Best off road GPS

[grizzlyj]

Hiya

An article on a well known big USA forum recently covered the magellan explorist trx7 which seems a good though expensive all in one box of tricks for the USA.

Previously I've stuck with various Garmins, although I've just bought a second hand Panasonic Toughbook, and hope to stick some maps on from here http://www.quovadis-gps.de/online-shop

It seems you have to pay up for their software first, giving "normal" navigation, then you can use that to add in actual maps that have been scanned in, like the Russian military maps that cover lots of interesting places that Garmin etc have yet to get to. That gives you your position on a screen showing accurately contoured mapping, even if the road size and infrastructure is way out of date. Big obvious stuff like that can be had on a normal paper map for most places though I would think?

Interesting info on the Russian map sets here https://www.wired.com/2015/07/secret-cold-war-maps/

Sorry if getting a bit off topic

[rmel]

There's a number of ways to go GPS -- on the trail that is. The key is what the device
(or Software package) allows you to import. Maps are a given, but for off-roading you
need to be able to import both Topo maps and GPX files.

An inexpensive solution ($9.99), is iHikeGPS which you can download from the Apple App Store.
This runs on iPhone or iPod and uses the internal GPS receiver. You need to have a cell or WiFi
connection to download USGS maps for the area you are wheeling. You can also import GPX routes
and waypoints files. I buy routes from http://www.treknow.com/. You can pre-plan your trip
and get the USGS map tiles loaded up before you go to a place where there is no cell or WiFi.

There is also a software package called MAC GPS Pro, $59.99, this is intended to run on a MAC
book or Mini, you would need an external GPS receiver, talks to a Garmin, Magellan or a simple
USGlobal GPS receiver via a USB port.

I use RouteBuddy, which works great but they have long since stopped development on this SW.
Permanent mount in my truck is a MAC Mini and a good sized display up front. One of these days
I will be moving over to MAC GPS Pro, which has regular feature updates and bug fixes.

Then there's always the GPS appliances from Garmin, Magellan etc. pricey.

[Bgall]

Rmel, give motions a try

[rmel]

It's a slick application, but last time I looked didn't allow import of USGS map tiles.

It's all based on the OpenStreetMap project. May have advanced considerably,
but was pretty sparse on areas of interest in the "outback" when I last looked.
If you are using this for off-road, where, and what's the state of Maps these days?