So im tired of killing the battery on my phone every time I use my gps. My question is, is there a handheld gps that has Google maps like my phone app? Looking at getting one for christmas but want something that will show me maps like the app on my phone. Dont have a whole lot of money to spend and haven't looked at gps units in a while so not really sure whats out there.

I got tired of my battery dying so quickly as well on my old iPhone. I got a Galaxy S5 and use Google maps and other GPS apps for hours at a time and have battery to spare. It's hard to find a GPS with the same functionality of phone apps. I do keep a handheld GPS in the boat for backup though.

I have a galaxy s3 right now and love the phone and gps essentials app and will upgrade to the 5 in april when my contract is up but id like to have something else with the same functions as the app I have.

I just bought the garmin GPM map 78. It was only $169 from cabelas. I then bought a subscription from garmin for Birds Eye View. What it does is allow you to download satellite imagery to the gps. So all of your tracks and waypoints are shown on the imagery. So when google maps updates their images, I can download the latest and always have it up to date. It also has an additional mini SD card slot for even more imagery. I think the birds eye view is the shit. Now I just added a side console box for switches and such and bought the Ram mount for it to hold it on my runs. That was an additional $35. I also bought the 12v dc plug adapter so that it plugs into the back of the gps and into one of my plugs. Stays on the entire time, I leave the backlight on all the time, and it draws on the battery, not the 2 AA's. Best of all, the GPS floats. I've only used it so far about a month, but have put it through hell. really like it and it wasn't a $400 GPS.
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I ended up mounting it like the last pic because I liked the lower profile. The other thing about birds eye view, it was a $29 subscription for a year. With that it downloads a program called basecamp. I can actually draw out a track on the basecamp from point A (my camp) to point B (blind or whatever) without every burning the first drop of fuel. Once you draw it out, download it ot the GPS, load it, and follow.

Garmin Montana with birdseye.

I use my Iphone 5 for GPS as well, luckily gator tail installed a 12V plug in so I can just plug my phone charger up to it and charge it as if I were in the car.

Problem is in some areas, if you don't have phone service, you have no maps. The downloaded imagery from birds eye is the same as google maps on a phone, but you always have satellite link up.

I use a garmin Etrex 20. I also have birds eye, plus 32g micro card with updated maps...... Works great. Will use navionics as a backup on iPhone. Only thing that suck, cell service is spotty


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So you can buy a unit and install google maps on it? Sorry ive been out of the gps game for a while since I got a cell phone.

Mine isn't the actual google maps. That would be way too much memory. You can pan over an area, depending on how high def you want it, and load that particular area on the map. But to give you an idea, I loaded a 30 square mile area that we ride and hunt and I still have plenty room on the internal memory. That's not including the external mini sd card I can install.

Montana all the way. Cabelas has them on sale right now for 350 in camo.

Just the area you hunt.

How in the hell does garmin not have google maps for sale or even available on their units, but I have them in a free app on my phone?

Just load the areas from each state that you hunt onto the gps. It takes a little time at first but after that it's easy. If for some reason it takes up too much space for everything it uses a micro sd card so you could put some on the card.

Yea but are the garmin birds eye maps as good as google maps and can you zoom in as far?

Yes.....they are both satellite imagery.

With your phone you have internet access so you can view as much of the world as you want. With the gps imagery, you don't have to have internet access, you just jave to download the areas you will be in before you leave home.

They have these new Hunt View maps too. I'd like to try it out.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/maps/on ... 05946.html

http://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/gps-maps#.VIBPCMnWCSo

Watch this, will explain everything.

I appreciate all the info sorry if im asking too many retarded questions. So basically you buy a unit and the subscription and make your own maps. Yall think a dakota 20 would do everything im lookin for?

How much is the Brid's Eye subscription?

x2

Or........if you live in MS or LA, you can just mount a big ass Lowrance HDS-10 on there and run the Standard Mapping chip for the area you hunt. Works like a charm

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Very nice. Talk about a big screen for your boat....does it catch any tv stations...lol