Handheld GPS buyers guide
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Listed below are our choices for the best handheld GPS receivers, from entry-level models to the cadillacs of the backcountry. I’ll make a recommendation in each category, based upon value, feature set and user reviews. Any prices listed are current as of the last update of this page.
Keep in mind that most handhelds don’t come with detailed maps. Fortunately for Garmin owners, there are many free maps available, including 1:24,000 scale topo maps or most states.
Budget handheld GPS receivers
Our choice: Garmin eTrex Venture HC
- Sunlight-readable color screen
- Can accept detailed topo maps (sold separately)
- Comes with a USB cable for transferring waypoints, tracks and routes to and from your computer
- The retail price is $170, but I often see the Venture HC for sale anywhere from $115 to $130
Other budget units:
- The Garmin eTrex 10
(Amazon link) is a new model that has a monochrome screen; you also lose the ability to load maps. The eTrex 10 is available for just over $100 at the time of this update. I hope to have a hands on review posted soon.
- The Garmin eTrex 20 adds lots of features not found on the Venture HC. As of this posting the eTrex 20 can be found for about $180. If you can swing the price, this is the one to get.
Mid-range handheld GPS receivers
Our choice: Garmin Oregon 450
- Touchscreen
- Barometric altimeter and tri-axial electronic compass
- BirdsEye aerial imagery capability
- Garmin custom maps capability
- Advanced track navigation
- This unit has recently been on sale for as low as $250, but you may need to wait for Black Friday to see pricing that low again
Shop more garmin oregon 450 at Bizrate
Other mid-range units
- The Garmin Dakota 20 is a smaller version of the Oregon. Once its been on the market for awhile, it should start to show up at a discounted and very attractive price.
- The old standby used to be the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx. A solid performer, but lacking a tri-axial compass, aerial/custom imagery and advanced track navigation capabilities. I’ve recently seen it on sale for as low as $199.
- The Delorme PN-60 can accommodate aerial imagery and real USGS topos. It has a smaller screen than the Oregon (albeit more legible in most daylight conditions) and comes with powerful but complex software. Available for around $260 at the time of last update.
High-end handheld GPS receivers
There are several units to consider here; all have a barometric altimeter and tri-axial electronic compass.
- Garmin Montana series – I recently reviewed the Garmin Montana 600 and have been very impressed with it. Yes, it’s a bit on the big side, but that really didn’t both me much. And it’s the best dual-use unit Garmin has ever offered.
- Garmin GPSMAP 62s – Perfect for those who don’t want a touch screen unit. It brings all the latest features such as paperless geocaching, BirdsEye aerial imagery, custom maps and advanced track navigation. Step to the 62st for pre-loaded 1:100,000 scale topo maps of the entire US.
- The Garmin Oregon 550t, combines a high resolution, touch screen interface with pre-loaded topo maps of the entire U.S and a built-in 3.2 MP geotagging camera.
- The DeLorme PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator is a special case. This combo allows you to comunciate with the outside world, even where there is no cell signal. If you venture far off the beaten track, or go it alone, this one is hard to pass up.
Other high end units:
- Another option is to get a couple of Rino 650 units for you and your outdoor adventure partner. That way, you get most of the advantages of the 62s, plus you can see their position on your screen (and vice versa)!
Related posts:
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Davis,
Glad to help. There are good tutorials on http://gpsfiledepot.com for loading their maps. We’re here to help too.
Hi. I am looking for a GPS that I can attach to my keys to find my car in a large parking lot. I was looking at the Bushnell as a gift but the reviews were mixed. Any suggestions?
Don’t know of anything else. If you have a smartphone there are apps that will work.
Thanks.So, the tracking gps would not be good for locating your car, for example?
The Bushnells? Seems like the sort of thing they would work for. Haven’t tried one though.
As a forester, I’m looking at upgrading my GPS with the biggest biggest importance on map creating purposes. Accuracy, topo navigating, and ability to create maps very important (often create personal maps for lots from 10-1000 acres in size). For Garmin products I was drawn to the Oregon 450 and eTrex 30 (Cabelas has a very good sale on the Dakota 20 Bundle but still leaning to the Oregon over Dakota), and to the Earthmate PN-60w. Any thoughts between the three for this niche area? Also have you had an experience/ could you recommend and mapping software for emphasis on creating topo maps and boundary maps of individual lots?
