Gear / Accessories Garmin's new Overlander GPS

[Greg]

Garmin Overlander® | Navigation for Overlanding

Overlander is a rugged all-terrain navigator with features that include on/off road guidance, topographic maps, public land boundaries and more.

buy.garmin.com

It's about time that Garmin built a dedicated GPS for the 4x4 crowd. Looks like pricing is $700, pretty high price, but it does have some great features. I do like that you can sync it to a Garmin InReach and send out Text messages when you're traveling into remote places. The magnetic, charging mount is pretty awesome, too.

"Built for every part of the journey, Overlander is a rugged, all-terrain navigator that can easily switch from turn-by-turn directions for on-road navigation to topography maps for off-grid guidance in North and South America. Overlander features integrated pitch and roll angles as well as a compass, altimeter and barometer to help you and your vehicle navigate difficult terrain. A built-in rechargeable battery means you can even take it beyond your vehicle. Create a Garmin Explore account to plan and map out your next adventure. You can easily record and create routes by tapping the screen on your Overlander navigator. Use your account to wirelessly sync — via Wi-Fi connectivity — your tracks, routes and waypoints across all your devices. "

 

[Hickey]

I'm skeptical. I'm a big fan of Garmin and I've literally put a million miles on mine, but when I use it offroad it's got a lot of room for growth.

 

[DAA]

My old (very old) Garmin chart plotter was the best offroad nav I've ever used, by far. This thing looks awful spendy though... Not sure I could justify it vs. another tablet when my current tablet croaks. Maybe. I'd love to go back to Garmin cartography for offroad. Have gotten used to the CalTopo maps and such on the tablet, but they are a poor replacement, really.

- DAA

 

[DAA]

So just watched the video. No buttons. Just touch screen. That sucks. I hate touch screen for offroad. Pretty much have to stop to do much with it. My old chart plotter had buttons and I could do anything I wanted with it by braille, while bouncing along a rough two track or whatever. Really miss being able to do that.

I give no chits about most of the features this thing offers. Turn by turn - I give no chits. Campsites, blah-blah-blah, I give no chits. Pitch, roll, altimeter, blah-blah-blah, zero chits.

Dunno... I think I'm not even tempted, really, not for $700.

- DAA

 

[Greg]

I think it's target to.... a certain group, if you know who I mean.

 

[Hickey]

The altimeter is included with EVERY single Garmin. That's like Jeep listing airbags and ABS brakes as options.

 

[Hickey]

I think it's target to.... a certain group, if you know who I mean.

I'm sure it is, but they could at least make it useful to the rest of us.

 

[gijohn40]

when I bought my JK it came with the Nav radio... I asked the jeep guys at EJS why we can't upload topo maps to it. no answer... I think that Jeep should really work on getting a great nav radio that works with topo maps for off road, after all the best off road vehicle should have the best off road mapping to go along with it instead of just a on highway mapping program.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I’m pumped, it’s a neat unit and the inreach tracking will be game changing. I’ve had a bit of experience with the beta and planning, I think it will be well received for their intended target.

I get the touchscreen and bumpy roads, that said Baja racers have been converting and finding success and I’ve been using nearly exclusively touch screen GPS for the last 5-6 years.

 

[Hickey]

I’m pumped, it’s a neat unit and the inreach tracking will be game changing. I’ve had a bit of experience with the beta and planning, I think it will be well received for their intended target.

I get the touchscreen and bumpy roads, that said Baja racers have been converting and finding success and I’ve been using nearly exclusively touch screen GPS for the last 5-6 years.

The touchscreen thing is here to stay, like it or not. I don't mind it, but I can see how others hate it. Inreach seems like the only capability that my current Garmin unit (Dezl 760LM) doesn't have. I don't use Inreach, so I can't comment on it.

I am concerned about the magnet mount and rough roads. My unit is the older style mount and it works really well once I eliminated the suction cup mount that always sucked.

Can you upload gpx files to this new Garmin?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The altimeter is included with EVERY single Garmin. That's like Jeep listing airbags and ABS brakes as options.

While all GPS enabled devices can calculate a rough elevation (one could call altitude) using satellite triangulation, some Garmin devices such as the Overlander have actual barometric altitude sensors, so they calculate actual altitude independently of satellite accuracy. Not even all of their current lineup has this fwiw, so it is in fact an upgrade to some. Zero tablets or iPad based Nav units or even the HEMA standalone units have barometric sensors so I suspect some will find it as an advantage, myself included. While I don’t need super accurate elevation or altitude for anything I do, GPS only altitude can be 300-400 feet off.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The touchscreen thing is here to stay, like it or not. I don't mind it, but I can see how others hate it. Inreach seems like the only capability that my current Garmin unit (Dezl 760LM) doesn't have. I don't use Inreach, so I can't comment on it.

I am concerned about the magnet mount and rough roads. My unit is the older style mount and it works really well once I eliminated the suction cup mount that always sucked.

Can you upload gpx files to this new Garmin?

Anything you can do with say a Montana (including importing maps and using OpenStreetMaps for international travel) can be done on the Overlander. Integration with iOverlander is neat too. Less useful in the US but killer in Latin America.

 

[DAA]

Just me, and I'm a dinosaur, I know, but I give zero chits about anything having anything to do with any sat tracking devices either.

Altimeter, just give me an accurate location and I know my altitude by looking at the damn map - if the map is any good. I'm not going to be doing any orienteering with a vehicle offroad nav system. Neat to have a real altimeter, I guess, but of zero actual use for vehicle nave to anyone I have ever been around and I give zero chits .

