HEMA HN7 and geocaching and Macs

[+MMH&M]

Hello,

 

This is a first time post from us, and ridiculously specific.

 

We are considering buying a car based GPS called HEMA HN7, mostly because it comes with very detailed off road maps for use with our 4WD in Australia. We use a Mac powerbook at home and have noted that HEMA do not support mac for their map updates. We are wondering if anyone has used one of these devices 1) for geocaching, and if so how was it, and 2) whether anyone has tried transfering the gpx files to the device as a mass storage/hard drive with a mac?

[+SageTracey]

Forgive me if this is an ignorant question, but if the GPS is car-based, how can you use it when you have to leave the car to search for caches? Or am I misunderstanding what you mean by "car based GPS"?

[+MMH&M]

It's got a 7 inch screen and is mainly designed for use in a car, but has a battery and could be carried by hand. We're currently using our iphone, but after caching with someone with a dedicated GPS realised it might be more accurate than the phone. We are needing a high quality GPS with high detail remote maps for off road driving and are hoping to be able to use it for geocaching as well.

[+SageTracey]

Thanks for the explanation. Good luck with it.

[+Mineral2]

I don't know anything about HEMA devices, but as the GPX file format has become standard in the GPS world, I should hope that it can at least read GPX files and convert the waypoints to its own format, if not leave them as GPX files. You really want to find out if it supports paperless caching. If not, you might want to consider both a hand-held and an automotive device to be used for separate purposes.

 

Then you have to ask yourself: How likely is it that you'll be traveling outside of Australia and can you acquire maps for the places you are going?

 

I don't want to completely dissuade you from purchasing a HEMA navigation device. They look nice according to their website. But Garmin is a very mac-friendly company. There's also a huge community of Garmin users who can readily provide support for any model you choose. Many Garmin users have successfully used Nuvi devices for geocaching. Garmin has maps available for just about anywhere in the world you're planning to travel to, and if you can't find a suitable map to buy, there are also free maps that people have made for garmin GPSs - routable and non-routable, with and without topography. Hell, the entire Open Street Map database is available to install (in regional chunks, of course).

 

Point is, even though HEMA sells itself as a device for 4x4 off-roading, you can successfully use other brands to accomplish the same goal if the HEMA system looks like it will be difficult to manage with your current hardware and intended usage.

 

If you can afford it, I do recommend a separate GPS for the car and for use out of the vehicle.