May 09, 2005

Garmin GPS V

So I mentioned in a previous post that I stumbled onto a sport called GeoCaching - I neglected however to talk at all about the GPS navigator I purchased and my fans are screaming! Actually, I don't have any fans, I made that up. With that said, here is short commentary on the GPS navigator I chose.

I did some research and settled on the trustworthy (although somewhat dated) Garmin V.

Why?

• I like having the option to use it in landscape or portrait mode. It sits on my dash so the landscape option is convenient. A lot of the other handhelds don't support this well.
• It was cheap! I paid about $225 Amazon dollars for this.
• It shipped with a 12-volt adapter for the car, as well as a slick locking-mount that sits nicely on my dash.
• This was an important one - it comes with a full-unlock for MapSource City Select. Most of the newer handhelds don't come with the software - you can pretty quickly spend more than $400 on a new handheld, the software, and the basic accessories.
• It's rugged and water-resistant to 5 meters - fits my multi-purpose mission.
• I live in Oregon - the 19 megabytes of storage and the slower processor can handle this state.

I've been using the Garmin V for a few weeks now and it's one of those great buys - you know, they're rare and far between, you end up feeling like you should send the manufacturer some more money. This unit cost about $500 a couple of years ago so it's a bargain today at $225. The automatic turn-by-turn route planning feature is great and I love the trip computer. I even take it running with me on occasion to confirm my distance. At night the thing even has a cool backlight feature that almost makes the screen look like it's color. I'm rambling now. You can look at the complete spec on the Garmin site or view this handly tour movie if you're interested in knowing more.

I highly recommend this unit to anybody interested in adding a GPS navigator to their arsenal of toys.

Posted by Cale on May 9, 2005

Categories: shopping, tech.commentary, tech.commentary.gadgets
Technorati Tags: Garmin GarminV GPS GeoCashing