Pacific NW

- To view the hint for a cache, you must be actively navigating to it (press the "Go" button on the screen when viewing the cache). - The pre-loaded geocaches that came installed on the unit are part of the "GGZ" files, a Garmin proprietary file format. They don't contain every cache out there, and they aren't the most up to date, as they were loaded prior to the GPS unit being sold. When viewing the "GGZ" folder on your computer, if you want to get rid of these pre-loaeded caches, delete the files in the GGZ folder (but *not* the folder itself). Note: Before doing this, I highly suggest *backing up* the entire GPS drive/files to your computer.

This is probably our biggest complaint with earthcaches; they can be chock full of pictures, formatting, links, etc. It would be nice if Groundspeak would standardize cache listing descriptions and make them more friendly for dedicated GPS use and GPX files.

Quoted for truth. Bolded for I all but refuse to look for caches in people's yards, apartment complexes, townhouses, etc. for that very reason.

Just did the upgrade to the 2.70 firmware here on my eTrex Touch 25 this morning. Will keep my eyes open for any of those glitches. One thing I've noticed recently -- having installed a couple of new Energizer Lithium batteries, and selecting the "Lithium" battery choice in the setup menus, it seems as though the four-segment battery gauge has dropped to 1-2 bars very quickly. Not sure if that means it's a software issue re: not showing accurate levels (wish they would show voltage!), or if the batteries have truly discharged quite a bit over a short period of time. This was with minimal use over the last couple of weeks.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, WAAS doesn't seem to offer much benefit. On the other hand, enabling GLONASS has brought EPE "accuracy" down to 9 ft. indoors. Pretty impressive in the northern latitudes. Link to a real-time FAA map showing GPS satellite locations: http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/RT_WaasSatelliteStatus.htm Also, here's a real-time map that shows GPS satellites, and you can show/hide the various types: https://in-the-sky.org/satmap.php

Posted some pictures on my blog site... http://cascadiarecon.com/2015/09/04/first-impressions-garmin-etrex-touch-25-gps/ Attaching them to this post as well just in case folks want to see what the new unit looks like: (Note: Unit doesn't come with the belt clip, and applied an aftermarket Zagg Invisible Shield to the screen.)

Thanks for the PM and glad you are enjoying the new GPS! I think Garmin might have a big seller on their hands with this lineup.

FYI - there is now a firmware update of 2.60 available from Garmin for the eTrex Touch 25/35 lineup. ** Ongoing first impressions of the eTrex 25: Overall, there are still a few kinks and hiccups, as mentioned in the longer post above. Based on multiple replies from Garmin, they stated that the bottom pop-up menu is supposed to keep activating every 5 seconds or so, until you press "start" and begin recording the activity/track log. IMHO, I still think this is a bug, not a feature, and there needs to be a way to keep this pop-up menu minimized when not actively recording a log. Speaking of logs, I recorded several, with some set to the "normal" recording interval, and others set to the "maximum" interval. The tracks look pretty good when overlaid on a map. Similarly, when kept in a static location, the track log performs well, with only a couple of stray data points. Compared to something like the GPSMAP 64 series, I think the 64 still has the upper hand on reception and track accuracy. Battery life is still good running Eneloops and setting battery type to "NiMH" (instead of "Pre-charged NiMH) in the setup menu. The processor seems speedy, and there isn't much of a wait to scroll the map, view lists of around 2,000 caches, or search for map items by name. I do notice that when scrolling & zooming the map for an extended period of time, that sometimes the screen will become less responsive or glitchy (always wants to put a pushpin waypoint marker where you touch, instead of just scrolling/zooming). But a quick return to the main menu seems to cure that problem. Probably another small bug that needs to be worked out.

The best thing to do is find an outdoors store in your area that carries a bunch of GPS units. Then you can try out each one, see if you prefer buttons or a touch-screen, etc.

