Debbzilla

The $269 price has been around for about a week. I think it's through J&R (through Amazon), no tax, free shipping.

Wow, it looks like there are 1,408 within 10 miles of my house. I am really surprised at how many there are. And I searched by address, not just by zip code. I am in Thousand Oaks, CA (north of Los Angeles).

The lowest I can find one for is $269. Do you know of anywhere that sells them for lower?

I will be using this almost solely for geocaching and hiking. We spend a lot of time outdoors on the weekends, and I do a lot of outdoor camping with my family and with Girl Scouts. So far we have mainly hunted around town and in our nearby parks, but the camping season is coming up! Since we have my husband's Pocket PC, there isn't any real rush to buy now (other than my feeling of wanting my own to use). I don't mind a learning curve at the beginning if the unit works well and is reliable. I want to be able to use it for a few years without feeling like I need to upgrade. But I also don't want to spend $300+ if possible. How reliable are the Lowrance GPSr's? I haven't heard much about them...

Well, when we first started, we got a used Magellan Explorist 200 to use for the class. I found out pretty quickly that I'd like better maps, the ability to connect to the computer to upload coordinates, a color screen, faster GPS lock, etc. So I don't want to get a starter unit. But I also don't need to have the newest, best unit on the market either. I want the best compromise, without feeling like I will need to upgrade in 6 months from now...

Ok, so I have been reading *alot* of discussions in this section and the tech section, and I just don't know what to do. Let me know what you think. My daughter and I took a class on geocaching in March, and since have gone out caching together several times. We also started doing this as a family and really are enjoying it. So I know it's something I would like to do regularly. So far, we have been using my husband's Pocket PC to hunt, which has been working out pretty good. We have found almost all of the ones we have been looking for. However, I want a GPSr of my own! I have been reading a lot about the various Garmin eTrex models, and the DeLorme PN-20 & 40. After all of my reading, I had settled on the PN-20, as I think it would meet my current needs of functionality at a reasonable price. But after looking at the prices online, and hearing about possibly a PN-30 coming out, and the new version of Topo, I am wondering if I should wait a couple of months to see what happens. I can get a new PN-40 for $269 shipped, which I think is a good price but is still a bit more than I would prefer to pay. I can get a new PN-20 for about $150. That also seems like a good price, but then I hear that it's worth it to go up to the 40 for the quicker response time. Plus I am concerned about the 20 being discontinued if the 30 does come out and then wishing I had waited... So my question is: if you experienced folk were shopping right now for your first good GPSr, would you buy now or wait? And is it worth it to pay the extra $100+ for the 40? Or would you go for something else altogether? (And, no, I am not trying to start a Garmin vs. DeLorme fight...)

I was just looking through this forum for an answer to a very similar question, so I am glad I found this thread first. Here is my issue: My daughter and I each have our own basic member account, and we started out logging caches under these names. But we have been searching for caches as a family of 4 more recently. We also wanted a premium membership, to get all of the added benefits. So we got the premium account under a new family account name and have started logging and posting under that. But I'd also like to be able to still use my individual account to log & post finds when I am not with the group, and to post on the message boards, etc. It would be nice to have our 2 individual accounts linked to our overall family account, and be able to have a total family count (including our individual finds). Plus, I would like to be able to access the premium features from this account, and not have to switch over to the family account. I am still pretty new, and so I am definitely no expert on how this website works. Any suggestions, or do I just need to pick one way and go with it?

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I was lookling at the Amazon deal - it's $155 for the PN-20 package, which seems like a good deal...

Here's something from the DeLorme website - looks legit: http://www.delorme.com/library/hardware/PN...act%20Sheet.pdf Not sure if I should go ahead and get the PN-20 as planned (for my first GPS)...

Oh, and I like your username!

A couple of months ago, I got my daughter a used Magellan Explorist 200 for less than $50 from a seller on Amazon. There are options on e-bay as well.

Once you start finding them, you'll start to see how/where they tend to be hidden. At least that's what I am starting to find. (I am a newbie too!) We have mainly been looking around and finding the urban hides, and they seem to be camouflaged well, and often magnetized. I haven't yet attempted a really tough micro-I can imagine they can get really tought to spot!

Just checked and Amazon has this for $155 w/free shipping. Pretty good deal-Imay just get it there. (I am trying to pick up one as well!)

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