I bought my Garmin III late in the product cycle, and was able to get it a $293+ tax at a Walmart in the Houston area.

I decided that the Garmin III has exactly the features that I needed, and that there was no need to wait for the Garmin V. I was right!

When unpacking the unit I was surprised how small it was. Yet the large display had good resolution and readability.

I mounted the Garmin on my BMW GS motorcycle, and was instantly pleased with how the internal batteries worked with external power. When the external power is disconnected, the unit politely asks if you want to keep using it on internal batteries, or if it should turn itself off. (You have 30 seconds.) Small but pleasant detail!

I have used a number of GPS's of the "old fashioned kind" the kind that tell you where you are, (and optionally where you should be) in longitudes/latitudes.

I knew that the Garmin packed a built in map, but I had no idea how detailed it was. Maybe I'm getting old, but being able to cruise around and seeing what backroad I'm on simply ROCKS!

Favorite features:

- Large number of available "screens" letting you customize the fields to get exactly the information you want.
- Better roadmaps than I would have expected for such a tiny device.
- It'll tell you where you can find a truckstop, hotel, public restroom or similar along the road.
- Excellent adjustable backlight.
- Automatic logging (customizable) of your path.
- PC interface, let you store and examine your path when you get home.
- The receiver seems quite capable, and resolution rarely drops below 200m.
- Display will switch between vertical and horizontal mount. Great when switching between handheld and vehicular use.

On my way up through Pensylvania I got into a nasty little piece of rain storm. (It always rain in Pensylvania, at least every time I'm there...) The waterproof seal on the GPS is alright. Trust me.

On the whish list:
- The Garmin has a sort of "3-D" mode, which will let you see your route as a line in front of you, with upcoming waypoints represented as road signs. When viewing the waypoints (route) in this mode, it would have been great to actually be able to see a line representing the road as well, since the line between the waypoints rarely corresponds (exactly) to the physical road. It would also be nice to see signs with upcoming exits, truckstops and similar, after all, all the information is already available on the map if you switch to map mode.

- Also, even with the vast amount of customization available with the Garmin, a bit more would have been even better.

That said, I think the Garmin III+ is a great piece of equipment, and it is particularly well suited for mounting on a motorcycle.

Recommended: Yes