You can buy a much more expensive GPS receiver than the Garmin GPS 72, but it's unlikely to deliver any greater accuracy. This durable, compact handheld comes in a waterproof case that floats, making it ideal for land or water navigation.

Like any good modern GPS receiver, the GPS 72 is capable of processing Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) data. Its regular GPS position reading is accurate to within 15 meters. But with WAAS, the error is no more than 3 meters. The receiver is also Differential GPS (DGPS) ready, so if you have a DGPS radio beacon receiver, the positional accuracy is rated to be within 5 meters.

Since the Garmin GPS 72 is a go-anywhere receiver, the 4-level grayscale screen is made to be viewed under any condition. The high-contrast LCD is naturally easy to read in bright light. And since it's also backlit, readings in the dark are problem free. Even the keypad has backlighting, so you won't have to fumble over the keys.

The GPS 72 comes with a marine database that includes navigation aids and major cities. Its 1 MB of memory lets you replace this with a different selection of navaids, cities or points of interest from Garmin's MapSource products. And you have your choice of coordinate systems for the map data. With its loran TD conversion capability, boaters with previous loran fixes can have them changed to GPS readings. Or current GPS coordinates can simulate loran readings.

Up to 500 waypoints can be identified by name and symbol with the GPS 72. And even if you're not following a pre-determined route, the automatic track log records your path. So no matter how you reached your destination, you can retrace the route you took any time later. The receiver has capacity to save up to 10 of these tracks.

While on the way to your destination, the Garmin GPS 72 has a trip computer to give you progress updates. This includes your current speed, distance traveled and how long it's taken. Alerts can be set to sound an alarm if you're off course, near a certain waypoint, or at a specific time. And for mariners, there's an anchor drag alert if you're drifting at your mooring. Built-in information pages supply the best hunting and fishing times, tide tables, and the sun and moon rise and set times for any date and location.