Garmin GPS V

Advantages Highly portable, lightweight, waterproof.
Disadvantages Sufficient but limited, non-expandable memory.

...Garmin are famed for their GPS products and narrowing down the criteria was the first step in a product that suited my needs. The product was not only half the cost of a colour, speaking model, but it was half the size and weight; crucial for what I needed. The review is based upon what I wanted to see when considering the unit, so hopefully will answer the questions of those considering similar qualities. Overview The unit is compact, with a good sized monochrome display, which can be horizontally or vertically “flipped” via the internal software. A scalable backlight function allows easy lighting and contrast enhancements to meet your needs. The map software that comes with the unit is Mapsource City select (mine was European mapset). Interface to your PC is via a serial port. The deluxe package contains everything you need... Read review

Advantages Work out which GPS to buy
Disadvantages Might encourage money spending

...a colour screen or is a black and white one going to be ok? 4) Do I need to have voice prompts or will I have someone with me to read the screen? Now if you only want a black and white screen and don’t want voice prompts then you will be looking at something such as the Garmin GPS V. This will give you road level mapping down to back streets, but won’t talk to you and has a small black and white screen. You will find this unit for around the £500 mark. It will do all the things the cheaper units will do plus the road level details, hold more data and has 16mb of memory for storing maps on board. If you wanted a colour screen and voice prompts then your looking at the serious money. This is where you have to ask another question. 5) Do I need a fully fitted car unit or is a portable unit going to be better? If you need... Read review

Advantages Well Built, Compact, screen resolution
Disadvantages Complex if you are a tecnohphobe, designed for right handed use (see review)

...Yes its one of those things that was on my gadget wish list and I eventually managed to convince my 'then girlfriend to let me get one. There's just something about having a little gadget in your hand that can pinpoint your location anywhere on the globe, it also makes 'geocaching' which is a kind of online GPS treasure hunt much easier ;-) So the unit itself - well the feel of it, and this seems to be a trait with garmin products (have a GPS V now), it feels very solidly put together to start with, the buttons on the side which operate the zoom functions and menu selections are quite stiff however this is understandable due to the unit having to meet water resistant standards - I believe it can be submerged up to 1 meter for 30 mins without risk so it should stand up to a drop in a puddle and rain etc. There is also a nipple... Read review