Lowrance Endura Out&Back Waterproof Hiking GPS Review

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(More customer reviews)Not sure what was up with the first reviewer, but he is mistaken.This is a great unit!I bought it to replace a Garmin Venture HC for Geocaching and Waymarking ( see [...] ).Very accurate, easy to use as I have yet to even look at the included documentation or the full blown manual online. Went Geocaching today and being able to go paperless is amazing... I love the touchscreen! This is NOT for street navigation so look elsewhere if that's what you need.This is for hiking, hunting, geocaching, waymarking, etc.

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Endura Out & Back

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Garmin eMap Hiking GPS Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't get me wrong, I love this GPS. For me a city boy, this thing is great. However, that being said, there are LOTS of extras you will need, to make this thing work the way you'd like. First off, the base map that comes with it is good only for medium to long trips. So right off the bat if you plan to use it in the metropolitan area and want any kind of detail you need to buy $160 bucks worth of maps, and $100 of extra RAM to hold the maps you download to the unit. Now anyone in their right mind would assume after having paid $180 for the GPS and $160 for the maps and $100 for the extra RAM that you might get a PC to GPS cable right? Wrong. You get to pay another $30 to $60 for the data cable. Want a cigarette adapter? Take out your already shrinking wallet and flop down another $30 to $60. After having shelled out over half a thousand bucks, I still dont have a case. Eh, whats another $20 for a nice leather case. After saying all that I am happy with the product, it is very nice and suits my needs to a tee. I just wish I knew I would have to spend over $560 to get the functionality I thought I was getting for $180.

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Product Description:
The GPS 12MAP combines the enhanced software features of the popular GPS III Plus with the rugged design of the GPS 12.Similar to the GPS III Plus, the basemap on the GPS 12MAP will include cartography information for North and South America including a database of cities, interstates, lakes, rivers, railroads, coastlines, and exit information for the federal interstate highway system. Even more remarkable, the GPS 12MAP takes mapping one step further with an added CD-ROM capability. Simply insert one of Garmin's MapSource CD-ROMs into your PC, and download up to 1.44 MB of extra map detail into your GPS 12MAP.The 12 parallel channel GPS 12MAP boasts the same physical characteristics as Garmin's 12CX (excluding color display), including a rugged, waterproof case, dedicated zoom keys for quick map scaling, and a high-resolution LCD display complete with backlighting. The unit gets up to 36 hours of battery life with four AA batteries and includes the ability to store up to 500 user waypoints.

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Garmin Oregon 450t Handheld GPS Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)Bought this as an upgrade from a Oregon 300. I wanted the topographical maps preinstalled so that I could still have the memory slot available for a data card. The screen on this unit is better than that on my 300 in bright sunlight and the high-speed USB port transfers maps and images much faster. I still use my 300, but give it too my wife so she can link with me and share maps, waypoints etc.
I noticed that another reviewer of this item gave it rather low marks. It was obvious after reading the review that the unit was purchsed for automobile navigation. THIS IS A HANDHELD UNIT! It is not intended for auto navigation but for activities such as geocaching, hiking, etc. Go to GARMIN's site and select the GPS based on your primary usage. GARMIN's road navigation units still have all of the excellent features that people need for this type of use.

The only reason that I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that I wish GARMIN would build in the capabilities to charge the Ni/Mh batteries in the unit when it is plugged into a USB port.

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Product Description:
Tap the touchscreen then hit the trail with Oregon 450t. This next-generation handheld features a rugged, touchscreen along with preloaded topographic maps, 3-D map views, a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, microSD card slot, picture viewer and more. Even exchange tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches wirelessly between similar units.

Touch and Go
Oregon 450t leads the way with a tough, 3-inch diagonal, sunlight-readable, color, touchscreen display that offers crystal clear enhanced colors and high-resolution images. Its easy-to-use interface means you'll spend more time enjoying the outdoors and less time searching for information. With user-selectable dashboards, you can customize the appearance of your display. Both durable and waterproof, Oregon 450t is built to withstand the elements. Bumps, dust, dirt, humidity and water are no match for this rugged navigator.

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3-axis compass view.

