• This topic has 48 replies, 23 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by andeh.
Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 49 total)
  • Which GPS do I want?
  • andeh
    Full Member

    A portion of the family have decided that what I really need for Christmas is a GPS, which I suppose I agree with, now that I think about it. Trouble is, I have no idea which ones I should be looking at.

    The main reason I would like a GPS is for use with my mountain bike, displaying OS style maps, following trails I’ve set, and helping me not get lost. Likewise, I suppose I’d probably also use it on the road bike, on the rare occasions…..and now that I think about it, it would probably get used for a bit of hiking too, so not completely replacing a map, but certainly being used along side (so map can stay in bag)

    So what sort of thing should I be looking at? The Garmin bike range seem like a good place to start, but would it also be worth looking at their hiking range? I’d quite like to plan routes on some sort of software before heading out, is this something that’s included/can be easily aquired? Also, if using on the road, a turn by turn feature might be useful?

    Essentially I don’t actually know what’s out there, beyond Garmin, or really know what features I’d use…so advice please? Thanks in advance!

    jb72
    Free Member

    I’m considering something for mtb / walking / geocaching. Looking at the Garmin etrex 20x – the 30x doesn’t seem to add much for the extra cost. Not sure if it meets your road turn by turn criteria.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    devash
    Free Member

    Have a look at the Garmin eTrex 20 and 30, or the Garmin Dakota 20.

    Trekster
    Full Member

    I prefer to use maps. A Garmin type tool that can give me a grid ref at the press of a button when/if on the odd occasion I am “lost” would be good without the usual map/compass faff 😆

    andyg1966
    Full Member

    etrex 20 or 30. End of story!

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    For what you want, ignore the bike range. Etrex if you like buttons, Dakota if you like touch screen and Oregon if you want a bigger display.

    andeh
    Full Member

    Brill, that’s genuinely exactly the sort of info I was after Scotroutes, makes perfect sense. I’m just trying to wade through the guff now.

    What’s the deal with the maps, is it worth getting a bundle with their topo maps included?

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    The Topo maps are ok-ish for the road, pants for mtb/walking. You can get Ordnance Survey mapping at significant cost or use OSM mapping for free. The latter might look a little unfamiliar and is only as good as the contributors. It may well be good enough for you. In fact many prefer it.

    Either way, you can install Garmin Basecamp on a PC for route planning, using whatever mapping you have on your GPS and upload it to your GPS when you need it. You can also download tracks from the GPS to Basecamp for archive or modification.

    CraigW
    Free Member

    The Dakota has now been replaced by the Etrex Touch 25 / 35.

    Most of them come preloaded with the Topoactive maps, which is based on OSM. I think that should be good enough for most things (along with a paper map if necessary).

    avdave2
    Full Member

    The Etrex Touch 35 looks good, I’ve been thinking of getting the 520 for the bike but the mapping is a bit limited. It looks like the 35 is compatible with the speed and cadence sensor as well which is good, I’ve just bought those only to find they won’t work with my Forerunner 610 watch which is irritating. My fault for buying them in a hurry when they were cheap.
    So I’m guessing as long as I only want basic bike functions such as speed distance and cadence and route following without any need for the more sophisticated training options then this would be a better buy than the 520. If I’m wrong please let me know!

    dovebiker
    Full Member

    I have an Edge 800 which has lots of functionality for the bike, but the display is quite small to navigate by. I’ve just bought an Oregon 600 – screen is 50% bigger but still able to record HR, cadence speed if needed. Also has swappable batteries if I’m riding for more than 10 hrs.

    Bruce
    Full Member

    We have been using a Garmin 62s this works well for walking, sea kayaking and cycling. The main drawback is the bike mount but it’s workable if you attach a safety line.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    garmin 520 with talkytoaster maps? works well for me.

    cheshirecat
    Free Member

    Etrex (mine’s an older one) with OpenCycleMaps works for me. Constantly updated as well.

    benp1
    Full Member

    Don’t get a cycling specific GPS, they’re generally too cycling specific

    The handheld styles ones (etrex,dakota,oregon) can be used for other things as well as handheld, and you can get bikemounts easily. I have an oregon and use it on my bike. You can use it in the car if you want to, I’ve thought about sticking it on my motorbike but CBA

    They usually take AA batteries which makes life a bit easier if you’re exploring for a while (like overnight)

    avdave2
    Full Member

    I’ve just seen an Amazon review on the Etrex 35 touch which would seem perfect for me but it suggests there is a limit of 50 waypoints per route which could be an issue for longer bike rides. I have contacted Garmin but in the meantime can anyone clarify that?

    andeh
    Full Member

    I’m liking the look of the Oregon 600 at the moment, it seems to be pretty much exactly what I want, plus the AA size batteries are a nice bonus ove the Edge ones. I’m not too fussed about the additional size, as it looks a little more robust than the cycle specific ones. It’s also only about the same price as one of the eTrex 30s.

    wheelie
    Full Member

    I bought an Oregon 600 from Handtec recently for £199. No maps included, but mainly use OSM in various guises. OS can be downloaded via Birds Eye if needed.(3000 sq kilometres for £20)
    For Trekster if using only to find co ordinates Viewranger on Phone takes a bit of beating.

    CraigW
    Free Member

    I’ve just seen an Amazon review on the Etrex 35 touch which would seem perfect for me but it suggests there is a limit of 50 waypoints per route which could be an issue for longer bike rides. I have contacted Garmin but in the meantime can anyone clarify that?

