Please help me spec a GPS replacement

Um... to preempt any "Google is your Friend" replies, I did see the Garmin Montana GPS on their web site. Very nice. Of course, it's $700.

I had the GPS-3 for something like 10 years, so I get my money's worth out of GPS devices. I could probably justify the $700 for the Montana. (Even in this economy!)

But if there's something better out there, that's what I'm looking for.

Sorry, I'm not clear as to what would differentiate this sort of device from the many that are now popular in cars (?)

From my casual inspection of the different "display based" GPS devices here (i.e., three "car units" and two "handhelds" -- not counting those display-less devices that are intended to talk to phones or PC's), the feature sets appear to be very different/disjoint.

E.g., it seems that the handheld units will have a compass while the car units won't (?) (Or, show this merely as "direction you WERE headed" -- but, spinning on a dime won't update the display as you would like)

Amusingly, the handheld devices won't accept L/l -- while the car units *will*!

The car units have lots of "toys" (media players, picture viewers, calculators, etc.) while the handhelds have *tools* (altimeter, sun{rise,set} calculator, etc.).

Display of elevation is obvious on handhelds but hidden away on car units.

Data entry on handhelds is a royal PITA whereas on car units it is only "annoying".

Handhelds like AA cells while car units tend to be rechargeable.

Car units have USB interfaces; handhelds are serial (I imagine that has changed with newer devices?)

Car units have that annoying voice to nag you (I've not been able to select "Language: None" to disable it!)

I don't notice any big difference in *weight* or volume -- but very different form factors!

Interesting feature split! I confess to mainly using a GPS as a "miniature roadmap" (not necessarily *while* traveling; i.e., "When I'm in Florida, what roads could I take from St Pete to Miami?") and as an "accurate pedometer" (i.e., "How long is my walk to the local library, offroad?").

You might take a look at the Delorme PN-60 at US$300:

I have their first handheld model, the PN-20, and it works well. The only reason I haven't upgraded is that the PN-20 does provide a standard RS-232 serial port that outputs NMEA sentences (GGA, RMC, VTG, GSV, GSA) plus a PPS time mark, while the later models are USB-only.

An iPhone has all that except for routes and waypoints.

I would look for one with WAAS, but depending on what you are doing you may not need the extra precision.

=20 Dan

I would look for one with WAAS, but depending on what you are doing you may not need the extra precision.

Dan

Make sure it has good front end filtering so when lightsquared starts jamming the GPS signal it will still attempt to work.

tm

Check out the early Magellan's. They are great for hiking etc. none of the address stuff. You can add goto's and they can do 'breadcrumb' tracks to take home and add to maps etc. You can use it connected to a PC to run a larger map etc.

Ideally, I have about 1200 waypoints to enter, and probably a dozen or so routes. The Garmin GPS 3+ only accommodated 500 waypoints, so it was lacking in that department.

It would be a non-starter for me anyway, as I basically abhor the iPhone. (not too sure why?) Actually, I'm not very fond of cell phones in general, but they are a necessity these days.

Thanks - will do. The Garmin 3+ has a serial output for NMEA sentences as well, though it requires a cumbersome power cable to do it. I actually used this on a couple projects, but not often enough that I "must have" it. I have some embedded GPS modules if it came to that, again.

Yes - Agreed. The array of feature sets is bewildering - and mostly, not what I need.

Responding to my own post -- I decided to get the Garmin Montana 650t. Mail order, since no stores carry it locally.