Garmin Overlander, Rugged Multipurpose Navigator for Off-Grid Guidance

I purchased this device to prior to departing on a cross country road trip that would include significant off road driving in public lands and long periods without cell service. While there is much discussion in online forums regarding the value of the overlander vs several subscription map apps for mobile devices, for my use I found the overlander had several advantages. 1. As I knew I would be without cell service (or wifi for that matter) for extended periods of time, having to download maps in advance posed a problem. Any mistake in pre-loading maps, or loss of data would have left me in a difficult position. With the overlander I knew I had the coverage required in advance with less risk. Having a dedicated device for navigation let me save battery life and use of other devices for other purposes. 2. In my experience purpose built gps devices tend to have better receivers than mobile devices, particularly when cellular or wifi augmentation is not available. I had some issues with the speaker on the initial device I received along with some stability problems. I contacted Garmin support late one night by email and noted that I was leaving for a long trip in less than a week and needed the device for that purpose. By early the next morning I received a reply that due to the issue I described an my impending trip Garmin would overnight me a new unit and sent a label to return the first. The same support employee maintained contact with me through the process, ensured an imagery subscription purchased for the first unit was transferred to the replacement. While it was a bit disconcerting that I had issues with the first unit, the responsiveness and thoroughness of the customer service was excellent, truly. Beyond the expected quality of the normal on road nav features, the real selling point of the Overlander is the capability to route and navigate overland using topo maps. After driving several hundred miles through BLM and Forest service lands I confirm these features work well and were helpful planning and changing my itinerary on the go in response to conditions. Overall I find the integration of quality maps, hardware and user interface combine to make the device a useful tool for those who will take advantage of the unique features. If your use case does not include significant off highway travel I would not expect the value to be the same compared to more typical gps or mobile apps.

Awesome unit. Wish there was more base options ! And price point was a little lower.

En un recorrido le cayó agua y empezó a fallar !! Luego observé a los pocos días que las conexiones de corriente que están atrás de la tableta presentaban óxido! Solicite la devolución y sin problemas me reintegraron el dinero.

I had been using the Montana prior to this. The magnet holds the GPS in place very well. Maps are up to date. Easy to make tracks on the computer which then automatically transfer to the unit (as long as there is wifi). Camping locations abound - Every type. Screen is very clear and easy to navigate. We use it in our Jeep with a teardrop trailer. We can use the "on-road" map when on main roads and switch to the "offload" version with the touch of a button.

Awesome device, I keep it in my Ford Ranger all the time as it's a much better unit than the stock Ford Sync 3 which is terrible. It's worth the Look-ahead features alone on long trips and the elevation feature. Another key feature is tapping on the off-road map and seeing who's property you're on or about to go on. The historical POI feature is also very cool, not only providing distance and directions but also nice details about the historical site. I took the unit off road on trails near Arches National Park and both Ford Sync and my iPhone GPS's crapped out but the Overlander did not on remote trails. This device provides great situational awareness as to what's around you (private property, trials, historical sites, camping...). It does have one big problem and that's the suction cup magnetic friction mount. It doesn't have enough friction so even small bumps cause it to tilt down to the point it is very annoying. My unit is over a year old, not sure if Garmin fixed this or if there's an after-market product that fixes this.