I get asked a lot of the time what GPS I would recommend to buy. Often people are asking because they want to use it for OpenStreetMap – either to contribute to the project or because they want to use the maps when they are out and about. Other times, it’s cyclists asking for GPS units that they can put on their handlebars, or walkers wanting to carry something with them. Interestingly, nobody ever asks me for recommendations for car satnavs (or PNDs as they are known in the trade) – and frankly, I don’t have any opinions on them.

There’s often debate as to what range of unit you should get – whether a simple bluetooth logger to hook up to your mobile phone, or a more complex standalone unit. But as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one range of units worth getting, and that’s the Garmin eTrex range. Specifically, my current recommendation is to get a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx. You can buy these from Amazon for less that £150. If you’re looking for a cheaper option for OpenStreetMap, then I’d recommend you keep saving your money and go for this. Although cheaper units are, well, cheaper, I find them a bit of a false economy. If you have money to spare, you might want to get something like the Garmin Oregon 300, but as far as I’m concerned, the extra money isn’t really worth it. I owned a (now discontinued) Venture Cx and when that eventually failed in September 2010 I bought a Vista HCx without thinking twice.

So let me break down the “Garmin eTrex Vista HCx” and explain why I recommend it.

• Garmin – They make good units, and they have good customer services. When the bike mount for my unit broke, they sent me the replacement part for free. More importantly, the map format they use has been reverse-engineered by volunteers, so we can put OpenStreetMap on these GPS units, and customise it, and use it for contours and routing and all sorts.
• eTrex – This is one of Garmin’s hand-held (as opposed to maritime, aviation, sports or car-based) ranges. It’s been around for years, and they work well. So you can carry them or mount them on a bike, and mine has survived a few bike crashes better than I have. They take AA batteries, so I use rechargeables. And the interface is USB mass storage on a standard mini-usb cable, so they are compatible with macs, linux boxes and of course Windows machines without needing any drivers or software or whatnot.
• Vista – This is their “model” within the eTrex series. It’s a nice balance of features without some of the extras you get in the more expensive models. Be careful though, there’s “Vista”, “Vista C” and “Vista Cx” and they are older ones that you don’t want to buy. If you’re getting a second-hand one make sure it’s definitely an HCx, because…
• H – It’s got a high-sensitivity receiver. Makes a big difference over my non-H older unit, and is well worth it. I’m almost tempted to upgrade my own GPS just for the better receiver – much better in urban areas or under trees.
• C – Colour screen. Only the oldest units in the eTrex range aren’t colour.
• x – Takes a micro-SD expansion card. This lets you increase the memory in the unit, so you can store more trackpoints and more importantly – put maps on it!

That’s it, that’s my recommendation and quite frankly I can’t bring myself to recommend any other unit. I updated this in October 2010, when I changed my recommendation from Legend HCx to Vista HCx – the extra cost of the Vista features is now only ~£5 and that makes it worthwhile extra cost.

Photos of my Garmin GPS on flickr!