Best Marine GPS Units & Chartplotters
The GPSMAP 1040xs keyed chartplotter/sonar combo has a 10-inch color SVGA display and comes with preloaded U.S. LakeVu HD and Blue Chart g2 coastal maps. Built-in Garmin HD-ID 1 kW sonar, CHIRP and DownVu scanning sonar with CHIRP technology.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's a perfect upgrade from my 3210."
"Husband loves it!!"
The built-in Wide Area Augmentation System (WASS) is highly sensitive and allows your device to connect to several satellites simultaneously providing accurate an reliable GPS coordinates within +/- 2.5m, Max Speed of 1,150 mph and Max Altitude of 59,000 ft. You now have the ability to add highly accurate GPS tracking to anyone of your devices by simply connecting them to your XGPS10M model seamlessly via Bluetooth in a matter of seconds. The GPS Status Tool is a free downloadable app found in the App Store or Android Marketplace and provides you with real time accurate GPS coordinates, position rate of change and works with numerous devices and operating systems such as iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows and much more. GPS STATUS TOOL – the free downloadable app provides accurate GPS coordinates, position update rate change & works with numerous devices and operating systems such as iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows & much more.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The companion XGPS150A app worked well enough to know the GPS was connected and working, displaying satellite strength and battery life."
"Have been pleased with its durability and rugged construction until a couple of weeks ago when I tried to open the protective tight-fitting water/dust resistant cover over the USB port ... the two piece cover had separated and the "lifting part" was gone. No way to access the USB charging port except using a razor blade to pry the remaining part of the cover off."
"That being said I use google maps off-line with this device."
"The only feature missing from the iphone is the built-in compass; as long as you're moving though, the software will just determine your heading from a series of GPS coordinates. Overall, this is a very versatile unit which allows one to add GPS capability (or improved accuracy) to variety of devices, and should be a much better long-term investment than a GPS case tailored to the shape of a specific device model."
"I use it mostly in a Aviation application and receive good signals with it in the glare shield on a Gulfstream Jet including worldwide and remote oceanic operations."
"Have been using this daily on my trip up the Atlantic ICW from Ft. Lauderdale to Stuart."
"It is so compact and easy to carry around but it's a pity it will not even acquire satellites when on the ground. My suspicion is this is an old product with a typo that's still being sold or its a knock off of the real thing. The label on back doesn't line up properly with its recessed area which always raises red flags and makes me think low quality or knockoff."
Color: Black |. Style: Maps, Compass, Barometric Altimeter. Marine-friendly handheld with high-sensitivity GPS receiver and 2.6-inch color TFT display.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Nice unit, easy to use but only good in salt water and or immediate coast."
"I intended to use the device for a motorcycle but realized the display was too small."
"have always enjoyed garmin products, the 78s is no exception."
"The position of the buttons relative to the screen is upside down.... Garmin, the 60cs was dang near perfect."
"He very much liked the Garmin, even ordered the maps to go with it, but found it lacked one thing that he needed that this Garmin did not have."
"Excellent product, the color unit is dead on!"
"Best GPS i have so far."
"Recently purchased the garmin 78sc--it worked for 1 week, then got error message (cannot unlock maps), and the unit continued to be inoperable--called garmin after reviewing all negative info on this unit--they said garmin knew about problem and a fix was under way--when reviewing internet info, however, it looks like there have been complaints about this error message for 5 months, and still no fix---they refused to take the unit back, and said replacing it would only give me another bad unit--they said i should wait for a fix and they would contact me----doesn't look like they are too serious about the fix---nothing like sitting around with a brand new unit that doesn't work for an indefinite length of time, with a caeat they they will contact me when they have a fix. shame on you garmin---you used to be a reliable company--one of the benefits of amazon was that i returned it to amazon for a refund. buyers beware!!!"
Best Vehicle GPS Units & Equipment
Garmin Real Directions - Garmin Real Directions guides like a friend using landmarks and traffic lights.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It warned us of an accident that took place on the road 20 miles ahead of us while driving at night and on the return trip it warned us of an interstate closure because of a severe accident, then directed us on an alternative route to not get stuck in traffic."
"The Garmin StreetPilot 2720 was a top of the line unit back in 2006 and I was pleased to find that the "cutting edge" tech of 2006 is now in the "low end" Nuvi series of modern models. The GPS on a smartphone tends to drain it, then you have to have a cable running to your lap or a windshield mount and I find it a big pain in the you know what. This isn't a problem if you never leave New York City or San Francisco, but for those of us who live out in the country or do field service of some sort and travel all over (big cities and small towns), there are still places where my phone can't get 3G or can't find any data connection. The directions are very accurate and if you hook it up to a PC and download Garmin Express you can get alternate voices and vehicles. Of course the built in voices do Text To Speech and will say things like "In half a mile, turn left on Miller street". The screen CAN be a tad bit hard to read compared to my old 3.7" Garmin StreetPilot 2720, but just a small turn to the left or right will fix it. For example I added a shortcut to the "Fast Food" section in addition to the standard restaurant icon as I frequent those the most (hey, don't judge me). The only two things I found that I wish I could change would be (1) having a north indicator (red arrow or letter N with a pointer) on the screen at all times."
"Directions are clear, and I appreciate the way the Nuvi warns me about getting into the correct lanes so that I can make subsequent turns."
"In all honesty, I received my new GPS for our second vehicle yesterday afternoon, so it's not like I've tried it for a long time before writing this review. Last night I went to the Garmin site, registered it and downloaded any new maps and updates, transferred all my favorite locations from the older GPS to this new one and got it ready to use this morning. That for people like me with severe arrested development, was great fun, and now Garmin forces us to keep the same boring settings."
"This was quite the upgrade from my Nuvi 52, so the learning curve as been a chore and not quite as user friendly."
