GPS Help Please ?

[Get Bit]

Okay IFISH Hunters here's the story:

Browsing the Joe's ad on Sunday I ran into the fact that Magellan has a $50 dollar rebate special on their GPS's right now. When I mentioned it to my wife she gave me the green light to go buy one for myself for father's day. Took Rauly with me over to Joe's for a look at the one I thought I wanted(Sportrak Map 149$) but saw the new Sportrak Meridian Platinum $300. This unit is much more expandable(mb) and has 16 mb already built in, many more bells and whistles. My question is : Does anybody know anything about either of these units and is the added $150 on the platinum worth it ? Any help would be appreciated.

[tailchaser]

It really depends on what you're going to do with it. Personally, I have one on my boat already so my handheld is pretty basic in design and I don't need the mapping space for it since I don't use it on the boat. I use the handheld almost strickly in the woods and for what I need it works perfectly, and simple is the key. However, if this is your only one and would like to use it for everything under the sun, then yes I would advise getting the one with more space. Merely for the fact it would suck to sell yourself short on something that you want to have for a long time.

The basics of both units are the same, however the cababilities are greater with the added memory for mapping programs, and some have added features the cheaper ones don't when it comes to screens and what not. Just sit and think of everything you want to use it for and the decision should come easily. The less you use it the cheaper one should be the choice. Obviously, the more you use it everyday, the more you'll appreciate the options that make it worth 150 bucks more.

tc

[Bait O' Eggs]

You gotta ask yourself how your going to use it.

In my opinion, if you are not buying a Garmin, you are making a mistake right off (ford chevy thing)

I have a Garmin 12, super simple and no super program capability etc... On sale for $133 right now at a non sponsor fishing store. I have it for pretty much one reason, to get back to where I was. I rarely have the need to go find a point I have never been to, or dont know the GPS coords.

95% of the time, I park the truck and set a waypoint. take off hunting etc.... when I want to get back to the truck, I "goto" the waypoint I set. Now lets assume I was elk hunting and killed an elk or took my boots off so I could go super stealth I can set a waypoint and return to the kill or my boots as the case may be

I have used my GPS in the boat ocean fishing. We go over a school of bait fish, or hit a school of coho, I set a waypoint and we can turn around and troll back thru the same location.

I use my GPS quite a bit and only use it for getting back to where I was, so I dont need all the mapping and memory. I currently have about 100 waypoints saved that I use repeatedly. I have this waypoint called "pickup" that gets reset every time I take off on foot. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

I have also used my GPS to find my buddy when he make a kill, and when he dropped me off and parked the truck on the other side of the canyon. He radioed me the GPS coords of where he was, and I plugged them in and went to it.

I only wish I could use more than the 6 or 8 characters to describe the waypoints I get. Sometimes it is tough to decide what you are going to call a point.

Tillamook Bar = Tbar
Spanish peak = Speak (what did you want me to say )
Pearl Lake = Plake (then you are not sure if that was paulina or pearl lake later)

1 year later, those abreviations leave you scratching your head as to where they are

[chummer]

GB, You might consider the meridian marine (Blue), it has aloota marine info which the platinum does not have. The platinum has a barometer which the marine does not. The marine is also a little less expensive. You also might check frye's, earlier they had basic meridian units for less then $100, but with the topo cd you can download any part of the USA onto a digital card and store it in your unit. The topo cd also gives a TON of roads also. Our whole family uses the meridian's on the water and snow mobiling, a great tool!

[Lovestafish]

Well, call me old fashioned, but I ended up with a basic E-trex (they make some pretty high end models too...) that I just love (& trust to work when it counts...) it's pretty basic, but then again I don't get confused with all the bells & whistles. What I like most about it is that even tho I have small hands, it still only takes one hand to operate it. Having it saved my bottom when I got completely turned around elk hunting in the Starkey unit a few years ago. I never leave home without it!

[Lepper]

I have the magellan marine and I love it. Very nice unit.. I would recommend the extra money is worth it. Just for the capabilites and possiblities alone it is worth it..

dave

[Duck n]

I have a Garmin 75 and I love it, similar to Bait O’ Eggs I use my GPS primarily to get back to where I was. In addition to that, I also find the tracking option great for Duck hunting. When you navigate in the dark this feature comes in real handy. I literally navigate in my boat using only my GPS. One last point, maps in a small GPS unit seem silly to me for the simple reason that the screen is too small and the only place I would really want to use it is down town Portland…the problem is that he buildings block your signal. The only feature I would like to have is topographical, this would come in handing dear/elk hunting.

[Luckybill]

I have the garmin e-trex and I love how simple it is to use. My step-father has the magellan and doesn't know how to use it. He even asked me to show him how, I said no thanks. I like the KISS method...

[Alligator]

The three Smith brothers use the Magellen meridians. The marine would be my choice with the extra built in memory and major water info. If you hunt you need the topo software so when you kill that elk you can not only find the shortest distance to the rig but with the topo you can see the easyest path to take. Fishermans marine has the topo software at an excellent price plus a $50 rebate. You'll want to add a 64 or 128 meg Secure digital memory card for extra storage, buy it at Fry's for around 30 bucks.

I own the basic model Meridian @ 150, you should be able to beat that price.

One more point, when I travel out of state I make sure I have the area I'm traveling loaded from the topo software and all the streets are there for easy navigation in an unknown town.

That's a Chevy I didn't try the Ford. :grin:

les

[chummer]

magellan does not recommend using any digital card larger than 32 meg. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to download Oregon, washington and a part of idaho onto a 32 meg card, and thats using a fast computer.

[Lured In]

GB...do you already have a GPS or have you used someone else's consistently before? I use my Garmin Etrex just as BOE described. Very simple and only $110. You can also do routes and tracks, etc.

The only reason I would want the on screen mapping feature was if I planned on using it extensively while on the water. I currently use mine to mark fishing spots and have even run from Kalama to Rainier in the dark/rain using the 'route' feature. (pretty cool to be flying blind) :shocked: :grin: . Personally I think you need more GPS for boating that hunting. There are some great features in the Marine GPS products such as tides, ports, bouys, etc. While hunting you are sometimes limited by trees, mountains, or other structure that prevents getting a good signal. Personally, when I upgrade my boat, I will get a sonar/GPS just for the boat and keep my Etrex just for hunting.

Whatever you do, be sure to get something that will be easy to use so you wont have to carry the manual around. (one other tip, make sure you always pack extra GPS batteries in your boat and hunting pack. )

[Get Bit]

Thanks for the all the info guys ! I finally settled for a Magellan Meridian basic model. $139 at Fryes. Then proceeded to get the 128 mb chip for $39.99. Also bought the Maps software for $89.99 and got a $25 rebate which brought the price down $64.99. When it was all said and done I spent $240. The cost of the Meridian Gold(16mb) was also $240. However I ended up with a unit that now has a alot more memory and I have the software ! Now I just have to figure out how to use it. Should be awesome for duck hunting. Thanks again !

Get Bit

[ 06-06-2003, 08:04 AM: Message edited by: Get Bit ]