IVxIV

My girlfriends Explorist 500LE did that all the time.,. and yep turned out the battery connections were flimsy and a mild jolt of the unit would shut it off. Try shaking your Colorado and see it it powers off then

What's your budget? Is there anything else you need to use it for, like car navigation?

How quickly does your Sporttrak get a position lock when first turned on? Does it lose signal often while in use? If during your day-to-day operation the unit can maintain a decent satellite lock then you are probably not going to benefit with upgrading to a modern GPSr, based on what you said you have no need for modern bells'n whistles like color screens, autorouting, WAAS,, etc

If you're referring to all that's needed for "paperless Geocaching" then what about the Garmin iQue? All your eggs in one basket with that one

Yes ni-mh rechargable batteries are awesome, I've been using them for years in my GPSr & digital camera One thing I've been wanting to get is the charger/conditioner, that combo is hard to find at most stores I shop in. Even though ni-mh doesn't have as bad of a "memory problem" as nicd's did, I'd think a charger/conditioner would still maximize their useful life

Well that's only a partial solution. I'd still hope a driver would look out of his windshield for obstacles and obstructions. Great if the GPSr warning buzzer tells him a low bridge is coming up. Better still if a GPSr could be programmed to automatically avoid choosing a route that is unusable for his particular vehicle. Still though, best if the driver jost pays attention! and doesn't blame other things for his lack of focus. For example I'd hate to think a truck driver would be alert for kids only at zones the GPSr is warning to be a school zone. Best if the driver ALWAYS looks for a kid chasing a wayward ball acrosss the street.

For Geocaching you definitely want to buy a unit that's rated for outdoor use, not one of those cheap touchscreen automotive models that are getting so popular. Most of those don't have a compas rose screen and are too delicate to be used while hiking in the woods

Well the Colorado is looking like a mighty fine new GPSr. But, WOW it's expensive!!

I tried the Geocaching feature on my Vista Cx & didn't like it too much... Maybe I was using it wrong, but once I load a bunch of cache locations into the unit from a pocket query, the resulting cache icons would literally FLOOD the screen with cache locations (depending on zoom level of course) and I couldn't figure out a way of turning the cache icons on/off, so they'd always be in your face even if you weren't out geocaching Now I'm fiddling around with loading cache locations as POI's instead, using the Garmin POI loader. That seems a nicer solution. And, a big YES to auto-routing! Once you've tried it you wouldn't DREAM of buying another GPSr without that awesome ability.

Palms and PPC's both make fine units, and work great for Geocaching. If you already have one of them then it's easy to add software to manage Pocket queries. If you DON'T already have one and are looking for a unit purely for Geocaching then I'd recommend a Palm based unit though, because they are typically cheaper than equivalent PPC's, and last much longer on a battery charge than PPC's.

Well,, using my Garmin Vista Cx features as a good starting point.. I wish it had builtin bluetooth so it would communicate with my smartphone. I wish it had a 3-axis compass I wish it could take advantage of the realtime traffic monitoring system so as to direct me around road blockages. But I don't want it to grow any bigger than it currently is

The entire planet isn't (yet??) available in high resolution,, there is sooo much scanning & digitizing to perform that I guess they start by concentrating on the higher-interest areas (cities, noticable attractions) and will eventually work their way all over. Sorry to say but, if your area isn't in high resolution then your area probably isn't interesting (don't feel bad, my neighborhood isn't interesting either )

=> duplicate entry, sorry <=

Try creating the simplest pocket query first with just one filter (just your home coordinates) and view the result. If all looks OK, then add just one more filter (ie: caches I haven't found) & view the results. Keep going one step at a time and you'll get there

Refurbished typically means the device has been inspected by the factory & confirmed OK, and they will often sell the device with a warranty, for a lot less money than new. Nothing wrong with refurbished products

You're definitely going to have to shop the used GPS market if you want an autorouting GPSr, either handheld or "nuvi like", + the maps, for under $200

Welcome to Geocaching! Regarding taking field notes, if you decide to use the Cachemate software it provides a spot for you to record your find information. Also, some Palm units have builtin voice recorders,, you could record a few moments coments while at the cache site for later playback once you get home.

What do you mean "Palm has discontinued the PalmOS" ??

I don't think there's any GPSr that can fully take over the paperless task that a PDA can do for you, unless you consider getting a PDA/GPS combo like a Garmin Ique that combines both machines. These devices can get kinda pricy though, and most of them aren't built to stand the rigors of outdoor use so, they can be broken easily. Yes some GPSr's will store the Geocach name, GC #, & perhaps the hint. But what about the caches detailed description? What about referencing the past logs? And without a PDA when you do find a cache, how are you going to jot down details of your find unless you carry paper? Best solution is to grab a capable GPSr that'll upload the basic cache info, and also get a cheap PDA for the rest. Or, stick with paper

My "second last GPS" was a Magellan 315, which is even older than your 330 It still works great, & would still be suitable for seeking out a cache with. However the modern GPSr's have much more sensitive antennas which right there makes an upgrade a good idea. Even a "basic" modern GPSr has better sensitivity than a top-of-the-line-7-year-old machine. As far as all the other "improvements" that come with a newer machine, it's up to you to decide which is useful & which is just eye candy.

I'd like to see Garmin OR Magellan come out with a handheld outdoor capable standalone GPSr that *also* is bluetooth capable. As far as I know, noone currently makes such a device

Yep switch to advanced mode & here's the manual for that: http://www.lowrance.com/Manuals/Files/iFIN...Rev2_050305.pdf

I live in Canada too. When shopping for my Vista Cx about a year ago I looked at all the abovementioned websites as well as local stores for best prices.. I wound up buying mine from Radio World www.radioworld.ca . They had the best price on the GPSr, but I believe I went to GPScity.ca for the City Navigator software for the best price on that.. Hope that helps a fellow Canadian

Yup if Garmin would just fix the Etrexes rubber band surround archiles heel they'd have a total winner As for the "missing" external antenna option, my Lowrance iFinder Pro had that option & I personally never needed it,, the thing had such a great ability to grab satellites while inside a car (or even inside a HOUSE!) that I never even thought of getting an external antenna that could in theory be positioned for better satellite visibility. And my Vista Cx has an even more powerful reciever than the iFinder,, nuff said! I do wish my Vista Cx had a volume control for it's beeper, as I can barely hear it in a car with the radio even 1/2 way on. Hows the sound output compare to the 60?? It SUCKS to miss a turn while autorouting because the peeper/beeper went unnoticed

?? I thought XM radio was "satellite radio" available all over the world. Where can you go that has no coverage?