A new GPS or not

Where are you Doug. Help is wanted

Mate I have maps because I don't believe road signs!

Usually both electronic & paper. It just makes for one less thing to go wrong & you can explore without being concerned about being lost.

Cheers
Richard

Laure, Kiwi,Mahindra or tight ass,

This is a very open question.

Having one will give you information but unless you use that information it is just another Christmas toy in April.

When I am driving I always have it on manly for the time and speed that the vehicle is going. The speedo on the Troopie is reading out a bit and I will drive to the speed of the GPS.

When I am leading a trip I have two GPS on with different information from both units.

What I would suggest is to find someone with the GPS that you are thinking of getting and have a look at it set up in the vehicle and see if it is really what you want.





Wayne

Hello - impossible for us to determine if you will get value for money out of what ever GPS you get - you will have to determine that yourself. If you get a map enable version you may find you use it more often….but then again you might not.

The Magellan’s have the best available mapping for outback touring (despite what others may say)..though the eXplorist 600 you speak of is close to the most expensive - it will cost more than $1000 to get set up and going if you go down that path - e600s are ~$900 and the DAST Topo is ~$379...but think they are now on the verge of being a discontinued product as the release of the new Magellan Triton GPS units is imminent. You may wish to get one of the cheaper eXplorist models if you want the best mapping or wait for relaes of Triton series

Magellan Triton GPS

sticking with a Garmins is your other option so you can look for cheapest mapping model – available maps are limited for out of town areas – best (IMHO) is Shonkymaps…

Shonkymaps for Garmin

Or T4A (not as good in base form as shonky but supposedly an ongoing project...so theoretically will get better with time)

T4A maps for Garmin

neither hvae any where near the detail of Magellan’s DAST series …but they are free and the detail may be enough to keep you happy…so if youre on a budget getting another Garmin may be the way to go.

Cheers
Greg

i used to be along the same way of thinking and even though i run my gps most of the time i often wondered if i had wasted my money UNTILL i got totally lost out in the middle of nowhere in the goldfields of western australia ,it was only the backtrack on the gps that enabled me to re -trace our route and end up on the right track .
I suppose they are a bit like a sat phone an expensive bit of kit but something that can save a hell of a lot of time and maybe your life .So saying that i would agree you are being a ''tight ass '' ,so i reckon go buy one today you wont regret it and its only money .Good luck with your decision .

Laura until you get into very remote areas a GPS in a 4by is not a tool that is actually "Needed', more of a item that saves a minor bit of inconvienience at times or even just a gimmick for many. If you can't read a paper map but are a computing guru then you may find the mapping GPS's an option but of course what happens when the electrons stop for what ever reason.
I'm in a similar position to you owning an old Garmin GPS II which has towns but no maps. I navigate by paper maps always with the GPS running on the dash to confirm intersections or to work out an ETA to the next stop. A moving map would make it easier but really depite leading heaps of trips we rarely overshoot too many corners so for me the $1200 for a decent mapping GPS is better spent else where.
As I have a laptop I've just bought an ebay GPS logger for $70 which will give me moving map if I want it but more importanly record my route for trip reports. As I say it's really a gimmick in this case. Many get far too engrossed in the whole GPS mapping system (me included at times) and probably should pay more attention to the road & the view :-)
Cheers Craig..............

My advice is... do nothing for 12 months or more.

In-car GPS mapping tools are in their infancy and you will see significant changes in display systems and user interfaces also the price will drop significantly from the current high levels.

Your e-Trex will do all you need even if you go remote bush - road and track displays just make it a bit quicker to navigate. Hopefully no one is stupid enough to go bush without paper maps and a compass and the e-Trex will tell you where on the paper map you are.

In 12 months or so you'll be able to buy a 7" display with good mapping and updates for about $300.

Mike Harding

Laura,
if you want to get rid of hubby, then stick with the one you have, remove the memory out of it and send him on a one way trip.
Just wondering if he should use the Mahinder other drivers though.

Laura
The only one I can think of that will give you a CD so you can have the mapping software on the PC is a Garmin Quest and is the cheapest one that gives a CD as far as I know,

GARMIN QUEST

Read the specs, this is an amazing little gps, will record and remember over 4000klm of track ,
Doug