HikeArizona.COM

Any of you have any history/firsthand use with the Onix GPS devices made by Bushnell? Hadn't heard of these before.

They are pretty advanced little gadgets, pulling in XM radio and realtime weather reports.
"NEXRAD weather data downlinked via XM NavWeather, layered over a georeferenced satellite map of your location keeps you prepared."

They use actual satellite images too...
"Now you can navigate and plan your adventure using actual satellite images and aerial photography. Log on to our Web site, download an image to your GPS unit and it's instantly calibrated (georeferenced) to the satellites for navigation."
Uses a SiRF Star III 20-channel GPS receiver (WAAS enabled).

The downsides to this are: (1) the $$$ after purchasing the unit. The XM NavWeather alone (without the radio) runs $10/month. You have to purchase the satellite images, and they can only come from the Bushnell maps pay site. I know you pay for National Geographic TOPO or Garmin TOPO ($100+), but then you have the whole US. I can't get into the site far enough without owning a unit to determine how much theirs will cost. (2) Looks like they probably won't be too Mac friendly, either, and I'm doubting there's any way to get Garmin files on it(?).

One of the biggest reasons Magellan's so appealing is the ability to use National Geographic TOPO software on them, which seems to me to be much nicer than the Garmin TOPO software...I'm not sure if anyone would disagree with that assessment?

I've used the Magellan Triton 500 and two of the 2000 models and the ability to use TOPO is not all it's cracked up to be. It's neat to have the maps available but there is no interaction between the unit and the map, that is; with a garmin and mapsource, if you scroll around you can get elevation information, or land feature information by pointing at a contour/feature, you cannot do this with the Magellan unit. Also, it seems to be a gamble that the Magellan unit actually works the way it's supposed to. Of the three units I had, only one (the second 2000) was nearly fully functional (it still had some bugs that caused the unit to lock up sporadically). If I were going to go with a Magellan unit (which I probably wouldn't) I would get one of the more advanced Explorist units if possible. Of any of the Magellans I've used these were the best/most functional. My money still goes for the Garmin Etrex Vista HCX, all the features, none of the bugs, and a decent price.

I've heard that the Bushnells are neat, but I've yet to get my hands on one. If anyone knows where I can check one out locally I will try to go play with it.

very interesting. i hadn't heard that from anyone with a magellan before. the triton 500 was the one i have been seriously considering buying. it had all the features i wanted, and was much less than it's closer garmin counterpart.

matt, when you say there is no interaction with the unit and the map, you mean with some garmins you literally point the gps at something and it tells you info about what you're pointing to? could you clarify a bit more (i'm totally gps-clueless at this point)! why do you recommend the explorist units with magellan?

since i found out that none of the stuff being posted onto HAZ is magellan-friendly (but rather geared toward garmin formats), i've been looking at the colorado 400t. i don't need the wireless beaming future...that seems kind of like wasted technology for most hikers...but i like the garmin topo maps ability (i guess could be put on the etrex vista hcx as a separate purchase?) and the electronic compass. but maybe outside of that, there's very little difference between the vista hcx and the colorado 400t. have to look into that a bit more?!

What I mean by map interactive is that if you use the cursor to point to a map feature (a contour line, or a named place) the garmin GPSs will give a little popup to tell you the elevation or the place name. The magellans don't do that, they essentially overlay a "paper" map on the screen. I've never been very fond of on-screen mapping though, too little exposure on the map. Not enough real area to navigate by. I like the explorist I have because its easy to use and has never locked up or bugged out in any way. All of the tritans I used had some kind of problem. I think the Tritans would probably be a great starter unit, I just think you would find yourself wanting to upgrade pretty quickly to something with more real navigation features. The colorados are neat, but I'm not entirely sold on the touch screen GPSs. The Tritan 2000 had a TS and I kept forgetting to lock out the screen and would find myself using the unit in German or some language by accident - pocket selections...

May be best to just "flip-a-coin" and go with it! ;)

I personally still have a lot to learn about all this, but I am very happy so far with my new higher-end Garmin 60CSx purchase! I do like the Natl Geographic TOPO! software better(much better detail & compatable with the Magellan) than the Garmin Topo US 2008 software(compatable with the Garmin), but what I did was buy both softwares and use the Natl Geog TOPO! to print my maps from that I take with me hiking along with my Garmin unit that has the Garmin Topo US 2008 loaded. After each hike, I download the GPS Track on my computer to the Garmin Mapsource Program and also download to the Natl Geog TOPO! Program to see the differences, tracks, and profiles, and to also have a hiking track TOPO! copy for the next time I want to do that hike..

I personally use a Garmin "Summit". Although fairly basic, it is really a great unit. I don't have any need for topo map data build into my GPS unit. I use my GPS in conjunction with Terrain Navigator, topographic map viewing software. My topo maps are MAPTECH USGS topographic series. This is an awesome combination. The software is excellent and the maps are exactly the same as the paper hardcopy USGS topo maps. Before every trip I will place waypoint markers along my route and sometimes trace the complete route with my mouse. Once I am done with that I simply download all of the data into my GPS unit. Tracing the route ahead of time allows me to view a profile of my trip to see things like total distance, min/max elevation, and total climbing feet. I then print my topo maps of the area that I will be going with all of the waypoint data on the map for later reference on the trail. When I get to the location of my trailhead the display of the GPS will show the exact trail that I am wanting to hike which coincides with my paper map.