GPS Receivers

Over the past several years, GPS receivers have become extremely popular and affordable. Cars come installed with GPS navigation systems for negotiating city streets and highways. Cell phones are even starting to show up with tiny GPS receivers embedded inside.

Hikers, hunters, fishers, mountain bikers, trail runners, cross country skiers, snowshoers, snowmobilers, ATV and 4 x 4 drivers, prospectors, pilots, paddlers, geocachers, and anyone else who ventures outdoors away from cities and streets (with or without a GPS receiver) should have GPS receivers.

While most GPS receivers have the same functionality, there are a lot of differences in manufacturer and model user interfaces. In a way it’s like sitting someone down in front of three personal computers, one running Microsoft Windows XP, one running Linux (with the KDE or Gnome interface), and the other a Macintosh, and asking a computer novice volunteer to perform an identical set of tasks on each of the computers.

Like any consumer electronics product, GPS receiver models are constantly changing and being updated. Take comfort in the fact that it’s pretty hard to go wrong when you purchase a GPS receiver from one of the Big Three manufacturers (Garmin, Magellan, and Lowrance). All these companies make excellent products, and you can expect to get a number of years use out of them. (The good news is that GPS technology and product features haven’t changed as rapidly as personal computers.