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What would be a good hand held GPS device mainly for navigating urban environments like new cities. Not looking for anything rugged to handle hiking and the like. I am looking for one to help me walk in unfamiliar cities when I am not on a guided tour.

Before someone says just use a smart phone, I really don't like to for various reasons, eg drains battery fast etc. I would simply prefer a dedicated device for GPS.

A quick google search reveals either Magellan or Garmin brands. There are youtube videos reviewing, but they rarely show these devices in action. That is when the user is navigating an urban area, where we can look on the screen and directions etc.

Anyone have experience with these, and what would you recommend?

Before you dismiss the smartphone option completely out of hand, I just want to say that my Moto G typically lasts around 7 hours of modest use. If you don't use it for anything but checking your maps or searching for addresses, a full day would be completely reasonable. (It only really sees heavy battery drain if you leave the maps up continuously because the 3g radio is a huge drain.)

Not sure about in Oz, but there are satmaps available - my dad has one for when we go hiking. There much cheap options around if you look though.

mr friendly guy wrote:Anyone have experience with these, and what would you recommend?

Go with Garmin if you want an actual handheld GPS device. They tend to be a bit on the expensive side, but they are totally worth it. You want battery life? Try 16hrs continuous use on fresh NiMH battery, and if that somehow craps out put a handfull of AA batteries in your pack as a backup (mine runs on either). They're durable as all hell (I've dropped mine more times than I can count on and into everything from concrete to several inches of mud), and they work pretty much anywhere (Mine does GPS and GLONASS, I've got maps of the entire North American continent along with satellite imagery for some reason).

Like I said, they're expensive (I paid around $550 for mine new-in-box), but anything less and you might as well just use your phone.

mr friendly guy wrote:What would be a good hand held GPS device mainly for navigating urban environments like new cities. Not looking for anything rugged to handle hiking and the like. I am looking for one to help me walk in unfamiliar cities when I am not on a guided tour.

How about an old fashioned paper map? You can get maps of every city or even print out your maps from Google maps!

Or just get a Garmin. It works like Coffee says but I think it takes all the fun out of exploring new cities.

Gamins don't seem to be on sale here, only Magellans. Not that it will stop me as I can buy online.

I do have a paper map with my tourist guidebook (I plan to visit Washington DC later on in the year) but generally those maps are huge things when unfolded. A hand held GPS device has the attraction of being useful when I visit some other unfamiliar city.

mr friendly guy wrote:Gamins don't seem to be on sale here, only Magellans. Not that it will stop me as I can buy online.

I had a Magellan once. It didn't survive deer season '03 and the most use I got out of it was as a paperweight in my old work shed. Stick with Garmin, they work and they're durable enough to keep working.

Cool. The Magellan I played around with in the shop allows me to set waypoints, but are they similar to car GPS devices in the sense that I can simply enter an address and it will show me where it is on the map relative to where I am?

mr friendly guy wrote:Cool. The Magellan I played around with in the shop allows me to set waypoints, but are they similar to car GPS devices in the sense that I can simply enter an address and it will show me where it is on the map relative to where I am?

Yes, they can do that (Hell, my phone can do that). At least mine can, and it's a few years old, so I'[d imagine that newer models would have the same capability. Your best bet would be to go to Garmin's website and look at the specifications of specific models so you can find which one best suits your needs.