hand held gps

[Seahorse]

hey there. iam going to buy a hand held gps. can anyone help me out with some inf on what brand to get.

thanks

[DNO40]

I have had a magellan colortrak for a long time and have had no problems. Although they don't make the colortrak any more they still make good hand helds and have a good name.

[QldKev]

I have the Garmin GPS12, for a few years; no problems here either. Next time I would go the dash version as the bigger screen is easier to see in a rough drink.,

[Seahorse]

thanks for info. i dont know a thing about them. what are the good things to do. the blokes in the shops just go to fast and confuse you. what are the benefits and do you guys use them much.

thanks

[dad_io]

I am looking at buying one myself and I reckon the garmin gps72 looks pretty good for my price range, mainly because of the display size...... and it floats

[Fishin_Dan]

I am looking at buying one myself and I reckon the garmin gps72 looks pretty good for my price range, mainly because of the display size...... and it floats

I'm looking at the same unit. They appear to be pretty good.

[westie]

Boat, sounder, gps, rods, bait,Etc. = FISH

and the bigger the above the bigger the FISH

The bigger the above the less in the bank see it is simple ::)

[propdinger]

i would go Garmin personally cause its very easy to use and has a feature called trackback where you can come home on the line you went out on and usually very accurate. apart from that get the best you can afford. i borrow my fathers alot (why buy one when you can borrow ;) )
its the gps 60c very nice unit but around the $700 i think. my other gps is a navman 500i although its a good unit it nowhere as easy to use and i spend time looking through the menu too much


jeff

[SCOTTYGC]

i have the garmin legend

great little unit with all the features you would need,
the garmin 72 is a good unit too with a bigger screen

scotty

[Dehydrated]

I have the Magellan Explorist 600. It is very easy to use. I understand that the marine charts will be made available for this unit in the next few months.

[rajawolf]

I have the Magellan Explorist 600. #It is very easy to use. #I understand that the marine charts will be made available for this unit in the next few months.


Dont beleive anything Magellan tell you, like they were going to have "Direct Route Australia" available before last xmas, I doubt if it will ever happen.

I bought the Magellan Colour Meridan on the fact that "Direct Route Australia" would be here in a few months, still waiting after 12 months, what do they do bring out a new model the "Explorist"

DiscoverAus mapping has towns in the wrong states, they have updated the program but still is crap.

Thats my 2 cents :'(

[john_laura]

G'day all, I have had a Garman 72 for about 3 months now and haven't had a single problem. Good screen size and east to navigate menu's.

John.

[pirate_pete]

I owned a Garmin GPS 12 for a number of years and found it a great little unit. I have just purchased a Magellan Meridian at a great price and it is a fantastic piece of kit, I have loaded a memory card with the Discover Aus maps and it is great to have an electronic street directory that also shows my offshore marks.

Regards
Pete

[saphire]

Ive got a garmin 72 which if fine for us. The only problem I have is that my son wants to hold it all the time and play with it. When I want to use it it is never in the spot its supposed to be.

[Seahorse]

hey thanks everybody. now iam totally confused. i looked at the garmin 72 and looks pretty good. hope i make right decision. thanks again

[dad_io]

Let me know what u think of it when u get to use it :)
PS Make sure they give u the charger cable and the stand, some shops I went to wanted to charge me xtra for the accessories and some said it was incorporated in the price.
:o that`s in Adelaide tho

[Seahorse]

bought a garmin 72 today. trying to work it out. iam stuffed. prob have to get kids to show me

[dad_io]

Kids always find it easier, :D
dont forget to read the instructions that always helps

[2DKnBJ]

Going out to buy a 72 this weekend.How much did it cost you and did you get any acc included with the price

Cheers Dazza

[Seahorse]

garmin 72 cost $279 from johnny appleseeds. no accessaries. but the guy there was very helpful, and i know the back up service will be there when i need it. i saw in bush and beach this month or fish monthly that amart had them for $275 but everytime you go to amart you get a 16 year kid and they are no help. iam taking it out tomorrow.

[2DKnBJ]

Went out and purchased a 72 today.Unit,mounting bracket and bare wiring kit set me back $345.00.Now i have to work out how to use it.
Cheers Dazza

[Fishin_Dan]

I bought one of these yesterday. Top unit!!! My neighbours now think I'm a nut, cause I was running up and down the driveway of our unit block criss crossing between light patches, leaves, etc... Had made up a few waypoints and a route to test/get-used-to the unit ;D

I can't wait to use it now!

