sundogranch

Yes- having the detailed maps is a plus but I wonder why my Magellan 200 shows the cache on the right side of the freeway along with my Cobra and only the Garmin has Bogus Map Info displayed? That map 60 is a junker as far as I am concerned- It SUCKS when it comes to close cache hunting- and they take your arms and legs when you want maps

What good is a map if its inacurate?

Thanks for the info. I'm getting closer and closer to putting my new map60 up for auction. Cobra with included maps is a much better GPSr for the money.

Well- my map60 clearly showed it on the west side of I-5 At least 120' or so. When I got to that position and swithced to the "Pointer" it was 500 feet other side of freeway. Now I don't trust the Garmin and that is how some airplane Pilots crash and burn- when they dont trust their instrumentation..

While searching for a "very close to the freeway" cache I used the Map Page on my map60 to Zoom in and I saw the cache on the West side of I-5. After hiking a mile or so the Compass pointer indicated the cache on the other side of the freeway- Where I found it after a DNF. Anyone else had problems like that? Pretty serious error that has me wondering how accurate the Garmin maps are.

I have a map60 that has the same "error circle" you're talking about but I thought it was more a "proximity" indicator- to show you how far the Auto Zoom feature has "zoomed" in..never thought about turning it off though...

I have 3 GPS recievers, a digital camera, and two AA flashlights. After burning up a bunch of alkaline AA's I finally swithced to NiMh with an overnight charger. I have about 18 AA 2,500 NiMh's and as long as you keep track of the charged-dead ones- I think they are the way to go. I back ordered a "Rifle Cartrige Belt pouch" that holds 10 batteries on your side- ready to go. GPSr/camera dies? Put the dead ones in upside down and take out a couple freshies!

After 3 GPSr's and 190+ cache finds- The best thing I have bought for 'caching is a Palm OS PDA. It holds all the cache page info with the hints and last visitor log. If your GPSr can't download, you can get that from the PDA.

also i notice this unit says it has a Compass & Altimeter. just wondering if you have one what you think of it? the reviews i have read are mixed. -->My unit dosn't have the altimeter/compass so I can't tell you about that. BUT after using it side by side with the map60 for quite a few cache finds--If I had to pick one over the other I would take the Cobra. I'd go back to manualy entering each waypoint- The Cobra is actually easier/faster to enter lat/long waypoints than the Garmin or my Explorist 200 I actually like cache hunting with 2 (sometimes 3) GPSr's I don't want to DNF for lack of a good GPS reciever Edit- You can only upload the waypoints that come with the Street Finder maps- stuff like gas stations, resturants, business of all sorts, and addresses. You can make your own waypoint by clicking on the Map when you're zoomed in but it dosn't show precise Lat/Long!

My Magellan Explorist 200 seems to have a more stable pointer on the compass page than my new Garmin map60- the garmin seems to bounce around more- like I will be walking straight towards a cache (under huge pine trees) and and all of a sudden the pointer will jump over to the right- this could cause the Garmin user to walk more of a zig-zag than the Magellan user who's pointer seems to always point straight to the cache. They will both still get you about the same place.

I was powering up for a morning cache hunt when I noticed on the startup screen the SiRF trademark icon on the bottom right of the screen. No wonder it outperforms my new map60 at finding and holding satt lock! No mention of it on the Specification page of the user manual other than under the Trademark Acknowledgements- Very Interesting!

When you can read the encrypted hint then you are becoming a true 'geocacher.'

You forgot about the "No Hint Available" which has to be a clasic hint by now...

I think you need to contact "ask Cobra" on their website. They will get back to you pretty quick. But you might not want to hear what they say. As we speak there is no way to download GC.COM .gps or .loc files to these recievers and they only work with the supplied Street Finder Maps.

A .357 snub nose? Gee- I'm only using a High Point C-9!

