thinking of buying a GPS receiver

[Tubbs]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a GPS unit with a map display in the price range up to £300. I have a friend in the states who would buy one for me and bring it back - are they cheaper in the US?

thanks

[windy1]

Tubbs

I'm not an expert but do take care. A mate tried to flog his Garmin 196 bought in the States, but it seems the embedded "base map" was unsuited to Europe and cannot be changed/upgraded.

[seacue]

I understand the cheaper ones don't have enough standard memory to accept useful-size maps unless you buy additional memory.

One you might consider is the Garmin iQUE 3600 which is a PDA and GPS combined. I've Googled and found it listed for under US$600 including 256 megabyte SD memory card.

This surely includes the USA map data, which won't be of much use to you. That would be a major problem when buying in the States for use in Europe.

The Garmin V is another possibility. Get plenty of memory. Again a question of getting a European database if buying in the USA. It's in their triagular cross-section, which I find very handy on a car's dashboard. Forget the mounting bracket - use Velcro. I had a Garmin II+ in the same shape, but it went when I sold the boat.

Realize that internal batteries get eaten pretty fast in the fancier models. You'll want an external power arrangement.

Two good noncommercial sites:

http://www.gpsinformation.net/

http://www.edu-observatory.org/gps/gps.html

sc

[Onan the Clumsy]

You want it for flying or for driving?

[None of the above]

A couple of news groups may assist.......

alt . satellite . gps

and

sci . geo . satellite-nav


N o t a

[Tubbs]

Thanks for the info - I need it for flying in UK

[None of the above]

This site gives a good overview of the advantages/disadvantages
of buying GPS equipment in the US for use elsewhere:

http://gpsinformation.net/usagpsoverseas.htm

[Daysleeper]

At the moment the price differential us-uk is huge. I'm looking at a hillwalking GPS that is £160 in the UK and £78 in the US. Crazy. If its a big unit the price difference would pay for a day trip to New York to buy it!