Hi Guys, Newbie here. Heading out for couple years travel early next year, much to take in. I'm at a loss for a good GPS System for remote regions showing bush tracks etc. Reviews on VMS700HDX, Hema HXII etc all seem to be negative. I will have Starlink any assistance would be appreciated.
Dave & Coral
-- Edited by Carmo on Sunday 30th of November 2025 03:07:01 PM
Don't think in terms of buying a proprietary "package". Get the hardware, software and maps separately. You will get a MUCH better result at a MUCH lower cost. I have used HEMA products for many years. I like their maps, but their hardware (and software) has usually let them down. A few years ago I changed to using a 10" tablet (with GPS) from Aldi ($120?). OziExplorer Android ($35, locked to a devise) https://www.oziexplorer4.com/android/oziexplorer_android.html and maps (including HEMA) that I had collected over 20+ years. The OziExplorer Android is brilliant. I bought a second tablet and software for the "Navigator". She likes to follow our progress on different maps from me.
You can buy maps (including HEMA) from OziExplorer and other places and there are many others available free for download. I like to have a good selection of Topographical maps that give more detail than the HEMA maps. Using OziExplorer Android you can save your tracks on your laptop forever. Best if you also have a full copy of OziExplorer ($130?) on your laptop. Great for planning , copying maps and tracks and it can be moved to a new device. I have had mine for over 20 years. All OziExplorer software comes with lifetime free updates. It is arguably the best mapping software in the world.
The tablet can be any size and can be landscape or portrait.
Tracks can be saved and displayed on your laptop as a record of the trips.
Recorded track (in red, you can choose the colour) from our trip down the Canning earlier this year.
Any questions?
Cheers,
Peter
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Sunday 30th of November 2025 03:06:27 PM
Spend some time wandering around the OziExplorer web site. If you enjoy mucking about with maps, you can do almost anything with the OziExplorer software, even scan a hand drawn map on a piece of paper and put it into the GPS, join lots of small scanned map sheets together into a single big map, turn any map into 3D views to see the hills and valleys,...... all sorts of interesting stuff.
EDIT. How the OziExplorer Android map screen looks and what it shows is completely up to the individual if you like something different. And it is very easy to get up and running.
Cheers, Peter
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Sunday 30th of November 2025 05:01:33 PM
