WHAT IS OUR OVERALL OPINION OF THE G-V?
The G-V is by far the least expensive AUTOMATIC address to address GPS receiver available. It is the only truly “handheld” unit available. Other solutions such as the SP-III, and various handheld palm computer products (Magellan Companion and Raco Destinator for example) offer larger (and optionally color) screens at overall higher prices. Compared with any of the other available equipment, the G-V is a general purpose unit equally at home hiking or on the highway. The “ON ROAD” option provides good highway and road guidance with specialized screens. The “OFF ROAD” mode provides the standard Garmin circular compass display that we like for hiking use and other G-V features make the unit quite suitable for hiking activities as well as on the highway use. We found the battery life quite satisfactory, but not quite as long (on a per AA cell basis) as other less capable units. We suspect that the automatic routing capabilities take a bit more computer power than units without this feature
