ok if i splash out on a new gps say garmin vista hcx or legent .i know sod all about gps systems ,would i be making the wright move ,are they tricky to use would i need to spend another shed load of money on maps ,and do they work the same as the car gps .i am kinda hoping if i travell to the uk next year this will get me around ok without me asking every person i meet what way is it to ??
gps do they work
- Thread starter jags
- Start date
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Russell Allen
Well-Known Member
garmin edge 705, navigates to addresses, postcodes, also acts as a training aid and you can get it with a cadence sensor and heart rate monitor. you can get the whole of europe on a micro sd card. Works for me.....
Regards
Russell
Regards
Russell
Take a look at the Garmin Oregon. The extra money over the Vista/legend is very well spent. Colour touch screen. The latest models have improved over the older one's for screen brightness. So look at the x50 series.
Personally I use the 450t and the following mapping : http://openmtbmap.org/
Best regards and best wishes for 2011.
Spencer
Personally I use the 450t and the following mapping : http://openmtbmap.org/
Best regards and best wishes for 2011.
Spencer
I have not got a clue - I use a Vista for a day to day touring GPS - but I tend to be a map user- Driving I just look at the map and drive there - cycling I have the map on the handlebars. Plus my netbook has all manner of mapping software on it so that I can find the point of interest and fix it in my brain.
I have been looking at the new series of Garmin and Oregon for the day when the Vista turns up its toes - seem to be fully featured but the screens are still very small - there is a billion car orientated sorts which seem to work very well when I have borrowed them but are not very practical on a bike.
I have been looking at the new series of Garmin and Oregon for the day when the Vista turns up its toes - seem to be fully featured but the screens are still very small - there is a billion car orientated sorts which seem to work very well when I have borrowed them but are not very practical on a bike.
samid
Guru
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
I've been using Garmin Vista HCx for 3 years now and like it a lot. You do need to get maps for it - I'm using Garmin City Navigator and it's been working fine for touring the UK. The screen is smallish but I find it good enough (I'm pushing 50 and cannot read without my glasses - still, in daylight I can usually read the screen directions without any issues). With City Navigator maps you get turn-by-turn directions that work quite well provided you learn and account for the limitations of the device. Specifically, if you want it to get you to a point - that point should not be too far from where you are. In my experience, in England that should be closer than about 50-70 miles. Otherwise the task becomes too complicated and you may get some stupid and misleading directions. But if you know the points on your route that are within reasonable distances from one another it works just fine. One thing I like about Vista (as opposed to some newer bike-specific models) is that it runs on AA batteries that you can get anywhere - big plus on a tour when you may not have the means to charge the rechargeables. Hope this helps, feel free to ask more specific questions.
Totally agree with Samid about the Vista - but it is not very good for finding places other than railway stations and the like and unless someone can give you a waypoint for where you are going or you can create one yourself its not as good as say a smartphone with Tom Tom on it
The strength of the vista is following preprogrammed routes - made on your computer beforehand - the thing I like about the car versions/smarphone option is that they are pretty much standalone - just get the stylus out and put in the address or postcode and you are off - I assume the Garmin Oregons etc will do that but I have never seen it written down
The strength of the vista is following preprogrammed routes - made on your computer beforehand - the thing I like about the car versions/smarphone option is that they are pretty much standalone - just get the stylus out and put in the address or postcode and you are off - I assume the Garmin Oregons etc will do that but I have never seen it written down
Having just written that I picked up my Vista with City Navigator and successfully managed to locate my house on it - but no postcode and putting in the address took a few minutes but it worked - should try these thing out - still not sure that I would use it for getting around though
thanks again lads, basically all i want it to do is keep me in the direction i want to go.not really interested in shopping cinemas.nightclubs well you know what i mean.and i like that i can take extra batteries good thinking garmin.so all i would need to buy then is the city nav maps and that would do for all of the Uk.
one last thing where is the best placeto buy on line.
thanks again for all the help.
cheers
jags.
one last thing where is the best placeto buy on line.
thanks again for all the help.
cheers
jags.
Acually not that bad!
If you consider teh OS mapping is worth about £100 - £200 if you by for Memory Map or similar then the price is far more reasonable for the unit
steveindenmark
Legendary Member
I have had the Garmin Edge 305 for about 2 years and it is a really good GPS. I recently went to Malta on a walking holiday and downloaded routes I wanted to walk before I left Denmark and it was spot on all the time.
It is really good for recording tracks that you ride and the only thing on the down side is that you cannot always rely on the altitude reading of any of the Garmins, but that does not bother me.
Steve
It is really good for recording tracks that you ride and the only thing on the down side is that you cannot always rely on the altitude reading of any of the Garmins, but that does not bother me.
Steve
