Suggest a GPS?

[W]

Sorry y'all, jumpin' in a bit late here, but just to add my $0.02 --

I picked up a Garmin eTrex Vista Cx (Silver) about 6 weeks ago, and it's worked great on all three of the hikes I've tried it on so far. (Ok, minus a couple weird bounces I got when I was hiding under the roof in Wind Cave, but hey -- I was under a foot of rock, what do you expect! ) No problems at all up Beus Canyon a few weeks ago or up N. Skyline this afternoon. It's got a USB interface as well, works great with Nat'l Geo TOPO! software too.

Little pricey (think I got mine for ~$300) but the color map is nice; w/ the backlight is very easily daylight-readable. I did not spend the extra though on the MapSource US Topo. It's still only 100K for the US at large, which is essentially only really useful for saying "Oh look, there's a mountain range here." When Garmin ponies up with 24K MapSource Topos, then we'll talk! ;-)

[jb]

A couple of thoughts. First, when it comes to hiking, I use a gps less than 1% of the time. Mostly just use the map, and when I want to be sure I don't miss a turn, I'll pull out the garmin and confirm that I'm close to a preloaded waypoint--so I don't use base maps at all on a gps unit.

If this also describes you, then you don't really need to pay for TOPO, Delorme, Mapsource, or any other mapping software. What you can do instead is google "Minnesota DNR Garmin" and you'll be directed to a site where you can download a simple program for free. You can generate waypoints using Excel (saving as database files) or ArcView and then upload them onto your gps. Easy. The program also saves points from the unit into dbf files or shapefiles.

[caverspencer]

By the way how do you get a yellow etrex to connect with software? I have all the right cables with usb/serial converters. It seems the Etrex wasn't made with interfacing with computers in mind.

You mention a USB/serial converter... If your GPS is a serieal GPS a converter isnt going to help. You need plug it in to a serail port. Or atleast that was my experience with my Etrex legend.

have you tired plugging it into a serial port? Or are trying to plug it into USB with a converter?

[Iceaxe]

Just a little update....

Since I could find nothing that meets my needs any better for the price I'm sticking with the standard yellow eTrex. I bought a USB to Serial converter cable for $15 and everything works great.

Topo!, Computer and GPS are all getting along just fine.