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Garmin eTrex Waterproof Hiking GPS Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently bought an E-Trex primarily because of the low cost of the unit. I am very satisfied with my purchase.I am surprised how rugged it feels and it appears to have a little more knock-ability than some other handheldGPS units I have used. I would have preferred a GPS with cross track errorcapability because I am also a recreational pilot, however the latestsoftware revision (1.07) does show your position relative to the track linebetween two current waypoints on the map screen and this can be used tocorrect cross track error.
I imagined the lack of buttons would haveproved to be frustrating however this is not the case as the menus arelogical and concise.Alphanumeric entry is via drop down menus, which letyou quickly select numbers and letters for waypoint entry.Up to 500waypoint entries are available and names are limited to combinations of upto six letters/numbers and there are many icons to choose from.You canquickly mark your present position as a waypoint by holding down one of thebuttons for a second. It has all the usual nav formats and measurements canbe displayed in Nautical (knots included), Statute (yards not included) andMetric.
I have used it bushwalking through fairly dense scrub and treecanopy and it did tend to track satellites well.There were a few shortoccasions where it lost signal in particularly dense cover (to be expectedwith a relatively small internal antenna) however it recovered within aboutten seconds in lighter cover.I would not recommend relying on the GPScompass feature in dense cover because it did have trouble maintainingheading information updates in low satellite coverage areas.I am notdisappointed with its performance in dense bush, and as anyone familiarwith units with small antennas will know, it is just something you livewith.I was using a magnetic compass in particularly dense areas where Iexperienced poor coverage and it is good navigation practice to use amagnetic compass and map in conjunction with your GPS anyway. In light andopen cover I routinely get 8 metre accuracy and sometimes as good as 5metre accuracy.If I turn it on outside near my last fix it usually gets alock in about 10 seconds.
It maintains accuracy on the passenger seat ofthe car and is even better up on the dash.It gives a good presentation ofspeed, heading, time and distance to go on one big clear screen and thebacklighting is very good.It has a nice rubbery casing and this makes itideal to wedge it in an upright position between the dash mat and thewindscreen while I am driving along.
I decided the genuine Garmin dataupload cable was too expensive and made my own lead from a cannibalisedmobile phone charger.Uploading the latest free Garmin software revision(mine was shipped with v1.05) was a snap and I was very impressed with howeasy it was to update.The new software has some nifty features worthgetting.I have used some shareware utilities such as "GARtrip" and"GPSutility" to upload waypoints from scanned paper maps and streetdirectories, and you can edit, upload and download waypoint info and trackinfo.It is obviously faster to modify waypoint info from your computerkeyboard and then upload the new waypoints in seconds. It has anon-volatile memory so flat batteries don't present any risk of losing yourstored data.
Any disappointments?Only a couple of minor ones.It isvery hard to tell if the backlight is on in sunlight, and because ittoggles on and off by momentarily pressing the power button, you canaccidentally bump it on and be wasting batteries.You can't scroll the maparound; you can only zoom in and out.This makes it difficult to reviewyour recorded trail in any detail, and you need to zoom out and losedefinition to see much of your trail.It gets cluttered with waypoint infowhen you zoom out trying to see your whole trail although you can turn thewaypoint display off.
In summary, it is a compact gem of a GPS with a bigscreen and for the price I believe it represents excellent value.Makeyourself a data lead or buy one from Garmin because the sharewarecomputer-based utilities are cool.Two thumbs up.

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Product Description:
All the power of a 12 parallel channel GPS receiver in a palm-sized package / Waterproof / Stores up to 500 waypoints All five buttons are placed on the sides, for simple, one-handed operation that doesn't obstruct your view of the display Bright yellow case makes it easy to locate in the boat or backpack And the eTrex is waterproof, so a splash or dunk is not a watery grave for the eTrex The high-performance, GPS receiver runs 18 hours on two AA batteries Even under canopy forest conditons, the eTrex maintains a tight satellite lock Stores up to 500 waypoints with graphic icons Exclusive TracBack feature provides a reverse course home

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DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 Waterproof Hiking GPS Review

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(More customer reviews)I must say that I find it interesting that there are so many glowing reviews about this flawless GPS.I am always skeptical of anything that sounds too good!I read many of the reviews online, and after evaluating the specifications and features, opted to buy the Delorme PN-40.Prior to this purchase, I owned a Garmin 60CSX GPS.I believed that the Delorme was poised to be a significant improvement in both the tracking ability and the display of aerial overlays.

