After being ruled by my Luddite side for many years, I have finally decided to purchase a handheld GPS receiver. I am not looking for anything really high-tech: what I want is something that will show me where I am; where I was and where I am going and that will help me to identify important trail junctions. I would also like the dots to be displayed on USGS Topo maps such as those available from the National Geographic Society (NGS). I have absolutely no interest in geo-caching, with or without paper. I would like something into which I can install maps of my area of interest. I do want to be able to set way-points though.

While I am still trying to learn enough about modern GPS receivers to make an informed decision, one unit, the Garmin eTrex-20 seems to be close to meeting my needs. My only problem with this unit is that, from what I can tell so far, you load the maps into the receiver on SD chips that cost about $125 each. So, with me hiking in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Idaho and Washington at various times, good coverage would require me to purchase a minimum of three chips for $375. Adding that to the $180 for the unit itself and I am looking at spending over $500 to find my way around. Ouch!

Are there alternatives to using these map chips with the Garmin eTrex-20? Or, should I be looking at other units that can be loaded from the NGS CD's? I am still not sure that I know enough about the newer receivers to ask intelligent questions. What I want is a unit: with a color screen; that is easy to use and learn; can be loaded with a 1:24,000 topographic map data base, preferably cheaply; has around a 24 hr battery life; has good customer support and doesn't require a lot of arcane computer knowledge to load maps and such. I would appreciate any suggestions as to specific units and for other features that I might find useful. I would also appreciate any explanations you all might care to offer. Thanks.

You can get the whole USA on disc then upload individual maps as needed. Last I looked the disc is around 100$. I like garmin products, tough, reliable, accurate. I use a rino 655t it has 2 way radio and tracking capability. Also has a 8 megapixel camera and weather alerts.

Pika, I bought a refurbished Garmin Oregon 200 for under $200. You can load free, opensource, topo (and other) maps on it for the entire US. You can get the maps at http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/.

The Oregon 200 is very easy to use, has a color touch screen, and some other nice features, like sunrise/sunset, moon phase and rise/set times, solunar tables for fishing, and more. It has a pretty good battery life, probably around 8-12 hours depending on how much you have the screen lit up, and it takes standard AA batteries, which I really like. You can use rechargeable batteries too. Of course, it has the standard route, track, and waypoint features that most GPSs have.

The topo maps you get from the link above are very good maps. They're as good as the Garmin maps four our use, and Garmin is a major contributor to the opensource maps project so they work very nicely with compatible Garmin products.

It's a little geeky getting and installing the maps, but not too bad. I'd be glad to help you get through it, but once you get the hang of it you'll be fine.

You can download Garmin's "BaseCamp" map software for free right now, and then go get some maps at http://www.gpsfiledepot.com and start playing with them. The BaseCamp software is pretty cool all by itself. You can view and print maps with it, and you'll use it to install maps in your GPS, as well as load routes, tracks, and waypoints into your GPS.

You also use BaseCamp to get routes, tracks, and waypoints out of your GPS so you can display them on your maps when using the BaseCamp software.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

2X on www.gpsfiledepot.com. I bought a used Garmin GPSMap76CSx off Craigslist for $100. A lucky find. Came with the book, cable, extra maps on a card, case and like new. The owner just didn't need it anymore.

My GPSr is a marine version of the 60, which is about 1 generation behind the touchscreen models, but for what I paid for it, a bargain. The newer ones are small and have bigger screens, but cost around $500. You could probably find one on eBay or Craigslist for half that. Mine uses 2 AA batteries and I put rechargeables in it and carry spares.

I bought a second card at Radio Shack (get them anywhere) for about $10 or so, downloaded the mapping software free from Garmin, got the maps from the filedepot website, which has great forums for beginners like me and after tinkering a while, had my maps loaded up for virtually no cost. No need to buy maps unless you want something really specialized.

Tom, you're the one who put me on to those free maps and I've been very grateful ever since

Thanks again!!!

Oregon 450 is what I've settled on for the time being. It's not "perfect" but I like the form factor and bigger screen than my old etrex. The 450t has topo base maps for the whole country preloaded.

A related comment: the newest Eneloop AA rechargable cells are 2400 mAh versus 1900 for the more common model, which gives a good deal more time between battery changes.

