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How Many Units?


scavok

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I just had my first GPSr stolen from my car :) . I figured it was a good enough excuse to upgrade though :rolleyes: . Just curious of those of you who have been doing this for years, how many GPSr's have you gone through?

Edited by scavok
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scavok,

 

That stinks; having your GPS stolen. Hope you didn't lose anything else in the break in. Thornton's been having a bit of vehicle break-ins as of late - a friend of mine got his car stolen 2 weeks ago in that area.

 

We received our first GPS, Garmin eMap, in 2003. Didn't find out about cachin' until 2005 though. eMap still works, but I wanted a new one so we bought a Garmin GPSV. I loan out my eMap to friends who would like to go cachin' but don't have their own GPS yet.

 

:) .....now if my wife will let me get that 60cs........ :rolleyes:

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I found out about Geocaching a year or so ago and after very little research I bought a Cobra 100 used off Ebay for about $20 (I know, I know.. couldn't hold a good lock if I was up in space NEXT TO the satellite). After that I got a used Lowrance GlobalMap 100 and it still works well but we decided to upgrade. Never being a big Garmin fan since I rented one at my first event (first experience with Geocaching), I got a Magellan Explorist 500 and I love it. So I guess that makes three. Please don't take the Garmin comment in a bad way, I don't want to start something. Different strokes for different folks. :)

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I started off with a yellow Garmin E-Trex that was given to me for x-mas several years ago. I took it back to the store unopened and upgraded to the Vista model. Then a couple of years ago, I had a rather bad canoe accident on a river in southern MO in Dec. The Vista was damaged. I took it to Garmin headquarters (5 mintutes from my house) and they replaced it with another Vista.

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I just bought unit #2 last week. I replaced my aging Vista after 5 1/2 years of faithful service with a GPSmap 76CSx. Though up until my geocaching ramped up last year, the Vista's primary function was not for geocaching.

 

The Vista actually escaped a theft when it was only 4 months old. My truck was broken into, lots of stuff stolen, yet oddly I found the Vista laying, scratched up a bit, on the floor in the back seat. They took the CDs, my camera, etc, etc, yet left behind the most expensive thing in the truck. LOL!

 

Now my girlfriend/geosidekick is using the Vista to get herself started on her solo caching adventures :anibad:

Edited by wandererrob
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Started with a Garmin Legend gave it away and upgraded to a Vista after a year.

Then picked up a Geko 201 for my wife to use

Now its a 60CS with the Vista as the backup.

 

I also used a Lowrance Go2 and H20 for a few months on loan from Lowrance and a Magellan MeriGold on loan from my dad for a few months.

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Lowrance i-Finder H2O (W/map software $200.00)

Garmin MapGPS 60Cx (w/automapping software - purchased two weeks later - $400.00)

Garmin MapGPS 60Cx (2nd purchase one month later for envious spouse - $400.00)

Various accoutrments (Mapsource, Topo and Navigator V.7, 2 suction mounts, 2 cases, 2 cigarette lighter power cords - Hmmm... that's about $314.00)

 

Looks to me like it's hard to tell. We're alrwady looking at the big car units so we can get traffic and weather updates (via subscription).

 

So many toys -- so little time.

 

p.s. I'm sure it goes without saying (NOW) but I never leave my GPS in the car. EVER. For any reason. I have a garmon case, I clip it on my belt or stick it in my pocket. It's just too much of a temptation for a thief.

 

Too bad you had to find out the hard way... But all that said, I highly recoomend the 60Cx. What a great all around GPS for car, automapping, commuting, traveling and geocaching. It even has games on it and the best part is it has a slot for memory cards. I have 1GB of space on mine and two additional transflash cards with various topo maps.

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We had a hard time when we got started with units:

 

eTrex Legend #1: Must have been a store return or something, because the serial cable was missing. We exchanged it for another one.

 

eTrex Legend #2: Dropped it on the driveway after a couple of days and one of the buttons quick working. Returned it to the store and they were nice enough to exchange it. (I left out the part about dropping it on the driveway!) :lol::anibad:

 

eTrex Legend #3: Has been through everything and still keeps running. It's banged up, worn out and is pretty much retired now. I still keep it as a backup to our new unit and as a speedometer on my bicycle.

 

GPSMAP 60CS: Our new daily use unit. Love the auto-routing feature, the colour screen, and the notes for the Geocache waypoints. I treat this one much better than I used to treat the old Legend.

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late 1999 - etrex Legend - still have it - am impressed by its durability - nice unit - still carry it a lot.

 

2002 - bought a pair of the Garmin Rino 120 units for communicating with my wife - even small hills are disruptive to this but I still have them. Reliable but seldom used.

 

2003 - Garmin eTrex Camo - bought for my wife for use in marking plants for Botany studies but has been used for Geocaching and is still in use.

 

2004 - Garmin GPSMAP 60C - my favorite unit and the one I carry most often these days.

 

??2006 - seriously looking at the new 60CSx - the addtional memory for mapping could allow a great deal of flexibility.

