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What do I think of refurbished GPS? I was asked this recently by someone who was uncertain. Does this mean they are used or faulty? No, my friend, it does not. Whenever a package is opened and returned to the manufacturer for any reason, say the customer ordered the wrong thing, there was a loose wire from the factory or possibly even a slight imperfection in the case, the manufacturer goes over it with a fine-toothed comb and fixes anything which may not be working correctly, but it can no longer be sold as “new”.
As one gentleman put it “the fish don’t care if I find them with last season’s GPS” – OK, he was talking maps, but I feel the same thing applies here. With the same warranty and a much lower price, it makes perfect sense to me that if I can find the unit I am looking for at a greatly discounted price, why not buy it? I can get the GPS receiver I want, and I can use the extra money for something else – the GPS mounts so I can move it from car to car (or cabin to flybridge) perhaps, or I can check out the cases or GPS antennas I wanted but could possibly not otherwise have purchased? Anyway, don’t be afraid of a refurbished or factory remanufactured GPS unit. Don’t think of them as just cheap GPS devices. They are a great value and worth a second look.
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Have you broken your GPS antennas on your navigation systems, or is it just not strong enough? Having trouble keeping track of your GPS receiver? Need a second mount so that you can move your automotive GPS units from one vehicle to another, or need to replace the holder that you used to use? Need to recharge your batteries, but still love your GPS device? It is time to consider replacing those lost or broken parts and save the hassles of replacing your trusted GPS receiver that has become like an old friend, one of your all-time favorite traveling companions.
There are lots of options. Perhaps you need a case, a holster or lanyard to protect your handheld GPS units, but help you remain primarily hands free on your adventure. Or you might just want to spruce it up and individualize it. With the right GPS accessories you can fix it up, protect it or update it without a great deal of trouble, and probably save yourself some serious cash while you are at it by breathing some new life into an old friend.
With most new GPS devices it has become less important to have an external antenna jack since the most newer chips are sensitive enough to acquire an adequate signal inside a vehicle or boat. However, it is not always possible to obtain good satellite coverage through a front windshield as sometimes the GPS receiver cannot or will not be placed near enough to a window. This is when an external GPS antenna can help. Even backpackers will benefit from the ability to safely store the receiver inside a pack with an antenna attached to your backpack shoulder straps. It can also help outdoor use in places in like heavy tree cover, mountains or in canyons where signals are weak. Also, tall buildings in cities can create “urban canyons”, or in any place that the receiver doesn’t have a good view of the sky you will want to minimize temporary loss of signal when you are in motion to maintain the best possible accuracy by having a lock on the greatest number of satellites.
In helping our new friend search for the best GPS chartplotter navigation for his enclosed wooden boat, we have discovered that the manufacturer’s descriptions do not always educate you on whether your unit will work in an enclosed area or not. We are finding that it is important to do more research and be sure that the unit can handle an external antenna before purchasing it. There are often situations where you do not want to navigate your boat from the fly bridge and would appreciate the comfort of navigating from within an enclosed cabin, so be sure your unit has that capability before purchasing the wrong GPS navigation system/chartplotter for you. It would be convenient if the manufacturers would include that in their descriptions, but that is not always the case.
Several GPS chartplotters have the capability of being used with or without an external antenna and should be reviewed with this in mind. Be sure to look for more than an internal antenna. An internal antenna is convenient as it is more compact and does not need to be set up separately; and although it will work quite well on many boats, it will not serve in all situations. Another thing to consider is purchasing a 2nd mounting station in order to easily switch back and forth between navigating either from the cabin or the fly bridge. Happy boating!