Gps

[RelicHound]

im the market for a hand held GPS for my dad as a christmas present,i think one would serve him well since he is always finding out of the way places and when he does he uses the old methods of marking paths and directions{puting orange tape on tree limbs,putting rocks at the bases of trees,etc etc} so a GPS would really come in handy,somthing simple to use and one that doesnt have tons of bells and whistles just one that can tell him how to get from point A to B. id like to keep it under $150{is that possible?} he has also talked about his interest in geocaching and said hed like to try that someday,can this be done with a base line unit?

 

[Ed in KC]

They make some very small handheld units that would be perfect. Again with the Bass Pro Shops plug, but in their advert, which I got Sat., they have a Garmin eTrex Legend for $99.88, four days only-Nov.22-25. I just bought my first GPS last week, the Garmin Nuvi 660, and after thinking that I wouldn't want one, I'm already in love with it. I bought mine from a place called Buydig.com, and they were a couple hundred dollars cheaper than anywhere else that I found--I ordered it wed., it was at my door Sat.

 

[Sandpiper2007]

I have a Garmin E-trex. There are great. Whatever you buy, buy a Garmin. They are the best.

 

[booker]

Wally has the Garmin 330 for $129 this Fri 5 to 11 am

 

[6000 Di Pro]

Garmin's E-trex's are certainly easy to learn how to operate and you can run the controls with 1 hand(the one your holding it with) Having tryed a friends $100 Etrex I went out and bought the Etrex Summit about 6 years ago mainly because of the electronic compass feature. You can stand still and the compass will tell you which direction to travel in to your "waypoint" that you have saved.Cost was like $249 but you can sometimes find them on sale for like $200 now.

With the $100 etrex(plain jane model which is still awsome) you need to move at about 50' before the compass will change direction telling you which way to go.

Now the whole kicker about the Summit is i do what i call the quarter trick(4th. demonstration the other week took place) I had a friend and my brother go on the back side of the house and drop a quarter in the grass and then "save the waypoint" by pushing the enter button 2X and then come and give me the GPS unit=I go through the programs and find the waypoint they saved or i can just push in nearest location and push navigate and then i follow the direction the compass is spinning(Might have to go around something if it's in your way) anyways i get out back and am watching only the screen on the GPS unit and it's telling me like 5' to the spot and then i walk barely past it and the compass will spin 180 degrees and show like 1.4' behind me and i back up and maybe go left and right a couple of 3 X's kinda X-ing the spot and finally i say right here. The quarter is certainly within reach of where i'm standing but it takes me a minute to feel around in the grass and Bingo here's your quarter i say. Yes there that accurate if you have "locked onto 4 satellite's" and it will say like 11' of accuracy on the bottom of the screen.(if it says like 125' of accuracy don't try this trick as you probably wont pull off the stunt)=You need to be out in an fairly open area to do this. In the woods you can get that accurate/but sometimes it's like 34' of accuracy and most time 17' of accuracy. If i had say a tree stand out in the woods and i couldn't find the spot i was looking for I'd give up hunting. Backlite's on the unit will allow you to do this at night also.

There are lots of other features= you can use it as a digital speedometer going down the road and it will say like 52.4 MPH your going(leave it leaned up against your windshield on your dash). If you have a waypoint saved like your house and you drive by it the compass will spin so fast if you went by your house while driving on the road and you was watching the compass you'd snap you neck=Quicker then a snap of your finger the compass spins even on the $100 Etrex.

Too many other features to list that i could tell you about but to say the least GPS's are awsome.

My brother Robert tells me the other day he's going to get one(GPS) so if he finds a deep coin and the ground is still frozen down under this spring and he can't dig it up he can go back in a week or two and find it again...lol ///He's hooked after the demonstration i gave them. (Oops i'm giving him all my secret's)
Kevin

 

[RelicHound]

sounds like hes gonna get the etrex then,every review ive read said they are great for the price and i think itll serve him well. after reading those posts i will have to get myself a hand held unit. i had one on my depth finder for my old boat and it came in handy and that was years ago so im sure even the cheap models now are nicer than that expensive one i had back 6-7 years ago.

 

[6000 Di Pro]

The quarter is out of the grass and in my pocket(it cost them .25 for the demo..lol=Finders keepers right??) but if you punch in these coordinates you be right where it was in my back yard.

Can't believe i got locked onto (4) satellite's in my house and at 23' of accuracy to top that off as i'm about 8' from the window in my house.

Think i'm using the WGS 84 "datum" program these #'s into your GPS
N 43* 20.100
W072* 10.778

From your location to mine it will tell you how far away you are as the crow flies/If he stays in a direct straight line.