GPS Devices Life

GPS with value and good feature set - Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS Receiver I have tried several different GPS models and this one certainly has the best feature set for the money. Mag...

Magellan Meridian Gold 980598-26 Handheld GPS Receiver Product 98059826 Key FeaturesDesignationOutdoorForm FactorHandheldMap capabilitie...

I cann’t say enough about this unit. Being an Ecologist for a GIS training and research center has taught me a lot of things about GPS units, and especially about using them in the field. If given unlimited funds, this would be my choice everytime. First, it is extremely easy to use, and with mapping takes the guesswork out of GPS for 90% of the people using it. In the past I still had to rely on paper topo-maps for accurate navigation, but now that I can download topos directly onto the unit, I only keep those paper maps around for emergencies.

At work, we were given $15,000 Trimble Pro XR GPS units for use in the field both for navigating and for taking data points. What we quickly found out is that the $350 Garmin vastly outperformed the more expensive model in nearly every respect as well as fitting in my pocket instead of needing a backpack mounted antenna, and 5 lbs of other equipment.

At places where we were afraid to take the Trimble (steep mountains, skree, river crossings) all I had to do was slip the Garmin in my pocket and forget about it because it is waterproof and extremely shock-resistant (more on that later). We found that the Garmin was 100X easier to navigate with than the more expensive Trimble, but was just as accurate for that purpose.

As for the shock-resistance of this unit, let me tell you how I came about owning one of these. I had been using a Magellan 2000XL, which I was pretty happy with when a tragedy struck my life. My father-in-law was killed in a hang-gliding accident in California where, though a series of events, he crashed into some rocks at over 90 mph.

My mother-in-law, knowing that I used GPS at my job, gave me the GPS unit be had on him when he crashed to see if I could get it to work, she said that if it worked, I should keep it. Low-and-behold, it was this Garmin GPS III plus…although it was a little beat-up, all it needed was new batteries, and it’s still working today.

Bought it at Sam’s Club - Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS Receiver Okay I was influenced strongly by the special on the Magellan Meridian Gold being on sale at Sam's Club for $302 i...

Gold Lantern GL3250 Handheld GPS Receiver Product GL3250 Key FeaturesDesignationOutdoorForm FactorHandheldMap capabilitiesM...

Magellan Meridian Gold GPS - Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS Receiver I wanted a hand held GPS for hiking, camping, boating and traveling. I sorted through quite a few other GPS units...

A fun toy! - Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS Receiver I purchased a Magellan Meridian Gold November 2001, soon after product release. I chose this model after a great ...

$100 Never get lost - Insurance Policy - Garmin eTrex® Handheld GPS Receiver I (legally) ride a dirt bike deep within a forest. Three years ago I got lost and almost spent the night! That ha...

Not worth its weight - Garmin Emap Handheld GPS Receiver I thought that bringing a global positioning system on my 12,000 mile, month and a half trip across the US wou...

A Great Hiking Companion - Garmin eTrex® Handheld GPS Receiver

Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS Receiver