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Does your GPS receiver get about as much use as the treadmill in your basement? Want to upgrade but are confused by the bewildering range of choices? Don't worry; I tested six new units from Garmin, Magellan, Lowrance and Cobra, with an eye for how a hunter might use them.

Buying a GPS is like buying a car. If I bought what I thought I needed rather than being objective about it, there'd be a Corvette in my driveway instead of a Subaru. Sure you need a GPS receiver for hunting, but that's not specific enough. Are you a weekend warrior or do you spend months scouting in the off-season? Do you want it for camping, too? Do you sleep in an RV or do you prefer digging your own snow cave? Be objective or you might end up spending more for features you don't need.

If you don't know what you need, focus on these key areas: 1) hardware; 2) digital mapping; and 3) display, interface and controls.

1. Hardware

Old GPS receivers had single-channel hardware. They worked great in open fields and on the lake, but not in the woods. Now almost all GPS receivers have powerful 12-channel engines and WAAS capabilities, including all the models in this test.

The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) corrects errors in the GPS signal. But WAAS signals are more prone to blockage than regular GPS signals. WAAS satellites sit lower on the horizon; tall ridges, dense foliage and even the curvature of the Earth can block them, especially the further north you go. WAAS-enabled receivers still work without a WAAS signal, however. They just don't benefit from the additional accuracy.

I crammed the test units into my pockets and went on a winter hike through the woods where I hunt. The bare tree branches overhead weren't much of a challenge, so I pushed through the hawthorn and knelt in the snow beneath a thick canopy of pine boughs. All the units showed a slight drop in satellite signal strength, and the WAAS signal disappeared completely. But not one GPS lost a position fix.

2. Digital Mapping

Some GPS units have basemaps. Some are bare-bones models with no maps. Some take memory cards for downloading digital maps from a computer. Then there's optional mapping software aimed at drivers, hikers and boaters. Some mapping software is made by GPS companies, others are produced by third-party vendors. It's hard to know what maps work with which receiver, and what's the best for you.

The units I tested all came with fixed basemaps that showed main roads and towns. Unless you want a bare-bones model, don't consider buying a GPS without a basemap. The cost is minimal, and knowing if you're north or south of a particular road, even if it's 10 miles away, can help orient you in the backcountry.

If you hunt the same property year after year, think twice about springing for a GPS with additional mapping capabilities. The extra cost can be high, and you'd be better off spending money on features you'll appreciate in the field, like a better display.

3. Display, Interface and Controls

Most of us want a small, lightweight unit that's easy on batteries. But we want a big color screen that's easy to see under any conditions. You can't have both. A small GPS receiver with a high-resolution display is easier to read than one with a large, lower resolution screen. More pixels make digital map features, numbers and text sharper and clearer.

The Cobra 1000 has the biggest display of all the test units, but it's also the hardest to see in direct sunlight, especially when I crossed open fields blanketed in blinding snow. The Lowrance iFinder Hunt and Magellan Meridian have large screens and higher resolution displays than the Cobra. It's easy to see map detail and navigation information. The smaller Garmin units make up for screen size with phenomenal resolution that rendered smooth contour lines on the map page. And both have bright color displays that don't wash out in bright sun.

If you can't comfortably operate a GPS receiver, forget about its other qualities. It'll end up in a drawer next to the broken TV remote. Most have controls below the display-usually a rocker keypad surrounded by a bunch of smaller buttons. The Magellan eXplorist and Garmin eTrex series employ a rocker "stick" to save space. No handheld GPS can be operated with gloves on, but even barehanded it was difficult in the cold to work the stick. I either pressed too hard, not hard enough or too far to one side. Larger units like the Cobra and Lowrance are easier to operate, but they're bulkier. Go with your gut. If the button layout and case design don't feel right in the store, then they won't feel right in the field.

Your nose shouldn't be pressed to the screen of a GPS on opening day of hunting season. The best GPS units require the least amount of input to accomplish basic tasks. I tested the units in three areas most useful to hunters: creating waypoints, viewing map detail and navigating submenus.

Garmin's interface sets the standard for ease of use. It took just a few keystrokes to create and name a waypoint, after which I was automatically returned to the map page. Marking waypoints with the Magellan units was a snap. For hunters, Lowrance takes convenience one step further by providing nifty icons and names for popular hunting waypoints, such as "treestand," "blood" and "deer tracks." The Cobra forces you to scroll through the entire alphabet for each letter, a real chore.

All units I tested have dedicated "zoom" keys to change the map scale without spending an eternity. Scrolling around the map was more difficult with stick-type navigation keys. Push the stick in the wrong direction-easy to do with numb fingers-and you'll end up on a different page or marking unwanted waypoints. Units with topo maps took much longer to load onscreen data, especially at zoom scales above half a mile.

At some point you're going to enter the dark labyrinth of your GPS receivers menu system; for instance, to switch the coordinate system from Lat/Lon to UTMS. This is where Garmin's interface, divided into icons and text pages, truly shines. Magellan and Lowrance still rely somewhat on the old "list" type menu system to access data, but they're simple and logical. Cobras interface hasn't evolved from the early days of GPS.

Choose wisely, but really, now couldn't be a better time to buy a GPS receiver. Accuracy and performance problems that once plagued GPS are gone, and manufacturers are cramming more features into their units than ever before to remain competitive. The result can be confusing. But if you know exactly what you want to do with your GPS, and which features you can't compromise on, you wont go wrong. (Steve Featherstone is the author of Outdoor Guide to Using Your GPS: Tips for Hikers, Campers, Hunters and Boaters. For more detailed info you can buy the book from Creative Publishing: $12.95, plus S&H; 800-328-0590; creativepub.com)

Carry a Map, Too

In case your batteries fail, carry a quality 1:24,000-scale topo and a 1:10,000-scale aerial photo. Quality maps (Rough Country Topos & U.S Aerial Surveys) are available from Modern Explorer Products, PO Box 588, Hopwood, PA 15445; 724-438-7686.

A Note to Conspiracy Theorists

No matter what your crazy friend Joe says, government agents aren't tracking his movements from the hardware store to his shack in the woods through his GPS. No GPS units transmit data, although some companies sell units that combine an FRS radio with a GPS receiver. Tell Joe it's safe to take the tinfoil off his head.

Trailblazer

If you discover a new game trail, don't just hit the "mark" keyactually walk the trail as far as you can. Make sure your GPS has a good position fix, and that your track-log is set up to drop electronic breadcrumbs frequently. Save the track log, and when you get home, download it to your computer. If you have digital mapping software, you can overlay your track log on the map contours and create a permanent record that exists only on your maps.

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