Navigation Systems

[Verti-Kyle]

I am looking to purchase a Navigation System and don't really know much about them.
I would like one that I can use in my truck to navigate city streets as well as use on my sled/quad in the back country to find my way out of the bush if I get lost.
Does anyone have any recommendations on what works well for these purposes, and where you bought yours from.
There is a Garmin Nuvi 760 that is on sale at costco until May 25 that I am thinking about buying. Has anyone had any experience with this unit? and do you know if this type of system would be suitable for back country use?
I don't mind spending the money to get a good one, and hate to buy something and find out later that it doesn't do what I need it to do.
Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[cey800]

Stick with Garmin!!

[GETR'DONE]

Originally Posted by Verti-Kyle

I am looking to purchase a Navigation System and don't really know much about them.
I would like one that I can use in my truck to navigate city streets as well as use on my sled/quad in the back country to find my way out of the bush if I get lost.
Does anyone have any recommendations on what works well for these purposes, and where you bought yours from.
There is a Garmin Nuvi 760 that is on sale at costco until May 25 that I am thinking about buying. Has anyone had any experience with this unit? and do you know if this type of system would be suitable for back country use?
I don't mind spending the money to get a good one, and hate to buy something and find out later that it doesn't do what I need it to do.
Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated.
Thanks

The one your looking at, from what I can tell is more friendly to remain in the city. I have also been looking. I think garmin is a good product. If your planning to get a unit so you can use it the back country you may want to consider one of the mapping handhelds with navigation capabilities. I don't know a lot about them, but thing the GPSMAP 60CSx looks like a good unit. Does anyone else have some opinions? Are there some good handhelds that have turn-by-turn directions for cities?

[rknight111]

I have the Garman 60CSx, its a great unit but does not give directions to you like the built in unit I have in my 08 Ford. Check with DiscoverGPS on the south side. They are the guys that put on the GPS course for us.

[GETR'DONE]

Originally Posted by rknight111

I have the Garman 60CSx, its a great unit but does not give directions to you like the built in unit I have in my 08 Ford. Check with DiscoverGPS on the south side. They are the guys that put on the GPS course for us.

I talked to George @ GPS Central in Calgary... A brand new Garman 60CSx is $340, you are able to buy the TOPO software and the Street Mapping and add them to the unit. The Street mapping software is $135 and allows you to enter address and the TOPO is $109 when you buy or $129 separately.

If you want it for the back country and your truck/car this is what he recommends!

[TylerG]

I have a garmen etrex vista with MetroGuide V4 loaded on it, and it does really well with city navigation. I am waiting on a copy of Topo Alberta/BC to get the off highway stuff onto the unit.

[rmk800]

i was also looking at nav system and i was leaning towards garmin zumo 550, just cause it is waterproof and also has fuel resistant plastic

[Qub3d]

Finally! A post I know a little something about and can lend a hand in - IMO. Anyway, when it comes to technology and in this case GPS's in particular, I do know a bit about them.

First thing's first. You're going to be hard pressed to find 1 GPS that will do it all. The nice thing about the car mounted ones is that they speak to you and have some cool eye candy while the ones used on the trail don't and you can plot waypoints and tracks. One of the most common differences of city / trail gps' are the antenna's. The lower end ones usually don't have the higher range antenna in them as you may find in the etrex, 60 or 76 CS(x)'s. The come in handy especially when you are in a canyon, deep bush or in mountainous areas.

Notice I'm only talking about Garmin here.. there's a reason for it... I don't think I would buy anything else biased opinion but take this with a grain of salt if you will. The other thing you may want to consider is mapping packages. With the Garmin's most of them you can enhance with a package (topo or otherwise) while others you may not. All depends on what your going to use it for. I know that the 60CSx and the 76CSx offer tide tables, geocaching, etc.. etc.. the list goes on. One cool feature Garmin includes within it's map source software is the ability to transpose your tracks / routes into Google Earth to see topographically the layout as well as the streams, creeks, rivers and campgrounds around you.

I recently purchased the Garmin GPSMap 76CSx and love it. If you come to Calgary and get a chance I recommend you stopping by GPS Central on Blackfoot trail and 46th avenue. Thier website is GPS Central - Coming Soon.... They are very knowledgable and friendly - something you rarely see nowaday's.

Anyway, like I said you really need to take this information with a grain of salt. There may be other's out there that you like better but I know what I know and go with what I know will work for me. If I made absolutely no sense in this post just fire me off a PM and we can discuss. I'm typing fast because it's Friday and I'm at work getting ready to leave Good thing my boss doesn't Quad..

