translate:/Global/SiteRating: 3 | Not Yet Reviewed | GPS

At £86 it would be wrong to expect too much from this unit, yet if all you need is something that will give you an accurate grid reference and perhaps point you to the co-ordinates of the nearest descent route when the weather turns bad, then it fits the bill perfectly. PC compatibility is basic and you need to buy ...

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Garmin Etrex H

£86.00

A ‘get out of jail free’ device that doesn’t cost much, doesn’t weigh much, yet will give you an exact grid reference if you’re lost, and in conjunction with a paper map will point you towards an escape route if you find yourself in the mountains in poor visibility. It will exchange data with a PC if you do your ...

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Lowrance iFinder Go 2

£100.00

This GPS unit from Lowrance has limited PC compatibility compared to Garmin models. It is possible to download routes from Memory-Map, but it’s awkward and only the individual waypoints are recognized, so you then need to reconstruct the route by hand. Alternatively, you can simply navigate between the waypoints while you’re walking. Otherwise it’s fairly simple to use – even ...

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Magellan Triton 300 2008

£130.00

Links to a PC via Magellan’s free download VantagePoint software but you need to import your route from Memory-Map into VantagePoint before downloading it. Tracklogs are uploaded in the same way. Navigating around the menus is easy enough with positive clicks as you scroll through the options, but the main control is fiddly to use with gloves on. Easy to ...

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Garmin Etrex Venture HC

£170.00

The eTrex is famously simple and reliable, almost a mini-brand in itself, and they are hugely popular with those dipping their first toe in the world of GPS. This unit doesn’t have the ability to load Ordnance Survey mapping via a flash memory card, which means it’s most commonly used as a basic position-finder and walks log, or as a ...

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Magellan eXplorist 210

£179.00

This neat little GPS unit from Magellan has a decent-sized black and white screen and a brightness switch. The buttons are very small and data transfer can be fiddly, but actual navigation through the pages is easy and the menus are reasonably intuitive. It will connect to a PC, via a USB cable, but not as easily as some. The ...

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MWg Zinc II

£200.00

This is a great gadget – a fully featured smart phone combined with a hand-held PC that runs Windows. This can then be set up with Memory-Map software, via its Digital Map Shop (a map download service), so that it also acts as a mapping GPS. In the field the mapping is great and the obvious advantage is that there’s ...

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Lowrance Endura Out and Back

£220.00

The Out & Back is a huge unit and it’s also quite heavy. It operates on both buttons and touch-screen, so no trouble in gloves or even mitts, and it boasts an excellent Direction of Travel arrow as well as a small arrow on the mapping screen, making it easy to follow a route or move between waypoints. Data transfer ...

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Memory Map Adventurer 2800

£260.00

This is the only Ordnance Survey mapping GPS to come with the mapping included in the price – a genuine bonus – and it’s also very light and very small. The screen’s a decent size however, and is wonderfully clear too, but the controls are all touch-screen and the icons are very small, making it quite difficult with fingers and ...

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Nokia N79

£275.00

The N79 is about the same size and weight as the average phone, yet with the addition of ViewRanger software (£25 for all UK national parks 1:50,000, £60 per park 1:25,000), it becomes a GPS receiver with full OS mapping. Routes can be copied to the phone from any digital-mapping software and, although not as functional as some, it is ...

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Garmin Dakota 20

£290.00

Billed by Garmin as an entry-level GPS, the Dakota is actually incredibly functional; and it’s also very small and very light. But the £290 price tag might put a lot of first-time buyers off, especially as they may need to spend another £100+ on mapping. It’s small, but has the benefit of displaying optional Ordnance Survey mapping on its screen ...

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Satmap Active 10

£300.00

As the only dedicated hand-held GPS using full Ordnance Survey mapping, the Active 10 looks familiar and is therefore easy to get used to. Free download software (SatSYNC) is needed to move route data between GPS and PC, but once that’s done you have your route showing on the map – simplicity itself! Logical menus are easy to access via ...

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Lowrance Ifinder Expedition C

£300.00

To download routes, they need to be converted to the right format and loaded on to a memory card using a PC card reader of some sort (not supplied). This card is then slotted into the GPS where the route can be transferred to the internal memory. A long-winded process that spoils an otherwise easy-to-use model with a large clear ...

