Which Manufacturer?
Chances are, you have already heard the name ‘Garmin’ when talking about GPS anywhere in South Africa. This is due to the fact that Garmin have by far the largest chunk of the GPS market share in this country. When we started this business in 1999, we did extensive research into the recreational GPS market from a GPS dealer’s point of view. We weighed up factors such as the backup and support from the distributors, the quality of the GPS systems themselves and the availability of map software.

Garmin have always had a rock-solid reputation for the quality of their customer service and support, as well as being light years ahead of the competition with regards to the map software technology and even with the GPS systems themselves.

A bit of research into the ‘Civilized’ world however (Europe or the USA) , would really blow your mind. The choices available to our overseas brethren are astounding. Understandably, with so much competition over there, Garmin have a much smaller market share and manufacturers like TomTom, Navman, Magellan and DeLorme are well represented.

It is important to remember that while it is relatively easy to buy and import one of these ‘other’ GPS units from elsewhere in the world, very few of them produce maps of South Africa for their systems (and those that do have SA maps are so far behind Garmin/Garmap with their area coverage, level of detail and accuracy it’s really not funny). Also remember that since most GPS systems utilize proprietary data formats, no other map products will work on these units. Just to be clear here - THERE ARE NO SOUTH AFRICAN MAPS AVAILABLE FOR ALPINE, NAVMAN OR DELORME GPS SYSTEMS!!!

What are my requirements?
We would suggest sitting down and going over the list of questions below, then taking a look at the Comparison Charts on our website before making a decision.

  • First look at where you will use the GPS - Will it be mainly road navigation or in a City, or do you plan on using it handheld and outdoors?
  • Will it only be used locally or also overseas?
  • How will you use it - Will it be mainly vehicle based or will it be handheld?
  • Do you have specific needs - Area calculations, electronic compass, accurate altitude readings (relative), lookup addresses of clients or even obtain accurate speed-readings?
  • Are you looking for a specific functionality like a training manager for athletes, marathon runners, cyclists or canoeists?
  • Will you need to use it in an environment where you will need an external antenna?
  • Do you need to connect the GPS to a PC, Notebook or Laptop to upload and download waypoints, tracks or routes?
  • Would you prefer a colour screen that is easier to see in direct sunlight or will a grayscale screen be sufficient?
  • Do you need specific mounts or other accessories (bicycle mounts, marine mounts, cigarette lighter adapters etc)?
  • Do you require additional map software (East Africa maps, SA Topographic & Recreation maps etc)?
  • What sort of memory would you require for all the maps you would intend using?
  • What is your budget (including accessories and additional map software)?

Comparing the different GPS models:
Since most Garmin GPS units were designed with a fairly specific purpose in mind it should be easy to compare ‘like with like’ for those particular applications. For instance when looking for a handheld GPS for hiking, one would only need to compare those units that are small, rugged units with basic functions, a good battery life and enough memory capacity for a small number of local maps. This narrows down the number to choose from rather nicely.

It is only when you start comparing units for use over a number of very different applications that it all starts looking rather complicated…

“I want a small waterproof handheld GPS with a reasonable sized colour screen, excellent battery life, with a huge memory capacity for loading multiple large maps to be used for hiking, biking, boating (it must float), fishing and micro-lighting over weekends. It must also have search & lookup features, autorouting features with voice prompts for finding addresses and routing me to my meetings during the week. I want to load marine charts, detailed streetmaps and Topo maps for hiking and I want the whole bundle for under R3,000″

Ummmm, yes, well… and I would like Telkom to give free (uncapped) ADSL to everyone in South Africa!!! Sorry folks… it’s just not going to happen.

Choosing a GPS is always going to be a compromise between competing objectives. Whether you want a GPS for offroad 4×4 and city use, marine and handheld outdoor use, offroad 4×4 and International travel or any other multiple combined applications, it is always going to be difficult to select the right one. We would suggest trying to figure out the percentages of each application that the unit will be used for (i.e. 80% city and 20% outdoor - this makes it a bit easier to possibly sacrifice some of the portability or “ruggedness” if you are going to use it outdoors only for limited periods of time or maybe for “offroad/outdoors” use but in still safe inside a vehicle and away from the elements).

Price vs. Functionality:
As with all technology, the more bells and whistles the GPS unit has, the higher the price is going to be. First look at the basic functionalities needed and make a choice. If your choice is still nicely within your budget, then only start looking at the ‘nice-to-have’ features. For those of you just trying to stay ahead of the pack with the latest and greatest gadget on earth - be prepared to upgrade at least twice per year. More bells and whistles are added every year and although most of these new features are not necessities (the necessities were sufficiently covered a couple of years ago), they are still VERY useful and ‘nice-to-have’.

Hope this helps a bit…

MadMapper - my friends, however, just call me Mad… ;-)

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