what gps system are you using and how do rate them...

[gazaddy]

As per title. Looking to buy one but bit of a minefield....just interested in peoples thoughts

[Moder-dye]

Still just using maverick on my (Xperia) smartphone. Works great for me.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I much prefer the 'outdoor' type gps such as eTrex, Dakota, etc. I find they tend to be quite reliable and AA batteries can be had from anywhere. The 'cycle' gps (Edge) seem to be a bit more prone to crashing / freezing and once the batteries flat you'll need a way to recharge it ... probably great for shorter rides but I couldn't see myself setting off on anything longer than 2 days with one.

Personally, I use a Dakota 20 but not sure if they're still available.

[Sarah]

Also toying with this, largely because of the number of maps we end up hauling around.

Which systems are also good for European maps, and Morocco ? Robust, easy to charge/power up etc ? idiot proof to use...

I am a total dinosaur and love my 'paper' maps, and real books, but suddenly a kindle and gps seem like a good idea. Maybe.

Sarah

[ctznsmith]

Garmin Oregon 400t.

Bought second hand off ebay for about £120 I think.

Used for 2 and a bit years. Broke a battery contact in the back bodged it with a bit of tinfoil for ages and then replaced the battery compartment with one from a 300 which I got off ebay for about £10.

Managed to push in the rubber on/off button this summer so it wasn't waterproof. Have fixed/bodged by using super glue to stick a puncture patch over the top of it.

It works reliably and they're easy to fix/bodge if you break bits.

Maps wise I use the Open source MTB maps.

Benefits of the Oregon over a Dakota is a bigger screen but I assume it's also a heavier unit.

Use a dynamo hub, a B&M usb-werk and a cheap USB AA battery charger (one from ikea or an energiser one...someone stole my fancy Portapow 4 battery usb charger in Norway) to charge AA batteries.

eReader, I bought a second hand Kobo touch from a pawnshop in Plymouth which has been good so far.

[SteveM]

my garmin edge 510 was fine in New Zealand for most of the time, just losing signal every now and again, however the chap I rode with had an Etrex model, he never lost signal once, thats what I'd buy next time, its bigger and bulky but worth it for the peace of mind

[ScotRoutes]

I also prefer the outdoor/recreational models. I had a Dakota but prefer the larger screen of the Oregon.

They do function a bit differently to the cycle computer type but are very customisable in terms of fields displayed on screen etc. They can also be linked to HRM/Cadence sensors if you want those functions.

[ianfitz]

I've an etrex 30x and a edge 800. Echo Stu's comments on battery life etc and have had isues with not being able to recharge the edge. this led me to go down the etrex route.

Worth pointing out that I'm aware that my etrex and Lee Craigies have suffered terminal crashes. Hers during the HT550, resulting in a DNF as she couldn't quite remember the whole route. Mine on the way to Bearstock, slightly less critical! Garmin replaced both with no quibbles but...

the crashes happened when loading a new gpx file so I'm not sure how you can avoid that.

[whitestone]

A foot in both camps here.

I've a Garmin 510 for the roadie stuff and local rides where I really don't need a map plus this handles all the willy waving sensors you can wave a, err, stick at so I can do the Straavaaa thing Battery life is somewhere between 12 & 16hrs, I used to use it for two day rides and charge it overnight using one of those lipstick sized powerbanks. But ...

I've also a Garmin Oregon 600 with the OSM mapping that I use for more off-road stuff and ITTs and the like where I might not know the route. This is so complicated a device I haven't got past page 7 of the manual AA batteries so if you do run out of juice somewhere out in the sticks then there's a good chance you'll get something to replace them. Again I get about 12-16hrs of usage from a charge but that's with screensaver mode turned on and hopefully most of the other heavy power features turned off.

[ianfitz]

A foot in both camps here.

I've a Garmin 510 for the roadie stuff and local rides where I really don't need a map plus this handles all the willy waving sensors you can wave a, err, stick at so I can do the Straavaaa thing Battery life is somewhere between 12 & 16hrs, I used to use it for two day rides and charge it overnight using one of those lipstick sized powerbanks. But ...

I've also a Garmin Oregon 600 with the OSM mapping that I use for more off-road stuff and ITTs and the like where I might not know the route. This is so complicated a device I haven't got past page 7 of the manual AA batteries so if you do run out of juice somewhere out in the sticks then there's a good chance you'll get something to replace them. Again I get about 12-16hrs of usage from a charge but that's with screensaver mode turned on and hopefully most of the other heavy power features turned off.