Let me begin by stating that I don't believe there is a perfect GPS except from the perception of the user and their application.If it meets your criteria, then it serves the intended purpose!That being said, let me try to summarize my personal observations from my point of view.

After purchasing the Delorme PN-40, I quickly signed up for the $29.99 annual download service to take advantage of this impressive feature.I have downloaded about a dozen maps at this posting and must say that Delorme has been very effective in minimizing the number of maps that can be downloaded.First, the size of the maps you can download for each map type (color aerial, USGS, etc..) is restricted to some size in sq Km.This isn't too much of an issue as they are large enough for my typical hike.Second, I have found that the download speed is being limited to speeds on the order of 15-20Kb/s.This is incredibly slow considering the capability of cable is in excess of 700Kb/s.A typical download time for the maximum 250sq/km file is over 1.5hrs.In addition,many of the downloads stop prematurely, and this requires you to download the entire file again (a download manager isn't able to resume the download after termination).I have spent days trying to download a single file due to premature downloads (and no, my modem and router aren't the cause!)

The learning curve for uploading the map files to the PN-40 is tricky and not documented very well.It took me (I'm an electrical engineer) about 4 hours to sift through the documentation along with some trial and error.Once downloading was accomplished, I found that the display of the maps was pleasing, but lacked detail.

I then took the Delorme PN-40 and Garmin 60CSX (Sirf Star III chipset) on a 9 mile hike in Forest Park located in Portland Oregon.I used fresh Powerex Medion batteries in both GPS's.The temperature outside was about 35degF and the hike took approx 5 hours.My findings are as follows:

The Delorme PN-40 took several minutes longer than the Garmin 60CSx to lock onto the satellites before a 3D view was possible.The Delorme circle of uncertainty, accuracy of the location, varied significantly while standing in the same spot on open terrain with no obstructed view of the sky. The variation would be on the order of +- 15ft to +-40ft.The Garmin locked onto the signal vary consistently for this same location with variations of only +-2ft.I found the aerial display on the Delorme to be difficult to see without the backlight.Note that the isobar lines aren't easily seperated from the aerial background.It may just be me, but I'm not color blind and have good vision.The Garmin display is easier to see, I think, because there isn't much clutter on the display (the backlight helps very much in low light also).The Delorme tracking lines are superb!It is easy to see where you have gone and is nicely color contrasted to the background map.The Garmin tracking points are almost impossible to see (until downloaded to your PC) as they blend into the topo map!The last point I want to make concerns the battery life, and this was the biggest issue for my personal use.The Delorme battery life was barely acceptable (for my purposes) under the conditions of this hike (cold and wet for 5 hours).The battery indicator on the Delorme started dropping after about 2.5 hours and declined steadily for the remainder of the hike.The last hour of the hike I expected the Delorme to shut off, but the batteries did hold out for the full hike.The Garmin battery life remained at full for the entire hike.You can argue that my test wasn't exactly fair since the batteries weren't brand new and don't know how often I used the backlight, but I didn't expect the Delorme to start indicating reduced battery power so soon.A sample size of one unit is not exactly a great indicator of all the units sold, but then I'm not being hired by anyone or trying to take sides!Obviously, you must be the decision maker for your application.

I will say that both products performed well enough for this one hike.I prefer the Garmin for satellite reception, consistent locking, battery life and ease of software use.However I do like the display capabilities of the Delorme.Also, the Delorme mapping is far superior to Garmin, but at the expense of a steep learning curve.I also want to mention that Delorme did a great job for allowing use of every battery type you might want to use; from lithium ion to alkaline.Also,I really appreciate Delorme giving easy access to the full capacity of a 32Gb SDHC card (which I verified worked well), but you do need plenty of storage for the hybrid aerial maps.

In summary, let me say that in my opinion I feel that Garmin has the lead on GPS hardware and that Delorme has the lead on Mapping software.I would love to see a product created by the merger of these two companies to take advantage of both of their strengths.Good luck on your purchase decision.

Note that I am not an employee of either company, and have no personal bias towards them.I also own products from both companies!

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