What GPS unit?

foxyourself

I'll be buying second hand, I'd like UK maps, terrain isnt too important as long as I can see which direction I left the car in when i'm miles from it.

Spent 6 hours looking for my car the other day... not funny in the dark with no lights.

So it needs to be waterproof and robust enough to be put on the mountain bike, it'd be nice if I could use it on my motorbike too.

Also I like geochaching so i'd be using it for that too.

DamonC

I am getting a Garmin 705 for Xmas, look on youtube there are some good demo's from Garmin on there.

My only concern is damaging it when falling off :?

foxyourself

Yeah, out of my league... by a loooong way.

I was thinking about £100 second hand? I'm a student see..

diy

You don't need mapping to find your way back to the car.. the basic Edge 205 or 305 will give you tom tom style turn left turn right, compass headings actual and required, plus terrain map and distance from target. It doesn't need a map to know where the trail goes it will pick up the trail you laid down on your way out.

the only problem is they hold their price well - you might as well buy new and get a warrenty.. they tend to come used at about 70% of the new price.

The 305 can pick HR and cadence as well, which I personally find very useful to maintain fitness and check I'm not slacking.

If you buy over the web/ebay check the serial number to make sure its a uk model or get it cheaper if its not.

Speckled Pants

Get saving and buy the satmap, perfect for off road use. Uses proper os maps and works flawlessly. Cant recommend this unit enough... http://www.satmap.com/

yoohoo999

buy a second hand windows mobile (HTC Touch etc) and then get a copy of MemoryMap.

foxyourself

Right so far:

I need a Marine GPZ so it's waterproof unless it says outdoor - waterproof.
my budget is max £100 with uk maps etc on it.
must have decent battery life


Do any of these older (sub£100) systems have back lit screens?

I'm not sure how geocaching works on GPS units but my friend has a garmin etrex vista hcx
which is compatible.

foxyourself

Speckled Pants wrote:

Get saving and buy the satmap, perfect for off road use. Uses proper os maps and works flawlessly. Cant recommend this unit enough... http://www.satmap.com/

cant save if I have no income.... my money is a finitie resource as a student with a timetable and workload that means I just about have enough time to get a few hours on the bike each week!

yoohoo999

if money is tight then you certainly don't need GPS.

Although I absolutely love mine, you can live without it.

foxyourself

I've lived without one for years,

I cant keep getting lost and it's getting harder to find geocaches without the GPS, so I want one that will work on the bike, not bothered about cadence or heart rate, prefer to beast myself in races and die on the finish line.

Also the signposted trails at woods etc are boggy as hell now, I want to go exploring but don't want to end up lost, after all one main road looks just like any other when you're in a pine forest..

pte1643

You don't need to spend a fortune on a "Bells and Whistles" gps unit.
Even the cheaper end of the market will be OK for waymarking where you left the car, and navigate back to it.
Also will display a 10 figure OS Grid ref, so more than suitable for Geocache.

Something like the basic (NON-mapping) Garmin eTrex H for less that a Ton will do perfectly, or even the wrist mounted Foretrex.

I'm not sure about the "H", but I have a Vista Hcx and you can buy a bracket to mount it to the handlebar for around a tenner.

MrVanilla

Speckled Pants wrote:

Get saving and buy the satmap, perfect for off road use. Uses proper os maps and works flawlessly. Cant recommend this unit enough... http://www.satmap.com/

This looks like a fantastic little unit although price wise you could pick up an HTC with Bluetooth GPS unit and memory map for quite a bit less. I looked into the Garmin 705 a while back but as I already have a Polar AX700n I don't need the HRM stuff, plus the Garmin TOPO Maps are utter gash.

foxyourself

Will now be hunting for a Garmin Vista HCx as friend has had one for 18months and loves it.
batteries last ages, thanks for the advice guys and if anyone comes across a Garmin Vista HCX on the cheap please think of me!

pte1643

foxyourself wrote:

Will now be hunting for a Garmin Vista HCx as friend has had one for 18months and loves it.
batteries last ages

I have a Vista HCx... Tha battery life isn't too bad as long as you have the display light turned off, or at least don't use it too much.

It also has a dedicated Geocaching function, although personally I don't use it.

The only real downfall is that it doesn't display proper OS mapping (Like Satmap, for instance). The Garmin TOPO mapping isn't as detailed.
But, on the whole, it's good robust unit.

foxyourself

What batteries are you running? have you tried Li-ion rechargables?

diy

For the motorbike just stick a tom tom or similar in a tank bag and run a ciggy lighter socket off your battery - all you need is a couple of quids worth of maplin stuff.

I can't think that bike satnav would be safe on a motorbike given how small they are.

its one thing to be glancing at a 2inch screen at 10mph, but not at 90.

pte1643

foxyourself wrote:

What batteries are you running? have you tried Li-ion rechargables?

Nooooo.

I just use Duracell Pro's.

I can get them from work for nowt, so don't really bother me how many I go through.

foxyourself

diy wrote:

For the motorbike just stick a tom tom or similar in a tank bag and run a ciggy lighter socket off your battery - all you need is a couple of quids worth of maplin stuff.

I can't think that bike satnav would be safe on a motorbike given how small they are.

its one thing to be glancing at a 2inch screen at 10mph, but not at 90.

So much easier to read the text someone has sent you as it comes in at 90mph on a motorbike than it is to even try and unlock the keypad on the mtb!


I dont have a gps for the bike.. or at all... so i'll be buying the one unit.

gaz047

hi, type in garmin etrex on ebay, there's loads there, thats where i got mine.