Best handheld GPS for touring?
 

I dont see any point buying a cycle computer when i will bring with me a modern handheld GPS anyway
Iam not intrested in my puls or heart beat..

What is the best new handheld GPS for long touring?, i also want to use it a little bit for backpacking tours.

Does software for a Garmin exist to my MACintosh computer?
The new Garmin Colorado seem to be a good and nice one, or does it exist other brands that is better for my use?

When I got my GPS (Garmin ForeRunner 201) I too was hoping to do away with all the other electronic instrumentation festooning my handlebars. Alas, there are still places where it's virtually impossible to get signal from GPS satellites (deep canyons, roads with dense tree canopies), even with the newer SIRF III chipsets, so it's not practical to dispense entirely with a humble odometer/speedometer/time-keeper.

There's various kinds of software for Mac, depending on what you wish to do. A lot of it is even free and quite good. Garmin belatedly has started supporting Macs, but only on their newer devices which have USB ports. Owners of olders devices with serial ports are out of luck, even if they use a serial-to-USB adapter to connect to their computer: the Garmin software simply doesn't recognize such connections. Try searching for "gps" on MacUpdate.com and/or VersionTracker.com for software to work with your GPS device.

I like the Garmin 60/76 series. The screen is large enough to be useful yet not so large it will get in your way. More importantly, they take AA batteries so you never have to worry about charging the GPS. just replace the batteries.

I use a 76S on my bike, in my car (with Garmin's MapSource software), and on hikes. I agree that the AA batteries are nice since I can go 10-15 hours on a single NiMH charge and have extras in my pack if needed. The 60/76 CSx models are of course newer, have color display, way more memory, etc etc while having similar battery life and size/weight to my 76S. If you were only doing short recreational biking, the 60/76 are overkill, but since you say you'll be doing long distances plus hiking too, I think they can be worth the money.

Thanks for tips. Incredible form! Think i would check out the 60/76 CSx series. Yes its very important that it can use std batteries.
But the new Colorado from Garmin is also using AA batteries, i guess the Colorado is better than 60/76 so i also will see what i can afford.

I just ordered a Garmin eTrex Vista Hcx; I'll post about it when it shows up and I play with it a while.
But the research I did shows that Garmin is pretty much the only GPS company that supports the Mac.

(Why do people think it's spelled "MAC"? It's not an acronym for anything, it's short for "Macintosh", which is a misspelling of "McIntosh"... sorry, pet Peeve of mine. Moving along now...)

I have had an vista hcx for about a month.. I would recommend getting the extra storage of the micro sd card, 1gb is fine, 2gb is max..

The best advice I received was when looking at the extra maps for the gps, the basemaps are very basic and have very little detail..

Get the 2008 topo maps, they include all roads and trails for north america.. The Navigator maps have lots of extra details, like points of interest, gas station, motels, starbucks, etc.. More detail than I needed..

The mounting of the hcx is very easy.. It comes with a external adapter in the box and all you need is the rail handlebar mount, the 1 inch is for most standard road or mountain handlebars... I found mine on ebay..

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...fsoo%3D1&fgtp=

The topo map is notorious for having flawed road maps. If you want a road map then buy a road map like City Select.

I wished the newer Etrex models would have an option to flip the screen horizontal for more area view. Same on the bike mount design if they did that. Make it so you can twist it horizontal. Makes for displaying data easier to read.

My dream GPS has to be a Etrex Xx model with removable memory with 4gb min storage, SiRF technology, portrait/landscape modes, able to recharge the AA's via USB (so I don't have to open the case all the time and can use say a small li-ion battery pack that charges USB items), and a fast processor so you can pan the map quickly without drawing lag.

I own the Etrex Legend Cx right now. Nice unit. I've used the Etrex (basic) Yellow, Etrex Legend, Etrex Legend C (24mb built in model non removable memory), and the Garmin RINO 120.

The RINO's ROCKKKK!!!!!! Man they never slip out of the hand yet everything is so well placed for one handed use. Yah it may be a little longer and wider then the Etrex profile but that radio is very handy. Learned a lession to have comms on you after the great black out in North America. My cellphone cut out as with many others out there. I was riding then. If it was not for the FRS radio I would not have known WTF happened around 16:00 ET. I scanned the open channels then jumped into the chat with others. I got the 411 quickly on the blackout and some local HAM was on the job already to dispatch info on WTF is happening on the local channel repeating it so others can find out. I didn't have a radio (AM/FM) then but that FRS allowed me to talk to others locally. One bugger thing on the RINO 120 is that if you turn the FRS off (GMRS is now enabled in Canada. NO, licence needed like out USA friend need. I repeat no licence to use GMRS in Canada up to 2watts or get a USA model for 5W and jump the border ;) ) the FRS will stay off but when you power off the GPS unit then power it back on again the radio and GPS come back on by default. I'm not sure if they fixed that issue on the RINO 520/530 (color models). It's a minor issue but annoying sometimes because it takes a little more power on the power up which sucks when you're low on power. You can turn the GPS or radio off on the RINO's.

The RINO 520/530 both are default rechargeable li-ion batteries with the option to buy a AA battery pack which I'm more then sure anyone spending any time out in the field would want that AA pack. Best of both worlds I guess. Carry the charger for the RINO 520/530 and keep the li-ion charged up and use that each time you're at a pit stop with a plug in and use AA's when you're not by a plug in.

Anyways.. just mumbling right now..

I use the Garmin Vista CX. It tracks everything you do and i like the fact that when you get home, you can dump the tracks into your computer and then the software can overlay your path onto Google Earth in a 3D view. Pretty neat.

I have found the topo maps to be spot on so far.. I bought it for mtb trails in my area and that has worked well..

The Colorado is newer, but I am not prepared to say it is better. In fact, it's more accurate to say the Colorado is a mix of their automotive units, the Nuvi, with the 60/76. There's been a zillion threads about the Colorado over on the Geocaching forums. Here's the main link:

About the Garmin Colorado

Some of the big disappointments to me are:

- Long bootup time of 36 seconds (that's just to boot, not to acquire satelites!!)
- Lots of bugs and problems (buglist)
- Poor screen visibility complaints compared to 60Cx
- Colorado does not float; 76 does
- Better dust/water sealing around controls reported by owners on the 60/76 than Colorado
- Longer battery life rated by Garmin on 60/76 than Colorado
- Colorado costs more

Granted, if Garmin can fix the long list of bugs and improve the screen visibility on the Colorado, then it should be worth the extra money, but to me, I would have a hard time justifying upgrading to the Colorado versus a 60/76 Cx or CSx.

I can't figure out why Garmin insists on bringing out new models. The 76 works just fine but certainly could always stand improvement. Why not improve on a model that works rather than reinvent the wheel?

I am write software for the Garmin. What's worse than new models is they keep trying to change the protocol to communicate to the GPS. There are several data formats for waypoints alone, fortunately they have seem to have settled on one waypoint format for the newer models but they still have two different methods the way the GPS communicates to the PC over USB.

Sometimes I think they have a bunch of engineers coming up with new designs and nobody talks tos anybody else.

When you do post over here :)