map page like topozone. You can mark the coordinates and get a good idea of where you're headed. This is especially useful in S. Utah where standard orienteering is a little harder because everything looks the same and sometimes you are deep in canyons.

I have used my GPS for several things. I use it to mark known running springs in the desert. You get info from rangers or hikers who have recently been down the trail. It makes it easier to decide when to stop and how much water to carry because you know how far untill the next working spring. When it's hot and you're backpacking it is much nicer than having to pull out the map and ruler.

I have also used my GPS to coordinate with friends. When we're meeting at a location which is new to some people it's always nice to be able to give them the lat/lon and know that they should be able to find you.

I have played the geocache game a little bit but I've never had time to get too far in to it.

If you're going to get a GPS "just for play" go with one of the little units. You don't need built in road guides or topo maps (the topo maps are hard to see anyway).

If you want to use it for driving (like on vacations) I recommend getting one of the slightly larger units with a little bigger display. They make it very nice if you're traveling cross country and need to remember where you are, where you're going, where you went, and where your hotel is.

CrazyHorse · 06-05-2006, 09:21 PM

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...=gps&noImage=0

And I love it!

Zulu451 · 06-05-2006, 10:14 PM

http://www.thegpsstore.com (Look up Garmin Forerunner 305)
This is actually the newer version of what was posted above. It is much smaller and has heartrate monitor capabilities. I have a friend that uses it for his training and he really likes it.

bluegoose · 06-05-2006, 11:44 PM

You can get a good portable Garmin unit for about $100 that will work for most of what you're looking for.

I agree with whoever said they're not real helpful for road biking, but the Garmin Edge would be alot of fun to have on the roadie as your primary bike computer. They are nice to have for mountain biking if you are trying some new trails or are directionally challenged and have difficulty finding the car after a few hours.

We've also used them when out speluncking to locate unmarked caves in the Marble Mountain Wilderness area. My buddy has some topo maps on his computer that are compatable with his GPS unit, so we can plot all the caves we find, view the topo and convert it into a 3D for viewing. Very fun stuff.

CrazyHorse · 06-06-2006, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zulu451

http://www.thegpsstore.com (Look up Garmin Forerunner 305)
This is actually the newer version of what was posted above. It is much smaller and has heartrate monitor capabilities. I have a friend that uses it for his training and he really likes it.

What I like about the forerunner is the excersize programs that go with it. It wears like a big watch and you can set it up so you have a ghost runner, or biker that keeps you on pace. you can hook it up to your computer and do all sorts of things with it.

creekster · 06-06-2006, 12:05 AM

Thanks for the input. It looks like I might really need two units: ONe to do the topo downlaod that bluegoose was talking about and another to play around with when I am mountian biking. Is there one unit that would perfrom both functions well?

Thanks to all who have provided input.

Zulu451 · 06-06-2006, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyHorse

What I like about the forerunner is the excersize programs that go with it. It wears like a big watch and you can set it up so you have a ghost runner, or biker that keeps you on pace. you can hook it up to your computer and do all sorts of things with it.

I have heard pretty cool things about it as well. It would be a fun tool to use when biking/mountain biking, and even better when running adventure races (non-nav of course)

06-05-2006, 03:09 PM	#1
creekster Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: the far corner of my mind Posts: 8,711	GPS advice I want to buy a GPS unit but I know next to nothing about them. I am looking for something to be used on hikes and maybe on my bike. Any reccommnedations? Becasue I would not use it that often, I am not concerend about having the latest and greatest, just something functional. All constructuve input appreciated. __________________ Sorry for th e tpyos.

06-05-2006, 07:17 PM	#4
DirtyHippieUTE Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Moscow, ID Posts: 1,151	I have had a few GPS units... Here's my take (in response to both Creek and Robin). GPS and bikes. If you're road biking, they're really useless. A decent computer will give you all the information you need. If you're mountain biking they can be good. You can track the elevation changes and the rate at which you climbed but other than that, they're not all that much fun. Most of the time you're on a trail and a GPS isn't going to do much for you other than add a certain geek toy fun element. GPS and hiking. This depends on where you are hiking. Some people like them because they make it possible to get accurate progress reports in order to answer the old "are we there yet" questions. They are also very good if you are trying to find something in particular and you have found it on a map page like topozone. You can mark the coordinates and get a good idea of where you're headed. This is especially useful in S. Utah where standard orienteering is a little harder because everything looks the same and sometimes you are deep in canyons. I have used my GPS for several things. I use it to mark known running springs in the desert. You get info from rangers or hikers who have recently been down the trail. It makes it easier to decide when to stop and how much water to carry because you know how far untill the next working spring. When it's hot and you're backpacking it is much nicer than having to pull out the map and ruler. I have also used my GPS to coordinate with friends. When we're meeting at a location which is new to some people it's always nice to be able to give them the lat/lon and know that they should be able to find you. I have played the geocache game a little bit but I've never had time to get too far in to it. If you're going to get a GPS "just for play" go with one of the little units. You don't need built in road guides or topo maps (the topo maps are hard to see anyway). If you want to use it for driving (like on vacations) I recommend getting one of the slightly larger units with a little bigger display. They make it very nice if you're traveling cross country and need to remember where you are, where you're going, where you went, and where your hotel is. __________________ I reject your reality and substitute my own...

06-05-2006, 09:21 PM	#5
CrazyHorse Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 39	This is what I have http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...=gps&noImage=0 And I love it!

06-06-2006, 12:05 AM	#9
creekster Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: the far corner of my mind Posts: 8,711	Thanks for the input. It looks like I might really need two units: ONe to do the topo downlaod that bluegoose was talking about and another to play around with when I am mountian biking. Is there one unit that would perfrom both functions well? Thanks to all who have provided input. __________________ Sorry for th e tpyos.

06-05-2006, 06:03 PM	#3
Zulu451 house-elf 3rd class Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 386	I bought a GPS off of EBAY last year that has been great for about 150$. It is a Magellan, however, Garmin makes good stuff also. I would recommend that you go to www.geocaching.com, there they have a section on what features to look for. I would also recommend that you check out geocaching as a hobby. My family and I have had a blast with this game. www.geocaching.com

06-05-2006, 10:14 PM	#6
Zulu451 house-elf 3rd class Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 386	http://www.thegpsstore.com (Look up Garmin Forerunner 305) This is actually the newer version of what was posted above. It is much smaller and has heartrate monitor capabilities. I have a friend that uses it for his training and he really likes it.

06-05-2006, 11:44 PM	#7
bluegoose Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,919	You can get a good portable Garmin unit for about $100 that will work for most of what you're looking for. I agree with whoever said they're not real helpful for road biking, but the Garmin Edge would be alot of fun to have on the roadie as your primary bike computer. They are nice to have for mountain biking if you are trying some new trails or are directionally challenged and have difficulty finding the car after a few hours. We've also used them when out speluncking to locate unmarked caves in the Marble Mountain Wilderness area. My buddy has some topo maps on his computer that are compatable with his GPS unit, so we can plot all the caves we find, view the topo and convert it into a 3D for viewing. Very fun stuff.