Cheers,

Cool. Glad to hear that. Plus for beginners, the forums are really helpful. Rick, thanks for the info on the batteries. I love mine-the 1900s. The only thing it's that they won't fit into a mini mag, they are slightly bigger in diameter than a regular AA.

Thanks, Rick! My Eneloops are 5 years old now and I've been wondering if I should at some point replace them. I haven't really timed how long they hold a charge, although if they've deteriorated it hasn't been obvious. Now you've given me a reason to replace them!

So can I ask a newbie question about GPS? i used GPS all the time on my sailboat, but it was powered off the main battery.

When you are hiking with a GPS, do you leave it on all the time? (Seems like it wouldn't last through a six day hike) or do you just turn it on from time to time to get a fix and a waypoint? How often?

Here is my impression, so far: from another newbie. Most GPS units have a battery life of 24 hours: or less. So, assuming that one hikes for about 8 hours per day and turns the thing off when not hiking, you can figure on about two to three days per set of batteries if used only when hiking. If you want accurate information about your route you need to have the unit on while moving and recording way points fairly often; the more often the more accurate is the stored info on distance traveled between points and speed. If you are simply interested in navigating and determining which way to go at unmarked trail junctions then keeping it off until you need to know where you are is the the best way to keep the battery weight down. For me, my navigation is, and will be, based primarily on maps. I intend to use the GPS mainly to confirm my map reading: where am I, how far have I come and do I go left or right here. I retain enough of my inner Luddite that I am not ready to trust the new technology too much, yet. I do think that GPS receivers are here to stay though.

I am sure that other, more experienced users can add to the above; I have just given my beginners impression.

I almost never carry my gps backpacking. Primarily I use it in areas with no trails and thick forest or endless desert. These places a person can and will get turned around, when backpacking, usually I have studied the maps to the point of memorization and generally know exactly where I'm at. Gps is alot of weight!

Pika's got it right, I'll add a bit to what he's said:

If you're using your GPS to record your track on a hike it will probably last around 12 hours (that will vary by unit model). You can deduct time from that when you're viewing one with a color screen because that takes up additional juice, as does the brightness of the screen, which is user adjustable.

I use mine in a variety of ways depending on my plan or whim. The first thing I always do is waypoint my vehicle. Sometimes I want to record my track so I can review it when I get back. I enjoy uploading the track record to Garmin's "Basecamp" software and reviewing the path, elevation profile, distances, speed of travel, and locations of waypoints.

Other times, generally on longer trips, I only turn it on when I want to cross reference my location with where I think I am on my map, or if I want a heading to a waypoint I have recorded on the GPS, or something referenced on the maps installed on the GPS, like a spring, or a cave.

My GPS has a clock, sun and moon rise and set times, fishing solunar tables, and more, and I use these features too.

On the rare occasions that I come out of the forest and onto a road or trail and don't know which way my vehicle is, a GPS is a very handy tool to have. Turn it on, wait for a GPS fix, and tell the GPS to point me to my car. Since I have topo maps installed on my GPS I can see exactly which way to go and how far, and determine the shortest route.

Sometimes I'll get a fix on my position and a heading on where I want to go and then store the GPS and use my old fashion compass to guide me there. The two actually work together very nicely and you can save a lot of battery life doing that, plus, the compass is lighter and smaller to hold and easier handle and read.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the technology. It's hands down the greatest tool for traveling since the compass and chronometer and they can be incredibly easy to use.

There are more critical places on any trip, like hiking away from your vehicle, intersections or trails, etc, where you will want to record a trail. By making waypoints at those spots you can get the GPSR to point to the waypoint that you want to go to. If you only record at those times, your batteries will last a long time.

I like the small Garmin Foretrex 301 and I would buy another if I lost this one. You do not need color nor maps when in the wilderness, they have a power consumption and weight cost. I turn on the backlight skiing at night and can raise my arm, with a ski pole in it, and see if I am on course, without stopping. It uses AAA batteries and Lithium jobs last a long time, of course the batteries in a wrist GPS are kept warm by body heat.

In the old days when the "wandering" was employed, if you left a GPS turned on over night, it would have a daisy flower shape in the middle showing the wandering. In otherwords, the return track was NEVER exactly on top of the going track.

Jim