Which GPS
GPS Training give you all the facts you need to choose the right GPS for your needs

As new GPS & Mapping ranges are launched we make sure we evaluate them; firstly to keep abreast of what is new and secondly to be able to talk about them to our clients. Once a year we review the comings & goings in the market and try give you a picture of where we think the market is and where it is going. We have no crystal ball or advance knowledge of things to come; but this year we have seen trends that are changing the market.

  • Whilst there is a market for GPS without mapping; our experience is that most users would prefer to use a GPS with mapping and the more detailed the map the better

•In the UK it is standard now for all outdoors mapping GPS ranges to at least offer a whole GB 1:50k Ordnance Survey Landranger mapping bundle.

•The best mapping comes with GB turn by turn routing included in the package. How important is this when it comes to the final decision?

•Manufacturers offer access to premium mapping like OS 1:25k Explorer either by download or pre-programmed to SD card.

•How you are able to combine the use of your GPS with your PC, Laptop or Mac and share mapping is now a key feature; gone are the days when you needed to buy maps for your PC and maps for your GPS.

•Interest in maps from around the world is growing; how you gain access to these maps can be a deciding factor when purchasing a device.

•Still key to customer satisfaction is how user friendly the GPS and mapping software is to use; sadly few manufacturers or map makers give too much thought to this issue.

•Most manufacturers see geocaching as a growth area in GPS use; expect to see some interesting promotions aimed at the geocaching community this year.

•Expect to see a growth in apps for Smartphones; whilst we don’t expect to see many people wandering the hills with an iPad, we do think that many users will want to make use of the GPS capability on offer in most Smartphones.   

New and existing GPS ranges

Last year saw the introduction of new two new product ranges from Garmin (New eTrex & Montana) and the re-launch of Magellan in the UK with the re-engineered eXplorist range. There were no new GPS products in the UK from Lowrance, Memory-Map or Satmap although their existing product ranges are still available.

When the eXplorist range was launched last summer we were quite interested and spent some time evaluating the eXplorist GC (Geocaching); we found the unit reasonably user friendly and understood that there would be OS mapping for the full range in the UK. However the big issue for us was that we found the pricing structure meant that the unit was on offer on eBay in the USA far cheaper than we or any other UK retailer could offer it for here in the UK. We see that prices have eased a little in the UK but we saw no reason to recommend and retail a GPS range that was not competitively priced and no better than other devices on the market.

During the year we’ve kept our eye on Lowrance, Memory-Map and Satmap GPS developments; nothing we’ve seen has made us change our minds and recommence stocking any of these products. Whilst they offer good GPS & mapping solutions; we just think there are better value for money products on the market.

Over the last twelve months Garmin have introduced 2 new GPS ranges; an updated eTrex range with pricing to suit all pockets and Montana a top of the range touchscreen model with 4” screen and other interesting benefits.  

Once again Garmin seem to be the only product manufacturer with deep enough pockets to invest in research & development in both new hardware and innovative software and features to support the use of GPS in the field. All of which means that once again they can pull further ahead of their rivals in their quest to become the premier GPS brand in the world and as their financial results show the stronger the performance the more money they have to invest in new product and services.

We would like to tell you that there is a serious rival out there to Garmin’s dominance of the UK & Worldwide Outdoors GPS market but I’m afraid we can’t and for us it is becoming increasingly difficult to recommend products that we consider dated when compared to their product range.

Finally a word on the growth in the use of GPS & Smartphone apps; whilst we think that for hillwalking and general outdoor navigation most people would find that a handheld outdoors GPS would offer more navigational features and be more in line with their needs we understand that if you have phone or tablet with integrated GPS then why wouldn’t you want to use the opportunities on offer.

Well established now our favourite outdoor app for our iPad is ViewRanger. The soon to be free app allows you to view you current position in free open street mapping; however you can buy & download OS mapping direct to device. What is really interesting is that it gives you access to over 30,000 downloadable routes & trails and 400 walking brands like Walkingworld & Carlisle Tourism and routes downloaded can be transferred to your outdoors gps. Garmin offer Fitness and Auto Navigation apps but no Outdoors app to date

GPS and OS GB Maps

The most popular way to purchase an outdoors GPS is to buy into one of the current OS mapping bundles and by far and away the most popular bundles in the UK are GPS with OS Whole GB 1:50k pre-loaded to SD card.

Ordnance Survey release mapping data in three scales for use with GPS in the UK; The 1:250k Road Map, 1:50k scale LandRanger and 1:25k Explorer scale. Depending on which manufacturer you purchase your GPS & map bundle from; you will probably get the road map free when you purchase Whole GB 1:50k with your GPS. Premium Explorer mapping will come either as a download or pre-loaded to SD card.

The key reason that users want/need OS mapping is to view Rights of Way data (footpaths & Bridleways) ROW data is only available on Ordnance Survey maps. Expect to pay around £200 for Whole GB 1:50k LandRanger data; however when bundled with a GPS purchase you could pay a lot less. With the current Garmin bundles you pay just £50 for Whole GB OS Discoverer mapping when bundled with GPS purchase.

In our experience Landranger or 1:50k scale mapping is more than adequate for walking especially when combined with a 1;25k paper map; however many users are used to walking the hills with Explorer scale mapping and think they need it in their GPS as well. On a purely practical basis; we think that 25k mapping looks better in GPS with larger screens as you get a better overview and a bit wasted in devices with smaller screens.

Whilst many manufacturers are prepared to set up a mapping bundle with LandRanger mapping there are no such deals available for premium mapping like OS 25k. When you have bought into a GPS and mapping bundle remember that if you want/need any premium mapping for your device you will be tied into your manufacturer’s method of delivering that mapping.

