You can't go wrong with Garmin. They are the industry standard, for good reason. I've actually been in a position to assess a few of the more common handhelds, cos I have had to do ICUS training for a company whose a/c had no GPSs. This mob were doing mailruns in remote areas where visual navigation was difficult due to featureless terrain, and the stations were not marked on WACs (!)
Therefore I got to see a cross-section of several handhelds which newbies brought with them, and I know which ones work best.
I've got a Garmin Pilot III which has served me well for many years. Not produced anymore, but try the relatively newer models:-
Garmin GPSMAP 96 (excellent compact model, good all-round performer)
Garmin GPSMAP 196 (better model but slightly more bulky)
Both come in kits with yoke mounts and remote antennas (an absolute must).
A great advantage to Garmin units is that they all use remarkably similar menu systems, so if you've used one, you've used them all. Even up to the panel-mount GNS430/530, if you've used a Garmin handheld, these advanced units will seem very familiar, whereas try using a King or Trimble and it's much harder.
What I will say is DO NOT get a colour-screen GPS! They look awesome when you're sitting in your lounge room, and certainly the colour imparts slightly more detail, but the colour screens suffer badly in bright sunlight. Difficult/impossible to read in the sun, battery life is much reduced compared to B&W, and screen life also poor. Therefore, avoid the colour versions (96C and 296).
All Garmin products bought locally have Australian database with airspace, navaids, etc. Naturally, consult your most recent charts for verification!!
Avoid Lowrance. Avoid Lowrance. They are not the industry standard, and for good reason.
RESIST THE URGE to go cheap and buy a marine/road/hiking unit to save money. Sure you can program in the waypoints you might want, but you just can't beat a unit set up from scratch as an aviation box. A full aviation database is essential, but features such as VNAV, airspace alarms, etc are really valuable once you know how it all works (and it's easy).
That's TD's 2 cents worth. PS I'm definitely NOT paid by Garmin.
