Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide

Prices taken from the Amazon sale page as listed in the other post on the subject: List Price: $399.95 Yesterday's Price: $247.54 Today's Discount: - $27.55 Gold Box Price: $219.99 (45% off) So it's really only about 10% less than the usual (not the list) price.

Yeah.....ummm I'm thinking when you've lost count......you know you're addicted when..... (feel free to throw that one back at me in a couple years) When I said I have 7, I meant at the moment. If I was to count all the ones I've had over the years I'd need to include my first, an eTrex Legend, an eMap, a Magellan, three Garmin 12XL, a 76S, a 60C, a 60CSx, a 76CSx, a Nuvi 255W, a couple of Palm Compact Flash gpsr, and a few others I don't want to remember!

I've been told that the Garmin USB driver is not needed on Windows 7, and in fact if you install it, it can cause problems. Try removing the Garmin driver then plug the unit into a different usb slot on your computer - that should force it to discover the unit. That worked for me.

Hey want to sell one? JK. ..Well you know what they say? “An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit” Sorry, none for sale right now, but I really don't have that many handhelds anyway. I have 3 Nuvis, 2 Oregon 550s (one belongs to my wife) a Forerunner 201 which we use on the dog, not that he needs to know where he's going, and a Microsoft laptop gps. So I guess that's actually 7, but who's counting? All but one of the Nuvis were bought used, just to see how they work, but really, keep looking for the Venture HC, or something similar, if you haven't ordered one already. It'll be better for learning with. When I originally sent you the link there were some refurbs available there, but I see they don't list them now. Unless you're in a hurry, just keep watching GPSCentral and GPScity.ca - they'll be back with more refurbs before long, I'm sure.

Yes Dr. J and Mr. H is correct in that I would like to stay within that range. For the present anyway. It would seem, from browsing through these forums, that the resulting truth will be that as my addiction grows so will my collection of gps". You've probably already noticed that... Yes, gps collecting is addictive - I have 6 right now! Always happy to spend money, no matter whose it is! Multiple quoting is just a matter of copying and pasting the [quote fields before and after the text to multiple locations within the text. I'm sure you could figure it out.

The reason the Venture HC was suggested was because it was close to the price Heather was thinking of paying originally for the 76. The HCx is better, no doubt, but it's nearly twice the price. It's $219 at GPSCentral: http://www.gpscentral.ca/products/garmin/e...legend-hcx.html

No kidding - I saw a Garmin eTrex Legend, the one you describe, yesterday (March 14, 2010) on a local Buy/Sell/Trade where the guy was asking $180! Only about 3 times what it might be worth in mint condition... And this morning on the same site someone's advertised a used Nuvi 760 for $250. You can buy that new for $200 at GPSCentral and probably even less if you check around.

Seems to me like your question has two dimensions: Is it safe to buy refurbished equipment? Is it safe to buy on eBay? First, I'd have to say that equipment refurbished by Garmin is usually as good as new. Second, eBay is only as good as the buyer you're dealing with so do your due diligence, check seller's feedback, etc, and you should be ok. But another wrinkle comes into it when buying Garmin products on eBay: http://www8.garmin.com/support/warranty.html "Online Auction Purchases: Products purchased through online auctions are not eligible for warranty coverage. Online auction confirmations are not accepted for warranty verification. To obtain warranty service, an original or copy of the sales receipt from the original retailer is required. Garmin will not replace missing components from any package purchased through an online auction."

Check here: http://garmindakota.wikispaces.com/

I have dealt with GPSCentral many times and they are excellent to buy from - very fast service and inexpensive shipping from people who care about more than profits...

I'd agree with this. The Map76 is a dated model and the eTrex Venture HC also has a colour screen. You can get free topo mapping too. (Google for Ibycus Topo) CTC is not really the best place for bargins on GPS. Also, the HC has a usb connection - a big advantage. Have you ever watched paint dry? It's much more exciting than watching serial gps transfers. Certainly faster, anyway. Friends don't let friends use serial gps connections...

The 76is ok, but there are far better units out there for Geocaching for not a lot more money. Just the fact that the old 76 connects via serial port will be very frustrating, assuming your computer has a serial port to use. I think you'd be better off forgetting that one - it might have been a good deal 5 years ago but not now. You'll immediately regret it. See if you can get something like this instead, if your budget is really tight. An eTrex Venture HC for $129 from GPSCentral: http://www.gpscentral.ca/products/garmin/e...venture-hc.html

3.20 is the last non-beta version.

I had the same unceremonious shutdowns as you describe after I installed the latest Garmin beta software (3.26) on my 550 yesterday. I went back to 3.20 and the shutdowns stopped happening... Have you tried running Garmin WebUpdater on your 550?

Not sure about the Nuvi 350 or how you're trying to use it but most handhelds will update the "distance to waypoint or geocache" constantly until you reach near 0. Even the lowliest eTrex will do that. But many automotive units like your Nuvi can be made to do the same. I did a quick Google search for "Nuvi 350 Geocaching" and there were many hits so you should do the same - this is representative of the query results: http://gregable.com/2007/02/geocaching-wit...n-nuvi-350.html

Good luck getting a handheld with voice commands - I don't think I've ever heard of one.

I've heard of people using 8 gig cards in the Oregon 550 so it's worth a try, but not sure it's necessary. It's not like you're going to load media files like podcasts or music, etc... And the 450 doesn't have a camera, so maybe a 4 Gig is all you really need.

You'll need to buy another copy of City Navigator to use it on the handheld. You can't just copy the files over as they are licenced/unlocked to one unit only, for those products which are locked like CN. I have Garmin Topo Canada V4 on my 3 Nuvis, a 680, 780 and a 850.

You get the 3D and Elevation details you're missing if you buy and install the maps which include the DEM data. So if you buy the non-T version and the maps, it's still going to cost roughly the same, but you'll end up also being able to use the maps in Basecamp, on the computer, as well as in the gps.

Buy the 450 and the maps separately if you plan to do any route building on a computer. The price works out very nearly the same.

When all else fails, try a master reset: From the Oregon Wiki: M1.) How do I master reset my Garmin Oregon? Turn off the Oregon, press and hold the upper left corner of the screen and power the unit on. You will eventually be asked if you want to reset user data. If you answer "Yes" the unit will be master reset.

My Oregon 550 did not come with Trip and Waypoint Manager as someone else suggested, and the 30 day free trial is for Geocaching.com's Premium membership, not Mapsource.

Nope - without a computer, you won't be able to delete the podcasts. But why not just buy a really big SDHC card and then it won't be a problem? You'll have to load them somehow so it's not like you won't ever have the card/gps hooked up to a computer. Also, I have a Nuvi 780 and the FM player plays beautifully on the radio in my older VW Golf, but not so well in the newer Golf TDI we have so I would try first before thinking it won't work well for you.

Have you tried a "Master Reset"? From the Oregon Wiki: M1.) How do I master reset my Garmin Oregon? Turn off the Oregon, press and hold the upper left corner of the screen and power the unit on. You will eventually be asked if you want to reset user data. If you answer "Yes" the unit will be master reset.

That's a convincing argument not to use the TomTom in Geocaching - I'd hate to have just enough power to find the cache, but not enough to find my way out of the forest and back to the car! Not bad if you're doing urban caches, but still, much better to have a unit you can change batteries on.