You know, I still do not have a personal gps unit. I have one for my job. But personally, I do not have one. I still do stuff the old fashion way, with a compass and map. I have been thinking about that investment though. As I have made a few road trips with my "wife to be" and there have been a few small "differences" between us.
When she prints up directions, she prints up just directions. Well, I like maps. If we get lost (and it has happened), it does me no good to know that we should have turned right on Smith Rd. and I have no idea as to where Smith Rd. is in relation to where we are now. At least with a map you can see possibly where you are. But that is a topic for another thread.
I still think an old fashion compass does well as long as you know the direction you came in at. As gsp units run on batteries and those can fail, gps units can fall into water (not good if it is not sealed), not work well under vegetative cover (they are much better than they used to be. I once had a gps unit give me trouble under a few bushes in a 20 acre clearcut), or they can simply just break down.
While these events RARELY happen, it is nice to have even the most basic of a compass (as long as you know which direction you came in at).
I guess a good piece for another thread would be ratings for a GPS unit. I have an article in one of my forestry magazines that rated handheld GPS units. I will see if I can find it again and summarize the article, if it would be helpful.