Handheld GPS Unit
Small handheld GPS units are great for shorter trips, and most of them can now have large libraries of maps stored in their memory. They are great for simplicity, they are cost effective, and portable. The downside is that on longer trips they may not have enough memory for all of the maps required. You are also limited to the proprietary maps and system from the GPS company. For vehicle travel an antenna might be useful especially when travelling through treed areas.
If you plan on travelling in anywhere in Europe or North America these are great units to have. If you are going on the road less travelled, Africa, South America, or Asia read on. These small units will probably not help you out too much.
Permant GPS in Vehicle
Permanent GPS’s are found on many late model cars today, and most of the major GPS manufacturers offer permanent dash mount units. Like the handheld units, they are easy to use, but have the benefit of no cables, and a stronger reception (the antenna is mounted outside the vehicle). They have larger screens, many of them touch sensitive. Once again, the availabilty of maps is limited to those provided by the GPS company. These trump the the handhelds in ease-of-use, but not really in any other major way. The Tomtom GPS series are great for navigating around cities, complete with voice directions, but they won’t help you outside of highly developed countries, or in the bush.
GPS Receiver with a Laptop
This is probably the most complex yet flexible solution. It comprises of a GPS receiver (can be a permanent roof mounted unit or a handheld), connected by cable or Bluetooth to a laptop computer. We talk about the pros and cons in this article. The computer needs to run a GPS mapping software program, either proprietary to the GPS unit or it can be a generic one such as OziExplorer or Fugawi. The big advantage to running laptop based mapping software is the ability to import and calibrate your own maps, either scans of paper copies or other digital versions.
This is the system we use, and with good software it seems to be the best choice for most serious Overlanders out there. A good rule of the thumb here is the more money you spend, the simpler it gets – there are lots of map retailers who sell the software and the maps on CD or DVD but they don’t come cheap!
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