What GPS to Buy

Damien,

My reply is biased, as I have been using a similar setup for some years.
Rather than just a GPS, lets look at the total solution.

Basically, any device that will run OziExplorer (a mapping program) will give you the most flexible solution.

Anything from a Hema Navigator (already installed with all the goodies for both bush and city navigation) to a VMS style unit, which can be bought much cheaper, but will probably need to have the applications such as OziExplorer and digital maps installed.

The Hema Navigator comes complete with OziExplorer and a full collection of australian digital maps such as the NATMAP series, plus the full range of Hema maps for Australia and regional areas.
The current Hema Navigator now has an "upgraded" City Navigation application to replace "Route 66" which has proven to be somewhat clunky to use.

Personally, I believe the combination of both Australia wide navigation using OziExplorer and City Navigation applications is still restrictive, as you can only use one application at a time, with the need to hut down one to start another.

My previous solution of a PDA running Oziexplorer and CoPilot Live was excellent and flexible, as both apps could be started up and run concurrently, (using GPSGate to enable GPS input to multiple applications) and with the ability to flip between the applications without losing tracking data from either.
Unfortunately, the display size was rather small for old eyes like mine.

I now use a separate TomTom device for City Natigation and a Hema Navigator for all country wide treks with the ability to save tracks and waypoint data.

More confused now?


Bill.

Damien,

For the sort of travel you are talking about a computer fitted with a mouse style gps unit and running oziexplorer is absolutely ideal. The downside is that it's inconvenient to carry a laptop, and pretty expensive if the laptop doesn't have other uses. For years now we've used a small desktop computer hidden back in the cargo space, with a touch screen and gps on the dashboard - with a few 100,000 km, it has survived the worst we've encountered, the CSR, Simpson, etc. We are aiming to upgrade to a tablet style pc on the dashboard, but that's a long story.... This isn't the sort of off the shelf answer I think you'd prefer, but worth a thought if you are willing to look outside the square.

Cheers

John

You should be able to fit the whole of australia on the 276C with city navigator or OzTopo. IN my opinion you have the best GPS for what you are doing already, you can buy a perpetual upgrade fior maps fror around 150 dollars.

Hope nuvi 660, would be best for you. As you are not looking for city mapping. It has many other mapping also.

I have tried a lot Damien - but quite simply nothing matches the 276c.

Even today in another post the 276c came up as the only device that can
do other things such as monitor you cars voltage and ring an alarm when it drops to far.

I'd love a GPS with a bigger screen - there are some of course but they all tend
to lack real features.

I even use things like Ozi-exp on a netbook , and its fun for support and reference but it can't even follow a track and point the pointer along it.

Others like Nuvi 765 are ok but have dropped the ability to upload your homemade tracks and limit waypoints to about 1000 etc.

Get Oz troppo for your 276c from GPSoz , this is the outback stuff.

You can definately get whole of Australia on a card , but as you say the cards are expensive.

I brought some smaller cards off ebay (128mb) and if you want all the streets as well then Australia takes 2 cards - but really is no drama to have a couple of cards and swap them each time you travel to that hot land 2 hrs behind us.

If you just leave out the big cities then the rest will fit on one card.

After reading my comments above I think you should actually dump the 276c and put it on trader as I'm looking for a second one to extend the life of my systems.

Hi

For the record books the sizes of the various mapsets for all of Australia are as follows

City Navigator (2008) - 152 mb

Oztopo V2 (no contours) - 308 mb

Oztopo V2 10m Contours - 1 gb

Garmin Topo V2 - 1.79gb

Shonky full topo - 192 mb

So - depends on what mapset you would like to use and the size of the card you have. If you only have a 128mb card then "Australia wide mapping" will not fit. Max for 276c is 512 mb ...but at A$299 on the local market you'd want to have a good think.

