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I am looking to get a gps hand held device. I know there are a lot out there. So I guess what I really am looking for is the biggest bang for my buck.
any input would be great thanks

@Alston Neal
That's all well and good......
Now if you can learn to create a track on HAZ's powerful Route Manager and be able to follow it from the couch, to the Fridge, to the Bathroom, to the Bedroom.... That's when I'll be impressed.

@The Eagle
Dang you spoiled my surprise. That was gonna be my next project.

I like the Oregon 450T I barely know how to use. I also liked that 60CX I sold to PLC920483957694856749 but now that I have the Oregon I don't miss the 60CX. I would have visited it, but Paul moved 500 miles away, to Globe, in a big hurry when I moved to within 20 miles of him in California. I have that effect on some people, I guess.

azbackpackr wrote:PLC920483957694856749

azbackpackr wrote:PLC920483957694856749

Liz has inadvertently stumbled upon my numerological code... This was to be my new screen name once I'd attained total enlightenment. Of course, that can't happen until I figure out how to use all the advanced GPS functions that will help me find said enlightenment... I could just cruise to Gilbert, have a beer with Chumley and call it a day.

On the etrex 20, if you go into menu there is an option regarding startup mode - you have to select the non-default option. Then when the GPS starts up when you plug it into the USB port you can select one mode vs another. In the one mode the GPS is powered by the USB, but you can't navigate on the GPS, you can only access the file system. In the other mode you can use the GPS, browse menus, check maps, etc. Not sure if your 62 has the same features.

After enough digging I finally got a 'fix' for the Trip Computer vs actual Track Log distance on Garmin devices...

Here it is, right from the horse's mouth (Garmin) as it were... or is it the other end? [-X

To decrease or eliminate the differences between the Trip Computer and Track Log:
- Set Track Log to 1 second recording (What?!!)
- Clear Track Log
- Clear Trip Computer
The GPS data should now be in “sync” providing similar or exact information concerning distance.

If I set my 62st to log a point every second the track log would be full in less than 3 hours... so much for a real-world fix!
So for all intents and purposes I'll use the trip computer values as a guesstimate of my distance (elevation gain as well), subtracting 1/5th from the values on the trip computer. (Now after a dozen hikes/drives I've found the 62st reads consistent 19% too high.

When I talked to Garmin today about a few other issues I asked about this error factor and got the same response as years ago, that's just the way it is. To which I responded, 'shouldn't better technology reduce the error factor instead of raise it? The error factor on the 76cs & 76csx GPS's I have owned was 2% and it's now 19%?
It served no further purpose :bdh: to ask why about other backwards technology so I just thanked him for the information and ended the call.

CannondaleKid wrote: - Set Track Log to 1 second recording (What?!!)

On my last hike that would have amounted to 39,640 points.

The Oregon 450T that I've been using for a couple of years now, seems to be a little closer (As long as you keep up with the Software updates)
It's consistently around 10% high on Miles, and the AEG I believe is pretty close.

Saturdays Hike read
18.79 Miles on the Trip Computer, trued up to
17.18 Miles, or 8.6% high. Once you take the scribbles out that it leaves for Breaks/Lunch, it was more like
16.92 Miles or 10.9% high.

Too bad GPS for hiking is such a niche market. And too bad that Steve Jobs didn't hike when he was alive, or he might've reinvented the hiking GPS to be a beautiful, innovative, and intuitive device. (Garmin figured out how to charge people exorbitantly more than what something is actually worth on their own).

Of course the JobsGPS would only do whatever Steve Jobs decided that we wanted it to do, exactly the way he wanted it, with no real chance for you to do anything your own way with it, but it would have booted some other companies square in the behind to give people competing products that steal most of the ease and function Jobs would have created, but added the flexibility and customization desired.

But instead we have Garmin (and maybe Magellan) unnovating the worst user experience possible.

