The Garmin handheld option is a great entry level option or as a backup
option.

The choices of options a

Best option - GPSMAP 76CS. Easy to find and reasonably priced. 30
hour battery life (get a good set of rechargables), great screen, and
10+ hours at 4 second recording interval.

Next best option - GPSMAP 76CSX. Latest version of the 76 that uses a
micro storage card. Card can be a pain to deal with, battery life is
~18 hours.

I am not a fan of the 96CS, includes Jeppson database, as the screen is
very cluttered, expensive, expensive for database refreshes, and harder
to setup.

To download and create IGC files use the free utility G7TOWIN,
http://www.gpsinformation.org/ronh/

Display the tracklog on Google Earth, search for free utilities that
preserve altitude and allow replay.

These Garmin units can be used in your vehicle for navigation