Given that the Garmin eTrex Legend supporters seem to be the most vocal group, I would like to chime in and try and uphold the benefits of a simple GPS bluetooth receiver instead. ;-)
Personally, I find the combination of a small stand alone GPS receiver in combination with a bluetooth enabled mobile phone to display the maps the most convenient solution for what I generally use GPS for (navigating and mapping in urban areas). Given that nearly everyone has a phone now-a-days and large proportion of these (mid range and above) are powerful enough to display detailed maps, record traces and give turn by turn navigation instructions, all you need to get a "full featured mapping hand held" is a simple bluetooth receiver, which doesn't even need to support logging on its own. You can get some decent ones for about 20 - 30 pounds making this significantly cheaper than buying e.g. a Garmin. I also generally find it more flexible as one can easily install new software on the phone (with java, even on non smart phones) to pick the application that best fits ones needs and there are quite a few of them by now that support OSM (http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Making_Tracks_with_Homebrew-ware#Mobile_Phones_.2F_J2ME). Given that a bunch of them are open source, you can also always add a feature your self or convince some one else to add it for you if you find non of the software have what you want already. Many phones by now also have bigger screens with higher resolution than the Legend HCX providing a better more readable map. Having to carry two devices with you is of cause a bit of a disadvantage, but if you are carrying your phone with you anyway, the additional weight and bulk may actually be smaller than that of a dedicated gps hand held. That said, I think there is also no question that Garmins do have their advantages as well especially if you want to go on extended outdoor activities. They are generally more tough and water proof than your typical mobile phone or gps logger. The battery life is probably somewhat better (it is mainly the mobile phone that probably runs out of battery quicker running e.g. a Java program rendering maps all day) and the more sophisticated ones such as the 60Csx have built-in electronic compasses and barometric altimeters which can be really quite useful for e.g. pedestrian navigation. Kai _______________________________________________ talk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
