Topic: Damn GPS's!

[Jeffy]

So, I've got this Garmin GPS III Plus for a few years.  It's always has this problem of staying on and shut down after a few seconds.  I flashed the memory a few times and then other problems popped up.  So anyway, I  spent $250+/- years ago.  It's a great GPS when working though.  It has maps built into it which is great for driving cross country.  I've also got the MapSource CD's so I can store stuff on the PC.  I D/L the stored data and I can see what speed I was doing at any time on the trip.  Not to mention the GPS is designed to sit on a dash or be used as a hand held.  I've got a remote antanna cable which allows me to put the antenna just about anywhere.

In any case, it needs to be repaired.  Garmin wants $125 to fix it.  That's their set fee.  I'm sure they're going to end up replacing the guts.

Now, I've also been looking at other GPS's.  I could get an eTrek to replace it but then I'm loosing some features.  Waterproof vs. water resistand is a big one.  I've been looking at a Rino 130 wich combines a FRS/GMRS with a GPS.

So, I've got to choose.  Repair my GPS or sell it off and use that to buy a new GPS.  Thoughts?

[shotgun]

I have a geko 201 and am looking to upgrade myself. I think I'm going to get something in the etrex line with mapping this time.

I have an uncle that works at Garmin, they really support our troops. They get bags of fan mail everyday from troops in afganistan and iraq saying telling stories about  how a gps as simple as the geko 101 saved their lives.

I got the feeling that Garmin has sent some freebies over to the troops that lost their gps because of an errant bullet. Yet my uncle did not come out and say as much.

I hope you figure out what your going to do here. I would be tempted to go new. I think I would avoid the rhino. I don't use frs or grs now so what  good would a gps with it do me? You might have more use for that type of thing though.

[Jeffy]

From some reviews I've read, they do have Garmin's in the sandbox.  Some of then have been good while others aren't so great.

The Geko is probably their cheapest model.  Like I mentioned the eTrek is nice but it isn't waterproof.  It also has trouble connecting to sats since the antenna is hidden in the body of the GPS.

I used to have a Megellan GPS 2000 before my Garmin.  It was a robust unit that worked well for what it did.  It was a 8 channel serial setup so it wasn't as good as the current 12 channel parallel units but it never really let me down.  I wanted an integrated map so that one the reason for getting the Garmin III+.  The V has more internal memory and WAAS which I don't really car that much about.

FRS is nice to have sometimes.  They work well for cheap coms.  I've also got my CB and for any real distance I've got a 2M band radio.  I don't have a FRS yet.  I'm wondering if they're going to discontinue the GPS V soon.  It seems they are phasing out their robust workhorses for cheaper units.

Hard choice though.  To keep it or sell it to get a new one.

Here's the specs on mine. http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsIIIp/

[happy024]

I have a garmin eTreks Legend that I got off eBay a couple of months ago for $70. It had a hard time connecting to the satilites untill I got a power connector for it. Now it connects 10 times faster and turns off when I turn the jeep off. I got a mount from RAM Mounts and have it above the drivers side speaker.
I thought that the eTreks where water resistent.

I love mine
Just my 2 cents.

[shotgun]

Most of the GPS in the sandbox are personal. Yes the DOD sent some but not enough, Where have we heard that before.... not enough hummv armor not enough personal body armor. Alot of the guys are getting care packages with GPS units.

When I was looking hard I found the best prices at broken leg daves (http://www.brokenlegdave.com/).

As far as waterproof even your gpsIII is only IPX7 or 1 meter for 30 minutes.

I'm looking at the etrex legend cx.

[Jeffy]

I forgot to mention that many of the accounts I've read, they had to buy their own.  I think contractors are even using the Rino's.

Well, I didn't look at the specs of the eTreks.  I know a lot of Jeepers jumped onto the older GPS eMap, which wasn't IPX7.  Funny thing is that they do not list the original GPS eMAP on their site.

