Garmin GPS 12MAP Waterproof Hiking GPS

by Garmin

Product Details

Product Manual [2.05mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 1 x 5.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00003XAKQ
• Batteries: 4 AA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,634 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

For the Garmin 12Map global positioning system model design, Garmin combined software features from its popular GPS III Plus model with the durable design of its GPS 12 model. The result is a GPS receiver that can stand up to the elements as well as download sophisticated mapping software.

Similar to the Garmin GPS III Plus, the base map on the Garmin GPS 12Map includes cartography information for North and South America including a database of cities, interstates, lakes, rivers, railroads, coastlines, and exit information for the U.S. interstate highway system. The GPS 12Map can even take mapping one step further with an added CD-ROM capability. Simply insert one of Garmin's MapSource CD-ROMs into your PC and copy mapping information into your Garmin GPS 12Map.

The 12-parallel-channel Garmin GPS 12Map boasts a rugged, waterproof case, dedicated zoom keys for quick map scaling, and a high-resolution LCD display complete with backlighting. The unit gets up to 36 hours of battery life with four AA batteries and includes the ability to store up to 500 user waypoints.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 154 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great all-around receiver!, February 12, 2000

By 

Bruce Kelley (Scottsdale, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garmin GPS 12MAP Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)

This recent model from Garmin is probably their best all-around performer. It's identical to their most popular model, the III+, but its housed in a sturdier case and has an internal antenna--perfect for outdoor use! For some reason, it has yet to catch the publics fancy (probably the case---its the same case from their lower cost, bare bones receivers), but with the current $50 rebate (good thru March 2000)it should see more sales. The only down side is the amount of maps you can upload is limited. I live in the Phoenix area, and all I can get in is the metropolita area. Other than that, this is the perfect all-around handheld receiver!

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GPS 12 MAP, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Garmin GPS 12MAP Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)

I finally got a chance to put this unit to the test and it performed flawlessly. 4 days and 70 miles on the Laberinth Canyon section of the Green river in Utah. The GPS 12 Map worked all day in 115 deg heat and even survived a 20 minute swim in my pocket, all with only 1 battery change. Well Worth the price. Would also recomend a third party map program (Delorme's 3d TopoQuads).

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Coastal marine navigation with the Garmin 12 Map, September 12, 2000

By 

Mark A. Gordon (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Garmin GPS 12MAP Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)

I just returned from 3 weeks sailing in the San Juan and Gulf Islands in the Pacific Northwest. Navigation was ultimately derived from marine charts (NAD27) but also from daily tracking with my newly acquired Garmin 12 Map. I supplemented the charts with GPS coordinates (NAD83) for harbor entrances, moorings, and anchorages given in a regional marine guide book (Douglass and Douglass).

Good: The GPS 12 Map is easy to use for marine navigation. It's waterproof. It has a non-slip rubber bottom. The size of the GPS and its display is just about right for use in small craft like a 30-ft sailboat. Button size and separation is good even for cold, wet hands. The overlay of the land maps proved quite helpful for generally locating the boat position with respect to nearby land masses like islands and continental coasts. I found the overlays more useful than the traditional "highway" views. Creating, entering, and modifying waypoints is easy. The wide choice of waypoints symbols proved quite useful. Battery life is adequate. Sailing only during the day, I changed batteries every 5 or 6 days with periodic connections to a 12VDC outlet on the boat's electrical panel. I could have used the external DC power exclusively if I had brought a 10 ft extension with me.

Bad: Believe the warning on startup. The land mass overlays are approximate. Even with care as to the correct datum, several anchorages in small coves were shown to be on land even at maximum zoom. The data included for positions of marine buoys and lights were not always correct. Some buoys were shown in incorrect locations or absent altogether. The US Waterways MapSource may fix this for US waters but will exclude the contiguous Canadian waters (Gulf Islands).

Conclusion: A good product for coastal navigation but the pre-loaded land mass and navigation data are not always accurate. I suspect loading ad hoc navigational databases would greatly improve the unit's usefulness.