Topo Hiking
what makes a good Hand Held gps better than others?
This is the very first time i've even thought of a gps (hand held)... I do hike but, i use a compass and a topo map.I have not yet looked on line for any info about these gadgets. Question: What makes one better than the other?How good a one does a guy need to just go over hill and dale.
You have already taken most of the guess work out of buying your GPS.. You are actually making the buying the experience easy, because you kind of already know what you want. You said:
hand held
compass
topo maps
hiking
You can get one with these features and more for as low as $110.00 believe it or not.
Exploring can be fun and we all want to " How good a one does a guy need to just go over hill and dale", but buying the right GPS can be a scary feeling experience. It does not have to be, if you know what you are looking for and what you need - which you have already pretty much pointed out. YAY.! The first part about buying a GPS is to understand the many features and which you will need on your explorations.
"What makes one better than the other?" is dependent on what you want. Buying a GPS device is hard, especially if you never owned one before.. But don't worry. Here are some helpful hints on what features are available on most GPS devices, which features you do or don't need, what the highest rated models are, and what you can expect to pay (hidden costs and all).
Screen size is an important feature for GPS devices. Old models have a small 4.3" tiny screen, NEWER models will have at least 5" color touch widescreen. So be careful and hesitant to listen to someone if they offer you to buy a GPS with 4.3" screen - trust me, someone will offer a used, refurbished, or worse a 4.3" screen model and tell you that the price is good, LOL. A larger screen provides a larger map view and more context to where you are and what's coming up. Battery life is important too, but most GPS's have the option of hooking up the Car Charger to the unit while driving. Most units have 4-7 hours of battery life - my Newelectronx GPS claims 10 hours of battery life, but I have never tested it. (grin) Also the screen size of the Newelectronx model is 5 INCHES.
Most Garmin GPS's have a 4.3" screen and up to 6.5 / 7 hours of battery life.
Most Newelectronx GPS's have a 5" screen and up to 10 hours of battery life.
Depending on your traveling needs, you may be fine with a Gps Unit with just US maps. You can also get units with maps of Canada and maps of Europe already pre-loaded. Be careful, remember I mentioned don't buy a GPS with a 4.3" screen. Well if you do, remember I said it was the older kind - well with the older version comes the older maps. Retailers generally do not update the maps on their GPS's. So you might be stuck with a GPS with old maps on it. That would suck royally because new maps will cost you at least $60.00 to $99.00 for updates.
So, for instance if you get a cheap Garmin or TomTom with 4.3" screen for sale for about $124.00 (plus shipping of at least $13 to $25) remember you might have to buy maps too. So, let's take the lower price $60 + $124.00 = $184.00 (dont forget that shipping and taxes) - grin, add that in too.
The Text-to-Speech feature is a very helpful safety feature that keeps your eyes on the road. The unit announces the turn-by-turn directions, using the actual street names.
The Mio, TomTom, Garmin, and Newelectronx includes US maps and the Text-to-Speech feature.
With real-time traffic reporting (an additional monthly expense), your unit will alert you to upcoming traffic situations in your route and will allow you to calculate a detour. Multi-point routing allows you to enter multiple destinations (like an errand run - cool feature on my Newelectronx GPS), and the device calculates the most efficient route between them all.
The Magellan features both real-time traffic reporting and multi-point routing with an extra charge (of course).
Bluetooth functionality allows you to synch your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone for hands-free calling. You can also use the FM transmitter functionality to hear your phone (and the GPS driving directions) through your car speakers. Almost all GPS devices hold & display digital photos, and some store & play .mp3 audio files.
The TomTom and Newelectronx has Bluetooth, FM transmitter, and photos/mp3 media.
Here is a special note you might want to know. Garmin has recently price dropped the price on their older version GPS's and some of the newer version GPS in order to compete with newer GPS that have arrived on the scene. Keep in mind that old Garmin's may have old maps and with old maps comes that FEE, I mentioned. Most Garmin's features a 4.3" tiny screen display, maps of the US and an extra cost for Canada/Europe, Text-to-Speech directions, real-time traffic reporting (reciever included), Bluetooth, photos/mp3 media, FM transmitter, and up to 7 hours of battery life. It has everything but multi-point routing in a conveniently slim design. TomTom runs about the same cost.
Most Newelectronx GPS's features a 5" touch color widescreen display, maps of the US, Canada, Europe, Africa, Israel, and more at no extra cost (no map update cost), Text-to-Speech directions, Bluetooth, photos/mp3 media, FM transmitter, and up to 10 hours of battery life. It has everything INCLUDING multi-point routing in a conveniently slim design. At $105, it's an incredible bargain!
GPS are perfect for automobiles, backpacks, purses, RVs, or while bicycling. The easiest and most intuitive personal GPS navigation on the market can be hard to choose, but now you have more information to help you make an informative buy. Good luck.
http://www.newelectronx.com/products.php?cat=46
http://www.newelectronx.com/proddetail.php?prod=gps-igo-amigo
http://www.newelectronx.com/help.php?faq_id=246
