hand held gps

diamond.

Its one of those things you get what you pay for. A cheap gps will be slower to lock on to the satelites so can be frustraing while waiting. It will also be slower updating. This is only really a problem if you need this accurate type of information ie yacht racing. My mate had trouble with his cheap gps when trying to locate ship recks. The unit simply wouldn't update quickly enough for him to throw the anchor over. But if you just want to find yourself on a map then it doesn't matter too much. I have noticed that the cheaper gps don't lock on as easily in adverse conditions either ie mountains, trees, the cabin of a car! As for other functions I don't use them much. Cheers Hardy

Diamond, Im one eyed about Garmin and have little experience with Magellan. The Garmin Etrex is their base model but for my money the New GPS72 is well worth a look. At $469.00 it has plenty of memory and will let you save up to 10 different tracks. The lcd detail is great but it has no provision for an external antenna
As a starting point consider what you want from a gps and check out sites such as gpsoz, oziexplorer,and gme.net,com.au (garmin distributor)
I use a Garmin GPS2+ which suits me fine but at $649 is lacking some of the features of the new models.
cheers Bob

diamond

I have a number of GPS units, all Garmin, only because the first one I purchased was garmin and all the acessories and software I accumulated menat I had to stay with garmin. As to which is better it is the old Holden vs Commadore type question. I have lots of experience with the garmin equip for fishing, geo-caching, bushwalking, motoring and am only too glad to help out if required. Coming from NZ and wanting to explore your fine country has meant I had to have a GPS.
Try the google news groups under " sci.geo.satellite-nav" or go to http://gpsinformation.net/
Hope this helps

Search the archives, buit you can import from USA Top of the range Magellan Meridian Platinum for $500. Thats $1000 worth in Aussie.

Thats freight and all

www.mall24-7.com is the place I got mine/another blokes from.

No import duties, and you can change the base maps unlike Garmin units.

I see it as why not get the works when you can!

Diamond,
Just to add to your confusion! My rig is GPS12 on dash, download /upload to PC and OziRExplorer as required. 20 routes, 500 waypoints, and continous tracvk monitoring ie where did I go and where did I go wrong. I have this set to taking position, speed, hdg, and time every minute. I can do this for 1040mins before overwriting.
This Garmin does not have town waypointse pre loaded; I load that prior to a trip.
I find the 12 channels more than enough, occassionally searching under thick tree cover, usually stopping vehicle rectifies this immediately.
Mike

I recently purchased a Garmin eMap from Johny Appleseed GPS - check out their web site at www.ja-gps.com.au for lots of useful info and pricing.

I was very happy with their service (they're in Brisbane, I'm in Adelaide - received it next day).

The eMap is an excellent unit for my needs. Sits in a bracket on the dash with a power cable from the cig lighter socket. Perhaps not as nice to hand-hold as some other models, and not waterproof (only splash-proof), unlike some, but has good map features. Obviously mapping not as good as having it connected to a laptop (ie fairly small screen on the eMap as opposed to a full computer screen), but is still OK.

The eMap does have an external antenna option.

(I've been told and have read that the eTrex series do not have very good in-car reception and don't have the facility for an external antenna. If you are wanting to use it in-car you should take that into account.)

Good luck!

Cheers,
Mike.

Check out www.atrekcamping.com.au for some good prices on magellan GPS

Virtually any GPS will give you read outs of your position using various datums (for plotting on a paper map), a visual track showing where you are compared to where you have been, or routes you create or mark.

Some GPS's have better antennas than others. Built-in quadrifilar antennas are regarded as better than patch antennas, especially in a car or under tree cover. Some GPS units allow connection of an external antenna, which generally improves reception. Otherwise you can get a re-radiating antenna (about $150) to increase the signal strength - doesn't require connection to the unit. Of course when away from your vehicle you must rely on the internal antenna.

Most can also be connected to a laptop (or PDA) so that, with the right software (e.g. Oziexplorer) and digital maps (e.g from Hema, Vicmap, Auslig, etc), you can plot your position on maps stored on the computer. This can be done while driving along, creating a moving map display. Good in theory, often cumbersome in practice.

Mapping GPS units (eg. Gamin Emap, Magellan M330, Meridian, SporTrak series, etc) have basic maps built-in, to which you can add more detailed street-level maps. BUT you can only use Garmin maps on Garmin units and Magellan maps on Magellan ones and they are $$$$. For example, Magellan charges $135 per State for detailed maps. Of course the unit needs enough memory to store the maps. The Magellan detailed map of NSW is about 24Mb. Some units (e.g. Magellan Meridian series) have expandable memory, using SD cards (available in various capacities, such as 16Mb, 32Mb, 64Mb, etc) that are readily available from computer shops. The quality of Garmin and Magellan maps is often criticised. It is rumoured that in the next month or so Magellan are going to release a new map series supplied by Hema, which should be better quality and up to date.

There is a lot of argument about getting units shipped from in the US (see previous acrimonious threads on this). They are certainly much cheaper (about half price) - do a web search for, say "Magellan Meridian" and "price comparison", and you will get the idea.

If you import a GPS, duty @ 5% and GST @10% are payable on the total, including postage, although both are waived if less than $50 in total. You might get away without paying even if more, but you would be taking a serious risk and may be committing an offence. Warranties might also be a problem.

Units sold in the US come with US basemaps. Garmin ones can't be changed, except through Garmin, which costs heaps, so forget it. Magellan ones can be changed, so if you can get the Australian basemaps you can change them yourself. Australian basemaps for SporTrak Pro or Meridian Gold/Platinum/Color are available on the internet. Join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Magellan_Meridian then look in the files section for FAQs for details on downloading and changing basemaps.

Lots of info on GPS units at sites mentioned above. See also www.gpsoz.com.au

Personally, I think mapping GPS units will improve in quality, and come down in price by quite a lot in the next few years. Hopefully they will start to accept 3rd party maps too. For your first GPS, I would suggest you get a non-mapping one, with a view to upgrading in a few years' time. They can be a good buy 2nd hand. See www.ebay.com.au

Happy navigating.

Thank you all very much for your help, very handy info.