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hand held gps
a4gom - 29/1/11 at 10:13 PM

Kids are interested in this new (well new round here) geocaching craze so I'm on the look out for a hand held gps.
I'd like a decent one for myself which has maps on etc for hiking / watching rallys etc but a simple one wold do the kids.
We are managing at the mo with the TomTom and a nokia 5530 connected to a bluetooth gps receiver but a single unit with good battery life would be much better.

Anyone got anything gathering dust / know of any good deals / got any advice.

MakeEverything - 29/1/11 at 10:24 PM

Highly recommend the Garmin GPS12 and GPS12XL though these are not really used without maps.

For hiking, a GPS is used in conjunction with a map.

tomgregory2000 - 29/1/11 at 10:58 PM

Man your living in the past, they have not made the 12 and 12xl for well over 8 years and before that it was a 48 and before that it was the 45.

How much are you looking to spend?

stevebubs - 29/1/11 at 11:16 PM

Garmin eTrex is pretty widely used..

AndyRead - 29/1/11 at 11:21 PM

Hi There,

If You have an iphone there is a geocaching app for it & we have found it to be very accurate!

hughpinder - 30/1/11 at 09:04 AM

Hi
I have a garmin GPSMAP76S and also use a nokia 5230 phone (was £80 from carphonewarehouse last summer) with the wayfarer OS mapping software(£50 for all uk national parks at 1:50000).

For hiking I find:
For the GARMIN
The garmin is bigger, heavier, but also more rugged and is waterproof and will float.
The garmin takes AA batteries that you can get anywhere in the world.
Against
The garmin uk maps arent that great.
The batteries last 8 - 12 hrs of ON time.

For the phone:
Its smaller and lighter. I have carried both GPS and phone for a weeks walking in the lakes, where it rained continuously and its still alive despite being wet (my coat isnt very waterproof anymore). I doubt is would survive immersion.
The battery life is about 20hrs with the GPS and the screen set to sleep after 30 sec.
The software (3rd party) is better. You can buy OS 1:25K maps, but these were quite expensive, and since I would never rely on an electronic device in the mountains I decided to have the 1:50K maps on the phone and carry the paper 1:25Ks. The level of detail on the map changes automatically as you zoom in and out
Against:
Obviously not as rugged.
I don't know how the battery responds in extreme cold (same applies to the Garmin though)
You need a means to recharge it in the evening - although I managed 2 days walking on 1 charge - something I've never done with one set of AA in the garmin). Spare batteries arent expensive,but need to be in the phone to be charged.


Satelite locking is the same speed on both.
They have equal accuarcy.
The both loose the signal in deep gullies etc, with about the same frequency.

The phone can also be used in town as long as there is sight of satelites.
The wayfarer software seems to be available for most GPS included touch screen phones.

I hope this helps
Hugh

britishtrident - 30/1/11 at 09:12 AM

Should be an app for Androids phone with GPS I was looking at buying the Orange San Francisco handset at £99 from the Orange online shop it looked a good buy.

MakeEverything - 30/1/11 at 10:20 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tomgregory2000
Man your living in the past, they have not made the 12 and 12xl for well over 8 years and before that it was a 48 and before that it was the 45.

How much are you looking to spend?


I know, doesnt that show how robust the units are? I dont have any need to upgrade them at all.

They all do the same thing, though the eTrex is a bit simpler to use - they issue them to our troops.

As said, GPS units are fine, but they should be used with a map and compass.

matt_gsxr - 30/1/11 at 10:43 AM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Should be an app for Androids phone with GPS I was looking at buying the Orange San Francisco handset at £99 from the Orange online shop it looked a good buy.


I did, it is.

matt_gsxr - 30/1/11 at 10:43 AM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Should be an app for Androids phone with GPS I was looking at buying the Orange San Francisco handset at £99 from the Orange online shop it looked a good buy.


I did, it is.

a4gom - 30/1/11 at 06:48 PM

I haven't really got a budget in mind tbh, I suppose it depends what functions it's got. We went out today with the phone and bluetooth receiver and although we found 3 of the 4 caches we were looking for we wouldn't have found them with out local knowledge and the clues.
I don't do loads of hiking but always but the 1:50k maps where aver we go on hols / rallying etc so I suppose something with decent maps on would tick my boxes although a simple unit which gives direction and distance (electronic compass) would do for the kids. Might end up getting both yet.

Don't have an iphone and it's unlikely i'll be getting one. I use works phone and pay for my usage, I have to carry it anyway so don't want to carry two.

[Edited on 30/1/11 by a4gom]

a4gom - 30/1/11 at 08:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by matt_gsxr
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Should be an app for Androids phone with GPS I was looking at buying the Orange San Francisco handset at £99 from the Orange online shop it looked a good buy.


I did, it is.


Does this phone have gps built in? I.e. you don't need to be online to get location info?

hughpinder - 31/1/11 at 08:48 AM

The Nokia 5230 has the GPS built in and is cheap (I got mine for £80 PAYG). The app I run on the phone is viewranger - dont know why I put wayfarer in the last post. www.viewranger.com - this is availbale on android, iphone + nokia phones with built in GPS.
Regards
Hugh

[Edited on 31/1/11 by hughpinder]

a4gom - 31/1/11 at 09:21 AM

Looks like a good piece of software that, it shows my sons phone as compatible so I presume it will work with our bluetooth gps. I was hoping to get a specific gps with maps on but the topo maps that come with them are very basic and don't have all the paths roads on and generally no features so for what I want i'd probably just be better with a basic gps that does direction and distance and rely on a map and / or look at picking up a cheap phone with built in gps.
My hiking is done with young kids so we are not talking anything too adventurous or big distances.

How acurate are built in gps in phones compared to a handheld gps?

hughpinder - 31/1/11 at 10:09 AM

See my post earlier - In a weeks walking in the lakes the positioning was basically identical from both units.
You have to pay for the OS mapping, but the basic viewranger software (6 euros on the ovi store I think) has something like a basic 1:200k map included and will give you a grid reference/compass bearing. You obviously pay for the OS detailed maps, which seem to be identical to the paper copies.
I quite like the horizon view - it works out what the skyline looks like from you point of view so you can tell which peak is which.

ETA - the 1:50K maps of all the national parks take under 2GB of memory.

Regards
Hugh

[Edited on 31/1/11 by hughpinder]

a4gom - 31/1/11 at 12:50 PM

Thanks Hugh.

As it's obvious I don't know what I want or actually need I'm thinking it would be best to go basic at the moment and see how we go and how much we use it, if it becomes obvious we need something better and or we are using it a lot I'll upgrade then.

Ebay here I come.