Need help on my first GPS Purchase

elkman

I am planning to buy my first GPS. I have been comparison shopping for a while and found a few sites that seem to be doing a good job with pricing and customer service. I am still confused and undecided as to what to buy with all the various options. The folks at getfeetwet.com (quite helpful) have suggested the Garmin Edge Any thoughts on this unit?? Garmin gives 1 yr warranty looks like getfeetwet adds a 2nd yr to that. I was assured that they are as good as new. Has anybody purchased a Garmin Edge before?

pm7771

elkman- I'm a hiker, snowshoer, avid sea kayaker south of Boston. I'm own two Magellan units - one simple with basemaps, the better is the SporTrak Pro with topo map detail loaded. Both Magellan & Garmin put out nice products - I'll ask you what uses you'd have for a gps. They';re wonderful after a days paddling to tell how far I went; or finding my launch location on a huge unfamiliar lake. But on my bike it won't track 100%, losing occasionally under tree cover. Do you need custom map upload capacity? Do you need color? ( probably not, though its nice - its an expensive plus )

GPS units take awhile to master; they're best not to rely on - but a good tool along with a good map, compass, some local knowledge and experience navigating.

Peter

DonnyJaguar

I use an old Garmin eMap on my mountain bike most of the time and it works like a champ. You can upload maps to it, either topo or road and quite frankly I wouldn't buy a GPS without maps. The eMap isn't waterproof but I have also a Garmin GPSmap76S which is. I think you'll find most every new Garmin unit is now waterproof, or water resistant enough to use on a bike in the rain. I bought an eTrex Legend for my brother last year and that works very well for an entry-level unit. My only complaint is the screen is very small and although my eyes work perfectly well, its hard to view while riding. The Garmin and Magellan bike mounts for GPS receivers aren't very good. We broke 2 of them last weekend on our group cycle. I use an old flip-phone mount on my mountainbike and it works much better.

elkman

thats a good heads up. I think i will be getting garmin products, think its always garmin by defult. It seems like garmin has been making the best GPS systems everything. They have covered air navigation, sea and land. Since getfeetwet.com is offering a 2nd year warranty for free on all thier garmins produts. that gives me enough confidence to get garmin.

peterlip

Hey Elkman,
Did you end up getting a GPS?
I'm thinking about the Garmin Edge 305.
Bit on the pricey side, but it seems to do everything you could possibly want.

__________________
Road: Felt F70
Commute: Raceline Comp LX

DonnyJaguar

That looks like a great unit. Most every GPS keeps track of elevation information. If you use the Garmin Mapsource software you can analyse this after a ride.

I'm not a competitve cyclists so I'm not really concerned with pace, heartrate or time-to-distance etc. For me the maps are more important than this and that is one thing that is sadly lacking in the Edge305 unit.

There are a lot of Magellan users and they're very keen on their products too. (I just used all 3 "there" words in that sentence). In fact they are often the first with new features.

Here's a good resource.... GPS INFORMATION

Cheers!