Good point about battery life Bob.

the edge 800 will do 12 hours+ navigating a TCX file (gives you turn by turn prompts) whereas the Etrex will do well over 24 hours on a set of Lithium utras its done closer to 30 with very careful handling of screen brightness

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Garmin ownership will almost always end in frustration, but there is nothing else on the market that comes close to their units. I have had two edge models, a 705, replaced by an 800. They where both glitchy but the 800 is reasonably stable now, after 5 years of updates!

For bikepacking I prefer using AA batteries, and have an 8 year old Oregon replaced last year by an etrex 30. Was very disappointed that the functionality of the etrex is no better, and it still freezes, particularly when using the zoom function.

Was thinking about getting the new edge 820, but it has been getting some pretty mixed reviews and doesn't have an SD card slot for putting mapping cards on.

[Blackhound]

Similar to Mr Whitestone I have a Garmin Dakota 20 and a 500 which I got in a sale for about £100. The 500 is used for local rides where I know where I am going and the Dakota for longer rides and allows less swapping between bikes.

I bought a Dakota in late 2011 and done all my rides with it (I load them to Strava nowadays) and have the UK OS maps on it. I did buy some cheap £24 maps of Europe and OS Ireland for it to put in the sd slot when required. Also possible to download maps and I have used this tutorial for NZ maps and a spare Ireland map:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/05/down ... 00810.html

I did the Tour Aotearoa this year (using the downloaded maps) and the Dakota saved all the files for me until I got home and the AA batteries were easy to source during a two month trip. I did not have a screen protector and over time it got scratched so after I returned from NZ I managed to pick up a second model from EBay (used once according to the seller) for about £75 and it has been fine. Keeping the old one as a spare for long trips where something might go wrong.

I would like to always have a AA/AAA powered battery for the piece of mind having had a few issues using a dynamo system and do not want to rely on finding a power source on longer trips.

[gairym]

Another happy Dakota user here.

Ease of finding AA batteries and the long battery life were the main factors. I don't need a higher definition screen to follow a line and I don't use the other functions much as I've also got a Garmin 310XT watch that I wear that gives me speed, distance, altitude, HR and other silly information (also really good battery life and charges from USB).

I use opensource MTB mapping on the whole and find it adequate but not massively detailed (fine 99% of the time).

[Mariner]

Etrex 30 user purely on the AA battery use.
Card slot clip fell off so card was not in contact but jammed it back in and all good so far.
Very clunky to use and functionality rubbish but as said above there is very little choice.
Cant believe if I switch it on then faff about before setting off I get a giant fur ball at the start of the track.
Were is the odometer function? I want to know how far I have traveled when not following a route.
Now I have taken the screen saver off I can see the screen much better.
There is a real market opening for someone to come up with a phablet style gps with SPOT combined.

edit - Mea Culpa have been playing around with the etrex and found something called 'trip odometer' which is the function I was looking for. Only taken a year to find.
If push came to shove and had to make my mind up still go with the etrex.

[Pickers]

Watching this with some interest.
I have an Edge Touring, when it does work (in fairness, most of the time) it is brilliant, of that there is no question.
I've had enough issues with it though that (a) I'm not inclined to trust it on a longer trip and (b) I'm not too inclined to buy another Garmin. Using the turn by turn directions to find digs when I was touring last year across France and the Low Countries it was faultless and saved me a fair bit of faffing. I've also had the crashing, freezing and shutting down for no apparent reason issues as mentioned above.

There is a real market opening for someone to come up with a phablet style gps with SPOT combined.

If there was I'd snap one up, not sure the market is big enough (talking millions of units?) for a useful manufacturer to invest in one.

[Richard G]

Edge 1000... it's garbage. I get about 6 hours max on it now when using the map screen continuously. Plus, for some reason when it rains the screen decides to lock itself if I touch it.

I think I'll buy a replacement to my old Etrex 30 at some point. Not sure what though.

[ootini]

Does anyone here use a phone (preferably Android) as a fully functioning GPS unit for multiday trips? If so, which app / map combination do you use? And how do you deal with the power consumption issues?

I keep toying with the idea of buying something like a Garmin Etrex 20 or similar, but haven't yet got round to it, and am considering just using my phone.

[gazaddy]

Thanks guys....a bloke at work uses Garmin 1000 and did lejog using it , he loves it but others don't. I'm upgrading my old p.a.y.g phone aswell , any ideas on a gps function on a smartphone .

