Cobra GPS 100

Even though Cobra had to replace two GPS 100s under warranty, I still rate this unit with four stars. It takes a little time to understand some nuances about it, but once you do, it's quite an instrument.

Positives: Palm-sized; quality feel;, ease of use; secure satellite acquisition, even under trees or mounted in a car; altimeter; precision measurements.

Negatives: Battery life OK but not great; occasional waypoint navigational anomalies; back-light drains power rapidly; battery cover doesn't seal against water leaks; only allows one route to be saved at a time.

People have complained about the loss of satellite acquisition. If you set Battery Saver to OFF, the unit seeks a signal every second. With it ON, it does so every two minutes. Set it to OFF, and you'll love the results. With the 12-volt adapter or healthy batteries, the GPS 100 is amazingly reliable, able to lock onto a least four satellites, giving you an altimeter reading. One thing I highly recommend doing is downloading the manual from Cobra. You'll learn a lot.

All in all, this is fantastic GPS unit, and Cobra customer support is terrific. You certainly can't beat the price.

Very good and accurate at low-speed traveling. At high-speed (over 100km/h) the receiver gets jammed sometimes. For all weather use outside, you could even mount it on a motorcycle when it is raining like hell and it won't get wet inside. For screen-protection I just put a thin plastic strap on the screen. This helps against scratches!

Totally no use in forests and sometimes in open ground. Very long aquisition time and gave incorrect locations. Not to be trusted.

Locks up constantly, long aquisition time, must be in the clear to aquire.