Once again each manufacturer has a different method for providing 25k OS maps; we prefer map downloads that easily copy the maps into the device and are saved to our PC/Mac for route planning etc like BirdsEye Select (600sqk of 25k OS mapping for £19.99)

Intelligent Routing both on and off road.

GPS as we are all aware is the basis of all SatNav type products and many Outdoors GPS include the ability to navigate you both on and off road like any SatNav. How useful is this?

Many dismiss the ability to navigate on/off road as a feature that isn’t required as they have a perfectly good SatNav for the car and whilst many users do find the on road auto navigation feature useful many don’t. We agree with the sentiment but we strongly advise you to think carefully before you dismiss the feature as unrequired. Why? Intelligent routing for walkers and cyclists.

Historically when we create routes in a handheld GPS we add a series of waypoints into a route and the GPS navigates us in straight lines from waypoint to waypoint in the order we add them to the route. This type of route navigation is often referred to as Direct Routing.

Intelligent routing is used by Satnav to calculate routes with turn by turn directions using a special map set; NAVTEQ is the market leader and used by Garmin amoungst others to power auto navigation systems around the world. They include these map sets with mapping products like OS Discoverer GB mapping as part of the package.

Now for the clever bit; going forward intelligent routing will be on offer for activities other than driving on road. There are already map sets for skiing and we know of several companies that are working on intelligent routing map sets for walkers & cyclists. Watch this space!

International & Custom Maps

Once again this is a huge area of growth: users who have become used to navigating with quality mapping like OSGB on screen are unlikely to be happy using their GPS with no maps when abroad. Hence the growing popularity of adding international maps to your map list.

Growing a map list of international maps can be an expensive business as many maps are only available by large regions or countries and why buy whole Switzerland if you are only walking in Zermatt?

In many cases it’s unavoidable as many maps are only available on SD card but some companies allow map downloads in small chunks Garmin (BirdsEye Select) & ViewRanger for instance offer a growing portfolio of international maps in this way.

It’s mainly developed countries & popular tourist destinations that have good mapping; so how do you cope if you’re off on an expedition to somewhere with less than good mapping. The answer is to explore Custom Maps.

What is a Custom Map? It’s a paper map scanned and saved as an image then calibrated and then sent to GPS. Custom maps have been around for a while; the problem is that most GPS manufacturers don’t support them and bar their products from accepting them.

We like the fact that Garmin are very open to Custom Maps and allow you to create Garmin compatible customs maps using Google Earth to calibrate them; it can be a bit fiddly but it works.

Route planning on your PC/Mac

We love BaseCamp and it’s free!! Designed to support the new generation of Garmin devices this utility can be downloaded from the Garmin website in either a PC or Mac version. It allows users of compatible GPS devices to connect their device to their PC/Mac and view the maps held in the device on the PC. The maps can then be used to create, manage & save user data like waypoints, routes & tracks on their PC, download premium & custom mapping and import/export user data & maps to/from GPS.

Other GPS systems offer route planning options but in our opinion none have had the impact of Basecamp on the market in general. Gone are the days when you needed to buy PC based mapping like Memory-Map or Quo for route planning on your PC and to send user data to your GPS; now if you are using a compatible Garmin device all you need is BaseCamp.   

We still use Memory-Map & Quo for route planning at times (because we have it) and whilst these programmes have some features on offer unavailable in BaseCamp like 3D fly through we haven’t found any route planning operation that we’ve been unable to complete in Basecamp that we could have done in other programmes.

Once again we’ve evaluated free route planning utilities on offer with other GPS systems and found that they don’t compare to Basecamp which is the most flexible free utility by a long way.

Having fun with your GPS – Geocaching

We're not sure if we call this a sport or an activity but one thing we are sure of it's the most fun you can get with a GPS. Geocaching is an activity you can do as a group, as a family or just individually; kids love it and we guarantee it will grow on you!

What is Geocaching? It’s described as; "A high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment".

The two leading Geocaching websites are Geocaching.com & Opencaching.com. Both websites (once you have registered) will allow you to download cache details direct to your GPS. Downloaded caches will be found in the GPS Geocaching manager; you will then be able to navigate to the cache using the GoTo feature in the GPS. You can upload, download & log any cache finds to the website. This is known as Paperless Geocaching.

GPS manufacturers are very keen on Geocaching because to take part you need a GPS; and anything that encourages GPS sales will be supported. GPS Training have used geocaching on our courses since day one and offer advice on how you can get started and great GPS for Geocaching bundles. 

Summary

We are constantly asked for advice on which GPS is the best buy; of course it all boils down to the user’s personal needs & preferences. We believe that the more choices there are for the consumer the better but we do wish that more manufacturers would consider the needs of the market & consumer before launching new products.

Many would say that it’s a good thing that there is competition in the market and welcome the return of companies like Magellan; however our first take is that they seem to be making the same old mistakes they made before and wonder how deep the commitment to the UK market is.

Yes there is a place in the market for the Adventurer, Endura & Active 10 ranges; but we see no innovation or new thinking. Whereas Garmin have worked hard to introduce new features and ensured that their devices are the most user friendly on the market leading us to conclude that they have no real competition in the current marketplace.

Already Garmin have the three most popular outdoor handheld GPS devices on the market with the Oregon 450, GPSMap62s and Montana 600 all bundled with whole GB 50k OS maps at a very competitive price. Last August saw the launch of a major overhaul of the very popular eTrex range adding worldwide appeal & geocaching features; whilst we have sold some of these units our clients prefer the larger screens & GB bundles. 

We hope you’ve found this review useful; if you need more information on the topics discussed then please call us on the number below.

GPS Review Spring 2012

Peter Judd – GPS Training

For more information about issues discussed in this article please feel free to call me on 01768 885855