Edog,
Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner, I've got a bunch of other stuff I'm trying to deal with right now so I don't get as much time on the computer to hang out at RTH as I'd like anymore.
Based on what you said though, I think I can suggest a good fit for you.
As others have mentioned, don't waste your time & money on a Magellan.
They are more glitchy and prone to produce erroneous location data under less than ideal situations. they have also yet to adopt the new high sensitivity SIRF III receiver which allows a GPS to operate reliably under less than ideal conditions. By less than ideal I mean things like driving down a windy road that has tall trees on either side, driving near a tall cliff where almost half of the sky is blocked by rock, driving in the city where there are 3+storey buildings that block out the low sky etc.
If you're only ever going to use it for driving, TomTom is OK, and may be a little cheaper. Most have voice directions & commands but if you are going to use it on the bike you can just forget about the whole voice command idea altogether. Voice command requires training and a low noise environment to function predictably, there is NO WAY it would work reliably while youre riding.
When it comes to reliability and functionality, Garmin usually beats the other manufacturers hands-down for the price. I am going to show you the best deal I know of out there on a GPS that does everything you want with style and reliability second to none. In fact, in researching this for you, I ended up ordering one myself last night to upgrade from the one I have, just because it was too good of a deal to pass up!
;D
The one I ordered was a
Garmin GPSMap 60CSx (NOH) from
GPS Central.ca in Calgary Alberta.
At the bottom of the page you will see that they have remanufactured NOH (newly overhauled) units for $279.95 Cdn.
That's $70 less than an OEM unit. Stock is limitted in these and they sell out frequently. When I saw that they had them, I snapped one up!
The money you save affords you a few accessories to go with it, like a
handlebar mount &/or a
large diameter adaptor if you need it. Garmin has thought of (just about) everything you will need to get the most out of your GPS.
HERE is a list of accessories that GPS Central carries for the 60CSx.
Here are some of the best features about the Map60Cx & Map76Cx series:
- Portable mountable unit, for quick take anywhere convenience.
No wires to connect/disconnect and nobody can steal it if you take it with you.
- 1.5"x 2.2" (160x240 pixel) "transreflective" 8-bit color displayYou are wasting your money if you don't get a color screen. I had problems with the Etrex Legend's B&W display because it was hard to tell the difference between a road and a stream sometimes. the lack of color on the map made it feel like I was using an oldschool Gameboy from the 90's. The color screens on these units have good contrast and visibility under most lighting conditions. They are easilly reabable in direct sunlight unlike some cell phone screens and they work well in cold temperatures unlike many LCD displays.
- High sensitivity SIRF III receiverProvides the most reliable positioning performance under adverse signal reception conditions. They work absolutely fine with the built in quad-helix antenna while inside your car but they do accept an external antenna if you should ever require one (but you won't).
No diggidy, these things really do work like a hot damn, i've test driven them before since they are now the staple of most serious geocachers and contest players. They boot up quick, acquire the satellites quickly and stay locked on better than any other consumer unit i've used. You can actually turn it on INSIDE your house and it will probably be able to lock onto no less than five satellites in under 20 seconds and still be able to give you +/-8' accuracy of your current position in real time. the only thing i've seen that impressed me more was a Trimble Pro surveyor's GPS unit that was worth $13,500.
- Waterproof up to a meter.
The 60CSx will not float on it's own but the simple addition of a small foam bob or pad to it for use on the water would be enough to make it float. The counterpart
76Csx WILL float on it's own but that claim is made for using alkaline batteries. Rumor has it that Ni-Mh batteries are too heavy for it to lie flat on the surface, only the top of it will stick out of the water but it won't go down at least.
- Built in electronic compass and barometric altimeter.
Provides the most accurate and reliable bearing & elevation info.
maybe not the most useful feature to you but it's still handy.
- Expandable Micro SD card slot for storing additional map & waypoint data. It's always nice to be able to swap out maps on the fly when you go from driving mode to hiking mode or boating mode or whatever your fancy. Load different maps onto different cards to take along and you're ready for anything.
- Autoroutable basemap included with variable user selectable route calculation strategies and turn-by-turn directions & prompts. Enhanced autoroutable road and topographical maps include autoroutability as well. No voice command or voice prompts though but an audible beep promts you to the animated graphic and text directions on the screen which you can customize to your liking. (Best you can hope for while riding anyway.)
- Several user selectable operation modes "night mode" alters the display style and colors for low light level use, marine mode used for boating with blue chart maps. Dedicated geocaching mode for the treasure hunter in all of us.
- Exceptionally good battery life and adjustable white LED backlighting.
It is not unreasonable to expect 18-20hrs of use on a set of 2 AA alkalines during the day if the backlight is kept off but even with the backlight on you can easilly get 12-14hrs out of it per charge with Ni-MH batteries.
- Additional goodiesBest hunting/fishing time prediction calculator. Sun/Moon/tide prediction data. Customizeable trip detail computer keeps track of all your travel stats. Automatic customizeable track log let's you leave a virtual trail of breadcrumbs to find your way back or record your travel routes for later. "Trackback" feature automatically directs you back to your start point along the route you took in. Position averaging allows you to determine the location of anything you can put your GPS on within +/- 3' of accuracy by letting the unit take hundreds or even thousands of readings and averages them out to help eliminate position error. Proximity markers can be placed on waypoints which is especially useful for boating in areas with known submerged hazards, or to determine anchor drift, or in the case of a restraining order, to keep you outside of the prescribed distance from your ex's place of work and residence. Just seeing if you're still reading this.
No doubt, these are rugged, well thought out units that are built to endure real life use and have a proven track record in the field. I doubt you could go wrong purchasing one and you will be glad you did when you start getting into using it and you see where your money actually went into buying real quality.
So, if you weren't already looking at one of these, I hope now you're taking the consideration seriously.
Cheers!
Rob