[GregMay]

eTrex 20 - Openstreet contour maps.

Now in it's 5th season with about 25,000km of riding on it. Have had zero issues with it.

[Moder-dye]

Does anyone here use a phone (preferably Android) as a fully functioning GPS unit for multiday trips? If so, which app / map combination do you use? And how do you deal with the power consumption issues?

I keep toying with the idea of buying something like a Garmin Etrex 20 or similar, but haven't yet got round to it, and am considering just using my phone.

Me! Second post.

I use it for both work and pleasure, both on land and sea (coastal sailing/kayaking). Xperia Z with maverick pro (non-pro version is free and really good too) which you can cache free OS maps from 1:50 to 1:25k scale along with lots of other maps. For sea I use i-Boating app which is pricey but worth it. I've used it in the UK, Iceland, Greenland , Portugal and Norway with the appropriate maps or aerials cached on it.

I keep it on airplane mode unless I really want to check or make a text/call and have the screen off unless I want to use it. I also have a usb battery that I can plug in to charge as I use, but normally I just top it up at night when I've turned the phone off. Obviously if I stop anywhere I'll plug the phone in if I can to give it a boost.

If walking I usually just refer to the map or gpx track just look when ever I feel the need to. Sometimes I'll record the route too.

On the bike I usually have strava running recording what I'm doing an just use maverick for the map and to see a gpx trail if I'm following one.

The main thing is I only turn the screen on when I need to view the map and I have it on airplane mode. I don't have anything running to give me on-going directions/prompts.

On a trip like I'm going on tomorrow I'll also have printed off a strip map of my route in case of any phone trauma!

[ootini]

Does anyone here use a phone (preferably Android) as a fully functioning GPS unit for multiday trips? If so, which app / map combination do you use? And how do you deal with the power consumption issues?

I keep toying with the idea of buying something like a Garmin Etrex 20 or similar, but haven't yet got round to it, and am considering just using my phone.

Me! Second post.

I use it for both work and pleasure, both on land and sea (coastal sailing/kayaking). Xperia Z with maverick pro (non-pro version is free and really good too) which you can cache free OS maps from 1:50 to 1:25k scale along with lots of other maps. For sea I use i-Boating app which is pricey but worth it. I've used it in the UK, Iceland, Greenland , Portugal and Norway with the appropriate maps or aerials cached on it.

I keep it on airplane mode unless I really want to check or make a text/call and have the screen off unless I want to use it. I also have a usb battery that I can plug in to charge as I use, but normally I just top it up at night when I've turned the phone off. Obviously if I stop anywhere I'll plug the phone in if I can to give it a boost.

If walking I usually just refer to the map or gpx track just look when ever I feel the need to. Sometimes I'll record the route too.

On the bike I usually have strava running recording what I'm doing an just use maverick for the map and to see a gpx trail if I'm following one.

The main thing is I only turn the screen on when I need to view the map and I have it on airplane mode. I don't have anything running to give me on-going directions/prompts.

On a trip like I'm going on tomorrow I'll also have printed off a strip map of my route in case of any phone trauma!

Forgive my ignorance, but doesn't shifting the phone in to airplane mode turn the GPS functionality off as well?

[Moder-dye]

Not on the Xperia. I think if you use iPhone it might do that.

Sometimes I just turn WiFi off, I never have data or Bluetooth on anyway. But I can guarantee that with an Xperia in Airplane mode both maverick and strava apps work.

Best thing is to download it and go for a wander and see if it works on your phone.

[JamesT]

Hi - first off I am a real IT jumpy. I have a Garmin Dakota 20, and managed to delete all the mapping off the micro card a few years ago. I have just dug it out again, and have found an online source to get this fixed - I need to ask a beginner GPS user question. Do I need seperate route planning software (for my home computer ) ? Can I download free maps ? Can people advise on the best options for this ?

[Mariner]

If you want to get a feel of how things work or might work download Garmin BaseCamp (free) and add Open Street Map then try and plot somewhere you went so you know the area either local or in Europe.
Even I managed to load the OSM France maps yesterday on my computer and etrex and so far looking good.

[ianfitz]

Not on the Xperia. I think if you use iPhone it might do that.

Sometimes I just turn WiFi off, I never have data or Bluetooth on anyway. But I can guarantee that with an Xperia in Airplane mode both maverick and strava apps work.

Best thing is to download it and go for a wander and see if it works on your phone.

One of the recent updates for iPhone allows gps to work when in flight mode.