Could anyone tell me which, if any of the popular sat nav systems on sale in the high st shops, any good for use for greenlaning? Are the maps supplied with these units compatable with programs like Fugarwi, or can Fugarwi type maps by loaded into these units?. Can they be connected to lap top and used with Fugarwi type programs out in the field.
Thanks ED

None that I know of. Unless you can get one that is more like a PDA and then you can run Fugawi, Memory map etc. Lots of people on here use PDAs with Tomtom (or similar) for on road navigation and MemoryMap for off road/green lanes.

Chris

I believe models like the Garmin Nuvi can have other sofware loaded on to them via the smart card, and as such could run tom tom or memory map. I am afraid I do not know much more than that about them, personally I use a PDA with Tom Tom for road navigation and memory map for offroad work.

Mark

I've just bought a Garmin Nuvi for the missus... not sure it can run other software, I know you can load pictures, mp3s and audiobooks but I've not seen anyway of installing software. I'll take a better look when she gets back off her trip.

But, it's another vote for the PDA & Tomtom/Memory-map combo.

I'd probably get something like a windows mobile PDA with built in GPS (there's one for less than 200 squid at Expansys.com for example) and then see if I could ... get hold of the software.

Upsides are:
It actually does mapping for on and off-road
It's fairly small compared to a full on Tomtom (510 etc)
You can play games on it while waiting to be recovered

Downsides:
Not as straightforward to use as a dedicated unit, underlying OS issues.
Screens usually are'nt as readable in direct sunlight, depends on the unit.
Expense if you decide to buy the software.

On the subject of displays: I bought a second hand Dell X5 from eBay about 2-3 years ago - just because it was the first one that was affordable and had SD and CF ports. Since then I have seen any number of PDAs form other manufacturers and not many seem to have the transflective display that mine has. A big advantage if you can find one as the display is visible in bright sunlight even without the backlight on.

Chris