I’m on the market for a GPS logger where two points are crucials :
it needs to have a high autonomy as I’ll cycle in remote areas where electricity sockets won’t be available for days. Alternatively it could use standard AA/AAA rechargeable batteries.
it needs to be fully linux compatible (configuration and points retrieval). I don’t mind command lines, text file hacking and unix voodoo as long as it works reliably.
I’ll transfert the data to a Linux based netbook : USB, memory cards and bluetooth are alright, but no serial port.
The sample rate is not an issue : 4 points an hour is fine if it can save batteries.
I don’t need a screen, fancy functions or anything : just a dumb point logger with long lasting batteries.
I would rather a ready to use device, but I won’t mind a bit of soldering if I need to. However I won’t be able to print my own boards from schematics.
The Garmin eTrex series are probably the closest to the requirements. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Garmin#eTrex_series . Many of these devices can get 15 hours on a standard (non-rechargeable) set of AA batteries.
I would recommend a iBlue 747A+.
It’s small, simple and very configurable (I use bt747 with Ubuntu without problems). You can set either time, distance or velocity for recording and it saves more than 100.000 points. It uses USB and a standard Li-ion battery (also used by some cell phones etc.). Battery life should be 32 hours but if you need more you could buy a second one.
I bought mine about 2 months ago from ebay for about 35 Euro (shipping from Great Britain to Austria included) and I’m very happy with it. The only drawback is that it has no display or LED for battery life and you have to guess when it is time for recharging/changing the battery. You should also look for an usb power adapter if you need it (for recharging independet of netbook) because mine was just delivered with an car adapter.