[Verti-Kyle]

Thanks all. I have learned WAY more from all of your input than I was able to get out of the guy at Costco who claimed to know all about GPS systems. (Guess thats my fault for trying to buy something techincal from Costco)
It seems like maybe I am best off buying 2 units. One with a nice big monitor and voice prompts that will stay in my truck and one compact unit that is durable and can get dirty with me. I wish the one with voice prompts would get dirty with me though....assuming it is a females voice that is :P
These things seem to be getting way more affordable so I won't need to break the bank.
Thanks again.
Happy Trails

[Mike270412]

I also have a GPSmap76CSx and am very happy with it.It's waterproof and fairly durable.Got it from GPS Central Calgary they shipped it up by bus the next day.Also got a nifty bracket that mounts on handlebars so its always tracking.Helped me find my way back to camp a few times.....my two cents

[2003Summit]

Many things to consider. I have been into GPS for several years now.

First thing, unless you are looking for fish, just stick with Garmin. Period. Everyone else’s has one significant disadvantage or another, Garmin has worked hard and they are the leaders in the market now and for the foreseeable future. They have better hardware and better maps. To see an extensive and useful review of the Nuvi you are looking at and the handheld I will recommend and to understand why Garmin has the edge with in vehicle navigation, go to GPSmagazine In-Depth Product Reviews

I have the Nuvi 760. Great product - the best you can get (besides one with a higher model number). But it is an "on road" product. Not a back country product, however it does have an off road mode and can function as a rudimentary hand held GPS. Basically the GPS is made for "travelers" and it is expected they may occasionally "walk around". But its not really going to work well for off road like a hand held will. It doesn't do tracks and waypoints and back tracks and routes and map overlays or anything like a hand held will do. It's also not water resistant or dust resistant, doesn't have any dedicated buttons and has limited battery life, etc. Plus if you damage the battery in the cold, it will not be easy to replace like a handheld (will require disassembly) - it is not meant for battery changes at all.

If you want something truly good for off road with some on road turn by turn and navigation thrown in, try the Garmin Colorado. Garmin Colorado 400t - Topographic - Handheld GPS Receiver - BlueChart g2. You get a fantastic latest generation hand held GPS with simulated 3D topographical maps, the ability to add and overlay maps and tracks and routes, and save many tracks and routes and PIO's for years and years etc. and do lots of cool stuff that back country people always want to do.

That being said, on the other side of the coin, while hand helds can do "on road" with features like turn by turn and extensive street maps, they do not work really nice for driving like a Nuvi will. The Nuvi 760 has a nice big screen, the Nuvi 760 has one of the best vehicle mounts in the industry and an FM transmitter, the Nuvi has the best street database going and a much larger POI database, the Nuvi has better "smarts" for calculating routes to get you where you are going, and the Nuvi 760 is also fast (calculates routes, detours and missed turns very quick - I think it has a faster CPU and this is why it costs more and is harder on the battery), has blue tooth connection for your phone (very nice – lets you press “dial” when you find your POI and just call them hands free through your car stereo), it is your MP3 player, will display your photo's and it is still portable, the Nuvi works just the way you would think it should work when you are driving with a nice large easy to use 3D view of the roads with just the right information and very intuitive and easy to use when you are driving. It even does very useful thinks like tells you to stay in the left lane even though you are exiting right in a situation like taking the west bound hiway 16 exit to get on hiway 60 south, a real nice feature, all verbally and out your car stereo speakers so you can hear it over the kids or the truck. Has neat features like automatically remembering where you parked, language guides, unit converts, and all kinds of stuff travelers will want.

Hand helds have too small of a screen, don't route well enough, aren’t easy enough to use when you are driving. Once you drive with a Nuvi you won’t ever want to drive with a hand held.

So, your answer, if you want the best in both situations, you need two of them. A Colorado for off road, and a Nuvi for in the car.

I would not be tempted to use my Nuvi in any environment that would be cold or wet or dusty for reasons I mentioned above.

If you want just one GPS that can handle the stress of using it with your sled or ATV and can live with limited in-vehicle navigation, get the Colorado or one of the other maping garmin hand helds that others are recommending.

[mountainbigbull]

I have a Garmin 60cx and a Nuvi. Just keep in mind the Nuvi's are not waterproof so would not work on quads and sleds. I also can recommend GPS central in Calgary the are a great company. I can also recommend RAM mounts for you quad or sled they work great and have lifetime warranty that I have used because i went over the handle bars and broke mine. Took it back and they replaced it no problems. I have topo maps for my 60cx. I use the 60cx for offroad and the nuvi for city use.
I would say just research what you want it for most and get the one that suits you the best. I alway think that way in a few years you can buy another one down the road and you will know what fits your needs the best. I would for sure not be with out one after having one. Saved my skin a few times I think!