MyGiG does the bread crumb and save trails.

I have a Keenwood DNX9140 that uses Garmin, supposedly I can load topo maps on it, but I havent tried it yet. I don't think it can do bread crumb though.

 

MyGiG does the bread crumb and save trails.

I see stuff about mygig all the time, but never bothered to read anything about it. As a matter of fact, i dont even know what it is. Im not much of an electronics buff. I can install lift kits, but i cant twist wires.

What does mygig cost?

Any stick to the windshield gps's that you know of?

 

I had one of the Lowrance Baja units in my FJ Cruiser...it was nice but real bulky and real expensive.

 

There really is a big void in the market for a jack of all trades unit...

If you want the best off road unit look at the Lowrance Baja 540c/HDS-5 and then use any run of the mill stick on the windshield GPS for on road navigation.

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Automotive/GlobalMap-Baja-540C/

EDIT:

The 540c is discontinued and replaced with the HDS-5 Baja GPS

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Outdoors/HDS-5-Baja/

 

There really is a big void in the market for a jack of all trades unit...

If you want the best off road unit look at the Lowrance Baja 540c/HDS-5 and then use any run of the mill stick on the windshield GPS for on road navigation.

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Automotive/GlobalMap-Baja-540C/

Yup, that's the exact one I had. Mounted it where the rear view mirror was (who needs those anyways?) and had a Tom-Tom on the dash.

 

I'd recommend the garmin 60CS. It really is the best offroad and hiking (trail use) GPS i've ever seen. It is a BIG pain in the ass to learn how to use it to your advantage though.

 

got this for topo and have my droid for on-road. the combination seems to work for me. I have to admit though, the Lowrance kit is drool-worthy.

 

It might sound stupid but we use our Droid X in a car dock and like it. It runs on Google maps and shows most trails in Wharton and Forked river areas in NJ you can star areas and nav from star to star. Also there are a shit load of apps for nav avalible. It takes still picks and good vids, any length. Incoming phone calls are routed through the stereo speakers, can run tunes and nav at the same time. Tons of apps talored to jeeps, incline meter etc. Imo garmin is a thing of the past, glad I dont have there stock.unsub

 

I wish you were right... I have a droid X as well. 2 things... a lot of places in the desert or high mountains dont get service. And the GPS is not EXACT. If your in the desert at night with no real trail in sight... or on mountain roads with many interecting trails... you might want your EXACT location.

This is why I recommend the Garmin 60CS. You can basically zoom in on the GPS and stare at it and not look at the road at all and you'll know exactly were your going and exactly were the next turn is without seeing the road. It's saved me a few times already... were I know my Droid X would have gotten me either lost or in a ditch.

 

I agree on the Lowrance, I has one in my old Scout. I wish I had never let it go with the rig.

 

Cool guess its got to do with where you play, thanks for the insite.

 

If you are new to GPS, I would recommend the Garmin Oregon series. They do eveyrthing the 60 series does, but are easier to use. They work great for all the offroad stuff you could imagine. Add the City Navigator software (which also includes most trails) and you're golden. I go back and forth with topo and the City Navigator stuff and it's super easy to compare with maps and such. Even the super crappy ones the state puts out with state trails...


As for the Droid, no. I have an X and it's a nice phone. It's not a GPS or a camera. Get the right tool for the job. It could get you to a grocery store in a new town, but that's about it. I even sometimes use the google maps to look at the satellite images, but rarely. However, a gps is much more accurate and easier to use. Not to mention with the MapSource software on your computer you can modify tracks and such all day long. Things the phone won't do easily.

If you are serious about doing mapping of trails, get a real GPS! I like Garmin as they are fairly inexpensive, easy to use, and have loads of software available.

 

If you are new to GPS, I would recommend the Garmin Oregon series. They do eveyrthing the 60 series does, but are easier to use. They work great for all the offroad stuff you could imagine. Add the City Navigator software (which also includes most trails) and you're golden. I go back and forth with topo and the City Navigator stuff and it's super easy to compare with maps and such. Even the super crappy ones the state puts out with state trails....

