Garmin V with full access/unlock street atlas. $235
us from office depot. excellent with 19mb memory in
the Gps which will give you 3 or 4 states detail maps
if you don't put in the metro areas and 1 or 2 if you
do. The only draw back has been to put in the Lat long
you have to create a point on the map and then edit
it. Just a extra step. It has cradle and mounts and
power adaptor. I used it the past couple of weeks with
three landouts on the way XC. all one way trips and
landing at some remote areas and abandoned strips!
All in all a good product with a great price! Still
need a atlas as sometimes it likes to take you on dirt
roads, sometimes when not nesscessary!



At 03:48 15 June 2005, Colin Lamb wrote:
A couple of years ago, our Search and Rescue organization
tested a number of
GPS units, to find some that were cheap, easy to use
and had some mapping
ability. We settled on the Magellan SportTrak Map.
These were discounted
at $150.

They had minimum memory and a base map of the United
States that includes
major highways. After we bought it, I found that Magellan
sells a map of
the US. Unlike other mapping programs, the entire
US fits on one CD rom.
The data is compact. With the minimum memory in the
GPS, we could pick out
a portion of the state and download it to the GPS.
It ended up being the
least expensive map available in the GPS, and was very
easy to use.

At that time, an equivalent Garmin product was not
available for the same
price. However, I have a Garmin and I like it.

Our organization had some non (Garmin and Magellan)
GPS units and had
problems. Support was poor on that other brand.

If you buy a used unit, note that the newer units use
2 penlights rather
than the 4 required by older units. Once you enter
the long and lat, you
can just point the car, but some GPS units are harder
to use. Newer ones
are more user friendly.

I have a color unit and rarely use it. Black and white
is fine in a
handheld.

For search work, I tried a laptop and external GPS
unit and was
disappointed. The handheld works fine. I did not
like any of the mounts
and made my own - having the GPS unit locked down on
the dash makes it much
easier to use.

A GPS is wonderful.

Colin