GPS

A couple of years ago I started out with a Garmin eTrex Vista unit. Not a bad little unit for the price. The black and white display could be difficult to see in direct sunlight, but now Garmin has come out with a Vista with a color display. One major drawback to the unit was the antenna. In heavy tree cover, or in valleys the unit would lose signal.

More recently I upgraded to a Garmin 60CS series. With everything the Vista has, and a whole lot more. This unit is great for hiking or driving. Also, the antenna is more powerful. I took it out to where I would lose signal with my Vista, and the lowest accuracy I had was +/- 30 feet. The 60CS also has audible signals, so if you do lose signal you know about it. With the Vista you didn't until you checked your unit.

I also have the Mapsource US Topo guide loaded into my unit. Amazing detail on an already great map system. I have loaded all of Colorado and have room for more maps still. Nice to see contour lines, trails, roads, and water bodies there for reference when you need it.

All in all, you get what you pay for. I have seen some $100 dollar models, which are lacking, and some on the other side which are out of my pay range. But for what I use it for, the Garmin 60CS is great.

A great site HERE, with a ton more information about GPS.

Also, you can input Longitude and Latitude coordinates into Terraserver to see satellite imagry of almost anywhere in the US. Another site for this is ACME Mapper. And even better is a free program from Google. This one lets you zoom in and out from a globe setting, down to 1 meter resolution. It is a large download, and the program will be slow on dial up connections, so DSL or cable is the way to go. You can get it here at Google Earth.