Buying a GPS

Pat, a few decisions to make for you before the decision is to which way to go.

1. What maps are you taking, paper or computer. If computer, will it run all the time you navigate? You say it has to be able to connect and they all do I believe. But what is the intention?
2. What detail do you want in your GPS. Specially loaded maps have better detail, that usually takes extra memory.
3. I am not aware of any that will recharge in the unit and performance of battery life is poor with rechargables. 1.2 volts max against 1.5 volts in throwaways. Car power is great for colour screens or backlighting in the dark. Both of which are hungry for battery power
4. Kayaks mean you may need floaties for the GPS too by the look of it or waterproof case.

There are quite a few postings just lately on the same issue and I guess I will get to test the water proofing of mine when there is some water in the rivers again in any quantity. My Meridian is supposed to float and has maps loaded but paper is great in a kayak waterproof file to work with it.Regards

JohnR - Not enough of the right travelling, some here..... some over there.......

I am unfamiliar with Garmins but with Magellan the 315 and below will give 10 m accuracy, while the 330 and above will give 3 m accuracy. These only plug into serial ports, so a serial/USB adaptor would be needed. Better to get an older computer with serial ports. To have internal rechargables you would need to modify the battery protection/isolation circuitry. As two AAs last about 8 hrs they are not that hungry. You could buy rechargeable 1.5v NiMHs from Jaycar though. You can pick up 2nd hand ones on the GPSOZ website (they advertise on this site), and sometimes in the trader section on this site. You don't need to spend more than 300 to 400 dollars.

I am presently using a Map330 with a PIII Toshiba. It works excellently with Discover Aus, and with OziEzplorer on Natmap Raster mosaic, and Hema great desert tracks.Bob

PatC, both Garmin & magelan will serve your purpose. I use a garmin2+ conected either to the laptop or a PDA. You can get power & data cables from here link text.Regards Bob
Where to next

i wrote a review on the Garmin Etrex Legend. I have never used a GPS until I bought this one off Ebay. Put this into your address bar http://www.epinions.com/content_125664202372 Ray

I've run the Megallan 315 with Mapsend points of interest for about 4 years and although a basic unit has served me well. Have not found any reason to upgrade yet. Picked it up in the US at about half the Aust price but understand it has been replaced by the Meridian Series.