One thing people should understand about the GPS hand-held versus GPS-
with-laptop differences has to do with the way you can see the
screen. The GPS screen is small but nearly always visible, Garmins
(and maybe others, don't know) have a night mode.

PC screens are seldom visible in daylight, in my experience, as the
least bit of sun washes them out.

You'll need your glasses for the small GPS, but you'll often need a
tunnel for a laptop screen.

Jim