Help! What Unit To Buy?!

[+chuckwagon101]

I just got interested in geocaching but dont know what to buy. I would like something VERY REASONABLE, but one that will not frustrate me!

 

I looked at some units for around 100 dollars, will they work ok or should I save my money and buy a more expensive model. I have 120 dollars right now to spend.

 

Thanks for any suggestions! Chuckwagon

[+Thrak]

A $100 unit will work quite well for finding caches.

 

Depending on how much you plan to cache you might want to opt for a unit that will connect to your computer for downloading coordinates rather than entering them by hand. Having said that, there are many folks who enter their caches one at a time by hand and do just fine.

[+Medic005]

The Yellow Garmin eTrex is a good starting unit for under $100.

[+Team Cotati]

Within reason, it's not the cost that matters. It's the features as compared to what your caching/general navigational goals and needs are for the forseeable future. I would advise to not go cheap. Save a few more bucks and get a unit with some nice and helpful features. If you do your homework you will be surprised what deals there are out there from time to time.

[+chuckwagon101]

What special features should I look for?

[+chuckwagon101]

Can you name me a brand and model for under 200 that would be ok?

[+briansnat]

One unit that is very popular among novices is the Garmin eTrex Legend. It can be found for under $120 if you shop around, it has mapping, a PC connection, WAAS and comes with the computer cable. If you move up a bit in price the Magellan eXplorist 210 and eTrex Vista are good choices. They will have a bit more memory than the Legend and the Vista adds an electronic compass and barometric altimeter. I actually found the Vista at LL Bean for $139 recently. A major bargain for a unit that sold for $350 when it first came out and is still around $220 most places.

 

As others here mentioned, the yellow Garmin eTrex is around $89 and will find caches just as well as a $500 unit. But the yellow doesn't come with a PC cable and its $30 extra. When you factor that in, the Legend is very close in price.

 

 

 

Moderator mode

Sliding this over to the appropriate forum

/COLOR]

[+gpsblake]

Any GPS on the market will find geocaches just fine. The one disadvantage of having a unit that can not communicate with a computer is that you have to manually punch in the coordinates of each geocache yourself. Once you get hooked, you'll find this to be very tiring. With a computer interface, and free software like easygps or g7towin available, you can download dozens of geocaches to your unit within seconds.

[Rhialto]

If you look at the Garimn Legend, the new Cx are out (versus C). Again a few more $ but the Cx has a removable SD memory card so later you will be able to insert more maps if needed and it also come with a 32MB SD card instead of a fixed 24MB.

 

Go at http://www.garmin.com/outdoor/compare.jsp and check both, you'll get a comparison table. Just ignore the MSRP.

[dirtdobbertwo]

the best bang for the buck i think is the garmin v. it comes with the city select software, cig. lighter adapter and more. these you pay extra for with the legend. the v also is faster has larger screen and auto routing +. at about $245.00.

[+briansnat]

the best bang for the buck i think is the garmin v. it comes with the city select software, cig. lighter adapter and more. these you pay extra for with the legend. the v also is faster has larger screen and auto routing +. at about $245.00.

It is the most GPS for the money. It may not however be suitable in certain areas. The 19 megs of map memory might be sufficient for less populated areas, but if you are in the NYC, DC, LA, or other major metro area it will not provide much map coverage.

 

However, if you want to get a mapping GPS at a bargain price, the GPS V is the way to go.