It is unclear if you have already purchased the entire Aus mapset you want to use or not. Stick with what youve got if you are happy and get a bigger card but ...get calculator out first. 276c is a good unit but its not the ultimate unit for everyone. Some of the functions spruked by others may never be used and other units can do things a 276c cant (e.g display Raster maps/Air Photos) ...so your personal requirements are a very important consideration.

Cheers
Greg

Thanks, Greg, Robin, Bonz, John and Bill, What you have all said I am going to Keep the 276 and use it as a moving map. I have the N-Rout program and I will try to load all Au on it less the big cities as suggested.

I just wish I could learn how to use it properly, I could have learned quicker when I was younger but things change so quick these days there is a lot more to learn.

I go on long service and annual leave in 2 weeks time for 4 months then I retire and hopefully, weather permitting travel western Qld then do the Savannah Way and Tanami. I have been looking forward to this for 5 years now.

Damien

Just to add a variation to whats been posted so far.
I bought a 7" Knav GPS last year (cheap Chinese unit). It comes with iGO8 street navigation software and also runs OziExplorerCE. It could also run the Windows CE version of Tom Tom if I chose to load it. Apart from the normal Bluetooth, FM transmitter, MP3 and ebooks capability. it also came with a wireless reversing camera. It holds the programs on an SD card which I have upgraded from 4GB to 32 GB. The unit cost me $275.

I am most impressed with the unit after a years use that includes some very corrugated roads and tracks such as the Gibb River Rd, Bungle Bungles, Palm Valley Goss's Bluff. It has performed flawlessly. I run NATMAP Digital maps mostly, although I do on occasions load the relevant Hema product. I have my whole mapping collection loaded onto the 32GB SD card. When travelling on major roads I also have separate a TomTom on the go for the city and town stuff so that I don't have to switch between to applications while on the move.

I haven't worked out if it can run iGO and OziExplorer simultaneously but I doubt it. iGO is as good as TomTom in my opinion and I've been using the Knav around Melbourne when at home. Given the cost compared with other units available I am really satisfied with the unit.

WBS

Damian

I think that you should look seriously at the data size that you want to have available for maps.

I think I read above that the 276c has a limit of 512M for maps. I hope I am wrong because that would not be anywhere near enough space. It may be okay for the highways and road caravan use. But not for offroad. Just our detailed maps for the east coast (Vic, NSW and QPL) for Oziexplorer in our VMS take up more than 4Gb for the 4WD drives that we do.

Phil

All I can add is don't buy the Hema Nav 5, its junk, I am on my third one, after many battles with Hema, and it has just chucked a wobbly so its going in the bin. Cant stand arguing with them any more.

The units are made in China and every little thing that goes wrong its a month trip back to China for repairs (that's if Hema even accepts responsibility for the warranty - which in my experience they try to get out off).

In the two years we have owned the HM5 we have been without it for 5 months so we purchased a VMS and so far that does everything the hema does (and more) and is working fine.

Steve

Damien
I picked up a Magellan Explorist 600 with Aus City & Topo card, off this site, some 3 years back. ($350 from memory)
Could not be happier..(although the mapping software it uses on the computer is no where as good as Garmin's.)

I hunt and use it, (brilliant, and waterproof)
Can zoom into towns and get down to Street level (Brilliant, although the screen is a little small)

I used it on the Canning, the Gibb, and in the Kimberley....(Birlliant)

We also have a Garmin Nuvi 1490 5"screen, with city navigator, and Oz Topo installed. Yes it's the Yuppie type one, that sits up on the dashboard, and is suction cupped to the windscren. it's brilliant, but not waterproof, so no good huntig.

Can get double DIN ones for your vehicle, that mount neatly into your dashboard, andwill run any most mapping and GPS software, for around $600, they do it all.

Your choice mate !
Cheers
Bucky

The garmin 276c looks like a good thing . so you could get a"note pad" type lap top computor ,nice size screen to look at ,load garmin topo aus & nz they have hema plus others inc a good map setup also get nroute free for garmin , Then you can use the lap top for other things ie email , check out Exploroz etc . Happy travels