GPS Information

For us a Hillwalkers and Outdoor enthusiasts there has been a seismic change in the way we buy and navigate with GPS over the last year or so: what has caused this change?

Here in the UK the answer is the availability of full Ordnance Survey maps for the handheld GPS (until recently the best we could get was topographical mapping, good but not the same as a full OS map); our experience has always been that given a choice between purchasing a GPS with or without a map, the overwhelming majority consumers go for a GPS offering a map.

The walkers holy grail has always been a full Ordnance Survey map on the screen of a handheld GPS; allowing them to walk in the knowledge that they can always locate themselves in the map and know exactly where they are. The other important factor in the wish list has been to be able to easily plan routes etc at home on a PC using software like MM or Quo and then follow or navigate these routes using a GPS on the trail.

Other big issues for walkers are;

    •Why do I have to buy my OS maps twice?

    •Why can't I have maps on my PC and copy them to my GPS?

    •Do I want maps that allow me to navigate both on and off road?

This is where the changes are taking place in the world of GPS at the moment. GPS development has reached a plateau with all GPS offering more or less the same navigational features, waypoints, GoTo's, Routes and Tracks. The only real differences between models being whistles & bells and what maps are on offer & how these maps are made available for each model.

Until recently the choice was clear; you bought Maps for your GPS from the GPS manufacturer and then used Maps on your PC to plan routes etc and then sent them to a GPS. The exception to this rule was if your owned Digital Maps on your PC (MM or Quo) then your could copy the maps to one mobile navigational device like a PDA or Pocket PC using mobile software supplied by the software package; the big downside of this was that in general these types of devices are not robust or waterproof and offer limited navigational features.

The big change came when first Satmap offered a full waterproof GPS the Active 10 and later the Active 10 Plus. It offers full OS mapping at both 50k Landranger and 25k Explorer scales, and to make life easy the maps come on pre-programmed SD cards you simply slip into the GPS. The issue here is that with maps coming on plug & play cards you can't have them on your PC for route planning, however the guys at Satmap have come up with a clever solution the Active 10 plus comes with access to an online route planning & sharing feature a first step towards the buying your maps twice issue.

The Satmap (a UK developed product) was the first GPS to challenge Garmin's dominance of the the UK GPS market. Until recently Garmin have ruled the market by offering a wide range reasonably priced GPS with prices and features to match the pockets of most GPS users. The corner stone of their offering in outdoors handheld GPS has been the eTrex & GPS 60 ranges, with the colour units in these ranges offer expandable memories and the ability to offer turn by turn street level routing.

Garmin being heavily into the SatNav business to date have taken the decision to included turn by turn routing with any mapping packages for their handheld GPS ranges (Topo GB and the newly launched OS Discoverer maps) meaning you could leave home and drive to the Lakes using the turn by turn directions (which are brilliant) and then on arrival navigate off road to the summit of Blencathra say using a pre-loaded route from you mapping software.

Many people; whilst they want an OS map on screen are not interested in using their handheld GPS as a SatNav in the car, they will probably have a dedicated unit for that.

Garmin have two ranges of colour touchscreen handheld mapping GPS receivers; the Oregon and Dakota ranges both of which are compatible with Garmin's OS Discoverer range of full Ordnance Survey maps. The maps are offered on plug & play SD cards at both Landranger & Explorer scale, alas the OS Discoverer maps are not compatible with the eTrex or GPS 60 colour GPS.

The Oregon range is to be updated in the first quarter of 2010 with the 200,300 & 400t being replaced with 450 & 450t being added to the 550 & 550t with all uints then offering a sunlight readable colour touchscreen & 3 axis electronic compass

All of which means that we have seen a massive swing away from the eTrex& GPS 60 ranges to the Oregon and Dakota ranges with OS maps, with the Dakota 20 bundled with a half price regional card being the star seller.

Look out for two new kids on the block; the Memory-Map Adventurer 2800 which strictly speaking is a PND with integrated GPS and Memory-Map mobile and OS maps pre-loaded to the unit. We're sure this unit will appeal to many MM V5 users who will be able to copy any owned maps plus routes and trails to the GPS addressing the Maps for GPS & PC issue. A word of caution; as this is a PND it won't have the full features of a handheld, but our experience is that with the map on screen you will navigate using the map page and routes will become less important.

Coming soon is a new handheld colour touchscreen handheld GPS from Lowrance the Endura range. It will offer access to OS maps on plug & play cards and turn by turn routing on a separate card offering choice on the issue of; do I want to use my handheld for on road navigation?

The final issue we see affecting the way mapping handheld's are sold/used in the future is the way we navigate using the on map on screen. As most GPS screens are relatively small we think whilst you may get more detail on 25k scale maps on GPS screens at this size you get a better overview with 50k maps without loosing the biggest benefit of OS mapping the full rights of way system (footpaths)

Our first choice now as fairly experienced navigators would always be a GPS with a full OS map on the screen; however we've notice a change in the way we navigate with this type of unit, in so much that we now use less waypoints and seldom use routes at all.

We find that too many waypoints and routes clutter up the screen making it difficult to see the map. The solution is to mark a position on the map ahead of you and then GoTo it; this feature keeps navigation simple and relevant to your walk and the screen uncluttered - simples!

Final comment: we see the combination of GPS and OS map as the way forward and hope that it won't be too long before we can have access to a Handheld GPS with its full GPS features and full OS mapping we can copy from our PC to GPS.

We're sure that you as a consumer must find choosing a GPS really difficult; we hope you've found this walk through what's new in the world of handheld GPS and GPS navigation useful, if you need clarity on any of the issues raised or would like to talk to one of the GPST Team of experts about a prospective purchase or upgrade please call us on 01768 885855 or email us at office@gpstraining.co.uk

 

Visit our GPS Shop to see our full range of GPS, Mapping Software, and accessories.