Thread: WHICH GPS IS BEST FOR OFF AND ON ROAD

G'day Clarkey,

I use a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx for on and off road. It is designed as a handheld unit but can be vehicle mounted easy with duct tape... It has a mapping function that I can use with custom made maps, or with 3rd party maps. These maps can be topographic or street maps. It is map routable meaning I can use it in urban setting for finding my way around strange places. It has altimeter, electronic compass, elevation data and a comprehensive trip computer function. It can run independently on 2xAA batteries or can be plugged into the 12v socket. It is water proof to a few metres for a certain duration (details not memorised). It is not touch screen but the buttons are big enough for big cold fingers. All in all, at the price I paid (approx NZD499) I figure I have a pretty handy device giving good value in and out of the vehicle on or off road.

Good luck with this thread, sort of like asking how long is a piece of string...

Cheers,

Phil

Suppose it depends on your budget too....?

pretty much any garmin Nuvi road gps and the TOPO maps as provided by Garmin is a good match

These AULRO Subscriber Offer - cheap on-road/off-road GPS units are hard to beat for the money. Not the out-of-the-box solution some look for, but nice and cheap and yet to have one totally die that I know of.

If money (and size) is no object, I reckon an iPAD with Bit Map Bit Map for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store and Metroview MetroView Australia GPS Navigation for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store would be nice.

A few of the advantages of the one Ranga mentioned:

• Really good price
• Good size
• Can run on-road navigation such as Igo, Tom-Tom or Garmin
• Can run off-road navigation like OziExplorer
• Help is available on a forum that you are already part of
• Can be customised with different skins etc if you are into that sort of thing
• Can get some free maps from various sources

Originally Posted by windsock

G'day Clarkey,

I use a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx for on and off road. It is designed as a handheld unit but can be vehicle mounted easy with duct tape... It has a mapping function that I can use with custom made maps, or with 3rd party maps. These maps can be topographic or street maps. It is map routable meaning I can use it in urban setting for finding my way around strange places. It has altimeter, electronic compass, elevation data and a comprehensive trip computer function. It can run independently on 2xAA batteries or can be plugged into the 12v socket. It is water proof to a few metres for a certain duration (details not memorised). It is not touch screen but the buttons are big enough for big cold fingers. All in all, at the price I paid (approx NZD499) I figure I have a pretty handy device giving good value in and out of the vehicle on or off road.

Good luck with this thread, sort of like asking how long is a piece of string...

Cheers,

Phil

I've got one too. One more feature of the 60CSx is the high sensitivity of the antenna. Much better at picking up satellites than any other GPS I've owned under trees or in a concrete jungle.

BTW it gives you turn by turn guidance, but doesn't talk to you. For that you'll need to get a dedicated in car GSP unit.

I've been using a Hema Navigator 5 and my iPhone (with TomTom enhanced GPS cradle) simultaneously for several months now. On the iPhone I use Memory-Map ($40 plus 1:25k map costs) for topo and the TomTom ($90) for street and I'm extremely happy with both apps. With 2 GPS devices I have the luxury of having one zoomed in for detail and the other zoomed out for the big picture.

The Hema's good but I've decided to sell it and replace it with a 3G iPad - just waiting for the iPad2 (next month?). The grand plan for the iPad is to get a cradle and a BT GPS receiver as the iPad has a low grade GPS. I'll also connect the iPad to the sound system. I have a Defender so that will probably mean replacing the head unit - which won't happen for a while. Memory-Map on a 10" screen should be awesome.

IMO advantage of an iPad or iPhone over a dedicated GPS is that they can do a lot more stuff. I have the equivalent of 100Kgs of books loaded onto my iPhone (including the Defender manuals converted from PDF to eBook format, travel guides and novels). I can check my emails and surf the web when I stop somewhere that has mobile coverage. Then there's movies and music and... you get the idea.

I'll test BitMap when I get the iPad and see if I like it better than Memory-Map or not.

Originally Posted by d3syd

BTW it gives you turn by turn guidance, but doesn't talk to you. For that you'll need to get a dedicated in car GSP unit.

The wife tries to give turn by turn guidance for free...

Nah, seriously, this 60CSx is one very useful unit. Cheers d3syd, I had forgotten about the antenna sensitivity. Very useful in bush and city alike.

I like it that I can customise a map on the PC using a basic GIS mapping software and then upload it for use 'out there'. I used this aspect professionally with mapping from the PC-driven design stage to field 'proofing' stage for wind farms. I would go from the Prado to the Quad bike then on foot and all the while take the GPS with me. Something not feasible with a permanent vehicle based one. I have used in on foot in a city not familiar to me to help me get about.