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Lowrance iFinder Expedition C

£325.00

This GPS unit from Lowrance requires that you first load routes on to a memory card on your PC, then transfer this data into the memory of the GPS unit – far too fussy. Other than that, it’s an easy unit to use, comfortable in the hand with simple menus, well laid-out function buttons and a huge and wonderfully clear ...

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Road Angel Adventurer 7000

£350.00

This in-car satellite navigation unit from Road Angel can also be used for recreational activities, such as walking. On the hill it can be used with Memory-Map software to show full OS mapping. Its functionality on the big and very clear screen is excellent. It’s waterproof too. However, using a stylus is fiddly and, away from the car’s power supply, ...

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Mio A201 (+ 512MB Memory Card + Anquet 1:25,000 scale National Park mapping)

£350.00

This is the type of GPS system that walkers have been waiting for. In one unit, you get a GPS receiver coupled with a large colour screen and digital mapping that is identical to the paper maps that we are all used to using. Switch it on, and the GPS receiver places a small circle over your location on the ...

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Garmin Oregon 300

£350.00

The Oregon is a sleek device with lovely clean lines due to the lack of buttons – it’s activated solely by touch-screen. The screen is a good size and it runs Ordnance Survey mapping by means of the new Garmin GB Discoverer mapping (£130 for a single national park at 1:25,000 scale, or £80 for all national parks in a ...

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Magellan eXplorist 500

£369.00

This GPS unit from Magellan is very user-friendly, with a decent-sized screen and clear colour display. Simple “Mark and Find” buttons make basic functions easy, although buttons are very small and close together. Downloading routes from a PC is trickier than on some other units. It’s small, neat, light, robust and very comfy in the hand. Following routes on its ...

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Memory Map Adventurer 3500

£380.00

A touchscreen model with quite a large screen, so allowing you to view a little more of the map. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this unit is the scrolling. There is never any delay when flicking the map. It never really stalls to refresh. The menu is simple with most features accessed from the main mapping page, although it ...

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Lowrance Endura Sierra

£383.00

This is the top-end unit from Lowrance and has been recently overhauled to offer full integration with Mapyx Quo mapping software. The unit tested had full 1:25,000 OS mapping for the entire UK on it, which is perhaps the ideal digital-mapping situation. However, the unit plus this mapping would be prohibitively expensive. In addition to the cost, the amount of ...

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Garmin Oregon 450T

£400.00

A sleek and lightweight receiver that comes with the benefit of optional Ordnance Survey mapping (£130 for a national park at 1:25000 or £80 for all national parks at 1:50000). All the functions are operated by the touch-screen, which keeps it simple and works well, even with gloves, and as usual for Garmin, the transfer of data is incredibly simple. ...

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Magellan Explorist 610

£400.00

A brand new model from one of the big outdoor navigation brands that has been a bit quiet over recent years here in the UK. It’s the middle unit of the series, which essentially means that it comes with a barometric compass, but not road navigation (available on the next model up). Its rounded shape houses a three-inch touchscreen display. ...

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Lowrance Endura Sierra 2011

£450.00

By offering both touch-screen and keypad operation, the Lowrance Endura Sierra aims to provide the best of both worlds. So you can scroll and zoom the OS mapping by touching the screen or using the buttons, while other functions are accessed via the key pad and touch-screen icons. But I found moving the maps around wasn’t as smooth or as ...

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Magellan Triton 2000

£450.00

Like its smallerc cousin, the Triton 2000 uses free download proprietary VantagePoint software to transfer route data from PC to GPS. You can use a scroll wheel or tiny stylus (spares supplied) to navigate through menus and, while both work well, we’re not sure about the stylus in a gale or pouring rain. Full marks for the ‘one press’ buttons ...

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Lowrance Endura Sierra 2010

£500.00

Lowrance released three new GPS receivers in 2009 and they tackled the interface question by offering touch-screen and conventional button access. The top-of-the-range unit is the Sierra at £500, with the Safari at £350 and the Out&Back at £250 offering stripped-down features. DesignThe boxy design of the Lowrance device sits comfortably in the hand. It is waterproof, and the rubber ...