Can you plug it in, or does it run only on batteries?

Can you give me a link to what youre talking about? Im looking at the garmin site now, but im not sure if im looking at the right thing.... Garmin GPSMAP 62?

 

I got a macked out nuvi 3790 for christmas, but i returned it becuase it didnt have off road capbilties.

What specifically do you mean by "off road capabilities"?

 

Basically i want it to have bread crumbs, the ability to save off road trails, and maybe some other features that i wouldnt know how to use.

 

Breadcrumbs pretty much are available on all newer mapping GPS receivers but may go by different names like "trip log" or "track" and your Nuvi37XX should have had this as well.
Saving those trip logs are another story, Nuvi units as such don't allow you to save the running trip log separately but you can retrieve the existing running trip log from the unit onto your PC after the trip and reset the trip log on the unit once done. On the PC you then can view, edit the trip log via Garmins Mapsource or other software that can import GPX files.

As for GPS unit recommendations, well I can recommend the Garmin Zumo6XX series which are water proof, rugged, bigger screen than Handhelds (e.g. oregon, GPSMap) and have import export features for routes/tracks the Nuvi units don't have but they are darn expensive.
To be honest you may have gotten rid of your Nuvi3790 too early as it is still a relatively new unit and Garmin may add features via Firmware updates later, however even without these updates it could have worked for off road navigation by creating routes via Waypoints.

 

I keep my Garmin GPSMAP76 (handheld unit I use on the boat). It has major highways but is primarily designed for hiking and boating. Leaves/saves the breadcrumb trails and you can save waypoints for entrances to favorite spots. Comes in monocrome for under $200 and in color for like $40/$50 more....just a thought!

 

Someone also mentioned some of the other Garmins such as the Nuvis. To my knowledge, some do tracks and some do not. The lower end ones are generally in my experiance for the road only. They may do some tracking, or "breakcrumbs", but are limited in how many and how long the tracks can be.

The MyGig was also mentioned. I have no experiance with it so I guess this is more of a question. Can you link it to your computer to further modify your tracks? This is a feature that I have found a necessity. After a short while, you'll have so many tracks and waypoints on your unit that having a way to organize them is a requirement. I wheel in quite a few areas. I map all my trips, and then save them on to my computer. I can then change names, cut sections up into smaller sections, etc. to label things that need it and even mark sections of trails that are easy, tight, fun, hilly, rocky, etc.

I'm a bit anal with my mapping. It is very helpful though when I go back to an area that I haven't been to in a long time. With just a basic track on a GPS, I wouldn't know where a specific section was I wanted to hit, or a section I wanted to avoid is. Also, when I go back to an area I've been before, I have all the info from previous trips, with none of the info from other areas. That way if I'm looking through my saved waypoints, or saved tracks, I'm only looking through ones from that area, instead of looking through a list with 500 different areas.

 

I like the DeLorme for offroad use. A bit pricey but for 29.99/yr you can download unlimited Sat. imagery and with the new models you can add a SPOT tracker. Next after that I had been using the 60CS on dirtbikes.

 

Just an FYI, the Lowrance units are street capable. I run a 6600cHD and it will show everything from points of interest like banks/gas stations/food, street names, fwy ramps, etc. The big instruction manual is intimidating at first, but they're pretty easy to use, and accurate when you're off pavement as well. You can save trails, and download new trails onto an sd card and load them into the unit. Poly Performance carries them, or you can keep an eye out on some of the desert websites as they pop up pretty frequently.

- Eddie

 

Don't discount the Droid. You CAN work offline with some very inexpensive apps. For example, BackCountry Navigator allows downloading of topos, street and Satellite views for offline useage. In the desert, switching between topo and satellite is a huge benefit. The satellite views are great when you are searching for that very lightly used road. The other advantage is that the maps are free. As for accuracy, my Samsung Captivate has a newer chipset than my old gps (i do have a mygig as well) and it's accuracy can be up to about 12.5 feet. There are also breadcrumbs, nav points, etc. Since it is in my phone, I can take it hiking as well too. and it isn't too big, but big enough for my "old" eyes.
Ron

 

Go buy a gps. Learn to use it and all it's features. You'll forget about using your phone.

