I've been looking at GPS whilst planning my Thai trip, all I can say is: Jeez!!!.
What would any of you better informed travellers suggest for a a thicko like me? I need something that is reasonably simple to operate, which has a clear (large) readout and will travel on my bike.
Not being rich I need something that isn't too expensive.
Any ideas?
Cheers Oletimer (George)

They really are not complicated once you get the hang of them! Probably no harder than using a mobile phone's menu.

The Garmin Etrex (I have the Legend) isn't bad for a compact/cheap one, although some people have reported problems with battery terminals/switches playing up. Mine fell of my bike at 100mph on Italian Autostrada, and although the screen was cracked and the antenna had become loose, it did actually work after a five-minute repair!

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Hi mate,

I`ve been using my Garmin 5 now for 6 months around the americas, have it mounted on a RAM mount and the GPS is a tough little cookie.

check out http://www.garmin.com and some of the posts here - there is a SHED load of info about GPS`s on this site.

Cheers,
Brian
http://colesyboy.tripod.com

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Thanks for your replies lads, the biggest problem I face is confronting something new. If, perchance, its a bit technical, that only goes to making me more averse to it.
I suppose that if I get one and start to 'play' with it, its operation will soon become apparant. The biggest hurdle I face is: Knowing which one to buy in the first place. I'd hate to part with a shedful of £££'s only to find that the one I've just bought is no good for either me, or, the purpose to which I wish to apply it. i checked out Garmin, they've got so many models available that its a minefield for a nerd like me.
One of their 'agents' is at Staples, I think I should go and talk to someone, no doubt they will have all the answers - and I'm a bit sceptical of salespeople who are more interested in their commision than the bod standing in front of them. Sorry to be pesimistic, I've had a bad experience in the past - even my dumb brain was screaming 'this don't seem right', and it wasn't!
Cheers Oletimer (George)

George:

Here's a quick beginner's course:

There are two main types of GPSR's (GPS recievers) available for automotive use: Those that will automatically create a route for you, and those that won't. The Garmin GPS V, SP III and SP 2610/2650 autoroute. The rest don't.

In order to autoroute, the GPSR needs to have very detailed and accurate street data. Not only just lines representing the streets, but invisible characteristics such as whether the street is one way or not, whether left turns are allowed or not, etc. Such map data only exists (at present - Spring 2004) for Western Europe, Canada, and the USA.

So, you can forget about getting an auto-routing GPSR for a trip to Thailand, it's pointless, there is no suitable mapping data available along your route.

The only mapping data available once you get east of Germany / Austria / Italy will be very coarse data - major highways. This data can be stored in one of two places, either burned into the circuit boards of the GPSR (called a 'basemap'), or loaded into a memory chip on the GPSR from a CD (in this case, the Garmin 'WorldMap' CD).

What would be ideal for you is a simple, small GPSR that has the rough data for Europe to Asia burned into the basemap. The best precision you can expect from it (so far as your relationship to cities and roads) is about one mile accuracy, even though the unit will be able to calculate your actual position (lat/long) to about 10 metre accuracy.

I suggest you consider a Garmin eTrex Vista - list price is USD $324, street price is probably about USD $275, it has 24 megs of memory, which will allow you to upload WorldMap detail for your entire trip Europe - Thailand, and it also has the capability to accept uploads of more detailed map products, if you find yourself in a location (for example, back home) where you can get more detailed maps. It's also small (about the size of a handy) and simple to use.

Michael

Thank you: Ian, Colsey and Pan for your replies. I understand what you are all saying and thanks Pan for the lesson, it goes someway to putting my mind at rest (well, its dormant really, but you know what I mean :-)
I think I now know whats required and I'm sure I'm fretting over nothing. Thanks again,
Cheers Oletimer (George)