Bicycle Satnav Or Handheld Gps.

[lonewolf99]

I am looking for a hand held GPS that I can put in my pocket or mount on my Bike.

I have looked at the Garmin 62S on Amazon.

It is around 250 UK pounds - the same item on a web site in LOS is 25,500 more than double the price even if I got it posted from the U.K.

Does any one else on Thai Visa own or use such an item, where did they get it and is it any good for when you get off the highways?

Forget Tuk Com - I have been on every floor and it was Mai Mee, only SATNAV for car. The same goes for all the big electrical outlets in Pattaya.

I am willing to travel to BKK to get one.

The Garmin 62S appears to be a global thing ? but not sure how accurate it would be in Thailand where Highway 7 is still a dotted line "under construction" on any map you buy.

thanks in advance for any one who knows and replies.

[gmac]

Try Gadgetrend in Bangkok. They have a website Gadgetrend.com and were very helpful when I bought my GPS for the car.

[Gary A]

The Garmin 62 replaced the 60. I have a 60 and it is an excellent GPS. It keeps the signal much better than my two Nuvis. The latest ESRI Thailand map works fine with my Gpsmap 60 Cx. The newer units have a touch screen, (Oregon 300) a built in antenna and are more compact. They would be easier to carry in a pocket. Unfortunately the full featured hand-helds are expensive. I replaced my Etrex Legend Cx with the 60Cx because the older Etrex does not have the high sensitivity antenna. It works fine out in the open but is not much good in a city with high buildings. The Etrex is more compact and more easily carried so I have kept it. Yes, I have four Garmins.

[AgentSmith]

You might want to look for support of other positioning systems besides GPS. Russian Glonass is active and newer smartphones already support it. The Chinese system is active in China and also covers Thailand. And then of course the European Galileo will go live in a year or two. All these systems will improve the time to get a fix as well as accuracy. Also get a Gps chip made outside the US because they are more accurate then their American counterparts due to US law limiting export of Gps technology.

More on topic, I have a 'rugged' smartphone, the Motorola Defy, which means it's waterproof and shock proof. It runs on Android for which I'm sure you can find tracking software. Just an idea..

[lonewolf99]

Folks - thanks for all your input and knowledge.

I will start with the Gadget trend site and the rugged smartphone sounds like a good idea also as a back up for comparison of location and a means of calling home or in the worst case for help when I am far from main roads and towns.

GPS / SAT nav is great until the batteries go flat....

Interesting to here about the Chinese system.

thanks again

[InterestedObserver]

The Garmin 62S appears to be a global thing ? but not sure how accurate it would be in Thailand where Highway 7 is still a dotted line "under construction" on any map you buy.

Not correct! The last two versions of ESRI (GPSsociety) Thailand Street Map have the completed Highway 7 to Sukhumvit Road, central Pattaya extension.