Thanks for your time!
The Oregon 450 wins for screen size, but the eTrex 30 adds GLONASS and may end up being more accurate. Personally I find the DeLorme’s software clunky.
Speaking of screen size, have you considered the Montana series?
Here’s the best source of info I know of on making maps…
http://gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/
have purchased the Dakota 20. Do you have an opinion on whether to use Li-ion rechargeables or the pre-charged NiMH (Eneloop?) rechargeables? Want to maximize battery life, but other than initial cost, there could be some other differences with which I am not aware. I would primarly use rechargeables, then keep a pkg of non-rechargeable lithiums on hand in case the unexpected occurs. Thanks,LD
Are you talking about an external li-ion pack? I haven’t tried it. I prefer Eneloops myself, but Lithiums will last longer. I use Eneloops and keep a 4 pack of freshly charged ones with me (but then I’m usually toting multiple GPS receivers!).
Today I hoped to download some maps. I connected the Dakota 20 to my computer for the first time. I downloaded the Garmin Communicator & my computer ‘recognized’ the GPS. However, after this, nothing. The Dakota sits in my hand with a screen showing a computer connected to a GPS. I tap on Dakota screen & nothing.
The Dakota on-line ‘manual’ gives very little information. It’s a little frustrating since the Basemap isn’t very useful. Figuring out operation of the unit itself has gone smoothly. Trying to figure out how to download something or to even get the computer to interact with the Garmin has been frustrating.
The screen won’t provide any info or be responsive once it goes into mass storage mode.
What maps are you wanting to load to it, some from Garmin or the free ones from http://gpsfiledepot.com or…?
Thanks for info. I’ll stop tapping the screen now.
mapsdepot and dnr sent me a google earth map with a trail they placed on it. I’ve saved that to my Photoshop and would like to download that, too.
I did try to ‘open’ the garmin communicator file but my computer did not have the software to open it?
The Communicator file should have just installed Communicator on your computer.
This should help in terms of loading maps from http://gpsfiledepot.com...
http://gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit/
For the Google Earth map, you’ll need to follow the instructions here (click the Instructions tab)…
http://www.garmin.com/us/products/onthetrail/custommaps
Nothing working.
The Communicator plug-in test reports it recognizes the Dakota.
Today: Oh! I need to downloaded Basecamp to my PC.
Downloaded Iowa topo (.exe) from gpsfildepot and attempted to follow directions from your link above.
I had to select ‘Global Map’ to enable the ability to R click on Dakota 20 and have option of “Intall maps on dakota 20″.
Dialog box appears…’MapInstall could not find installed products…’ then another box announcing Runtime error for MapInstall appeared.
*I’ve never tried to install MapInstall & never had a box appear giving me that option*
Not sure where my missing link is. I’m spending hours trying to find it. Not sure if I should take this problem to Garmin or gpsfiledepot or ?? I don’t expect you to solve all my gps problems but providing me a direction on where to go would be apprreciated. thanks.
Did you run the .exe file? That should install it on your computer. It sounds like this could be what the issue is.
MapInstall comes with BaseCamp and will come up when you try to install a map.
Garmin won’t help with this, but we can or I’m sure the folks on the http://gpsfiledepot.com forum would too.
Thanks, you led me in the right direction. I tried to ‘run’ and ‘open’ the file, but all it ever wanted to do was re-install it. I did re-install several times from my pc and from the gpsdepo website. No luck.
I found another map and installed it, causing MapInstall to pop up. So, maybe problem specific to this first map I”ve ever tried to install?
I’ve registered on forum at the depot as flyangler and posted a question in the general section. I’m hoping for a solution. Really want a topo map and the 2ndary map is a transparency, so plan to wait to ‘download’ it until after topo is on-board.
Lisa
Great! I see you’re getting good support over there. It’s a great group of folks.
