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I've only had my first GPSr unit for about a week, but I've tried both and so far I like using the track up as the north bearing is displayed in the upper right corner of the map screen.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try. Lots of neat bells and whistles on this unit, I found it to be remarkably accurate in the car. No trouble getting reception, even in the house, outside it finds the sats and gives a position within a few seconds so far, takes a minute or so in the car or the house, but stays locked on after the intial acquire.

Thanks for the info on the case, looks like a nice product and I'll have to keep that one in mind. The explorer unit with the plus package I ordered from TigerGPS.com was delivered yesterday afternoon, wow that was about 1.5 days from order to delivery, thats fast for this area. First impressions (Note: this is the first GPSr I've purchased), the unit looks and feels well built. The screen is easy to read even in bright sunlight and the backlight is certainly bright enough, although, as others have mentioned, the screen covering is flush with face of the unit and looks to be a prime candidate for scratching (glad I ordered a screen protector, just waiting for it to arrive). The buttons are well laid out and fairly intuitive. The wrist strap was a bugger to attach. A bit of a pain to insert and remove the memory card, but it seems a minor inconvenience. The manual was fairly well written and not to technical for a novice, I am glad I spent some time reading it before trying the unit out. The basemap included with the unit is very sparse and I am glad I purchased the plus package which included Mapcreate 6.3 topo, a 64 MB memory card, and the 2.0 MMC/SD card reader. Mapcreate was a beast to install, it hung up mid-install 4 times (different spot each time, but always occured when I had to switch CDs) before I was finally successful. Once installed it looks to be a nice program and not too out of date as the road I live on is fairly new and it was on there; was able to upload map of the my surrounding area following the instructions in the manual without any difficulty. I used Airmappers Lowrance Users Geocaching Guide to load geocaching waypoints from geocaching.com using the GSAK program, great instructions by the way, it was a piece of cake. My family and I went out last evening to try and find a cache, we weren't successful, but I should've read the cache description ahead of time as we were looking for a plastic container and should've been looking for a magnetic key box (the excitement got the best of me on that one, I definately will read to descriptions beforehand from now on). We had a great time through, the kids were so excited they could barely contain themselves, and are anxious to try again today. Final note, I can see how one would become so entranced by the screen that they would forget to look were they are going. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to provide such great information, it certainly helped a ton!

Thanks kidnitro. Others have mentioned SanDisk as well. After consultation with my better half, we've decided to purchse the explorer model with the plus package, I would've liked color & the newer chipset of the Expedition C, but it was almost $100 more so the was a better fit for our budget after factoring in a carrying case and invisible shield screen protector. Thanks to everybody for your excellent input it is greatly appreciated!

Great info, thanks to all! I really appreciate all of your input.

Thanks MAG315. I'm still trying to decide between the Explorer, H20C, and the Expedition C plus packages. Leaning towards the Explorer plus package as it seems to be a very good value for the money, although the color screen would be nice . I'll have to consult my better half on this one, need to keep everyone happy!

Thanks Airmapper. Any particular brand(s) of SD cards that anyone recommends or that should be avoided. Theorectically they should all work, but theory doesn't always reflect reality.

Ebinfl, thanks for the input. What size SD card do you think is adequate for typical use?

Thanks for the replys Air Mapper and Steel City Seekers! I figured some sort of screen protector was needed, but nice to hear confirmation. Can't believe I didn't see the Explorer plus package, looks like it might be a nice compromise between the H20 and the more expensive color models. Any other input is welcomed!

I've been doing a lot of reading about handheld GPS units and need some input from those with more experience than I (which would be anyone with any experience geocaching). Background: I would like to get a GPSr for to use mostly for geocaching with the family, we like to set up outdoor treasure hunts for the kids with clues and the like and this seems like a natural extension of that activity. I've had some basic training in orienteering (ROTC and Scuba) many years ago but would not like to rely on my rusty skills for something like this. Needs: Would like a unit with mapping capabilities, waterproof, computer connectivity to upload maps and coordinates, expandable memory, good reception/accuracy even under some tree cover (a lot of forest around my area), and easy to read display that is not too easily scratched. Do not want to have to upgrade for a few years. Bells and Whistles: It seem to me that a color display would be nice, but not necessarily essential (Any input from those of you who have had both?); Built in compass would be convient (do alot of you use the built in compass if you have that option?); barometer seems like it isn't essential or all that useful (am I wrong?); altimeter would provide some additional interest, but probably not essential especially if topo maps are used. It looks like the Lowrance units with the plus package provide a good value: I was looking at the ifinder H20, the ifinder H20C, & the ifinder Expedition C. From what I understand the color © units use the newer chipset (?). The price of the H20 plus package at Tiger GPS is very tempting, but I would be willing to spend a bit more it the Color and new chipset on the H20 C plus package if it would enhance the experience and stay off the need to purchase a newer unit within the next couple years, if the compass function is very useful I would spend a bit more for the the Expedition C over the H20 C. Suggestions for other units are certainly welcome, but I would like something that includes computer cables, car power adapter, and topomap software for around $300 to $325 or less. I don't think I can convincemy wife to spend much more than that amount. I appreciate any and all input and sorry for the long diatribe.