Choosing a GPS receiver
There are a wide range of devices available, which is right for you?
If you are looking for the "swiss army knife" of GPS solutions, a device that does everything, you will be disappointed. You need to decide:
- What the primary use will be
- How often you will use it
- How good are you at understanding maps and grid references
- How much do you want to spend
There are many types of GPS, these are some of the features.
- Compass direction
- Grid reference
- Altitude
- Integrated to mobile 'phone
- Integrated to PDA
- Integrated map imagery
- Waypoints and routes stored in memory
- Route display (but zero or minimal integral mapping)
- Colour display
- Motorist directions
- Integral backlight
- Waterproof
- No display (transmits location to PDA using BlueTooth wireless link)
- Audio alerts
Cheapest are those that just provide basic compass direction & grid reference.
Most expensive are those with a (relatively) large colour screen, voice outut and have integrated and downloadable maps. These are usually for in-car navigation systems.
It is difficult to help select the right device for your requirements, we all have different needs and prices range from under £100 to over £1000. It seems like a good idea to have a reasonable understanding of the options and capabilities before making a purchase.
I will take you through the decision process that led me to select Magellan SporTrack as best suited to my needs/budget.
I had been considering the purchase of a GPS for over a year but kept seeing devices with more flexibility, more integral function, usually making the cost greater than I was comfortable with.
For example my attention was drawn to the possibility of a mobile 'phone with integral GPS. The trouble was that would not give me a fully featured GPS (in terms of the features I needed) and out hill walking, I'd rather have a separate 'phone. Here's an example: http://www.benefon.com/old/products/track/
Another initially appealing option was a PDA with Bluetooth GPS but I realised I was suffering from gimmick inflation. The whole setup was going to lead me into spending several hundred pounds for something not sufficiently robust for hill-walking. On-screen mapping is fine - but does it mean I need my reading glasses?! Also battery life for colour PDAs is not consistent with a long trek. Finally I found that most commercial PDA mapping software is for Microsoft PDAs and if I were to buy a PDA it would use Palm o/s (or Linux).
So I made a check list of features
Primary role - For hill walking, so implying - a need to be fairly robust
- altitude information would be useful
- if not waterproof then at least rain-proof
- I'm happy using map and compass and would expect to carry those too (they don't need batteries!), so no need to be able to download map images, no need for colour display
- Route and waypoint storage to help me navigate
- backlight for night-time use, should the need arise (but not essential, I'd have a torch!)
- long battery life would be an advantage.
Secondary role - For navigation while motoring, after all I need to drive to the start of my day's walk! This just called for a "large print" display of heading, bearing, distance. The ability to take power from the cigarette lighter would be useful. The ability to use an external aerial might be useful (weaker satellite signals don't get through the car roof).
Cost - relatively inexpensive, in the £100-£200 range but not so cheap I had to make compromises on key features. If I make a mistake with my choice, I'd rather that was a £100 mistake than a £500 one.
Connectivity - I wanted to be able to connect to a PC to be able to transfer routes I'd walked onto the PC, also to plan routes on a map and upload them to the GPS. Some manufacturers charge excessively for cables, so the price should be cable inclusive.
Mapping - I needed something that would work with my chosen PC based mapping product.
Using a list of criteria gave me something to focus on as I looked through the alternatives.
I was inclined toward the better known brands who've been making this kind of device for several years but browsed all alternatives anyway. I eventually chose the Magellan SporTrack but there are several others that offered comparable cost/benefit models. My only compromise was that it doesn't have an external aerial connection.
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