GPS/ GLONASS ?

[Rugger]

Starting to look into a new GPS, my 14 year old Magellan is still working fairly well but I'm nervous I'm about to loose my points.

Poking around the comparisons of various handheld GPS I see some can use both GPS and the Russian GLONASS. Does anyone have any experience with these units? Do you set the unit to one or the other, or does the unit use both simultaneously for increased accuracy?

I think I'm going to be choosing between Magellan and Garmin...

[boozyleroux]

I bought a Garmin (eTrex 20) this past December. You can use both GPS and GLONASS at the same time. I don't know about the others. I like the Garmin's Basecamp program to organize and store your tracks and waypoints plus you can get their Birdseye subscription service for detailed Satellite imagery. As mentioned, you can also use Basecamp to overlay your own satellite or other maps onto your device.

3 of our group have GPS - all are Garmins.

[impact]

I also have the Garmin Etrex 20. I installed the Backroads map for Ontario last fall and was very pleased on how detailed it was for the moose hunt I did in WMU 21A. It did not find any but sure helped me navigate deep in the bush with confidence.

[Dead Ringer]

To answer your direct question: the device will use both GPS and GLONASS simultaneously. You don't need to choose.

For those speaking of the Birdseye service, I'll throw a few FYIs out there:
- You can put Google Earth images on your device for free. Better resolution and no fee.
- Same goes for PDF or JPEG maps (think trail maps or management area maps).
- Free topo also available online from Ibycus topo. Plenty of other maps (roads, etc) from gpsfiledepot, openstreetmap and other sources.

[boozyleroux]

Yeah, I used google earth to overlay some GIS maps but it can be tough to place them accurately. Pretty slick feature in Basecamp program.