    That’s the same for most Garmins – they are limited to 50 points per route, if using autorouting. This is actually quite a lot – with autorouting, you don’t need many points, ie one per junction is usually enough. So it can be enough for pretty long rides, ie a few hundred km for road cycling.
    If you switch off autorouting, then you can have 250 points per route. For really long rides, you can split it into several sections, and load them as required.
    Or you can load a track to follow instead, which lets you have several thousand points per track.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    As above. 50 waypoints is fine for road stuff. Off road, load it as a track.

    avdave2
    Full Member

    Thanks CraigW and scotroutes, it sounds like the 35 touch may be a better bet than the 520.

    andeh
    Full Member

    Just had a mooch over to Go Outdoors to have a play with the Oregon. I can see what people mean, in their reviews, when they say that they feel a little clunky compared to modern smart phones. It felt ok, but similar to my 6 year old cheapo Samsung in terms of speed. Is this universal across the range? Are any other brands faster? It was OK, but I kind of felt like I would be buying a betamax…..if you catch my drift?

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Slow? As in moving through the menus is slow?

    I’ve found this with more recent updates on my 510.

    andeh
    Full Member

    It had got the 1:50,000 OS maps loaded and I found that there was a lot of lag as it loaded the maps whend dragging about. The menus didn’t seem to be much of an issue tbh. Having said that, I can’t imagine there will be many instances of browsing a map on the thing, as it’ll be following the location itself. Still, it does feel like it’s a few years behind.

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    Satmap Active 12 – UK – based in Leatherhead.

    Proper OS mapping and the way you can get it to orientate the maps to the direction you are riding means that, if you zoom down to about 1:3k, you can follow a route around singletrack quite feasibly.

    The bike mount they sell puts it a bit high on your bars but I have an out-front mount so I can put it further in front and lower.

    a user comment from their site :

    Having used a top of the range Garmin touchscreen i have no hesitation in saying that the Satmap Active12 is superior in screen clarity and general useability. Im a devotee of long distance walking and for me the Satmap 12 is an essential piece of kit

    dantsw13
    Full Member

    Garmin’s are definitely clunky compared to modern smartphones. I have an Etrex 20

    andeh
    Full Member

    Well that sounds interesting, I’ve never heard of them before. Anyone else used them?

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    Like a Garmin then?

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    I got a Garmin Edge Touring recently (for the mapping – not interested in any of that Live Segments/Power rubbish that you get on the 810 or the 1000) and I have to say, initial impressions are that Garmin are simply trading on the fact that they’re the first name anyone thinks of in the world of GPS cycle computers (to the extent that it’s almost a generic brand name, like Hoover).

    Maybe I’m still discovering it’s capabilities but it’s really not that intuitive and it keeps trying to be too clever, second guessing routes. Garmin Connect is bloody awful too, really not user-friendly.

    doordonot
    Free Member

    I have the Oregon 450 with OS 1:50k base mapping. I chose it over the bike specific Garmins at the time (2012ish) for two key reasons: swappable AA batteries (means multi-day riding, by carrying spare batteries that aren’t device specific and reassurance of picking up spare batteries from most garages), and bigger display than the bike range. It doesn’t seem clunky compared to the Edge series and the larger touch screen means I can drag the map around without accidentally catching one of the buttons. It doesn’t have the bike-specific training software found on the Edge series (I can see the appeal of the virtual partner), but then it is foremost a hiking device. It does have software functionality for cadence and HRM so if you take your training seriously you could pair those devices with a power metre and the Oregon and get all the data you need. I use it for hiking and running as well but is has loads of other applications too which make it quite versatile for most types of outdoor activities.

    The key downside to the 450 (which may have been fixed on the 600), is the amount of waypoints that can be stored in a journey. Iirc it’s around 35 miles which means having to do a bit of text edit gpx stitching after a ride before uploading to Strava (I don’t use base camp). However I can prepare a gpx route of 100’s of miles and it’ll display as a complete route on the device when I select it to follow.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    This seems to be worse at certain scaling levels. FWIW, the OSM maps scroll very quickly indeed.

    andeh
    Full Member

    In terms of mapping, has anyone used the Talkytoaster maps opposed to having the OS set? Are there any other options?

    andyg1966
    Full Member

    I use talkytoaster OS GB and they’re fine. Go for the paid for £10 ones and give the guy some credit. Colours and legends are very similar to OS GB.

    alternatively try
    garmin.openstreetmap.nl

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    +1 for Satmap. Garmin’s user interface is awful. Or try ViewRanger on a smartphone in a waterproof case.

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    Like a Garmin then?

    except a British company, a decent user interface, a bigger screen, not touchscreen so my muddy fingers aren’t going to make a mess of the screen, and trusted by quite a lot of mountain rescue teams :

    https://satmap.com/rescue

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    But the “feature” you highlighted – that of having the track aligned in direction of travel – is also available on Garmin. So why highlight it?

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    But the “feature” you highlighted – that of having the track aligned in direction of travel – is also available on Garmin. So why highlight it?

    for the same reason people highlight that the garmin takes AA batteries and so can be used all day – so does the Satmap.

    roverpig
    Full Member

    Spent a fair bit of time comparing a Satmap with a Garmin GpsMao64s for walking/running duties (as I wanted proper buttons for use with winter gloves). Went with the garmin in the end, but both pretty amazing bits of kit. Garmin screen seemed a little easier to read in bright sunlight, but main attraction was familiarity as we already have garmin bike (edge) and running (forerunner) devices and know our way around garmin connect.

    craig24
    Free Member

    Anyone know of a good mount for the Etrex 20?

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 49 total)

The topic ‘Which GPS do I want?’ is closed to new replies.