Open Street Map does have routing capabilities. And your GPSMAP 64st should work with it -- mine did, at least. Not sure what the "Open Chest Street Map" you mentioned is, but Open Street Map is what you want: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl Be sure to pick the "routable" map for your area and download it. Then you can use Garmin's free "Map Install" and "Map Manager" software to first install the map set on your computer, then install it to your GPS.

^^ Agreed, they should have just continued it as the Dakota lineup. ^^

More than welcome! Hopefully folks can use it to make an informed decision. There doesn't seem to be much out there at the moment, as these units are so new to the market. And honestly, I can't think of a single Garmin product I've used over the years that hasn't had a firmware update (or many) during its lifespan. But, some are admittedly more glitchy than others. Unless some major issue crops up, I think the eTrex Touch series will be really popular. It feels like a cross between an Oregon and a GPSMAP 62/64, but crammed into a smaller body with a touchscreen. Basically... exactly what I was waiting for Garmin to release.

Well, I stopped by REI recently and lo and behold, some of them are just now getting the Touch series. They had several of the eTrex Touch 25 models in-store, so I decided to jump in with both feet and try one out. Here are some very quick first impressions... Specs & Likes: * Screen is the same dimensions as the GPSMAP 62/64. It is a 65K TFT at 160 x 240 pixels. * Screen visibility is very good -- if you're used to the GPSMAP 62/64 series, this looks the same. Should be no problem viewing this in the shade. * Satellite reception is excellent -- have even seen down to 9-12 ft. "accuracy" indoors (near window). Further indoors and I've seen anywhere from 16-32 feet roughly. * Map scrolling seems very quick, no issues there. There is a "normal" and "fast" menu setting, too. * Filtering & scrolling through a couple of thousand geocaches (installed from pocket query GPX files) seems to be just fine so far. * Unit size is just a little bigger in width than the previous eTrex 10/20/30 line. Probably to accommodate the touch screen. * Nice to have a 3-axis electronic compass in all models, including the base model Touch 25. * Similarly, it's great to have an SD card slot in the Touch 25. * Had multiple previous third-party maps loaded to an SD card and the unit recognized & loaded them with no problems. You are still able to turn on/off each map set individually through the menus, as you have been able to do with more recent Garmin GPS units. * Supports road routing / turn-by-turn directions. You can also switch to direct routing (best for caching) and others through the menus. * Battery life appears to be pretty respectable. Using partially-depleted Eneloop NiMH cells, I still managed to get 8 hrs. of solid use, including backlight, until one battery bar was showing in the menu. (Though I still wish Garmin would show the actual battery voltage.) * You can use the newer interface view (focused more on profiles) or switch to a "classic" view which appears like the Oregon 600 menu system. Either way, briefly pressing the power/light button brings up the main menu where you can access everything. Issues / Bugs: * Out of the box, installed firmware was 2.20. There was already a firmware update for 2.50 once connected to the computer. * A pesky small pop-up menu (home, start/stop track, battery life, satellite signal, etc.) on the bottom of the screen keeps activating. Only seems to go away if you press "start" and record a track. Once you press "stop" the menu keeps popping up, blocking the ability to view & use the map screen. At first I thought it was a hardware issue (something touching screen), but it turns out to be a software issue. * Word-around for above right now seems to be to: 1) start track log, 2) press power button to access main menu (instead of pressing "stop" in pop-up menu), 3) go to current track icon, 4) pause current track. You wind up with one or two track points in the background, but the pop-up menu doesn't keep activating. * Saved track log colors default to teal and if you change them for saved tracks, the color reverts back to teal after a power cycle. * No way to set a default track log color for future tracks. * When searching alphabetically for map database items, the unit has locked up only a of couple of times, requiring the batteries to be pulled. * Using Eneloop NiMH batteries, Garmin recommends setting the Battery Type system menu choice to "Pre-Charged NiMH". But that still seems wildly inaccurate (fully charged cells still show 2-3 out of 4 battery life display bars), and using the regular "NiMH" choice seems better. Again, it would be nice to see actual battery voltage displayed! Per Garmin Customer Support: * Unit supports around 4 million caches, similar to other more recent units, dependent on memory available. * The screen on the eTrex Touch line is plastic, *not* glass like the Oregon 600 line. Brief Conclusion: Overall, the eTrex Touch 25 seems pretty stable out of the box. I haven't had a lot of time to test it out, but first impressions are favorable. It takes a little while to set up the home screen and various menus & settings to your preference, but that was expected. The screen can be a little cramped (such as when spelling out waypoints), being only 160 x 240 pixels, but works fine. Will know more overall once I take it out caching and record some track logs. So far, so good.