[2DKnBJ]

Has anyone purchased any of the extra software for the Garmin 72.Interested if it is of any value.
Cheers Dazza

[Mad_Barry]

You don't have to buy software, this is a handy little application for managing waypoints on the Garmins.

http://gpsinformation.net/main/g7to-mag.htm

all you need is the data cable from GPS to serial port. don't buy the genuine cable for $40 or $50. Bias boating have an accessory GME (I think) for about 20. If you don't have a serial port, you'll need a USB to serial adaptor.

Using a full keyboard on your computer beats the hell out of entering info via the unit. you can back up & save waypoints, routes & tracks as well.

Once you have that cable set up you can use it later for input into a full mapping program like oziexplorer.

Do a few google searches on GPS programs or GPS mapping etc, plenty of others around too.

[Mantaray]

Has anyone purchased any of the extra software for the Garmin 72.Interested if it is of any value.
Cheers Dazza

What sort of extra software is there/

[2DKnBJ]

Thanks for the info Dicko.Will have to have a look and do some searching.

Mantaray
Extra software is for managing waypoints and trip logs.They also have a mapsource programme but as far as i am aware it only covers the US.Would be good if you could get one for OZ.Check out the Garmin site.It tells you all the extras you can get and which units they are comptable with.

Cheers Dazza

[dad_io]

How did u guys go with your new gps units? :)
Were they easy to work out or are u still sorting them out and finding your way with them

[2DKnBJ]

Have not been out yet :'(but when i do i will let you know how it goes.
Cheers Dazza

[Slates]

G'day lads.
Just bought a GPS 72 from eBay for $140 and a bare wire cable
I've owned a Magellan GPS 300 before and the 72 walks all over it (the 300 was very problematic and buggy).
I'll try that G7towin software.
There's another program I downloaded but I'm buggered if I can find its name here...

[Billo]

yes , the 72 would have to be one of the best in the low range hand held for sure !
I have been using it for 18 #months after borrowing a GPS 12 on the interim .

The Mapsource weighpoint manager programme is definately beneficial .
The main reason is that you can alter the names of points and add detail to them after a fishing trip which is a lot easier to do with a keyboard then physically on the gps .
Second reason for the software is to break up maps .
I have about a doze n different maps ( ie sunshine coast offshore / bay islands / logan and jumpipin / gold coast offshore / cape reefs / offshore south passage etc etc ..
this allows me to only download and have the specific weighpoints on the gps as to the area i am fishing that day ....easier to use the GOTO function when you soughting through 100-150 points rather then 2000 ..
It also allows you to draw routes easily for you next trip .

as for 'how to use ' is fairly simple ....spend a day sitting down and READING the hand book and going through all the functions .
There are many there youy will not use ...The main tool you need is how to readily use the go to function .
It is not difficult once you know how to use the different search modes ( ie search by location name / search by nearest etc can be changed by pressing MENU after pressing GOTO )

Standard weighpoint marking is simple ...tracking is automatic ,but tracks will automatically be removed once you suck up a lot of the memory ....so this is also a good reason for breaking up your maps on weighpoint manager . #

[Slates]

Billo, I know the GPS72 does not display maps, but do you add maps to your PC or do maps come with the 'mapsource' software?

Cheers, NS

[Billo]

the Mapsource has an overlay of major lands and general coastline and land / sea areas .....very general map though.
This comes with the software as standard .
It does not go into details in the fact of giving contour lines, depths , reefs or any smaller islands or anything ...and these overlays do not load onto your gps either .
The overlay is more to give you a general idea of points in relation to major land marks , and allows you to grab and copy a set of points easier and know where you grabbing them from if you know what i mean .

When i say i keep several 'maps' ...i actually mean i have a different set of gps points for a given area saved onto different files ...so i download a file containing a set of points that relate to that days fishing .
The overlays do nothing for you in regards to placing marks straight on the pc aside from realising if you get it wrong when the mark appears dead centre of moreton island . .

[Slates]

Gotchya

seems a lot of $ to outlay for a 1/2-way-there program when compared to what you can buy in the US (maps to suit them) ???

[Billo]

software was free ......came with the GPS !...there is no way i would buy that seperate, not much of a programme at all , extremelly simplistic , but does the job i need it for well !!!

[Slates]

Bargain!!