Hi all,

I'm also looking for a good GPS unit. I have a Magellan GPS attached to my Palm V which works pretty well when I am out in the open but not so good when in town or under trees.

I would like to do geocaching, use the unit in my KJ, and carry it on my bicycle and in hand for hiking, so I'll want to be able to use topo maps as well as street maps.

The Garmin GPS V sounds good from some of the posts I've seen here, but it looks a bit cumbersome for use in hand. Are looks decieving here? Maybe it just looks bigger to me because it is almost always pictured in a vehicle dash mount...

How does the Magellan SporTrack Topo mesure up? Their site (of course) makes it look pretty good for all of the uses I mentioned above.

Thanks,

--tag

_________________
The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know

'02 Liberty Renegade
stock so far...

i have the garmin 60 cs, it has a compass that works when standing still, which is very helpful for geocaching. also, it has a quad helix antenna, which is supposed to be better. if possible, check out www.geocaching.com and see if there's going to be an event in your area to see the gps's in person or hit the forums and see if there's reviews.

we bought a garmin handlebar mount for our yamaha for $18 and it's great.

_________________
--Polly

99 Wrangler Sport, Amethyst *~* 9500 lb Mile Marker Winch *~* Bestop Mesh Windows *~* Michelin LTX M/S *~* Custom Rock Shift Knob *~* Cobra 75 WX ST *~* 3" Boulder Bars *~* Full Husky Liners *~* Aiwa Deck *~* JKS Disco's *~* Garmin 60 CS *~* Kilby Gas tank skid *~* Poison Spyder Diff Ring

I have the V. I had it mounted on my motorcycle and now in the KJ. I find it very "Hand-friendly". You may not realize it but you can switch the display from a horizontal to a vertical layout. Works much better for hand carrying in vertical mode. One button push switches it. See my Cardomain site for some pics.

_________________
My pics!!
'03 Rennie w/all Tupperware
Custom Roof Basket
Mopar Tubular Brush Guard
Garmin GPS V & Laptop w/Nav software
RAM products laptop mount
Maglite w/mount
Rear cargo bay tool cabinet
AllJs Rear Shelf
Rear receiver
250k miles!
LOST #CR051230

GPS V pros:
Bigger display, easier to read when dash-mounted.
Auto-routing
Ability to switch display mode from portrait to landscape (as Cacher123 mentioned).
19MB memory to upload detailed maps, routes, etc.
Rotateable antenna for use on dash or in hand.

cons:
bigger and heavier than most handheld GPS units.
uses 4 AA batteries (most handhelds use two).
Black and white display
Serial interface (may need a USB-Serial adapter on newer computers)

Having said that, I have had my V for about a year now and really like it. The auto-routing alone makes it useful, and being able to download detailed maps just adds to the enjoyment. If you need a color screen or USB connectivity, the Map60 series may be a better way to go. The quad-filar antenna is a bit better under heavy vegetation but with the antenna on my V I really haven't had any problems. I agree with Polly - look on geocaching.com to see if there is a get-together in your area so you can see and compare all the different flavors out there. If there isn't a get-together sometime soon you may be able to contact a few people in your area to see if you can get some info from them on what they use. Heck, I found my first geocache with an old Magellan 2000 and it is still functional. Its just like everything else - buy the uinit you think you'll use the most, regardless of how many bells and whistles it has.

_________________
Kevin
AD5VG
Just another red Jeep in the world...
L.O.S.T. #KB051963