Haven't seen any reviews on the eTrex Touch series yet, just the YouTube video that was mentioned above.

If you really want to go nuts, you can use Garmin's free "POI Loader" software to load thousands of caches (as Points of Interest) to the eTrex 10. You won't get the hint and detailed logs, but you will get the basics such as cache owner, cache name, terrain & difficulty rating. The trick is to generate a bunch of pocket query .GPX files (need premium GC.com subscription), unzip them, place them all in a single folder, and then point Garmin's POI Loader software to that location while your eTrex 10 is connected to the computer. If you want to go even a step further, you can download and use the third-party GSAK software (Windows only), and have hints and more details put into the POI files. A little more complicated, but certainly doable.

Looks like they've been added to Amazon, at least the placeholder pages...

Using GPS + GLONASS mode, and with WAAS turned off, I typically see 3m (9 ft.) EPE "accuracy". Not sure if that is the info you are looking for.

Looks like a winner with its small dimensions, touch screen, and GLONASS support. Interesting to note they have placed a 3-axis compass in all versions (reserving the barometric sensor for upper-tier models). Now if only Garmin would focus on firmware stability... time will tell.

Another issue could be the map display screen settings -- check to see which geocache types are displayed. On the GPSMAP 64 series there was a problem where after powering up the GPS, caches with the "unknown" size attribute wouldn't display. You had to hit "Apply" in the cache filter, despite their type being check-marked already. Also, sometimes GPX files get corrupted for whatever reason. I recently had a GPX file full of earthcaches that was missing several. No explanation, and they showed up in the GPX file and in the pocket query, but didn't get loaded properly by the GPS. Sometimes it helps deleting and clearing out the old pocket query GPX files, and copying brand-new ones to the GPS.

Out of curiosity, I ran some waypoint averaging yesterday on our 64ST in heavy cover (nearby buildings, maple trees, pine trees) -- stopped the sampling at 100% (took about a minute or so) and saved the waypoint. Viewing the waypoint in Google Earth shows it spot-on and accurate. GPS is running the latest FW version of 3.90, GLONASS was set to "on," and WAAS was set to "off". Accuracy / EPE on the satellite screen showed 9 ft (3m). If you are still getting bad accuracy, maybe you can return / exchange the unit with the retailer and try another? (If you exchange with Garmin, I believe they give you a refurb'd. unit, not a new one). Something doesn't sound right with your 64S. With today's electronics, it's always possible to get a lemon.

^^ This. ^^ Another vote for checking if the caches loaded to the unit before heading out. You'll only make that mistake once, maybe twice.

You can also change the menus to the "classic" style, and turn off the "page ribbon" interface. This helped me a long way in getting used to the 62/64-series.

^^ This. ^^

I'll echo the above posts and suggest one with GLONASS capability, and only buy the Rhino series of units if you need to frequently use FRS/GMRS radio, and/or send & receive locations to other Rhino units. The 64S and 64ST have both had significant MSRP price drops from Garmin recently, and can be found for $299 and $349, respectively. Lots of free third-party maps can be found on GPS File Depot and depending on your location, there may even be free 24K topos. My vote would be for the 64-series, either the "S" or "ST" model. Edit: Appears you may be located in OR. In that case, *definitely* go for one of the newer GLONASS-equipped units. The more birds you can pick up, the better, especially with the thick canopy we are known for here in the NW.

Another vote for the 64-series, either 64S or 64ST. Good luck in your decision and cache on!