grimlaf

first (and only) hide on my account GC1QHQT the log design required the 35mm film container. I decided an LPC would lower expectations to the point of making this a fun cache. my wife and my daughter have separate accounts and we tend to put most hides under their accounts.

with the current sale at dell where you can pick up an oregon 300 for $250 that might be a good bet. you will need to buy city Nav for it just like you would for the 60CSx if you want road routing. it tends to run about $100. one nice thing that the oregon offers is a touch screen which makes it easier to enter coords. it's also a smaller unit, which makes it easier to pocket, but has a larger screen which makes it nicer for driving. if I didn't already have my 76CSx (almost the same device as the 60CSx) I'd be picking up one of these oregons. my wife has an oregon 400t which is the same device as the oregon 300 with the exception that it comes with topo maps preloaded while the 300 does not. Dan Tedrick

I use an iPhone and a 76CSx. works well and gives me all the information I need. I don't use GSAK anymore to try and squeeze as much info into the 76CSX as possible as it's all on the iphone. my wife uses an iPhone and an Oregon 400t. it'll come down to price and features. the touch screen on the oregon makes entering data more pleasent. the oregon is also smaller unit so it's easier with smaller hands or for tossing into a purse. the 60CSx has a slightly better antenna, but it works best in a verticle orientation. the 76CSx and oregon both have the same antenna which works best in a horizontal orientation. otherwise all three units have the same gps chip set. I tend to use my unit horizontally, so I went with the 76CSx over the 60CSx. once they come out with a 3 axis compass, then this will not longer me a concern of mine. I've found the software on the oregon tends to average more, so it can take pausing a bit when you start to get close to GZ for the coords to catch up. this is actually useful for driving, but can get annoying (at least to me) when geocaching. if you use the gps to route you to the cache while driving, the oregon has another nice feature where you can simply change the mode to turn off routing, while with the 60 or 76 you have to click through a few more options to get it out of routing and into bearing. the 60, 76, and iphone cannot do Wherigo, so if that's something you want, then the oregon is the way to go. if you have any questions, give me a hollar. Dan Tedrick

Thanks. We'll get this into the next update. Out of curiousity - During testing, how accurate have you found the iPhone to be compared to traditional GPS receivers (specifically related to finding Geocaches)? I've found my iphone 3g to be 2X to 3X less accurate than my 76csx. if I'm reading 10ft error on my 76, I'll have about a 27ft error on my iphone (which is the best I ever seen from the iphone). this is assuming both devices are getting a good signal. I've found my iphone to not be as reliable about getting a good signal under less than optimum conditions than the 76. I use both geopherlite and igeocacher currently on the iphone. geopherlite for when I'm looking in an area where I don't have the caches loaded onto the iphone or want the rotating compass. igeocacher for when I want long battery life or am working without network. I expect I'll check out the new geocaching.com app and see how it will fit into my usage, but right now the two apps I'm using do very well at covering all my needs. so the iphone gets you to the general area of the cache. it's not any worse than some of the older gpsrs out there. however I always have my 76csx with me and if I'm going out on a preplanned run I tend to just use the 76csx rather then the iphone. the iphone is more of a "I have 10-30 minutes to kill, where's the nearest cache" device for me, or if I'm completely bombing out on finding a cache, I'll use the iphone to look up more information. one thing I forgot to say is that the iphone has completely replaced my palm for paperless caching and it does a much better job of it.

I have both a nuvi 650 and a 76csx. I started out with the nuvi as I had bought it for my wife and was able to borrow it now and then. paperless geocaching is pretty nice for the nuvi, but I did run into problems with the short battery life of about 4 hours or so a few times. also, the screen on the nuvi is pretty fragile and is extremely easy to scratch up. this and the water proof issue can be handled by using a case such as one made by RAM, so it leaves battery life and awkward size being the only real issue when compared to a 76csx. it's nice being able to use it for paperless geocaching, but I found switching between the various screens I needed to be more of pain than just using my palm for the paperless aspect and the gps for the gps aspect. I also use the 76csx as my driving gps leaving the nuvi for my wife. it doesn't talk to you, but beeps where there would be voice prompts. I find this perfectly acceptable. also the screen size is about half of what you get with the nuvi but this can be solved by placement of the gps by mounting it closer to your eyeballs. I mount my 76csx right next to the steering wheel whereas we tended to mount the nuvi significantly further forward on the dash by the windshield. another way to solve this is by using the RAM magnifier which does a very good job of enlarging the screen. unfortunately there is too much light in the cab of my truck which creates a lot of glare, but it works fine in my car. I have also found the compass of the 76csx more useful that I thought I would. it is also a nicely rugged device. having used both, and if I was just buying one gps for myself, I would go with the 76csx. my wife however would insist on a gps with turn by turn directions that include the street names in the voice prompts, but she's not a geocacher. if you are buying a gps to mostly give you voice directions and also maybe use it for geocaching now and then, the nuvi is great. if you want to split 50/50 or mostly use it for geocaching and are happy with beeps instead of voice prompts, I would go with the 76csx. to get turn by turn directions on the 76csx you need to buy an additional map which will add to the cost. also the 76csx doesn't come with a auto power adapter or car mount, so be sure to takes those costs into account when making your decision. also a keep in mind a water proof case for the nuvi if you go that route. if you want voice prompts and want to geocache regularly, I would recommend buying both a nuvi and a lower end high sensitivity gpsr, as there isn't a perfect single solution to meet those requirements. I guess the other aspect would be a park and grab geocacher, the nuvi would work perfectly well for that. but I find myself doing a lot of hiking or day long geocache runs where I will be away from a car, so I need the longer battery life and the ability to swap batteries of a trail type gps. for example the last cache run I did was for a puzzle cache which was composed of 7 caches scattered in a local historic park. I needed about 6 hours of battery life so I couldn't have done this with a nuvi without plotting out the caches ahead of time and only turning on the gps when I was near the caches, which I don't like to do.