???Questions???

[MARK (LI)]

I know very little about GPS systems on land...can a hand held be used as a practicle means to get around...do the maps that come with them apply only to a small part of the country? what are waypoints?...why do some units offer the ability to connect to a computer?..may seem ridiculous to some of you that are proficient with these units, but I am clueless...thanks for any input

 

[Andrew Kalinowski]

"can a hand held be used as a practicle means to get around"
Yes but GPS has no brains. You still have to use your own.

"do the maps that come with them apply only to a small part of the country?"
Depends on the unit

"what are waypoints?"
saved sets of co-ordinates marking places you want

"why do some units offer the ability to connect to a computer?"
To load maps and to up/down load user data


I suggest that you start with reading the basics on my www.gpsnuts.com website and than, ask again - it will be easier to explain the detailed questions.

 

[Mag99004]

I assuming your asking because your considering buying one. I'd recommend a unit that has mapping capability and can be hooked up to your computer. The ability to upload/download is great. If you really get into checking out spots off the beaten path like me uploading all your waypoints(places you want to check out) is much quicker than manually punching them in by hand and the mapping capability will save time since you can take the road that gets you the closest to your waypoint and then hike the rest of the way.

Most all new units can be connected to a computer to upload/download data but there are still many small handheld units that don't have mapping capabilities. Downloading a free program like GPS TrackMaker will convert your waypoints from many makes and models of units into a format that say Google Earth can read(.xml and .xmz files).

I personally like Garmin but thats just personal preference and it really depends on what you need to do. Many magellen units have a friendly user interface(they have files and folder just like windows).

Good luck and happy hunting.