woodsters

Well we decided on the Gecko 201 and a good thing. When we got to Dicks Sporting goods tonight, they didn't havea single Magellan. All they had were Geckos 101's, a couple of eTrex's and a Rhino. The Gecko 201 does have the4 backlit display. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

StarshipTrooper, yeah I was looking at all the features between the both. Not sure if the Gecko is backlit or not as that was not important or anything. If it's dark, we will have a flashlight. I guess if your stranded with only your GPS at night, then the backlight would be a useful, but also battery draining feature. Size makes no difference to us right now. I do, or use to mountain bike and may get back in it. We moved from the Augusta Georgia area to the northern part of Massachusetts a few months ago and there are a lot of new trails to try. I am leaning on the Gecko 201. What about the Sportrak Map? Best Buy has it with a $50 mail in rebate. Making it $150. Is it worth getting that one over the Gecko 201 or regular Sportrak basic and the price. Jomarac5, no that wasn't my kayak stolen. It was someone from Clemson University and I put it on my site so others could be aware of it. I don't Kayak. I just recently bought a Canoe (cheapo) to go fishing with and perhaps some small little jaunts. Had t oend up buying a trailer for it too. It wouldn't work on the Explorers roof rack like some canoes will on other SUVS. We were going to have to buy a special racjk and figured to jsut buy the trailer so I can pull it with my Jeep as well. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

hmmmm....I'm kinda between a rock and a hardplace....I'm very torn. Now I wondering around online looking at the lower end Etrex's and now even the Gecko 101. I can get the Etrex for $120 and the Gecko 101 for $100. The thing is it worth the extra 20-40 to get a Gecko 201? Or a little more for the standard Sportrak. Now I'm reading on here about people not using the WAAS or that they could careless about it. If it's not going to help or i'm not going to use it, then I could save some dough and get a lesser one right now. I know I will probably upgrade down the road, but price is playing a facotr in it right now. WE will more than likely just be using it for caching and playing around. At least until we figure it all out better and need it for other things. The 101 doesn't hook up to the puter though...sigh... Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Main reason is to cache of course. But I don't want it to be good for only that. Yeah there were differences in them, but not a whole lot. Someone mentioned that the Garmins tend to have more aftermarket accessories than others. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Well price plays a factor in it. When I'm ready for something bigger and better and can afford it, then I will move up and give the one I purchase now to my son. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

We are going to purchase a GPS today. Just wondering what other uses other than Geocaching , is a GPS good for and what you use it for? Where do you take it when not caching? Also, not getting a lot of response on the other forum, but in your opion, which is the better GPS: Garmin Gecko 201 or the Magellan Sportrak (not the pro or map version, but the standard version). We are going in a few hours to get it and would like some vets to point us in the right direction. We are leaning towards the Gecko 201. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

That was another thing I was wondering about is the fact of accessories and more versatility. We wil lbe using the GPS mainly for caching. So I think that even though the Gecko will cost me about $30 more in the long run, it may be a better choice. One thing that bothered and still bothers me is the fact that the Magellan has the rebate on it. This triggers thoughts that they are having trouble selling them or perhpas this model is getting ready to stop being produced or something. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Is the difference of trackpoints going to make a difference to us? 2000 on one and 10,000 on the other? Neither one states that they come with data cables for the computer. What kind of cost does that entail? Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Thought the Garmin had that too and rechecked but didn't see it in the specs... but hte garmin does have the Compass, upcoming tunr feature and the pantrack feature. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Just found more info on the Garmin, it does have teh sunset and sunrise on it as well as it is a 12 channel one. Also noted that the Garmin has 100 datums. The Magellan only has 76 I believe I read... The magellan has a larger screen and better resolution too... Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Ok, looking at the websites (Magellan and Garmin), here's a synopsis I've come up with. The Garmin is smaller, which doesn't make any difference to us now. The Garmin has 10,000 track points and the Magellan has only 2000. Both are WAAS capable, but the Garmin does not say anything about the 12 channel and the quadifiler helix antenna. The Magellan does. The Garmin has games, which I don't care about. The Magellan has the lunar phases, which are cool. I believe both can be hooked up to the PC. Dang...decisions...decisions....that's why i'm asking you vets...which would I be happier with? Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Bilder, we aren't buying online. We want to actually get teh feel for them in person. We als ojust had a horrible experience with ordering something on the internet ($400+ Canoe Trailer), that took a few weeks longer to get than the promised date. So other than the size and the antenna thing, they are comparable? Yes we were not talking about the Sportrak MAP. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

We are going this afternoon to buy a unit at Dicks Sporting Goods. Using them because of discount we are getting. We are looking at the Garmin Gecko 201 and the Magellan Sportrak (not the pro). The Gecko is $139.99 and the Magellan is $159.99 plus a $50 mail in rebate. Asides from the cost, which unit is the better one? Thanks! Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

I heard that Sams Club has a thing where you can pay a one time price and get in and shop. At least that is what someone posted on my messageboard. They went and bought something there on sale. Did a quick search on their website and didn't see a GPS on it. But I thought maybe Costco would work similarly to them. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

You should be able to do it with a topo map and map reading protractor. We learned it in High School ROTC (Army) and then when I went into the Air Force as a Security Policeman and was training for Air Base Ground Defense, the Army taught it to us, which was real easy for me there. Just remember, you read a topo map to the right and up. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Think I figured it out. There is a difference between older ones and newer ones called "datums". Geocaching.com uses the newer format called "WGS84 datum". GPS units can switch between the WGS84 and NAD27 datums. But the NAD27 is not really used anymore except for some maps. Is this a correct synopsis? Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Thanks, but is there a norm? I know if I were going to enter a cache on this site to use their format, but is that the normal way amongst GPS'ers elsewhere? In other words, should anyone with a GPS be able to enter the coordinates in the manner in which this website uses? I would think so, but I would like to know ahead of time. i.e. do different type of systems accept coordinates only in a certain fashion or should all systems accept them the way that they are put here? Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

I know...I know...here's another newbie who don't know anything. It's true. What is the proper way to give coordinates to someone? I've seen them listed in different formats. If I were to give my inlaws coordinates to put in their RV's GPS to get to our house, how would I do it? Also what about if I were giving coordinates to a cache? Is there any difference? Perhaps a difference in the GPS's themselves? Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Thanks! Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

That one worked, but you can only enter a certain amount of addresses. Any others that are free out there with unlimited use? Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

Thanks, but that converter did not even recognize addresses that I entered. Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com

I'm new to all this. Don't even have a GPS yet. But, I have a question. Does anyone know of somewhere on the internet, where you can find the GPS coordinates by entering an address? Thanks for the help! Brian Wood Woodsters Outdoors http://www.woodsters.com