I did a search and only found replies from years ago. Since technology changes so fast I'm sure there must be a new one.
I'm looking for a small GPS unit that can be used worldwide (even if that means paying to download areas). I have never had a GPS so I'm not sure what other things to look for in one.
Long battery life, car charging, handheld (about in size), Walking map would be great but a deal breaker.

there are a lot of them, but all they report is latitude and longitude. maybe speed and altitude estimate.

Does any of the Garmin have an option to upload bought maps?

Even with my old, old garmin nuvi 350 I could buy additional maps. Also, many of the nuvis have pedestrian / transit navigation options. The least expensive with that feature is the nuvi 1200 (list $139)

Globe trotter: As I mentioned in the 'GPS for Europe' thread:

Another option might be one of the new Nokia smart phones that comes loaded with free maps - for driving as well as walking - and free upgrades for life. You simply download the maps for your region of interest and go. I have it on my Nokia E71 (with maps of the Americas and Europe loaded) and its voice turn by turn navigation works without any internet or cell phone connection (no 3g, GSM, WiFi, etc.) - all that is required is that its internal GPS to see a satellite.

Regards, Bill

What about a smartphone with links to Google maps? I have an old iPhone 3GS that I can use anywhere there is phone service with a local SIM.

Family members have 3 of these - http://tinyurl.com/369pana

The vendor will put as many maps on as you want, provided that you pay a little extra for the larger flash card required.

However, the authenticity of the software and cartography is open to question. The units themselves are very well made, and are very convenient for travel.

There are navigation options for both walking and driving. Battery life is about 30 minutes when disconnected, but it charges from a standard mini-USB socket, so you can recharge from your PC even when away from a 12/120/240V outlet. It has a sleep mode, and will quickly (much less than a minute) reacquire position when resuming from sleep, which is very useful when conserving battery life - for example when exploring a city on foot.

Try this site to start and go from there. Another site is gpspassion. There are lots of resources out there but hopefully after these primer, you can decide what you really want in your device.

Pardon me for asking but are you worried about the battery issues? I've been toying with getting these units to play with but have been concerned about battery instability issues (heard fatal cases of exploding battery units).

If you hold iPhone, you can use offline maps such as OffMaps. You can pre-download city maps and use it with conjunction with your phone GPS.

Take a look at Nokia Phones with GPS. These come with offline maps access, i.e. you can preload the maps of *any* country and use it there, without incurring any data costs.

Phones can be from $200+, and the map service is free.

I've used it on my trips to Canada and India, and it works great.

Bonus point: You get a quad band unlocked cell phone!

i got a small handheld from these guys a few years ago....since then i've bought & downloaded maps for the US, europe, middle east & asia on the device....works like a charm....

ps: i bought the maps here....

mp2 - This also worked very well for me on my Nokia E71 quad band unlocked phone. I used it recently on a trip from the US to Europe and Asia.

The maps are free 'forever' as well as the updates for turn by turn voice driving directions in your choice of language. Also, they have many city walking maps. All of this without any cell phone contract or data plan!

I was able to make VOIP calls all over the world using the preloaded SIP pack and Gizmo/Google Voice. It worked beautifully over WiFi. This phone has enabled me to travel light as I no longer take along separates - GPS, laptop - the E71 does it all (including surf the net, emails, Quick Office documents, etc.) for me.

Regards, Bill