Buy Garmin GPS

Sabin says:

I bought this unit for use on hikes, bike rides, and other similar outdoor activities. I’ve had it for a few months now, and overall, I’m only somewhat satisfied. Here’s a list of pros and cons that have stuck with me so far:

Pros:
-easy to read/see color screen (even in bright sunlight)
-highly customizable screens (types and amount of data shown on each screen)
-fairly easy to learn and operate
-many features, including barometric altimeter and electronic compass

Now, the cons to this product may not be specific to this unit. It may be more a function of the limitations of GPS:

-inaccurate (sometimes highly) “tracking” of horizontal position or trail actually traveled (I’ve compared to trail maps and Google Earth visible trails, and some of my tracks are inexplicably way off)
-inaccurate barometric altimeter (sometimes hundreds of feet off. I’ve turned it on, and had elevation readings of -200 feet!!) which must be constantly calibrated. Also, if you calibrate at the bottom of a climb, by the time you reach the summit, it may be over 100′ off.
-very inaccurate odometer data, and inconsistencies in the data. For example, I recently hiked Half Dome, which is 4800′ vertical gain…this unit only registered 1500′ total ascent, but the begin elevation and end elevation shown were well over 1500′ different. Also, on the same Half Dome hike, the odometer read 5 miles hiked, but the track total registered a more accurate 8.3 miles.
-very “stiff” buttons.

Again, the inaccuracy may be a function of the limitations of GPS, but the odometer inaccuracies in terms of total distance, total ascent, descent, etc. was disppointing. Perhaps Garmin needs to come up with another way of calculating these values. I think a lot of these values are calculated using current horizontal and vertical velocity, which may be inaccurate at any given moment. With inconsistencies at any given moment, it is difficult for the unit to calculate the actual horizontal and vertical distance traveled.

In any case, overall, I would recommend this product for simple trail and waypoint marking. But it should be understood you will only get “general” information, and not anything resembling very accurate data.

**EDIT** Garmin released a firmware patch in Feb of ‘08, and it has really helped with the accuracy of certain data. The total ascent data is much more accurate now, often within 100′ of actual climbed distance (that may not seem so great, but it was horrible before). Also, the distance measurements are better. When I save a track, the distance per the track is much more close to the odometer reading, usually within a mile for a 10-15 mile hike (which again, is just ok, but better than before).

Overall, the unit does seem to be more accurate in all ways now, perhaps due in part to this firmware update. Also, tracks seem to be more accurate in terms of comparing visually to maps. I’m more happy with the unit now, and would probably give it 4 stars if I reviewed it today.

Padgett says:

I purchased this GPS for hiking. The GPS quickly aquires satelites (Much more quickly than my antiquated Garmin III Plus). The Barometric altitude feature is great for anyone interested in hiking in the high country. Very Accurate! The electronic compass is a nice feature as well.

Over all a great product from one of the leaders in GPSr.