Re: UK-biased question about GPS

I assume that if I buy the bottom level GPS I have to "manually" enter a
set of waypoints
Not necessarily. Even bottom end GPS units normally have a port where you
can connect your PC to upload waypoints and routes (a route is just an
ordered set of waypoints).

which I derive in some manner from my OS map, and it
just watches satellites, and points me towards the next waypoint?
I only have direct experience of the Garmin eTrex series. They will do
things like display an arrow pointing in the direction of your next
waypoint, tell you how far it is etc. Older eTrex are silent and everything
is done on screen (eg. displaying message "approaching turn"). I think the
"C" variants, and certainly some other units, can issue audible warnings if
you are approaching a turn or going off route.

Obviously the best thing in the world would be a colour GPS, compass,
etc which had a walkers map of the Cotswolds in it.
Not necessarily. The problem is that the GPS screen has to be small
otherwise it wouldn't be truly portable. You can zoom in for detail of your
immediate surroundings or zoom out to see the overview but lose detail.
They've not yet invented the GPS that you can unfold over your ground***
during the picnic stop

I assume that if I buy a £350 Garmin, and the Fugawi OS maps CD, I can
pretty much achieve that?
That's a bit outside my budget, but maybe I don't have to pay full
retail.....
Check that the maps you want to buy are compatible with the unit. There is
no industry standard and every GPS manufacturer has their own private format
and interface for uploading maps. Maps intended for one brand cannot be
used on another. On the bright side, though, the Garmin interface although
supposedly "secret" has been known to the unofficial software writing
community for some time and there are many products out there, some of them
free, which allow you to create your own maps. Indeed, I actually wrote one
myself which you can download and try out free of charge from
http://homepages.tesco.net/~Keith.Sheppard/MapMan.htm. Be warned that DIY
map making is very time consuming but can be entertaining and rewarding in
its own right.

Why can't you just buy a GPS ready-to-go with UK OS and road maps loaded
- they seem to ask a lot of an average punter.
Cynical answer, because the manufacturer hopes to make more money out of
selling you maps than they did from selling you the hardware. Practical
answer, because the amount of memory required to hold detailed maps of
everywhere the owner might want to visit would greatly increase the cost,
and perhaps even the size/weight of the unit. Remember that Garmin don't do
a UK variant as such. They do a European variant so it's not just UK OS
maps to consider. Indeed, even you might wish to use your GPS in
continental Europe or elsewhere.

Should I write a book of country walks with the downloadable waypoints
available?
I doubt there's anyone here who hasn't considered that, it just needs
someone with enough get up and go to actually do it.

I already own an XDA-IIs/PDA2K PocketPC, with a much nicer screen than
I'm likely to get on a GPS... I suppose I could justify buying one of
those battery-powered bluetooth-link GPS bricks. How easy is it to get
the OS maps onto my PDA, and get the PDA to take fixes from the GPS lump?
Not a harware combination I'd like to carry around on Cat Bells on a rainy
day.

thoughts? recommendations?
If you want to know what particular GPS units can do, check out the Garmin
web site. Skip all the marketing stuff and go straight to the user manuals
for the products you are interested in. Garmin publish all their manuals on
the site and I knew exactly how to use my eTrex Legend, and what it could
do, long before I actually bought one.

Keith


.