REI will soon have these on sale for $199. As far as I can tell, this is a very good price. Do these things come with any maps pre-loaded? What maps do people usually use for kayaking in the northeast? I gather that for road use, one would buy the Navigator software?
Map Source
– Last Updated: May-19-10 10:59 PM EST –
I have a 60Csx and put in a 8 gig card, then uploaded the entire Northeast CD onto it. When I was in Hawaii, I loaded that CD onto the card. Pretty easy to do.
You can upload your tracks from the GPS to Map Source
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2189918250041263145vwztwJ
and even upload the file to google earth.
That is a very good price.
…even if you have to purchase the maps separately. Might be time for me to upgrade…
Low Tech For Me
I’m sticking to my map and compass for navigation. However, once they incorporate a PLB into an affordable GPS unit, I may make the transition. Seems to me that’s the logical evolution for this technology.
I have the unit
and honestly unless I get lost in a fog I’m not going to use it. The display (compared to looking at a real map) is too small. It is a hassle and a distraction to fiddle with it.
maps
– Last Updated: May-20-10 5:26 PM EST –
I bought the Blue Charts for the west coast. You may want to consider similar if you do coastal paddling.
If more inland, a Topo chart may be more useful.
And, conveniently enough, Topo charts for most areas within the US are available for free. I got mine from http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/. Of course, you can buy them from Garmin also...
They generally come packaged with the installer so that the charts are automatically installed into the MapSource software, where from there you can load onto your unit.
I have the blue charts
and still don’t like looking at the darned thing