mastacox
12-03-2008, 09:02 AM
Well, my Magellan Meridian Platinum finally gave up on me, after almost 8 years of faithful service. That's not too bad a run for a GPS, but it's been showing its age lately and finally the buttons stopped working after a battery leaked acid inside the unit.
SO, time for an upgrade for Christmas :lol: Basically I have some very strict requirements I'm looking for in a GPS unit:
This GPS will serve double duty as a hiking/camping/backpacking GPS, and an in-car GPS for off-roading in the 4Runner.
MUST be able to run on AA batteries, so I can carry extras for emergencies. I want it to be able to run for around 10 hours on a set of Lithium AA's.
Must have a large, good resolution screen. I'm sick of my old GPS unit's slow refreshing, hard to read display.
Must of course support downloadable topo maps. I think most gps units support this these days anyway, but I want the hi-resolution (1:24,000) topo maps like the ones that are available in National Geographic TOPO! software. SD card or micro-SD card doesn't realy matter to me, but I do have lots of SD cards lying around.
Must be relatively "rugged" and waterproof, like my Meridian was.
I want it to have a built-in 3-axis electronic compass like my Meridian had, it's much nicer for taking bearings and finding what direction you're pointing.
So, the two units that I'm looking at very closely are the Garmin Oregon 300 (http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Oregon-300-Portable-System/dp/B001B19XMS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228320269&sr=1-2),
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NoHY-4FAL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
and the Magellan Triton 2000 (http://www.amazon.com/Magellan-Triton-2000-Handheld-Navigation/dp/B000V4VGAI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top).
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-MWto9IKL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
Both have similar feature sets, are similarly priced, and meet my requirements as far as I can tell. I'm leaning towards the Garmin because the Magellan is getting some pretty poor reviews on Amazon, and I don't really like all the extra "crap" the Magellan has like a built-in camera and flashlight.
Any one have any other possible suggestions? Any other GPS makers i haven't considered that have excellent performing alternatives? Lemme know.
SO, time for an upgrade for Christmas :lol: Basically I have some very strict requirements I'm looking for in a GPS unit:
This GPS will serve double duty as a hiking/camping/backpacking GPS, and an in-car GPS for off-roading in the 4Runner.
MUST be able to run on AA batteries, so I can carry extras for emergencies. I want it to be able to run for around 10 hours on a set of Lithium AA's.
Must have a large, good resolution screen. I'm sick of my old GPS unit's slow refreshing, hard to read display.
Must of course support downloadable topo maps. I think most gps units support this these days anyway, but I want the hi-resolution (1:24,000) topo maps like the ones that are available in National Geographic TOPO! software. SD card or micro-SD card doesn't realy matter to me, but I do have lots of SD cards lying around.
Must be relatively "rugged" and waterproof, like my Meridian was.
I want it to have a built-in 3-axis electronic compass like my Meridian had, it's much nicer for taking bearings and finding what direction you're pointing.
So, the two units that I'm looking at very closely are the Garmin Oregon 300 (http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Oregon-300-Portable-System/dp/B001B19XMS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228320269&sr=1-2),
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NoHY-4FAL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
and the Magellan Triton 2000 (http://www.amazon.com/Magellan-Triton-2000-Handheld-Navigation/dp/B000V4VGAI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top).
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-MWto9IKL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
Both have similar feature sets, are similarly priced, and meet my requirements as far as I can tell. I'm leaning towards the Garmin because the Magellan is getting some pretty poor reviews on Amazon, and I don't really like all the extra "crap" the Magellan has like a built-in camera and flashlight.
Any one have any other possible suggestions? Any other GPS makers i haven't considered that have excellent performing alternatives? Lemme know.