"So far so good, I upgraded my GPS, I'm travel a lot so I needed something that I could depend on."
"It took me a while to learn how to use this model having had another Garmin with a smaller screen since 2008 but the more I use this one it has really nice features to make a driving trip more fun and secure, like warnings ."
"I used it for the first time and it got me to my destination without any problems."
Best GPS Units
Battery Life 11 Hours Training, 9 Days Watch, Activity Tracking, Notifications + Heart Rate.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"With a brightly coloured strap, it could even look like a trendy time piece that doesn’t scream “FITNESS TRACKER!”. --HR recording--. I compared the HR data to that from a Polar H7 Bluetooth Smart HRM and the comparison is shown in the attached pictures. Finishing time. Features like training calendar and my workouts require that you log into Garmin Connect web and do some planning. The FR 235 allows the user to set interval distance, duration and time right from the watch device. As for finishing time, you just need to set a distance and go about your run while the FR235 will display roughly how fast you can complete the distance based on the current pace. The screen during activity tracking can be set to a total of 5 screens of which 2 can be further split into 4 data fields each. So in total you’re getting 4+4+1 (Heart rate) +1 (HR Zone gauge)+1 (Clock)= 11 stats to view during tracked activities. --Smart notifications—. The FR235 allows you to expand and read smart notifications or set the mode of alert, be it audio, vibration or both. --All day activity tracker—. The FR235 tracks steps, distance, calories burned, sleep, all day HR and intensity minutes but it doesn’t track number of stairs climbed due to the lack of a barometer. I was able to set alerts during a tracked activity session to buzz when I go beyond a certain HR. • Measure all day heart rate and heart rate during tracked activity sessions. • GPS+Glonass enabled with smart or per second tracking. • Vibration and audio enabled for smart notifications, alarms, move alerts. • Expand and read full messages on FR 235 display. • Pick up phone calls only. • Heavily customisable. • Garmin Connect IQ compatible for apps and watch face downloads. • VO2 Max score, Race time predictor, Recovery advisor. • Automatic laps for 1km/1 mile or customised. • Auto pause during tracked runs. • Interval run features. • Water resistant to 5 ATM. • Big screen that is not touch enabled. • Sunlight readable screen with back light. • Connect IQ compatible. • Reads lap number and time from Garmin Connect mobile app from connected smart phone. • Shows weather and calender events from smart phone. • Water resistant to 5 ATM. Cons. • Navigation on the FR235 takes getting used to. • No virtual pacer feature. --Updated 28th Jan 2016--. Well I had the watch for a while now."
"I was a runner through the Charge and Surge (GPS) but then had a knee injury and became a gym rat through the Blaze time period. This was an epic fail for me and although Fitbit customer service was awesome and replaced it under warranty, the new unit still did not work on GPS. It had a lot of bluetooth problems including not connecting often so that I could access music controls. It's also MUCH easier to download apps, widgets and watch faces connected to your computer than to your smart phone. I have read lots of reviews here that say this product has a bad hrm, but I have found that to be untrue. Since I have had many fitbits with this feature and experience with Polar heart rate straps (they cut my skin so I had to stop using them), I believe that the heart rate monitor is pretty reliable. It does not show the heart beat moving like the Blaze does, but that's minor and it does take a minute to update. Also, the Garmin does not let you know when you have reached your goal and that feature on the blaze was kind of cute. I wish they made small watch band sizes for women like me. Here is where I agree with the reviewer about making sure that you are buying this watch for the right reasons! -On the first night I had my Garmin, I was 100% sure I was going to return it because the set up process was such a pain in the butt. If Garmin could hire a Fitbit software engineer to sort out their IOS app, I would be a happy camper. I don't see any icon or any indicator that it is charging and I have to just come back in a few minutes to see if the percentage has changed. I charged it fully on Wednesday and then used it only during the day (turning it off at night) and it is Sunday now. I was very sad to leave Fitbit and I will probably go back if they ever come out with a Surge 2 that is not square (hate that look) so I can use their awesome app and do challenges with my friends and coworkers."
Best GPS Trackers
Whether you want to track a suspicious spouse, a teenagers vehicle, an elderly parent, or valuable equipment at your company, this tracker is the perfect choice. An available waterproof magnetic case lets you easily attach the GL300 to any vehicle or asset, and an available belt holster lets you easily track a person. Perfect for tracking vehicles, teens, spouses, elderly persons or assets.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This thing worked like a charm."
"Cons. - The website used for all tracking and reporting IS NOT HTTPS (secured using TLS / SSL); your logon and password are sent unencrypted for the tracking portal. - Your entire browsing session for the SpyTec Portal IS NOT HTTPS; anyone able to sniff your network traffic knows exactly what you are browsing while on the Portal. - The GPS seems to be off by up to about 30-40 feet on our unit; may lead to improper street address resolution. - The web portal seems to be geared to tracking "drivers," as if this product is only to be used for tracking vehicles. Pros. - The SpyTec web portal is well thought out in general. - The web portal can be accessed from any modern browser, not limiting you to a specific Android or iOS application, for example. - The service does allow you to define areas to be notified when the GPS leaves / returns to certain area. - It appears to be much more effective than bracelet GPS devices sold for children, especially in that it works to some extent inside buildings. - Mapping / Reporting is based on Google Maps, and that's pretty nice. Background: We purchased this unit to track our 3 year old child that suffers from an Autistic Spectrum Disorder."
"Device worked absolutely awesome."
"The greatest device on the market."
"If you have any thought that your partner is cheating, i highly recommend this product to give you peace of mind."
"Product is very good, just needs better satellite pin point position."
"This product is great and the customer service is the best I have ever experienced."
"Easiest product I've ever used."