Hema Navigator 5 GPS Unit

Lloyd, is it the Hema 5 or 5i ?

The "i" is important because you get IGO street nav with the i. It is far better than Route 66 which comes with the earlier 5 (without the i).

The Oziexplorer section comes with a heap of Hema maps including the Desert Tracks maps which will cover the Tanami, and it covers the Kimberley very well with the other maps. The Hema website should give you full details.

You need a PC to transfer other maps on to it, if you wish to do that, and to update IGO (that may cost you with a second hand one, but you can see what the updates contain before you click).

Hi Lloyd,

I use a Hema-5 which has 'Route 66' for its street navigation. Route 66 is a very poor presentation but it would be of some assistance with streets in a major town. Anyway, most towns we travel through in the Troopy only have one main street, LOL.

As for the Ozi Explorer maps, I find that the ones that come with the machine are fine for the whole of Australia and never need updating as the outback roads never change, unlike the big city roads being forever upgraded.

I still use paper maps for route planning but the Hema lets me know where I am and identifies the turn-off that I wanted.

Hi Lloyd,

For your upcoming trip to the Kimberley, or anywhere else across Australia, there is no better unit than the Hema Navigator.

The OziExplorer software loaded onto the Hema 5 provides a moving map of where you are at any given time and the map displayed is the same as looking at a paper version.

The Hema 5 came complete with a range of Hema maps, plus the excellent Navmap series of maps which is all I find I need to use.

Don't concern yourself about any of the voice guided street navigation applications.
The original Hema unit came with Route 66 and the later ones with iGo but they are not all that functional when you need OziExplorer.
The apps can not be run concurrently, so you need to close OziExplorer to open Route 66 or iGo and vica versa.

I love my Hema Navigator with its moving map display and the ability to automatically record the track you have taken and any waypoints you may choose to add of points of interest for future reference.

As far as street navigation is concerned, I run a separate TomTom device, which I can run as and when I choose, without interrupting OziExplorer on the Hema.

Connection to a PC is required to perform updates to the Hema, such as upgrading to newer versions of OziExplorer as they are released, but this doesn't occur all that often.
This is also required when you want to transfer tracks and waypoints to a PC running another copy of OziExplorer and is somewhat useful to plan routes, etc.

But this is not absolutely necessary to get great use out of OziExplorer on the Hema as a stand-alone moving map function.

I run a cheap alternative to the Hema 5 so I'm totally ignorant about the Hema unit capabilities. Here's my take on other parts of your questions.

You still want a PC if you really want to fully utilize OziExplorer especially in the planning stages of a trip. I keep my PC alive solely for using OziExplorer on it, otherwise I mostly use a Mac.

You can load a program called Parallels on your MAC which then allows you to load Windows on a separate disc partition, then any windows based application can be used just like a normal PC. I personally refuse to do that as I don't want windows apps on my MAC. It seems sacrilegious to me, but it is an option for you. Parallels (Legal version )cost about $100 or there abouts. You have to buy Windows 7 or 8 too.

I also run separate a GPS for voice guided navigation in towns and cities for reasons stated in previous posts. I generally use a Tom Tom for towns and keep my (cheap alternative to Hema) unit solely for running OziExplorer, even though it has iGO on it.

I've written to OziExplorer asking when they'd come out with a MAC version of OziExplorer - Please!!!. They politely replied it is not on their radar. I live in eternal hope.

WBS

Our daughter just bought us a HN5i and the IGO is very good when showing directions. But the voice guide get's it hopelessly wrong and keeps trying to send us we know not where!
Actually having time to spare we did start to follow it's directions to an address yesterday but it tried to send us back up the Mitchell freeway towards home before we'd got there.
Very odd and I suspect maybe a bit of operator error involved.
Plus it told us of an accident down the freeway in front of us which didn't happen. I'm going to have to get my IT person round (daughter or G/Son) to check if I need to update or something.
Looks a good unit though.
AlanH.

Sandy says it all - great unit straight out of the box with heaps of maps ideal to the outback and regions. No PC connection ? If you decided to get a PC later that will allow you to backup, load new maps and edit tracks and points etc., the PC won't cost much. As for buying used ? Probably false economy - they are better now and about $240 cheaper now than when I bought mine.... they are delicate devices too (no warranty on used).. you'd have to know that it has been cared for - and the internal battery probably needs replacement (factory job for other than dead set electro-buffs)...(the battery in my 3 year old HN5 non'i" only runs it for 4 seconds after I cut the 12V power - I can live with that for now - I only use it in car).

hi lloyd
before you buy a s/h unit you should consider buying a new one with warranty
for instance
jonnyappleseed gps in qld -nsw and victoria have them freight free
the HN5i is $499
and HN6 is $745
why buy a second /hd HN5 when the newer models are so cheap
the second /hd one may have problems and you wont know that until after it's paid for ???no connection with the seller above but found the site 2 days ago while researching prices on hema and other gps's
cheers barry