I use a Garmin Legend, just the plain one. It's not color, and doesn't have alot of bells and whisles, but have a few features I like. Magellan also has a few cheaper ones, but I'm not familiar with them. One thing I like about my Garmin is the ability to figure the size of a lot or field. Helps when I need to know how much grass seed, fertilizer, etc. to buy. It can also work in the car. I just put it up in the windshield, and can see how far and e.t.a. to my destination, speed, average speed, etc. And it works well with a laptop or handheld device with programs like MicroSoft Streets and trips. It also has a Tracks option, where you use it on your way to somewhere, then just follow your track back the same way you came. Just for hiking, you could probably get by with a 4 or 5 year old unit off eBay for less than $40. My brother did that to make sure he would actually like it, then bought a new one a year later. They're also great for something called geocaching (sounds like ...cashing) where people hide things and write down the long/lat and post it on the net with a description of what they hid and you go out and find it, sign the register, then go online and tell that you found it. Makes really good practice for honing your GPS skills. Check out Geocaching.