I have been using a Cobra GPS1000 side by side with a new map60 and my old yellow Explorist 200 and I find the Cobra finds satts faster than both and seems to do just fine- I got all three units to "zero out" within 4 feet! The Bad Rep seems to come from older Cobra 100 and 500 GPSr units- not the new 1000 that comes with all the detailed USA maps FREE. With the Garmin You need to pay the $250 PLUS about another $100 for the maps---BUT you cant download to it like a map60 or Explorist 210.

I wish geocache placers would keep the hints short and to the point- as Geocaching.com kindly requests. A lot of the 'hints' I find are themselves another puzzle- sometimes in another language like Latin or Spanish. Would you consider a small PDA like a Palm Z22 for storing the .gpx files to take mobile? You could put a Spanish/English dictionary in there as well...

I just went 'paperless' with my first ever PDA- A Palm Z22 I got for under $100. I've downladed about 80-100 .gpx Geocaching Waypoints to it so far. Along with those I also have a few games on it and it still has 19 of 24 MB's left. The screen is kinda hard to see in straight sunlight but still good enough to read the Cache Page info. Why buy something old and used when for about $82 you can get a new Palm Z22? You'll still need to buy "CacheMate" for $8 and use GSAK. It is pretty easy for a non-computer geek to use.

I purchased a Cobra GPS1000 because I just figured any GPS reciever I bought that came with a computer interface cable would be able to download .gpx-.loc waypoints. WRONG- I was prepared to spend my own money to make it Geocaching.com/GSAK friendly. This is what I recieved from "ask Cobra" > We are sorry but our handheld GPS units do not have the capability to > download from other software. They only work with our Rand McNally > StreetFinder software. The serial protocol is not available. > > Sincerely, > Brian Burke If you are on a budget and don't do a lot of geocaching I still would recomend this reciever because it comes with all of the USA detailed maps (free)- which aren't bad- they show all the USFS fire roads with their numbered designations. Even some of my neighbors long driveways...BUT- there is no way to enter precise lat/long POI's into the supplied Rand McNally software.

I'm looking for a new PDA for geocaching and came across the Palm Tungsten E2 with GPS nav kit for about $400 I like the idea of having all of the cache page info on my GPSr. Thanks for any info or advise you have using this combo.

Thanks for the tip- I might just keep it as a spare unit. After more comparison I'm thinking the map60 shows the geocache waypoints on the map really nice- where the Cobra dosn't seem to do it at all, even though you can customize the waypoint marker like on the map60. The included mapping software shows all the roads in my hokey town- even the dirt ones! But yeah, I have to admit the map60 is the ticket for geocaching- I like how the caches open up when you find them! I forgot to mention this- the cobra's accuracy is right up with the map60 and Explorist 200- I had all three units 'zeroed out' at 4 feet!

Oh yeah, the Cobra is going to be much easier to use if you're wearing gloves- forget about Explorist if you're wearing gloves!

I don't have any maps on the map60 yet but I'm pretty shure they are going to be better than the cobra's "Street finder" which comes with the unit- no extera cost. For me, I think it will be fine- I just need to see the streets in an area and my brain processes the best way much better than any auto routing GPSr! The unit is larger than the other two- but the screen is much bigger also!

First 150 geocache finds I did with a Magellan Explorist 200. The next 25 a Garmin map60. And now I just found my last using all three(Gar.+Mag.+Cobra) GPSr's under tree cover. The map60 seems to jump around where the Exp200 had a more stable pointer. the Cobra 1000 seems to fall somewhere inbetween the two. I like the Cobra. I was able to enter waypoints without looking at the manual. The buttons and quality of the unit seems to compair with the Top Two. As well as the accuracy and ease of locking sats. I don't know why this unit has such a bad reputation- other than most people have never even seen one- or used one for that matter! Only drawback I can see is you can't download waypoints with GSAK yet. BTW- does anyone know how to download maps for an entire state or a large region all at once? Thanks!

For the price to drop to "sale" level you wil have to wait years...By then something better will have come along.