Up until a few weeks prior to the SHOT show 2007, I had very limited experience
with GPS units of any kind. That experience was learning to use the
new GPS unit my father put in his fishing boat. It was able to let us
navigate the Florida keys, and find the right routes to take, and get
us back safely. Sure I knew what they were and what they did, but I
never really thought I would use a GPS in my everyday life. I mean,
I know where I am going right?
So a few weeks later I am in a nation wide retail store, and I see a factory
refurbished vehicle GPS unit for sale for a good price. I had some extra
money in my pocket so I decided to give it a try, and I am very glad
I did. The SHOT show 2007 was in Orlando, Florida, the tourist capital
of the world. Lots of traffic, lots of roads, and lots of road construction.
Needless to say, I used the GPS pretty much everywhere we went, and
I hate to think what it would have been like if we would not have had
it.
Anyhow, as I was planning a recent hunting trip to Montana, I realized that
even though I had a GPS in my truck, my phone, and computer, I didn't
have a hand held GPS unit to use in the woods. Knowing that I was going
to be in very rural portions of Montana, the thought of not having a
GPS was not too exciting. So I made a call to my contact at Brunton
GPS, and a few days later I had a nice Brunton ATLAS GPS unit to try
out and use for the hunt.
My first reaction to using it was that it has a pretty intuitive menu system.
Without reading the manual, I was able to perform basic functions immediately.
I have an older Garmin GPS so I was familiar with most GPS functions
already. The rocker pad and the buttons are all located on the front
of the unit and are clearly labeled, so there's no need to remember
what each key does. (I had played with a friend's eTrex and didn't
like its interface as much.) The buttons are large enough and spaced
far enough apart that I can operate the unit while wearing gloves on
my hunting trip. This is a big plus for me.
The Atlas comes with base maps of the world, so land masses and major bodies
of water are shown. Basic highway information is also provided for the
USA. This includes Interstate and State Routes as well as some exit
information (restaurants, gas stations, rest stops, etc.) The software
includes street level detail, points of interest, topographic information,
etc. It is a very comprehensive piece of software, providing everything
you will need for driving, hiking or boating. Transfer of data between
the software and the GPS unit is by MMC card. This requires a lot of
plugging and unplugging of the MMC card into the unit and into the card
reader. The card slot on the unit is located underneath the batteries,
so you have to remove the batteries every time you want to insert or
remove the memory card. One would think Brunton would put in some USB
connector or an external MMC slot so you can upgrade the maps easier.
Overall this GPS did everything I wanted it to do. It kept track of the campsite,
and took us back there everyday. While hiking, the display is easy to
see and the information provided on the screen is useful. There are
four pages that can be viewed: satellite status, global position and
trip info, compass and navigation pointer, and map. Each page can be
customized to include the information that you want.
In general, I would recommend this product. The screen is the biggest
I've seen on any handheld and the controls are easy to use. The software
took some getting used to and is not really user friendly, but now that
I'm up and running, I really like it.
TECH SPECS
MSRP: $229
www.Brunton.com
Tim P.
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