Aussie Newbie - which GPS?

[bj_melb]

Being in Australia, we mainly have the choice of a Magellan or a Garmin GPS unit.

I will be purchasing an iPAQ 2200/5100/5500 series PDA and was wondering which GPS (Garmin/Magellan) would be best suited. I will be running OziExplorer to use moving map displays.

Possible choices are;
Garmin eMap, eTrex Legend, GPSMAP 76, GPSMAP76S
Magellan Meridian Colour, Platinum or Gold

The Magellan Colour, GPSMAP 76 and GPSMAP76S have an option for an external antenna, which would be great for the car.

Is there any downside to purchasing off ebay? Apart from having different country base maps loaded?

Do they all have serial connection cabability to a PDA?

Any other GPS choices?

Thanks.

B & J

[Dave]

My personal preference if you don't want to go to the cost of paying for a GPSMap76 would be to go for a Meridian, main reason is it has a Quad Helix antenna. The Meridian is quite good, connecting the GPS Receivers to the Pocket PC, you really won't find anything of a difference between them, as they will all act as a GPS Receiver and export the data to the Pocket PC using NMEA 4800.

Check out the following article for information on connecting Handheld GPS Receivers to a PDA.

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/pcmobilecables.php

[gav71]

Gday B & J, how are you both?

I was wondering if you have thought about a bluetooth gps? If you are going to buy through eBay, does that mean you might buy through the US?

I have an iPAQ2210 and have just bought a Globalsat BT 308. I am using it with OziExplorer and am very happy with the performance and price. I find that I can put the Globalsat in my pocket, once a fix has been achieved, and walk around Hong Kong with it - I reckon HK is a good test as the city is so tall. As long as I don't get surrounded by tall buildings, I keep my fix fine......that doesn't sound the best.

I actually bought the gps in HK (a good price at the time) but was seriously considering buying from these guys http://www.semsons.com/index.html
The price seemed pretty good and the shipping was okay, but I was a little worried that the package did not contain all the components - the antenna and a charger ) I think) was missing.

Anyway, just thought it might be another option if you were thinking of using eBay. Good luck with whatever you decide.

gav:)

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