Best GPS with downloaded topo?

[Ernie]

Tell me what you think is the the best GPS that has practical/useable topo maps downloaded or capable of being downloaded?

Give the postives & the negatives you have found in the ones you have used.
I am looking for a hand held unit that would withstand backpack hunting in the mountains.

Thanks!

 

[ebd10]

I don't know which one is best, but I DO know that if you use the Bushnell unit, you should take along a stainless steel rifle so that there will be something to give to your family when they find your remains.

 

[magicofmt]

Lowrance iFinder Hunt C works great with MapCreate Topo. I have had Lowrance for 10 years or more, no problems and great customer service if questions. Make sure you get color, or those black lines will drive you nuts trying to decifer. I think it's more user freindly than Garmin, my dad wanted me to set up his Garmin and program it and I had to read the manual twice.
I may just be used to Lowrance, but they do work great! Lowrance Expedition C only has 1000 waypoint memory. Other brands have 12 parallel channel, this Lowrance has 16 parallel channels for easier/faster satellite acquiring plus WAAS for more acurate positioning.
Good luck on the purchase.

 

[Eaglet]

The best I've used is the GPSmap 60CSx from GARMIN. Mine is loaded with the western States Topo Maps and street maps from Garmin.

No cons in respect to the unit.
The only con would be with the software; I wish we could use Delorme Topo maps in it. Even though, it won't let you down!

Aside from that the rest is all pros.

One of the screen I truly like is the one the gives me Elevation, Barometer and Ambient Pressure. If your truck has a temp. gauge that's pretty accurate, then before I get out of my truck I input in Exbal all needed info.

I also really enjoy the.... Click here...

Delorme is advertising their PN-40 GPS. It's not out yet, but they're taking orders. I did owned their PN-20 GPS, returned it and told them they were in the right track and that probably their next one would be the one to have. Well it's coming out and I believe that when it comes to mapping it will hands down whip the competition. No doubt!

 

[whitely]

For those of you with the Garmin units, I have the new 2008 topo maps, and they have much more detail than the older topo maps. They added more roads, and trails, along with much better rendering.

I would look for a unit that can take SD cards. My Garmin Etrex Vista works fine, but has limited memory, so I am constantly uploading selected maps for various hunting and fishing trips. A memory of 256Mb or more would be great, since I tend to stay around Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, NM - come to think of it, is there any good reason to leave here!

 

[Ernie]

The best I've used is the GPSmap 60CSx from GARMIN. Mine is loaded with the western States Topo Maps and street maps from Garmin.

No cons in respect to the unit.
The only con would be with the software; I wish we could use Delorme Topo maps in it. Even though, it won't let you down!

Aside from that the rest is all pros.

One of the screen I truly like is the one the gives me Elevation, Barometer and Ambient Pressure. If your truck has a temp. gauge that's pretty accurate, then before I get out of my truck I input in Exbal all needed info.

I also really enjoy the.... Click here...

Delorme is advertising their PN-40 GPS. It's not out yet, but they're taking orders. I did owned their PN-20 GPS, returned it and told them they were in the right track and that probably their next one would be the one to have. Well it's coming out and I believe that when it comes to mapping it will hands down whip the competition. No doubt!

I will be playing with one of the PN-20 for awhile, then when PN-40 is available, I will be able to see the advantages of the new system.

 

[bigg_sexy1]

I have a Garmin 60 Cx with the full Canada Topo map to load up on it.

things that I like:
waterproof
easy to use
color screen

things that I dont like:
batteries dont last very long
small memory for map storage unless you get an additional crd
wish that it had the radio feature like the rhino gps

 

[J E Custom]

Lowrance iFinder Hunt C works great with MapCreate Topo. I have had Lowrance for 10 years or more, no problems and great customer service if questions. Make sure you get color, or those black lines will drive you nuts trying to decifer. I think it's more user freindly than Garmin, my dad wanted me to set up his Garmin and program it and I had to read the manual twice.
I may just be used to Lowrance, but they do work great! Lowrance Expedition C only has 1000 waypoint memory. Other brands have 12 parallel channel, this Lowrance has 16 parallel channels for easier/faster satellite acquiring plus WAAS for more acurate positioning.
Good luck on the purchase.

+1 for the lowrance !!!!!

I have had several different ones in the past and my main complaint was they were
not very user frendly.

Then I bough the lowrance and love it.Simple to use,good software. and extreamly
accurate with good battery life.

Last year I hunted Elk in a place I had never been and before I arrived I programed
in some way points of places I wanted to hunt according to the topo maps and in
the dark went strait to it.( I found a windmill and tank on the satellite image an
crossed it with the topo pluged in the waypoint and just followed it to the tank.

After hunting I returned to camp that was 4 1/2 miles from the tank with no problems
and noticed that the GPS could differentiate from one side of the trail to the other
( About 3 feet).

I was impressed
J E CUSTOM