Alot of you guys seem to have had alot better luck than i have. Both my Garmin and my girl's Tom Tom are worthless IMO. Garmin gives horrible directions often leading me over what basically amounts to logging roads (fine if i'm on the KLX or in the jeep) and her Tom Tom has told us flat out to "turn right" while we are on the middle of a bridge or other piece of road that has no "right".

When i moved back out to MO from VT i gave the GPS a wing and wanted to see what kind of directions it would give, it was telling me to drive up through upstate new york and around the great lakes and down through wisconsin to get to MO. Sorry but i've run back and forth from the east coast a couple of times and my family has been running back and forth from kansas to new england longer than i have been alive and that is not the way to do things if time or money (toll roads) is of any concern.

I'll take a map and a compass anyday. Though my Garmin is kinda nice as a compass and seeing what road i'm on, though i do use an actual compass to make sure the piece of crap isn't lying to me.

 

Wildcard:
Same type of results with my Garmin when it comes to using it for actual turn-by-turn directions -- they can be pretty useless many times, and occasionally okay. I like it for quickly nailing down where I am and pointing the direction to where I may want to go. I geocache occasionally because people tend to stash a cache in interesting places that I wouldn't necessarily go to otherwise. Garmin's Topo USA maps are loaded into the GPS which give approximately 1:100,000 scale resolution which is pretty good detail.

 

If I had it to do all over again, I would still get a Garmin, but instead of the one I have which is the Garmin eTrex Legend Cx I would get the Garmin 60Csx

The 60 Csx has the electronic compass and the high sensitivity antennae. A couple of weeks ago I had over several days to try the difference between mine and the 60Csx, and they don't even compare. The 60Csx could pick up all the satellites even in the truck and in heavy canopies while walking in the woods, mine would lose signal all the time. Here is a picture of mine.

 

And the price has come way down, because I heard it being discontunued, or at least it's getting harder to find. Right around $200.00 which is right at what I paid for my low end model 4 years ago!

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...ang=en-US&Sp=C

 

And if I had the money, I would get the all in one radio and GPS! That would be the perfect combo.

http://g.factoryoutletstore.com/deta...o-530-hcx.html

 

I have used alot of GOS units throughout the years, mostly Garmin.
I currently have a 60csX, its an excellent unit, very very tough. That is what I am currently using on my KLX.
It can be alittle harder to see and use while riding or driving, thats why I got a Garmin Nuvi 750 a while back, but sold it after I started using the TOMTOM app on my iPhone.
I would love to have one of the Garmin 500s or 550s right now, bit larger easier to read screen than the 60csX, and also water proof. But they are pretty damn pricey still.

At any rate, you will be happy with ANYthing from Garmin, they are all top notch products.

 

I used to use Magellan, as they had a more efficient antenna, essential for the forests in Wa state. However, the Garmin units now seem to have just as good an antenna, and they are pretty dominant in the industry, so getting maps is easier.

I use the Colorado 300, with maps from Above the Timber. I can't imagine ever wanting a computer to tell me where to go, particularly when off-hiway. They are great for knowing where you are, and viewing the surrounding roads/features, but I can only fathom using it for voice navigation in a big city. Use your brain... if it's telling you to drive into a tree, resist. It's a tool, not a minor deity.

I let it automatically keep track of where I've been on a trail, so I can find my way back, and keep track of which trails I haven't been down yet. At home I can download the tracks, and view them on google earth very easily.... don't leave home without it!

 

I use the 450 and don't have any issues with guidance. The only difference I saw between the 450 and 550 when I bought mine was the 550 had XM. Of course I haven't gone dep off road with mine yet so I may find out it sucks.

 

For street use you want a gps that can generate ROUTES. If you are planning to use the gps for navigating trails than you want a gps that can use TRACKS in addition to ROUTES. Routes are calculated by the gps and different units calculate routes differently; individual also be tweaked to adjust how the unit calculates routes - avoiding highways or dirt roads for example. The machines don't calculate TRACKS, they just display them. So a TRACK is constant no matter which gps you use (for the most part). This makes for handy swapping of information.

The Garmin 60 series gps units are very popular with dual sport and off road riders. They are waterproof and quite rugged. There are also RAM mounts available for mounting them to your bike. I'm a big fan of the Garmin 26**/27** units for street use, but that is because I've mastered mapping and routing options on these units that aren't available on some of the more modern units.

Check out the advrider.com site for a large gps section. Watch specially for postings by Cannonshot that offer detailed route descriptions and history lesson. This one is about the UP: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=627424

 

And the day after I posted this I had to send it to Garmin for repair! Should have kept my mouth shut! $150 flat rate to repair it.