Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS

Garmin Forerunner 201

What is it?

It is a GPS, a small lightweight waterproof GPS to be exact. Now I hear you think sure that’s what it says on the tin but is it really? Well I got mine of eBay from a guy who used it while windsurfing, and I have used it in the buggy and in my kayak. So I can tell you that this GPS is strong and waterproof and will take a lot of abuse.

What can’t it do?

Well it cannot show you the way too Blackpool, it cannot even show the way to the corner of the street.

It is about as accurate in telling your altitude as a drunken llama. On an average beach session it will list my altitude differing between –20m and +20m.

What can it do?

It can tell you how fast you are going, your maximum speed, distance driven and time you have taken to do it. The unit has a fairly big screen divided in 3 zones (upper half and lower half is divided in 2 again), you can use the predefined displays or create a custom display. Mine is set to display my current speed in the top half, max speed in one of the bottom fields and distance driven in the other. There is also an option to use the GPS for Navigation, but this is very basic. You select a waypoint stored in the GPS, either because you set it when you where at that point or because you uploaded the coordinates from your pc, and the unit will show you the straight line distance, direction and travel time at current speed to the point. The pc link, the unit uses a serial link to the pc. Tracks can be downloaded to the pc and analyzed in a variety of programs (free with the unit) and websites.

The programs let you plot out a speed graph, the path you have taken and let you see how fast you where going at what leg of the track. If you remember the wind direction this lets you see your speed and at different angles to the wind. The unit has building rechargeable lit-ion batteries that last about 13h.

What does it cost?

We got 2 of them from eBay at about a €100 each, the price in the shop is about € 250.

But eBay and shop prices will probably go down soon (early mid 2006) as Garmin just launched their new version the Foreunner 205(same basic idée, but claimed to have better reception, smaller lighter and more stylish).

Conclusion:

If you want a rugged GPS to have data about your outdoor activities then this is unit should certainly be on your list. If you want to use the GPS to navigate in the sea or wilderness or even roads this unit will not cut it.

(The GPS could be hooked up to a laptop and in combination with mapping software be used to navigate)

Author : sibster