GPS recommendation?

[Lateralus]

I'm looking to get a GPS unit for nugget hunting and would like to know what are considered the best units for prospecting? Thanks anyone for your recommendation(s)!

[Hawkeye]

I was looking into the same thing a few years ago and I settled on the Garmin 76 mapcsx. Does a bit more than I need but I didn't want to get one and then find out I would have wanted it to do more. Its great in canyons and under heavy tree canopy. A good search of gps's I use is to go to amazon and look up the gps you are thinking about and then go to their section on customer opinions/ratings. I think you can get a good feel for the particular item based on that. The Garmin map76csx had a lot of 5 star ratings. Hope this helps.

Take care, Wes

[LuckyLundy]

Lateralus,

Most unit's you have to have a set of 20 year old 20/15 vision to read them. That's why NuggetSlayer, is my GPS man...he has 20/12 vision. Make sure you can down load topo's on your chosen unit.

LuckyLundy

[bflyr2]

Lateralus,

Most unit's you have to have a set of 20 year old 20/15 vision to read them. That's why NuggetSlayer, is my GPS man...he has 20/12 vision. Make sure you can down load topo's on your chosen unit.

LuckyLundy

I teach people how to use GPS units and and Garmin is my favorite and as for easy working and good screen the 60csx is my unit that I use. I ride ATV's alot and do some hiking for Gold. The Etrexcs or csx are good but smaller screen. Stay away from the touch screen hand held units. Have tested them side by side with the 60csx. They do offer some great units that fit on the dash of your car but not much help here as I don't travel to gold fields much that way. Prefur hand held units. Good luck

[clay]

Ruby and I have used a Garmin eTrex for the last three years and we really like it. As a software guy I can say Garmin has the cleanest most stable code in the business. The eTrex line is really tough and it floats!

Downside, for us old guys is the small screen, it's high resolution but so small I need my glasses to read it. I have noticed that on many of the units with larger screens they come right to the edge of the GPS unit, easier to break if you drop them.

All in all I prefer the Garmin units, they are tough and stable. The one we use is easy on batteries, another thing to consider when you are prospecting. bflyr2 is right that you probably don't want one of the car types to go prospecting. Look around, read reviews, there are new units coming out every few weeks so be careful that you get the model you want and not something with the same model number that's newer or older than what you are looking for.

Just make sure the model you get has a usb cable so you can download all your tracks and nugget waypoints onto your FootPrints maps.

Clay

MinerDiggins

[Paseclipse]

You can't go wrong with any of the Garmin eTrex series GPS'. Only problem they do have a small screen because they're designed to be lightweight and small for hiking. I do a lot of hiking around with my unit and it's nice to not have a bulky GPS strapped to me. I had an eTrex Legend for a couple years, it was a great unit but after two years of heavy use I outgrew it and upgraded to a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx and I'm happy so far-

Garmin eTrex Vista HCx

My HCx has a 4 gig memory card and I've uploaded all the topgraphic maps for 4 states to it with room to spare. Also has the capability to upload unlimited Points of Interest which is a very usefull feature because 1000 waypoints isn't enough for me since I mostly hunt meteorites.

Whatever GPS you decide on make sure you get one that has the capabilities to plug into a computer so you can upload and download your tracks and waypoints.

Here's a great website where you can do unit side by side comparisons- GPS City

Hope this helps

[Nuggetslayer]

If you want a great GPS that isn't going to make you dig to deep in your pockets, look at the Delorme PN40. It is easy to use, comes with topo maps already on it, plus comes with like a $40 gift card to purcase quad maps or arial photos, you name it. The screen is easy to use and doesn't glare on ya. With the worst glare you can find the screen still looks clear. Its water proof too. I love how easy it is after having a Garmin Colorado, not to mention the batteries last 10 times longer then the Garmin units. Good luck to you in what ever you buy... OH! another great feature is that not only can you punch in what ever coords you want, you can also get turn by turn directions with out down loading them or you can do it by trail.

[El Dorado]

I have had Garmins for man many years untill..............the best mapmaker came out with their own GPS. I bought the first DeLorm GPS and now have the PN-40. There really is nothing that can compare. Not as intuitive to use as Garmins, but still very easy to use and will support a memory card up to 32GB and redraw maps faster than any other GPS out there. just my 2 pennies....

In reality, they all work!

[Frosty]

I use a Garmin 60CSX for Tech Search and find it very user friendly. It has a memory card that holds a boat load of tracks, waypoints and a map of the whole USA if you want.

Do some research/looking on line for a good deal if you go the 60CSX

[Lateralus]

Thanks for all the great replies. I will look into all of the units mentioned. Anyone have any experience with the Garmin Oregon series?