Originally Posted By billstephenson
I've bought three Garmin GPS units and two died for no apparent reason. They just died while sitting on my shelf waiting for me to use them again.

The last one I bought, a Garmin Oregon 200, has worked for a pretty long time now. It was factory refurbished and I got it on Amazon or Ebay.

As much as I'm stung by the ones that died, I'd still only buy a Garmin that has the features to let you use open source maps. I really like my Oregon 200 a lot, and it wasn't very expensive. And Garmin's "Basecamp" software for desktop computers is as good as it gets, and they have an Apple Mac version, and it's free.

There are so many different Garmin models and versions of models that it's overwhelming. Some of them are hard to learn to use too. I've played with several eTrex models and hated them all.

Look at the Oregon series, and start with the lowest end one first. I think that's my Oregon 200 (which isn't made anymore), but those are all very easy to use and dependable. I and two hiking buddies have had them for a few years now (theirs are higher end and a bit newer than mine) and they're all still working. I made a point to get one that uses AA batteries so I can carry spares. Some may have built-in rechargeable Lithium batteries, but for backpacking I like being able to swap them out.


Did Garmin make things right on the two that died for no reason? I am amazed at the HUGE amount of factory refurbished Garmin units of all models for sale on eBay...