ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Santa and the GPS

Anyone know anything about the (handheld) Magellan GPS 315 ? I'm curious as to how useful they are because they are much less expensive than most I've seen. (It was about $140) There is an 'optional' CD and PC connector cable kit so that more detailed information can be downloaded from a PC. (Is this needed to be of real use?)

Bill

What a cool gift! I'm glad (read jealous) for you!
(Bill, howdya get lost on Long Island?)

electure,

It's actually for someone else. LI is still big enough to get lost on.

Bill

Bill,

I use a Garmin Emap (about $200) almost daily to log my mileage... My only complaint is the battery life being a little short. The emap also has available CD-Rom and PC interface which I haven't checked out yet. The base map is fairly decent and has literally helped prevent me becoming lost on trips.

But I get disoriented easily...

I'm not really familiar with the one of which you speak, but if it has a base map, it will compare to the emap.

hi bill,
i used a gps called street atlas for awhile and had to lug my pc around with the little yellow gps receiver set on the dash. i hope the little hand held types work better, my pc-connected type was a pain in the dairy-aire but great when it worked

Virgil,

I think it is probably somewhat similar to yours.

Cindy,

Thanks for the input. My expectations are not extremely high, but it does sound pretty good;
http://www.magellangps.com/products/gps315.htm


Bill

Bill,
I'm pretty sure there is an HRO (Ham Radio Outlet) in your area ('course to me New York is an area), they sell LOTS of GPS units, ya know hams feel he who dies with the most toys wins. Actually we use 'em for GPRS so we log on and can actually place the position of the radio, but they have 'em, and usually at the right price. You can also look 'em up in Cabelas catalog.

Yep, looks similar...


http://www.garmin.com/products/emap/

Hi Bill, I have the Magellan 315. I use it a fair amount all year long for hunting, camping, and traveling. I bought the 12v adapter to use in vehicles, since it does burn through AA batteries fairly quick. I haven't picked up the serial cable for the pc, since I don't have a laptop. Their usefulness depends on what it will be used for. Since the gov't allowed civilian GPS receivers to be a lot more accurate recently, I can return to a location I marked in the receiver within about 6 feet or so. But, I've really never used it for work. They all have their good and bad points, again depending on their use. What would the recepient of the GPS be doing with it mostly?

Dallas

A super-duper use of the GPS is for fishing.
The ability to go to a precise location on the water (not many street signs in the Pacific) was previously limited to those that could afford the big$$ LORAN-C systems.
Now everyJoe has the capability...Great!