Hand Held GPS

[shaky]

I would like to have one of these to use on off-piste walks. The only firm requirement is that it should be capable of displaying 1:250,000 topogrophical maps. Would anyone care to share their recommendations or ownership experiences.

[Bushfiva]

I've used various Garmin products over the years. I currently have a Vista Hcx (bright screen, very long battery life) and an Oregon 550: shorter battery life, the camera is truly awful and not worth its price premium over the 500. But the Oregon family can add third-party and user-created maps in interesting ways. The touch screen interface is mildy irritating in bright sunlight.

[shaky]

Thanks for the reply, I'll have a look at the Oregon.

[FullOppositeRudder]

There are probably better and cheaper ways of doing this these days, but I use an Asus 636N Windows CE based device which has its own inbuilt GPS engine and antenna. This works with OziEplorer CE software which does the map management and display. This combination will utilize a wide range of available maps options, both commercial and home made. It handles 1:250k and 1:50k commercial map files with ease.

OziExplorer has become something of a standard in this area. Have a look here (http://www.oziexplorer.com/) and click on the OzieEplorerCE link of the LHS of the screen to see which platforms and devices can use it.



Regards,
FOR

[srobarts]

I second the Windows CE based device, I started with an IPAQ and GPS card and now have a Mio P550 Pocket PC with built in GPS and antenna. Memory Map 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps on the PC can be uploaded for the area needed. The battery lasts easily for 2-3 hour walks and an external battery will recharge it over lunch. Being able to down load walk routes from various websites (like walking world) is an added attraction as is the Route66 satnav software that it came with.

[anotherthing]

I've got 2 garmin devices, one for running, one for cycling. However for map displays when out walking I use the SATMAP 10.

Great features, great battery life (10hrs) - the downside is you need to buy SD cards with maps on them - broken up into regions at varying costs. You can use generic programmes such as www.mapometer.com (http://www.mapometer.com) etc to draw up routes before hand and drop them into the device. They will then display as an overlay on the map.

It will display 1:25,000 OS Maps (explorer series) or maps of lesser scale if you wish.

Worth a look on their own website satmap.com but available cheaper on the web

[shaky]

Thanks for the further replies. I will add all suggestions to my reading list.