HELP pls, Nat map250k vs garmin topo aust vs shonky maps???????????

Many of us have been through this process... in the end it's personal choice and what you feel comfortable with. Many run standard hard drives without problems (myself included).

Some of the following threads may help you:
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I run a HP laptop with OziExplorer, a usb BU-353 Gps mouse; plus Garmin 60Csx with OzToppo maps. The large screen with OziExplorer (which also alllows you add additional maps) works well. Hope this helps.

I use an asus eeepc 900 (8.9" screen) $520 running windows xp, oziexplorer and bluetooth gps receiver from ebay. Works a treat - especially with a touch screen I installed! The eeepc is solid state, small, light and sits (velcro'd) on a tiny table of PVC anchored above the radio via a dashboard pocket of my '06 GU. I've also installed Copilot street nav for metro use. HDD limited to 16 GIG so have my maps on a 16 gig sd card - been off track to the centre of the Simpson, then up to Jervois and back down the Hay River and through far north of the Flinders and it hasn't missed a beat yet! The eeepc is also used for transferring digital pics and video to by portable HDD a (160 gig ipod) and you can use it to watch videos, surfing the net, word processing spreadsheeting etc...

Hi GN

I think I'd need to know about your real usage before giving specific advice.

In our situation we find our 276c GPS still the best alternative and
this is backed up with appropriate paper maps and a PC
which we carry but rarely drag out and use in a live situation.

I have found Natmap to be of little use in Vic, we are much better severed with the Roof-top series in paper and electronically.

Roof-top can't be put on our GPS , so we use the City Navigator
and back it up with Shonky maps as next best.

All of the above have their pro's and con's so before a trip we ensure we have important waypoints loaded for the area we intend to go in.
Auto routing to waypoints - wether by road - or line of sight- is our
major way to target a destination and this is somewhat map independant.

As well we try and have the appropriate track loaded or create a track if none exists , as our GPS is one of very few which can navigate a user uploaded track which is something things like Ozi cannot do.

The creation of the tracks when camped or before hand is the major use of our PC as they have insufficent brightness and are to awkward for constant use by us.

The reliability of PC's including solid state versions is satisfactory
these days and most failures are user caused.

Never had a problem with my laptop it's my work laptop as well.

Laptop under seat, touch screen folds away in my spare DIN slot, mouse GPS. I also run a little USB hub to plug the camera in to download photos etc onto the laptop.

Works for me

GN

I run NatmapRaster 250K in Ozi on a PDA. I also have an Acer solid state Netbook for more detail Natmap Raster mapping in Ozi, Hema and tohers, travel notes, diary and photo downloads.

Before a trip I study Google Earth and Natmap 250k, plot waypoints in Ozi and sometimes print paper maps of a particular target area. I am happy with Natmap Raster Mosaic for what it is worth although I think 1/100,000 maps would be better. Unfortunately some of the mapping detail is still out by 10 years!

My old Notebook lasted 5 years but in the end I found it too cumbersome in the cabin. I ran a Magellan GPS through the Notebook

I also carry General Commercial Road Atlases and Paper Maps of target areas for travel.

You really only need good mapping if you are going into forests or remote areas especially where there are too few or too many physical landmarks and a plethora of tracks running everywhere. Most of the time your Brand Road maps are good enough.

Cheers

Pesronally I run an Acer Travelmate PC on a home made in car mount, running Oziexplorer with a bluetooth mouse.

SSD's have a life cycle of about 10,000 erases. A very good explanation of how they work and perform can be found Here.

Main reason I use a PC is that I then have the PC for other things like photo storage, web access etc. I also find the normal GPS or PDA screen too small. (old timers disease again ;-()