It's hard to decide since $125 isn't enough to buy the GPS I'd want but then I don't really want to spend too much either.  The remote antenna works great though.  Also the GPS uses 4 standard AA's and lasts 36hrs.  Since I've got a DC power cord, that's not too much of a problem.  I also like that it can take 10-33v straight into it without having to deal with convertors.

[Chowmaster]

Most of the GPS in the sandbox are personal. Yes the DOD sent some but not enough, Where have we heard that before.... not enough hummv armor not enough personal body armor. Alot of the guys are getting care packages with GPS units.

the unit i was with issued us garmin etrek legends.  we also had plenty of body armor.  hmmv armor was questionable though...   i bought my own garmin and got quite a bit of use out of it.   never had any problems with it,  but the batteries will wear out fast with the backlight on.  otherwise it was badass.  also military gps (plggr i is what we called it) works really well if you know how to use it, just hella big and not cool like garmin.

[Jeffy]

That's one of the GPS's I'm looking at.  teh eTrex Legend can be had for >$130.  Then the next one up is the Legend C.  Adds color and USB which is really nice.  This is >$200.  The Rino 120 is s step down from the Legend C but adds FRS to it for just over $200. Then there is the Vista.  Haven't looked at it's specs yet.

As for battery life, I will run it on 12v DC so that shouldn't be a problem.

[chrisfranklin]

Have had a Garmin GPS V for the last four years (2002).  Used it mostly on-road and the device has probably saved me 10's of thousands in gas and time driving in LA.  GPS V was also one of the first that was WAAS-enabled (basically, higher navigational precision; apparently accuarate to within a few feet)

But a couple of things could stand to be improved:
1. It has 19mb storage.  This covers maps and points of interests for the city of Los Angeles and that's about it.  Need to drive out of town and you have to pull the maps from the included DVD.
2. Processing speed is a little slow at times, given the pace of traffic. But, you can adjust for it without too much difficulty. Enabling WAAS slows it even more, however.
3. The update DVD (ie. new points of interests; in four years time, a lot of stores/services in your city can come and go) runs 50-70 bucks (little pricey)

I don't really mind that the display is black and white and there is no voice prompting.  Unfortunately, the GPS V has been discontinued by Garmin!

TIP:  I paid $500 for this thing at a West Marine in 2002.  You can buy them nowadays for a couple hundred.  If you buy one that was manufactured in 2004 or 2005, you will be getting one with the DVD that has the latest Points-of-Interest updates.  GPS Vs made 2003 or before probably won't.  

If you don't want to spend a ton of money and use a PC (GPS V not Mac compatible) GPS V is a good choice.  If you have the cash, I'd probably shop around on CNET or Wired for their editor's  top picks for 2005-6.  But, those selections can run you $800-1200.

[Jeffy]

I've heard that the newer Garmin's will support Mac not.  It's not announced officially, but someone who works for them on the Adventure Rider Forums leaked it.

I think I've selected the one I should probably get if I upgrade, which I probably will.  I'll probably order a Garmin Legend C.  It's one of the new ones which use USB instead of the serial connector.  This means hooking stuff up to it would be a lot easier for the DIY.  It's also got 24mb instead of only 8mb's the Legend has.  I don't think I'd ever take advantage of the SD cards the new X series use.

I really like the look of the GPSMap 60 series though.  Better antenna and a bit more robust.  But then you pay a lot more in price.  I'm sure they sell a lot more eTrek series then anything else.

Too bad for the V.  I really liked the evolution of the series from II to V.

[lutzke21]

I have the etrex Legend.  I love it and it's perfect for what I need.  You will not be happy with the Rino.  It's features are about the same as the lowest level etrex (the yellow one) but with the added feature of sending your location to other Rinos.

[Jeffy]

From what I saw the Rino 130 was comparable with the eTrex Legend.  They both had Maping and an 8mb memory.  The only thing I didn't like about the GPS's was that they used Serial.  I already have MapSource & Topo and don't have a computer with a serial port anymore.

Although Amazon has a really good deal on the Garmin eTrex Legend for $119 with free shipping.  They also seem to have the best price for the Legend C at $209.  The Rino 130 was $199.