Whats a good GPS unit for off-roading

[goathearder]

Hey Guys,
I wanna get a GPS unit that I can use in both the K5 and my dirtbike to keep track of myself when off-roading and so I can explore trails using others GPS tracks.

I am looking to spend in the 200-250 range for a unit, any recommendation on something good? Preferably something that does TOPO maps and doesn't just show a dotted line, hahahaha.

Thanks,
John

 

[dhcomp]

Not sure how much he has used it, but Shawn is running an android tablet for this purpose.

Might not be any good on the bike without a good case/mount, but worth looking into for the price.

 

[Kota4bye]

I just run motion-x GPS on my iPhone. Works great in the blazer, not sure how you feel about exposing your phone on the bike

 

[Blue85]

I went with DeLorme topo because it uses USGS topo maps, regular road vectors and any aerial photography you want to download. The unit I use is the PN-60, which is a handheld, so I can use it for 4-wheeling, hiking, hunting, etc. It works great.

 

[dhcomp]

http://www.lifeproof.com/?gclid=CIKx3e_ryrQCFSFyQgod-2oATA

 

[goathearder]

I just run motion-x GPS on my iPhone. Works great in the blazer, not sure how you feel about exposing your phone on the bike

Yea, I have Accuterra on my phone now which works pretty good in the blazer but batt life and damage have me worried about using it on the bike.

I went with DeLorme topo because it uses USGS topo maps, regular road vectors and any aerial photography you want to download. The unit I use is the PN-60, which is a handheld, so I can use it for 4-wheeling, hiking, hunting, etc. It works great.

How do you feel about the support for your DeLorme? Are firmware updates pretty easy to do? How expensive it it to buy topo maps and stuff from them?

 

[British Slave]

i went with delorme topo because it uses usgs topo maps, regular road vectors and any aerial photography you want to download. The unit i use is the pn-60, which is a handheld, so i can use it for 4-wheeling, hiking, hunting, etc. It works great.

+ 1

 

[Blue85]

How do you feel about the support for your DeLorme? Are firmware updates pretty easy to do? How expensive it it to buy topo maps and stuff from them?

I haven't really used support from them. It ends up being about $100 for the device and $100 for software if you shop around. That gives you all "normal" maps and topos for all of North and Central America on like 5 DVDs. Then to do the aerials or high detail maps (they have a bunch of options) requires a subscription - $25 for the year, IIRC, all you can download. I have about half of Michigan in aerial, which is about 40GB for the PC and probably half of that on the device.

If you run a PC in your vehicle, you can use other GPS devices and use just the software. It looks like it's really nice in vehicle, but I have only used it at home (my vehicle PC is really old and can't install it). It will render the satellite photos in pseudo-3D sort of like Google Earth and show your vehicle on it.

The only other GPS units I've used have been with cheap or built-in hardware and free software, so I don't have a lot to compare with.

 

[mlaux]

Back Country Navigator for the android. Costs $10 and in the truck a 10" tablet in a RAM mount is perfect. On the bike I use it on my phone but not while I'm riding. I just stop pull the phone out and check my location. It's a solid app.