I am looking for a GPS tracking program that will allow me to keep logs of my whereabouts. But I need to be able to go back and look at a specific days travels often long after it takes place. The GTU10 seems like it has this capability but the tracking logs cost a lot and you can only review 7 days worth of info. There is software from Instamapper you can use on an iphone or Android and you can see history there but it isn’t packaged well. Does anyone know of a device or software (pay or free) on a smartphone that would do this. The only thing i’ve seen that comes close is some of the “spy” softare like mobistealth which i assume you could install on your iphone but i have no idea if it actually works. Any ideas ??
There are many solutions. For Android there is MyTracks, but you’ll probably have to start it logging each time you head out, stop it at the end of the trip and save it.
I imagine there are apps designed for this purpose; it may just take some digging to find them.
Newer Garmin nuvis archive quite a bit in terms of trip logs. This may be the easiest solution:
http://gpstracklog.com/2010/10/archived-trip-logs-on-garmin-nuvis.html
I am looking for the verry best GPS to mount on the handle bars of my dirt bike. i want the biggest screen and the easyist to use. price does not matter. it needs to be able to take some shock as well. thanks
Hands-down the Garmin Montana 600/650 wins that one IMHO.
Absolutely agree – I have the 650 (I suggest the 650T to get the 100K maps) and I purchased a mount for it at REI – good handle bar connection and a water resistant clear window pouch. I mounted this to my dirt bike and cruised the Colorado Rockies. It is really a good unit – I was still learning it and have not mastered it. Check REI for the mount.
Biggest screen = Montana. Easiest to use is up for debate. One advantage of the 62s is that you can switch pages using the buttons without having to look at the screen. I like it for mtn. biking for this reason.
If you do go with the Montana, here’s my preferred mount: http://gpstracklog.com/2011/11/garmin-montana-series-ram-mount.html
And I’d choose the 600 or 650 rather than the 650t. There are plenty of free 24K maps available at http://gpsfiledepot.com and Garmin’s 24K maps are also a good choice. The preloaded 650t maps are 100K scale.
hi sir i looking for my fishing long line traking gps bouy
Unless there is something specialized in the market, I think you’re just looking for a standard waterproof GPS tracking device. Maybe the Garmin GTU-10?…
http://gpstracklog.com/2011/06/garmin-gtu-10-gps-tracker-review.html
Rich
Hi, I work for a non-profit organization called Teton Valley Trails and Pathways (www.tvtap.org). We are looking for an easy to use handheld GPS unit that will do the following:
*Create tracks and elevation profiles that we can upload over a topo map/areial photo to our website.
*Be able to create and print basic trail maps for our Nordic trails and mtn. bike trails.
Do you have a suggestion for a GPS unit? What other software would we need to do this?
Thanks
Nick Beatty
Almost any handheld GPS will give you the ability to record tracks. Elevation data isn’t as accurate as getting lat/long, but for the best results, I’d choose a recent model with a barometric altimeter. Good choices would be (roughly in order of cost) the Garmin eTrex 30, Oregon 450, GPSMAP 62s or the Montana 600. I’ve got pages up for all of them on this site.
To create an elevation profile or layer the track on top of a topo map, I’d suggest National Geographic TOPO, though I’m not sure what their policy is re: publishing the maps. For aerial photos there are lots of options; the simplest might be a screen shot from Google Earth. More info here…
http://gpstracklog.com/2012/01/handheld-gps-201-mapping-software.html
Tracklog for photographers?
There seems to be no specific sites for GPS as far as photography goes. I would like to find a small and light device that can tracklog, producing a stream of data with location/time pairs so that it can be synchronized with the time a photo was taken and hence the photo can be assigned a location using the new program Lightroom 4 from Adobe, now in beta. I know very little about how to do this, having before only used a map-based GPS in my car. Any advice on what to look for? It needs to work in Europe as well as North America, preferably OK worldwide.
Thanks
Yeah, I don’t have much info on that. The search term you need to use is GPS data logger. They should work worldwide. Battery life is one concern I hear from people, but mainly if they are backpacking or otherwise going to be away from power for extended periods.