BradB.

This FAQ gives a great explanation of the differences between NT and non-NT city navigator: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=141608 Thanks for the link.. been Googling for it for 20 mintues! Just to clarify for anyone, the NON-NT maps work on all models but the NT maps work on some newer ones. My wife's c320 came with version 6 maps. Instead of getting a free upgrade to version 7, I loaded the non-NT ver. 7 maps from my GPS-V and it worked great. I still have her free update to use and I'm planning on going to version 8 HOPING Garmin will let me use her update to get NON-NT maps. That way, I can use them on both her unit and mine. If they only let me get NT maps, the update will be of use only to her. (Garmin allows upto two devices owned by the same person to be used per copy of MapSource.)

Anyone notice the maps are getting bigger? My GPS V might cover less square milage now because each map "chunk" seems to be larger in filesize. Is this just my imagination?

I can't comment on that price, but Newegg is a great place to buy from. They pad their shipping times so everyone always thinks they get their shipments a day early, which is funny. I built my computer with just stuff purchased from there. What stinks is paying nearly full shipping on a tiny cable when you're also buying a hard drive. Can't they just box the two together? Yes they can, but you'll still pay twice. Oh well. Just keep an eye on the "final cost" of doing business with any online store. I won't buy from any online store that makes me enter my billing info prior to telling me what the shipping costs will be. They do this so you'll say, "aw, screw it. that's expensive for shipping, but I'm already 80% through the sale process." I bought my Garmin GPS V from Amazon.com because of the free shipping and I've never had any problems with Amazon.

i guess I only see that waypoint when in City Select, but it is not on my device. City Select is probably generating it. I took a little trip to the mall with it today the GPS V found a route that cut off 15 minutes from our trip! We were really impressed with how easy it was to set up for navigation. Now my wife wants her own. This thing really is a great hand held, but the fact that you can use it in portrait mode as a car navigation system (and take it from car to car) makes this thing a STEAL at 230. Thanks again guys! Two caches in two days as wel.

I was in a similar situation and had a similar budget. I went with the GPS V and people helped me in this thread: here

One little annoyance.. everytime I remove the "Garmin" waypoint, it comes back... Is there anyway to remove this forever? I hate clutter.

I wanted to thank everyone for their advice on this topic. I ended up going with the GPS V and love it! The point that put me over the edge was the fact that it comes with 100 buck in software. So, I got the unit for $130 and paid another 100 for the software (Amazon.com) if you look at it that way. And what better unit can you get for $130? I can't think of one. Serial doesn't bother me too much since you only upload maps once in a great while. 19mb seems to be doing me fine too and I imagine it'll well over a year before I need more. To be honest, I consider using Mapping a cheat for geocaching. So I just use the OffRoad mode to zero in on things. Kind of like one of those homing devices from the movies! So, anyway, today we found our first cache. A nice easy one by our house. It was at a park so I was able to get my wife to go so we could "go for a walk" then I whipped out the GPSr. The GPSV got me to within 8 feet of the cache! Not bad considering the planter probably had some magin of accuracy with his unit too. I'm hooked!

Well, I ended up going with the GPS V because my budget was firmly capped at $250 and from the comments here and another site, it seems like the best deal out there. The comment saying that since it comes with 100 bucks in software that can be transfered to one other device, it's like getting it for $130 helped me decide. When I get my next unit, maybe in a year, maybe never, I can still use the Garmin maps. And maybe in a year, the color screens will be more affordable... I'm SO geeked to get out there and find some caches now! Especially the "virtual" ones that have historic points across the area. I even have a few gems that I'd like to share with people as well... old buildings that are still standing and of historical significance, but unknown to the average person here.

Just as I'm about to talk myself out of the GPS V (admittedly with no alternative), I remind myself how much this thing used to cost and how since I'll be a very light geocacher (at first?) and only take a few trips a year, maybe I should get the GPS V and use it for a year or two before dumping money on something more expensive that perhaps I won't use that much?

Maybe you guys can help guide me toward a GPSr based on your experiences? I mainly started looking into one after reading about some of my online friend's geocaching thrills but I may get some other uses out of one as well. The PDA solutions are WAY cool, but I have had two Palm pilots and I never use them. I'm a builder and neat gadgets like that don't survive. So when I buy PDAs, they stay at home. I've had to settle for syncing Outlook to a beatup cell phone. I think I'll additionally get use out of it for driving. I go on a few "Fun Drives" through twisty back roads where the route is a secret. They are about 120 miles long and I think it'd be fun to come home and view on a computer what route we did and maybe average speeds for each leg? I thought the unit would be fun for road trips or for when I'm out of town on vacation, not to mention general exploring around my home area and maybe placing a cache or two. While I'd like something more durable than a PDA, I don't need a unit built for extreme conditions as I won't be moutain climbing with it. Maybe hiking and exploring - but my wife will hopefully be coming along and the extreme stuff isn't "her thing". And to be honest, I'd probably hurt myself anyway! Here are the two I'm looking at (other recommendations are welcome): Garmin GPS V 19MB of memory (which sounded like a lot to me, but many people have said that simple road trips that pass through a major city overload the memory - not to mention topo maps). The "Deluxe" now means you get a fully unlocked set of maps for City Select. Included base map of N.A. Serial connector. The screen can be viewed in portait (hand held) or landscape (car). No slot for memory cards (after reading how 19MB may not be enough, this one bummed me out a bit). Good battery life (over 24 hours). Neat stuff like Auto Routing, Speed and ETA displays. 160x256 pixel, 4 shade grey scale display. Seems slightly tailored to driving, but doesn't seem to comprimise life as a hand held. $220 - $230 with all City Select Maps (not sure if deluxe includes car mount). Garmin GPSMap 60 Only slightly smaller screen size (160 x 240) 24MB, but I have a feeling this is too small still.. Included base map of N.A. USB and serial Doesn't include any maps other than the base map. $250 - 300 Still no expansion slot, which would cure the GPS V. Okay, I guess that one's easy (sinking in as I typed it). The GPS V is a pretty sweet deal at $230 since it includes maps that cost $120 or so. I know people that paid nearly twice that for the same unit not too long ao. I'm just bummed about the limited memory and no expansion. For my uses though, people are telling me that 19mb isn't enough if I want to leave the Detroit area with it. Are they wrong? Would that be enough to load topo and city maps just for my local area and then I'd simply switch maps when I went out of town? I'm sure there are tons of GPSrs that are better than the V, but how many under $250? Or even at 300?