Using GPS Units from USA abroad?

Question

I am living in South Korea right now and am an avid trail runner and road cyclist. Not a lot of maps here for me to use. Well at least I haven't found really good ones like National Geographic TOPO. So I was thinking of buying a GPS from home and having it sent over here. However, I don't know if it will work? I am unsure about mapping software for maps of places outside of the U.S. Can I buy a GPS from the states and use it in South Korea? If so, where could I find mapping software that would work with that unit? Also, woudl anyone know about purchasing a GPS in Korea for my purposes?

Thanks,

M

Answer 1

You can use a handheld GPS anywhere in the world, if you have difficulty getting a fix, try autolocate function or enter your lat/long.
Garmin, for me, is the easiest to use, and you could maybe even get one with charts in it for 300usd and they could supply the e-chart for Korea, I'm sure.

Answer 2

Garmin has the most extensive selection of maps avaliable and third party maps are created most often for garmin since it's the most respected gps manufacturer in the business. You had said you are a trail runner and road cyclist, so you don't really need a topo maps or turn by turn guidance for those activities. I would look into buying a garmin forerunner or possibly a foretrex. These are wristwatches made by garmin that can interface with heartrate, cyclometers, or even a pedometer (if you want to keep track of distance where the satilites are blocked). I would say buying one in the USA and importing it would be the way to go because I would expect it to be very difficult to buy it in South Korea.

Answer 3

Try the links in http://www.hot8sites.com/gps/

Answer 4

try the website www.garmin.com , they have a variety of gps and what they do-- also try www.thegpsstore.com
Doug