Handheld GPS
 

Does anyone have some suggestions what kind of handheld GPS I should by. I have been looking around abit but can´t really decide which one I should buy. And I am gonna use it in europe so it would need to have the possibility to download eurpean charts.

Thank You!

Ted

GPS
 

Hi

Just bought myself a Garmin 296. Yes its expensive but chuffing great. No probs with it so far.

Crease, what's your budget for this?

GPS
 

hi Crease
Flying in the UK I use a Garmin GPS pilot 3 had no problems with it and find it easy to use and for its price worth every penny.

GPS budget
 

Around 600US$. Whats the price for these things in europe?

I had a Garmin 295 and recently sold it on e-bay to buy the new Garmin 96C (about £400).

The 96C is Small, it has a very clear colour screen, good battery life, quick screen refresh, USB, built in 128mb of ram, virtually the same power and info as a big 296 but without the terrain (and £1,100 price tag!) it’s even waterproof.


:ok:

For value and ease of use you can't beat the Garmin GPS 3 pilot IMHO

Used the Garmin Pilot 3 at work & years ago another Garmin. I loathed the way the cursor control button would sometimes send the cursor 'up' instead of 'left' (or whatever) if you were just a tiny bit off on your finger pressure. And no way to tell which contact's sweet spot you were pushing. Much prefer separate 'up', 'down', 'left' & 'right' buttons so that there is tactile & visual feedback about which contact was being activated.

Lowrance Avionics used to have a handheld GPS that did that (a '100' series, I think). It was a bit large for my tastes but that reflects the age of the device & the technology of the time. They've since released a '500' model. Much smaller but now has this bloody cursor pad that's taking over the world. I still want one but I'm peeved they had to follow fashion at the expense of useability.

Anyone using the Lowrance ones in the UK? They seem to be sold almost exclusively in US - is the basemap any good for the UK?

Birthday present looming (and I am going to the US first so could buy a Lowrance one there)... currently thinking of 96 or 96C (or 196 if I can twist the wife's arm round far enough!)

Tim

The Lowrances are great and the UK database is good. The 500 is within your budget. I have the 1000, big screen and very clear but around $900.

Chopperpilot47

Sportys.com have them at $599... 500 is $399.

Might be the answer, then!

Tim

I've had a Pilot 111 for years. Great bit of kit, and the only one that's small enough to fit on the Chipmunk's panel top.

Its small size means the screen is small, however. And I think it's now discontinued, so it's available at a very good price.

My ideal would be a Pilot 111 with a colour display.

SSD

One thing to watch out for is that Garmins with a map display tend to come with a US basemap or a North Atlantic basemap (suitable for Europe). You can't change the basemap (leastways not on the 196). If you are considering a Garmin you should make sure you know which version you're getting.