- DAA

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The device to device communication and tracking via the Garmin inReach system is near identical in function to APRS, other than it works in far more places fwiw. APRS is reliant on repeaters, inReach reliant on satellite (which of course means there is a cost). Their function similar as far as the utility I want out of it. You mentioned how handy it was for mesha to find you based on APRS, same idea... but now he could find you in Baja Mexico, Canada, Alaska or places in Utah where APRS doesn’t work or lacks accuracy.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Oh, and I’m pumped for offline satellite imagery. I don’t know how much space it will take or what download speeds are like when on WiFi but I don’t get good resolution satellite imagery out of my current devices and I’m hoping this one will.

 

[DAA]

APRS, for me, was a way to pacify my Wife while avoiding having to go with some sort of sat tracking. APRS is neat, my Wife loves it, I have fun messing with it, but I in no way ever thought that it in any way worked like sat tracking. That's exactly why I have APRS - close enough to sat nanny for the wife, far enough away from sat nanny for me .

- DAA

 

[Hickey]

Kurt, I have no doubt that you and the teams you overland with will really like this unit. It does seem tailored to your adventures. I just think it missed the mark, or maybe overshot it with unnecessary gadgets that I don't want or need.

I do think they dropped the ball with the overland community in two missed opportunities with this device. Gopro connectivity and control, and drone connectivity.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

APRS, for me, was a way to pacify my Wife while avoiding having to go with some sort of sat tracking. APRS is neat, my Wife loves it, I have fun messing with it, but I in no way ever thought that it in any way worked like sat tracking. That's exactly why I have APRS - close enough to sat nanny for the wife, far enough away from sat nanny for me .

- DAA

The upside of APRS is that using it is 100% free. The downside is all of your uploaded data (position, speed and all messages) are also 100% free for anyone in the world to read or collect. So anyone in the can see your real-time tracking or messages without any option to encrypt short of actual encrypted messages, APRS.fi for example collects that data and makes it available for quite sometime. The upside of satellite messaging/tracking is that it is secure, you choose who can see it, all others cannot. Different strokes. Garmin sells the crap out of the InReach line and spent $$$$ buying the technology because they saw the interest, more and more users are walking away from full stand alone GPS units and using their phones or tablets with a Bluetooth connection to their InReach. This just brings everything under one roof.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Kurt, I have no doubt that you and the teams you overland with will really like this unit. It does seem tailored to your adventures. I just think it missed the mark, or maybe overshot it with unnecessary gadgets that I don't want or need.

I do think they dropped the ball with the overland community in two missed opportunities with this device. Gopro connectivity and control, and drone connectivity.

Lol.

Believe it or not, we’re not the only ones leaving the US these days. Try it sometime, you might want a GoPro and drone too

I guess I’m not seeing the “missed mark”, it’s just $100 more expensive than the top shelf Garmin Montana yet does so much more. If you don’t need it, guess what... they still sell the other 10+ units they always have and continue to update the Montana, Etrex, Rino, InReach, etc. Why “undershoot” to make it cover the same clientele that is satisfied with the current offerings? That would be a death sentence given the trend away from stand alone GPS units.

I’m currently running HEMA Explorer (off-road mapping), iOverlander (locations), GoogleMaps (routing), Earthmate (sat data/text/weather) and Google Earth often with cached satellite all on a dedicated iPad. The Garmin Overlander is in fact less money than my current setup and had more functionality, far better GPS accuracy, more robust to heat/cold (iPad crashed apps when left in the sun on a dash mount for example). They will sell... without GoPro or drone integration.

 

[DAA]

I'd take it over my current tablet setup. In a heartbeat. For even twice the cost as my current tablet setup. But, it's three times the cost.

For my purposes, the screen size and resolution are all it offers over Garmin's existing low end line up (up to the Montana line). None of that existing low end line up appeals to me at all for vehicle use - which is why I'm using a tablet. Garmin's chart plotters do appeal to me, very much, but they start at a thousand dollars. And they have abandoned buttons even on them too - a couple years ago their stuff for boats and airplanes did still have buttons. But, touch is actually cheaper to make these days, so, can't stop progress...

Like you say Kurt, different strokes, and to each his own. I've no doubt some of these features actually do have some use for some people - like you - and they will buy it. Even more people who only think they will use those features but never actually will, will buy it. But I don't get out that far like you do . I just explore relatively close to home. If I ever don't want people able to track my APRS, in the words of Mike Tyson, I'll just change the station. And actually, I often do .

I'm just clearly NOT the target market for this. None of the bells and whistles have any practical application for me. I simply wouldn't ever use them. As someone who actually does use nav off road quite a bit, and a Garmin fan, it's disappointing. But, oh well. Garmin isn't the only one that doesn't get it. Nobody else has yet either. It's just, Garmin does have by far the best cartography. And a GOOD dedicated GPS kicks the crap out of a tablet. I really would much prefer this new unit over using a tablet, simply for the cartography and adequate screen, but, at seven bills, I can't say I'm enthusiastic or have any plans for it.

But, again, I do think it would be quite superior to my current tablet solution. So, when the tablet croaks, which it will, we'll see. But if they had left out all the stuff I'll never have any possible use for and put it out there at $500, it would be a pretty easy choice. At $700, with that extra two bills going for stuff I'll never, ever, have any use for, at all, ehh... We'll see, it does have a nice form factor and a right-size screen with acceptable resolution (albeit a significant downgrade in that category compared to the tablet - about the only area the tablet is better) .

- DAA