buying a gps for 4wd navigation

Chris,
How did you find the internal mapping in the US unit? The Oceania units supposedly have much better Australian mapping in them.

Mick, Excellent question and well asked - I have no comparison. The unit I got came without a memory card and, I believe, the US data on board. Once I get the PC interface cable, card and use it I suppose I'll find out.

Thats where I got the magellan platinum from mall24-7.com... same less than 2 weeks it was here in my hand

saved $4-500(around half!) on aussie price and the magellan basemaps can be changed at home by your self......

what was the postage from the US?

Phil - Etrex power/pc adaptor can be had for about $60 - GPS II+ ones are about $40 - so you are right the are more expensive for Etrex but I wouldn't say they cost a lot!. The the GPS II+ will set you back about $540 - the Etrex ~$300 - I would be tempted to say that the GPS II+ costs a lot compared to Etrex. If you have a real need, re-raidiating external aerials are available and will work with any model GPS and are cheaper than Garmin made items. I still recommend an etrex as the cheapest, best GPS for the required purpose mentioned in original post. Most people I know dont own a GPS:)
Cheers Greg

Having said all that - there are a couple of GPS II+'s for sale on ebay at the moment - if you can get them for ~$300 your laughing:) :)
Cheers
Greg

Hi Greg,

Also forgot to mention that the mounting bracket for the Etrex costs a fair bit too. The 11+ mounts horizontally with a strip of velcro on the centre console. The power lead comes with the computer cable. All up when I priced it two years ago, the GPS 11+ was the best value for my needs.

Cheers

Phil

Magellan provides the same info on its website. Or you can buy the 12v external power/data cable with serial plug for about $100. Its worth considering an inverter for running the laptop. These cost about $200, but are useful for charging other gear such as cameras, videos etc. I have been using a Magellan 315 for a few years, and Oziexplorer more recently. As pointed out above you should have paper maps for backup, but it would be hard to go back to paper after the convenience and utility of computerised mapping.