etrex venture and magellan 100 gps

[mouzza]

Hi all, in the market for a hand held gps
under $300 anyone happy with their magellan,venture
or any other brand for that matter.also are reverseable
routes a valueable thing? (get your mind out of the gutter) ::) ;D thanks, muz.

[Cheech]

Muz,

I have an etrex and it is a great little unit. Though does struggle when I go off shore. (Yes I know it is not meant for that sort of use, but don't have the money for a plotter at the moment.)

It has reversable tracks as well, but never actually used it. You mark your return port if off shore. And if in places like the pin, you can follow your track back without needing to save anything. But I suppose if you fished places like that then it would be quite handy.

There is only one thing I hate about my etrex. Marks can only have 6 characters max in the name. So what do you do when you have 20 different marks around Mud Island?? Gets hard to be creative at times. I would spend extra next time just to be able to have longer names for the marks.

Cheech

[Kerry]

Gee don't let the name length deter, like how many characters is enough. Allow 6 and people will use 6 allow 26 and they'll use 26 and generally still want more.

Mud Island #??? How about something like MISE??, MINE?? etc
where MI (Mud Island) SE (general direction South East from the main attribute) and ?? 2 digits (00-99) or a combination of such. Has heaps of possibilities even using 6 #;)

Cheers, Kerry.

[steve_n]

I've had a little etrex for a few years now and its a great little unit, very easy to use and batteries seem to last at least twenty hours. You can get a 12v adapter unit now for under $40 and reckon they would be handy. I bought a navman 500i as an upgrade but they extex is a lot more sensitive showing boat drift by the meter where the navman doesnt seem to do anything at speeds less than 5knts or under 100m ??? :(??? I still use the navman but mostly as a fuel computer. Other GPS that look ok are the Garmin GPS 72 and the Lowrance iFinder which are bigger than the etrex in display and features.

[JB]

Gee don't let the name length deter, like how many characters is enough. Allow 6 and people will use 6 allow 26 and they'll use 26 and generally still want more.


Nope sorry kerry, but im sure there are a lot of anglers out there that think six aint enough and would agree that something more like 10-12 would be very helpfull indeed, some of us do not have the memory that others appear to ::). Also the new lowrance handhelds have the ability to keep a list of marks under a category, i.e. you could have a category called southport, or tweed etc that would save you sorting through all your marks just to find one in a particular area.

Check out the new lowrance range im sure you will be impressed.

[Kerry]

JB, So what do the new lowrances allow and what is the price difference?

As for category specific options, well that depends on how clever one is as really it category can be done in many many ways, just got to think outside the box.

Cheers, Kerry.

[Cheech]

Why don't you just let others have their own personal view and not challenge everything. I said that I think 6 is a pain. That means "I" think that 6 is a pain. That is my view, so why the hell don't you just let me have my view without challenging it. Particularly stating the bloody obvious. I have MNTH, MNTH1, MNTH2, METOP, MEBOT, MSWBR, MNWBR, etc, etc. Plus another 13 similar. Then intermingled in that lot are MIBARG, MIWRK, MIWRL2 etc etc for Morton Island marks. Then there is MURPH1, MURPHS, MURPH2, MURPH3 etc etc

Like I said, 6 is a pain. So just leave me alone with my god damn comment.

[Kerry]

Comment ::) I would spend extra next time just to be able to have longer names for the marks. then dam well just go and buy one then, like how many characters would really suit you ??? lets actually have a number.

Cheers, Kerry.

[Cheech]

Piss off and annoy someone else on some other fishing site.

[Kerry]

Well Cheech, right now your being annoyed #;D and still waiting for how many characters YOU actually THINK you need in a waypoint ID ???

So come on speak up, you never know, someone who reads this might have the power to think about it :D

Cheers, Kerry.

[Kerry]

Oh by the way the most commonly used GPS naming convention in use today allows 4 #:o and that's all we got and that's all we use and that has to cover the world, the entire world :P

Cheers, Kerry.

[aido]

i think it might be the desire to remain compliant with
the nmea standard, which seems to be 6 characters
for the waypoint identifier field.
if you only use 3 or 4 characters, spaces are there to
make up the six characters anyhow.

i find more than 3 or 4 characters can cause screen clutter.

[mouzza]

thanks everyone for their opinions, people
go out of their way to help out people not in the know
and it is much appreciated.there is better deals on the
net for etrex then there is localy.also Im gona check
out those lowrance's JB seeing they just moved their
factory down the road from me in tweed.
hope the swell does'nt pick up too much, 10-15nts on
the goldy fri have'nt seen that forecast on a day
off for a while.thanxks.
muz :) :-X

[JB]

Hey kerry , i was pointing out that by using a category screen it would enable one to not have to scroll through 80 marks to get to the one your after. Instead you could choose "tweed" for example and then find the "mudhole", without having to scroll through heaps of marks in other areas your not interested in.

I have at no point suggested that i cannot develop a naming convention for my marks, and furthermore i think you should "suggest" or be more helpful rather than critical when it comes to posts.

And i believe 10 would be a great number.

Muz - http://www.lowrance.com/Outdoor/Products/iFINDERPro.asp

[Heath]

Cheech,

I find 6 not enough as well. 8 would be great. Most Lowrance GPS's allow 8, but interestingly several of the GARMIN models have 10.

[Kerry]

Yeah JB it all does have some reflection on the amount of space but Aido hit the other issue on the head in that where systems have to communicate there is a limit to just what is practical and still remain unique (between all and any system) as well as cluttering the screen with undue rabble.

My guess is that it's not so much the "point id" that's the issue as the lack of a descriptive field.

Cheers, Kerry.
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