Gps under $150

Can anyone suggest the best Gps for Kayaking under $150. I will be using it for distance,average speed,

and directions on slow moving rivers and steams in

the upper midwest.

GPS Reviews
Check out www.travelbygps.com. Has loads of info and downloads.

Garmin Etrex.
I have had one (several) for about six or seven years. They do just what you want and if you check around you can find them for around $100 bucks on sale.

The biggest fault I find with the Etrex is the small read out.

I also have a map 76 which has a lot more features plus a bigger readout.



As some of the other posts mention, whichever one you get, make sure you keep it in a clear flexible water proof pouch even though they advertise them as waterproof.



Cheers,

JackL

eTrex
mine works just fine. i used it extensively on an expedition to Newfoundland a few years back where i paddled in pea soup fog for a month. great little GPS … few bells and whistles, but good solid performance in the ‘important’ parameters.

You Might Try
to reduce your cost and enable yourself to upgrade the unit you find. I did some research and from information from others on this board I decided that I wanted a Garmin Map76. The price was higher than I wanted and I began bidding on ebay units. I won the ninth bid I made and got my new MAP76 for 100 dollars no tax and no shipping.



Happy Paddling,



Mark

Lowrance GO2
I returned 3 of them and they are refunding my money. I now have a Garmin.

How about $169.00 ??
I have used a Garmen e-Trex “Legend” for two seasons now. I picked the $169.00 Legend over the basic $99.00 model because you can customize the display screen to show what you want to see, and make the fonts larger or smaller to be able to see it better.



The Legend’s Body is advertised to be waterproof, but the battery compartment is water resistant. Batteries give off a little gas when working, so they say to not “seal” the battery compartment.



I put a little vaseline around the rim of my battery compartment, and have dropped it onto the water several times. So far, no problems. I tie the lanyard of the GPS around the deck bungies, and lay it on my deck (undr a bungie)while paddling. Doing this keeps me from losing it if I knock it in the water.



Also,… put a little vaseline on the contacts on the back under the rubber flap, and this will keep the exposed metal from corroding.



I understand the basic $99.000 Garmen does not have a screen that can be changed to display what you want. I mainly display speed, time of day, course being paddled, and distance paddled.



Good Luck!

Got my eTrex Legend
right before Christmas, paid $125. Still learning how to use it, but it looks like it will be good for kayaking and geocaching.

SP

Etrex
I have used a cheap little Yellow Etrex for a couple of years now. Works great for tracking distances, average speeds and logging in good campsites when paddling down the river. No maps, but who needs a map or loses ones way, going down the river? Works great for Geocacheing also. I have had no moisture problems. It has been wet, never submerged and I take steps to keep it dry.

PC Interface
For your needs just about any decent GPS will work, BUT I strongly recommend that you make sure the GPS will connect with a PC in order to make management of waypoint easier.



My only experience is with Garmin, so I can’t speak about other brands. All of the Garmin eTrex’s will connect with a PC, but you’ll have to buy the connector separately. The Geko 101 does not connect to a PC, but the Geko 201 (and up) does.



Think about duration and batteries used too. The basic yellow eTrex runs about 22 hours on two AA’s, while the Geko 201 runs 12 hours on 2 AAA’s. Most users hiking & paddling should turn on the GPS every once in a while to take a position and get current information, rather than leaving it on over time, so even 12 hours of use time is actually a lot.



Unless size & weight are a primary issue, I would recommend going with yellow eTrex, or the eTrex Legend if you want on-board map capability.



I’d recommend that you avoid GPS’s with on-board electronic compasses (eTrex Summit & Vist). They draw power (on Summit use time with compass drops to 13 hours), are not nearly as accurate as magnetic compasses, and cost more. Beside, you really should be carrying a decent magnetic compass anyway.



If you think you might want mapping capabilities someday, get the eTrex Legend. The maps are handy when using a GPS in a car. They could come in handy when tripping (hiking or paddling) longer distances too.



Color screens are nice, but expensive. I find it interesting that Garmin doesn’t publish battery duration times for their color units.

KenK
I bought a Garmin Map76 for a self Christmas present and I am getting used to using it. It came with a cable which plugs into an RS232 port on a computer. I have looked at the Garmin site and they have a RS232/USB converter which Ill need as my computer does not have a RS232 port.



That said, I assumed that you needed one of the upgrade software packages to do anything with a computer. Am I correct, you need additional software?



thanks,



Mark

Amazon.com has the Garmin eTrex
Legend GPS w/ pc cable included on sale right now for $123.00.

It will cost more than $150, but I have
been very satisfied with my Garmin eTrex Legend-C. The color screen makes all the difference in the world; I have not had a problem with battery life. I have used it all day without power problems. It just makes sense to put fresh batteries in each night on a multi-day trip. The mapping capability is great and it comes with the computer cable that you need (so that makes the price a little better). The extra memory also makes for more map loading. Of couse the mapping software that you need you have to buy extra, but the map is not even necessary if you just want to plot positions. And the unit comes with a standard basemap. Lots of extra features and room to grow with it.

Garmin Forerunner 101
I used a Garmin E-trex for a couple of years, mainly as a speedometer for racing and training. Got a new Forerunner 101 for Christmas. It displays speed (or pace), distance, and time all on the same screen. It can be set up to automatically start the clock when you start moving, and stop when you stop. Also has many other cool features that I haven’t used yet.

gps
there is a garim gps on the classified for $80.00 + $6.00 shipping. if i didn’t already have one i’d check into it myself.

good luck

zack

E-Trex Legend comes with cable
The Garmin e-trex Legend comes with the computer patch cable, to use when connecting to a computer.

It isthe basic model
The Garmen advertised on P-Net Classified is the basic model with limited programable screen.



What you see is what you get. It is good GPS, but is very basic. & you can’t change the display to show the things you want to see, like you can with the “Legend” model

It’s $80
because it has a brand new-never used pc cable/12 volt adapter with it that cost me $35. Got a Vista C for Christmas and really don’t need two gps units. Oh yeah, it’s my listing.

bracket
Monted a magellan gps with a 1in by 6 in piece of thin aluminum that is bent at 45 half way up. Mounts and batteries can be expensive but great training tool.