We are so blessed!

chumley wrote:unnovating

well said, email steve, tcook@apple.com

:SB:

Apparently, on the Garmin 62S, you can delete a preset profile, but not a profile you (accidentally) create yourself. You see, when you select a pre-loaded/default profile, it has a delete button. But a profile you (accidentally) create? No such delete button. :tt:

Why would I be against the profile wall? Because I simply want it to look like my old 60csx. Apparently, such a thing *is* possible: It is called the "Classic Profile". It's even there in the profile list. (It could even be deleted, unlike the one you [accidentally] created, and have since renamed to a string of obscenities.) Yet, when you "mouse over" (or whatever it is called) the "Classic" button, and click enter, does it select that as your profile? No. No, it does not. It simply shows you that you can move it up or down in the profile list or -- if it is not a profile you have (accidentally) created, delete it. As to actually using it? That's a mystery which no amount of Googling reveals.

Garmin? I hate you with the intensity of a thousand suns.

Wow - I was actually going to buy a gps......now? No so much. I'd rather enjoy my lost sorry butt than confound and confuse myself with technology "advances" per se.

Thanks for the rather engaging conversation thread about the merits - or lack thereof of GPS.....no GPS for me!

Kwai Chang wrote:I'd rather enjoy my lost sorry butt

My GPS will tell me how lost I am in 5 different languages!

Kwai Chang wrote:Thanks for the rather engaging conversation thread about the merits - or lack thereof of GPS.....no GPS for me!

A gps is a good tool I have a garmin 60sx and love it and it can tell me what time it is...when the sun and moon rises/sets...how far i am from something in a straight line...points of interest in an area...miles i've hiked...how fast...how much aeg...and other stuff...Do i have to have one when i hike? No Has it helped me? yes

@Kwai Chang
I use to say similar things about GPS, was very old school and proud of it for awhile, however, I must admit getting a GPS has led to more discoveries for me, a higher sense of confidence in unknown areas, more efficient trips, and similar to Bob I have become a bit of a data junky myself and find tons of merit in GPS...

can I hike without? sure did it for years...however, for me I can honestly say my GPS has been nothing but enhanced and been a positive for my backpacking and hiking experiences..

Give me a paper map and I can still resection a point, call for fire ;) , identify an area to an 8 digit grid, identify a terrain feature, plan a route, find a known point etc..but I will never undertake another trip without GPS to be honest..

I have got turned around a few times solo back when I just carried a map and compass, the dogs were not much help in confirming where I was at and where I wanted to go...with a GPS, in terms of navigation, you will never be solo

@friendofThundergod
Also... Maps don't help a whole lot in the dark.
I carry a map for the Big Picture.
I always have my GPS, with a route or routes in the area I'm hiking and spare batteries... and am usually with someone else with a GPS for backup.
Also....You'd be surprised how easy it is to get to some of the remote Trailheads with a GPS loaded with a Route drawn by HAZ's powerful "Route Manager"

The Eagle wrote:Also....You'd be surprised how easy it is to get to some of the remote Trailheads with a GPS loaded with a Route drawn by HAZ's powerful "Route Manager"

I have sometimes thought that finding the beginning TH is the toughest part. Our powerful "Route Manager" really does help eliminate this problem and I'm starting to find it just as easy to post against our hike descriptions, helpful GPS driving routes as to post the GPS hiking routes. Actually, I just completed one last night (#6047) for public viewing on HAZ- Route Manager.

The Eagle wrote: Maps don't help a whole lot in the dark

I know they weren't invented when you were born...but there are headlamps nowadys ;) oh wait...you called them miners hats.

@Grasshopper
my last two hikes were all severely limited by inability to get to TH..I need to look into that feature..

While it is limited to roads that appear on the "Map" layer of Route Manager, a very useful feature (unknown to many) is the right-click "Directions From/To" option. Click the points you want to start and end, and through the magic of the Google machine, your route is chosen for you. (It's pretty good at choosing the most efficient -- quickest, not necessarily shortest -- route, but not always). The google driving route can be converted directly to a HAZ Route Manager track and exported to your GPS device.

Some trailheads occur on roads that don't appear on the "Map" layer, but I will still often use the "Directions From/To" feature to where the last known road does appear on the map, and then just pencil in the remaining portion by hand.