I bought my first GPS about a 9 months ago. The two major brands are
Garmin and Magellan. However, after a lot of research, I purchased a
Lowrance iFinder H20. It can be found for about $150.00 and ex Gramin
and Magellan users that I talked too, swear by Lowrance. It's quick to
find it's position, works well under heavy tree and cloud cover, has
god battery life (10 to 12 hours on 2 AA batts), reasonably good built
in maps with exceptional maps and charts available as an additional
purchase. The buttons are a little confusing at first but can be
learned without too much trouble.

The thing I most don't like about it (Lowrance claimes it's a benefit)
is the way you load maps from the mapping software. The memory chip
must be removed from under the batteries and placed in a USB card
reader. Lowrance claims that if it was done through a serial cable it
would take way too long due to the huge amout of detail.

The H20model claims to be waterproof, but the most I have tested it is
to use it in the rain. It got wet and kept on working.