GPS question

[Neal Osborn]

Do the Garmin Trail GPS units (i.e. Colorado or Dakota, etc) work in the car as a viable traveling GPS solution.  In other words, is there one unit that will talk to you on the road and also provide detailed trail and water/topographical detail?  Or does one really need to have two separate units; one for the car and one for the trails?

[Zach Matthews]

I have not found a trail unit which adequately serves as a car unit.

[Neal Osborn]

Thanks Zach.  That’s what I thought.  BTW, your recent articles on GPS are very helpful, not to mention seeing you in action on the trails with your own GPS.  I will probably just buy a car unit for now because I really don’t have the time to hit the unmarked trails anyway.  However, it sure would be nice to have a mobile unit.

[Shannon Drawe]

And with my aging vision, a unit like my Garmin 60Csx is pretty hard to see while driving – apples and oranges I have realized. So I will someday get an auto GPS when they finally hit the right price point.

[Zach Matthews]

To me the critical difference is the ability to give directions out loud.

[dusty montgomery]

Neal,
I bought this one last month, and it has done everything I wanted in a vehicular unit. You might take a look at the Garmin website to decide exactly what you want, but this one seemed to have all I could need, that is, until I hit the dirt or water.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-780-Widescreen-Bluetooth-Navigator/dp/B0011UEUNG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253499450&sr=8-1

HTH,
D.

[Neal Osborn]

that is, until I hit the dirt or water.
D.

Thanks guys.  Dusty, the last part of your quote above is what I’m talking about.  I was wondering if anyone knows of a magic bullet; one unit that will cover roads and trails/water as a catch all.  

Zach, I agree completely with the philosophy of simply upgrading units every 3-4 years for the car.  My wife recently paid a lot of money to update the maps in her old Garmin unit and we could have bought a new unit for the price of the map.

[dusty montgomery]

that is, until I hit the dirt or water.
D.

Thanks guys.  Dusty, the last part of your quote above is what I’m talking about.  I was wondering if anyone knows of a magic bullet; one unit that will cover roads and trails/water as a catch all.

There are some units that Garmin sells, though I cannot recall the specific name, which will be primarily an asphalt unit, though they can employ lake/flats software. But I found this all-in-one, at least for now, to be impractical, largely based on a thread I opened a month or so ago. With today’s tech., it seems that the best way to go is with two units. And not only for their function-ability, but simply their size. I would not care to carry my Nuvi780 around in my pocket, but a Colorado or Oregon would not be as cumbersome, not to mention the battery life comparisons.

D.

[spencer ballard]

I have the Garmin Nuvi 760 for the car and I travel for work everyday.

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