Also, for reference, I've tried about 6 different map apps for my X that will allow mapping and general gps use while not having data coverage. A real gps is better. Way better. Photographers don't use their cell phones because it has a camera. A person needing good accurate mapping software shouldn't use their phone either. It was designed as a phone first. All the other stuff they put on it is just to help them sell.

 

I'm a bit of a GPS nerd (I heavily geocache) and the Garmin Oregon is probably the best and easiest unit for what you want. Buy the Oregon 450 if you're going to buy any of them. Don't bother with the "t" as you can get the topo maps for free all over the internet. I've had the etrex, 60csx, Colorado, and Oregon 300. I recently upgraded to the 450 and it's the best. You can get them for about $230-$250. Make sure you check that your unit software is up to date first thing as there are constant improvements coming out.

 

Make sure you check that your unit software is up to date first thing as there are constant improvements coming out.

Is that something i can do after i get it, or should i make sure it has the latest softwear before i buy it?

Ive been looking at GPSs all evening, now im starting to consider the lowrance hds-5 baja. I dont know if i want to spend that much, and i still dont know if i want that big ass thing on the dash.

 

The 550 is the only one with a camera, and while it's a pretty decent camera, it's not worth the extr money

 

I use

"MY TRACKS" on my Droid Pro

and my

GARMIN 60CSx
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-GPS-60...60CSx-Handheld-Navigator/dp/B000CSOXTO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294719248&sr=8-1

 

I absoulutely love my Garmin GPSmap 60 Csx. If I were going to replace it I would get the new https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=63802 and dont for get to buy http://www.gpscity.com/garmin-city-navigator-north-america-card.html that should do everything you need.

 

Personally, I'd choose the DVD version of the City Navigator. If you get the SD card you can only view it on your GPS, along with having to share the SD card with sat images and such. If you get the DVD, you upload what you need from MapSource to the gps, and best of all when you transfer your tracks back to the computer you'll be looking at the same maps. With the SD card, once the tracks and tranfered back to the computer, you won't be able to see all the City Navigator info. In other words, you'll be looking at a different, much less detailed map.

 

Guys, what are your thoughts on the lowrance endura sierra?

 

To answer your question about updated software, it's easy to update to the latest, so don't worry much about that, just make sure you DO update.

As for the lowrence, I know nothing about that particular unit, but lowrence are good units. Very few people I know have them though because they are expensive and you can better units cheaper.

Also, if you do go with Garmin, never buy the SD card maps. Either download from a torrent, or buy the DVD. The new units can take a 16gig microSD card, which will hold all the maps you could want both topo and city navigator.

 

I haven't used Lowrance either, but I've never heard anything bad other than the price.

Personally, I'd stick with Garmin or Delorme as software (adding different maps and different types of maps) is readily available and the prices aren't too crazy.

For what it's worth, it seems to me many more people on the trail are running Garmins. The file type for Garmin is .gpx and it's not compatible with Delorme units unless convertered so this makes sharing tracks and waypoints a bit more difficult. Also, the Oregons have a wireless transfer ability with other Oregons and Colorados which is nice for sharing files, but obviously no good unless they have one of those two units.

 

Garmin 60 CSX is the best trail mapping unit I have used. You can do anything with Topos, they are rugged as hell, small enough to take anywhere, and priced right. I do all of my trail mapping with this unit. Nothing else I have tried at even 3 times the cost is better.

 

And its easy to read while mounted on the dash?

 

I had a long discussion with a Garmin rep who basically stated the hardware of the 60 series and the Oregon series is similar so performance should be a dead heat.

The Oregon has a bigger screen though and the touchscreen interface.

 

If you need to convert from or to GPX or KML or ??? formats, check this site out:
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/
Great for compatability issues.