I am a newb but am looking at a GPs for dirtbiking.

[Newbie00]

i am looking at this on because it is cheap.
http://www.fortuna.com.tw/GPSmart.htm

I want it for the following applications.


When i go on a ride with a mate and it's good i want the GPs to remember the route and show me where to go when i come back without my said mate, i.e. if i went riding with mate john and theres no way i would remember the ride, could my GPS remember the route and i could bring it up when i went ridingwith billybob.


If i become lost, i want it to show me the way out, i.e. backtrack.



I want my speed and altitude for jetting and speed because i broke my speedo.



What else can it do? If one of my mates has a good route on his GPs can i download it into mine?


What are waypoints and route marks.


What is the advantage of having a PC input?

With this model can i open a waypoint at the start of the ride, copy the route all the way to the end? effectively the same as point 1.

[Dooghan]

i am looking at this on because it is cheap.
http://www.fortuna.com.tw/GPSmart.htm

This what someone else had to say about that GPS:

After much deliberation we decided to buy one of these units. On first appearance it actually seemed ok. Then....

Over the next days I discovered problems with the GPS that took it beyond useful status and into downright crappy.

Here is a list of what I found.

Very intermittent signal lock-on. Took around 30 mins to get a reading at first, but was quicker after that.
Very short battery life. Claimed 10 hours (maybe 9) but really gave 2-3. Once the battery got low the signal was lost 90% of the time.
Won't let you save a waypoint unless there is reception. Very frustrating if reception drops out just as you hit 'save'. You have to start all over again.
Can't edit waypoint names. Combined with the previous problem this makes the waypoint fuction rather useless.
Very slow software response. The mice in the processor were obviously old as the delay between button pushing and response was bad.
On/off button only needed a slight tap to turn it off. Rather annoying.

After all this it promptly got returned to the shop for a refund, with the money being put away to get an Etrex from JA.


I want it for the following applications.


When i go on a ride with a mate and it's good i want the GPs to remember the route and show me where to go when i come back without my said mate, i.e. if i went riding with mate john and theres no way i would remember the ride, could my GPS remember the route and i could bring it up when i went ridingwith billybob.
GPS's do have a tracklog function. That is where it save a breadcrumb trail of where you have been and this can be saved on the gps for later use



If i become lost, i want it to show me the way out, i.e. backtrack.
yes there is a backtrack function on GPS's


I want my speed and altitude for jetting and speed because i broke my speedo.
GPS's will show you speed and altitude


What else can it do? If one of my mates has a good route on his GPs can i download it into mine?
yes it can if it can be hooked up to a pc, laptop or PDA. Also with some GPS's you can load detail maps of the area that you want to go for a ride in

What are waypoints and route marks.Waypoints (http://www.garmin.com/support/faqs/faq.jsp?faq=19) and Route (http://www.garmin.com/support/faqs/faq.jsp?faq=20)


What is the advantage of having a PC input?

With this model can i open a waypoint at the start of the ride, copy the route all the way to the end? effectively the same as point 1.downloading of waypoints, routes and tracks for viewing in maping software. See attachments of a tracklog overlayed on top of a sat image. Creation of waypoints and routes on the pc and uploaded to the GPS. Sharing of waypoints, routes and tracklogs with friends. And many more things. If I was you I would go for an little yellow Etrex. It will do what you need and can be pickup for $200 and less

Dooghan