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I started out with a Rino120. Then one day I went caching on a road trip with Moun10Bike. Moun10Bike had a Garmin V. I was so impressed by the advantages that autorouting gave that I went out the next week and bought one.

 

At that point I was using the V in the car and the Rino on the trail. Then on one hike it rained so hard that we were calling for an Ark! The Rino got so wet it quit working. I used this as an excuse to get a Garmin 60C. I'm still using the 60C for my geocaching and the V is still mounted on the dashboard of the car.

 

Right now I'm looking for an excuse to get a 60csx... but it's real hard to justify right now.

 

BTW... after drying out for several months... the Rino started working again.

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  1. Magellen Meridian -- Still have this one but not sure when the last time it was turned on.
  2. Magellan GPS Companion for Handspring Visor - It was on close out and wound up being $30 after rebate. Still have, not sure when it was last turned on either.
  3. Garmin Etrex Yellow - Bought for our son to use. Tough little unit great as a back up.
  4. Garmin 60c - Misguided One's Christmas gift to himself two years ago.
  5. Garmin 60c - Misguided One's Christmas gift to me last year.

 

In that time we've had to take the back off the Meridian and fix a few things that got messed up when it was dropped. We've had to send the Yellow in when it had a strange no power problem (replaced at no charge long after the warranty was up). We've also had to send both of the 60c's in for different issues, both repaired at no cost other than the postage to Garmin. Oddly enough even though we've had problems with all of our Garmins, I still prefer them to the Maggies. The customer service from Garmin has been exceptional.

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1: Meridian Gold. Main unit and still going strong.

2: Sportrak Map. Backup unit.

3: Roadmate 700. Big screen best for in car and getting from cache to cache.

4: Geko 101. Use it when bike riding.

5: I Trek M3. Bluetooth unit for my laptop.

6: Yellow Etrex. POS. Sent in for repair and still did not work right (yes, I know in general they are/were good units- I just had a lemon). Died in a fatal tree collision. RIP.

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MAP 330 --- Firmware got corrupted after a year

Sportrak (first one) --- Screen went blank after about a year

Meridian Gold --- Didn't like the way it felt in my hand and took it back to wally

Sportrak (second one) --- This is the one I use

Explorist 600 (first one) --- stopped working and took it back to Fry's

Explorist 600 (second one) --- sits underneath my dashboard waiting to be used

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Magellen Meridian bought over 4 years ago and it is still the only one I use.

 

A few months ago the backlight stoped working. Opened it up and found a broken piece of an SMT component floating around in the case. If I could ID the component I'd fix it myself. But since I rarely use the backlight it isn't a big deal.

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1. Magellan SporTrack Color, stepped on by a friend after I set it down to put the cache back. Works okay but buttons are tough to use. 6 mos.

 

2. Magellan 315, not used much--hard to use that screen resoluation when you have/had the SporTrack color. 1-2 mos as backup

 

3. Garmin Etrex Legend, used a bit, gave to my sister to use, 2-3 mos.

 

4. Garmin GPSMap60CS, continued use, 2+ years

 

60CS wins, no contest.

 

:)

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1. Garmin V, bought in 2002 when I discovered this website. 1500+ cache hunts. Dropped into an icy stream on a terrain 4.5 cache, May 2005. Antenna no longer works but it still holds a lock in the car, so I use it for autorouting.

 

2. Magellan SporTrak Color, given to me in 2003 for helping Thales straighten out the mess with our local Magellan treasure hunt contest. Backup and unit for my daughter until the Garmin V went swimming; presently my primary GPS for use outside the car.

 

3. Garmin 60CSx, to be ordered very soon using some of my annual bonus money. Because I don't like the Magellan user interface.

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Still using my trusty old Garmin Etrex. NOrmally I'm a bit of a gadget geek, adn I'd love to have one that would give me turn by turn directions out loud, but I'll probably keep using this one until it croaks.

That was my plan with my old 3+. Unfortunately, it never would croak. After a few years of waiting, I upgraded. Interestingly, I sold it on ebay for more than I bought it for, years before.

 

1. Garmin V, bought in 2002 when I discovered this website. 1500+ cache hunts. Dropped into an icy stream on a terrain 4.5 cache, May 2005. Antenna no longer works but it still holds a lock in the car, so I use it for autorouting. ...

I might have a spare antenna for you at home. I'll dig around for it (if I remember).

Edited by sbell111
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I am scavok aka starving-student so I didn't have the funds for a 60cs or anything but I thought my magellan worked fine and I count navigating to the cache (roads and everything) without a map as part of the fun. I went with the explorist 210 (has major road maps built in) and is the cheapest unit with a sync cable.

 

I like it so far, I just have to remember to lock my car door now!

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I am scavok aka starving-student so I didn't have the funds for a 60cs or anything but I thought my magellan worked fine and I count navigating to the cache (roads and everything) without a map as part of the fun. I went with the explorist 210 (has major road maps built in) and is the cheapest unit with a sync cable.

 

I like it so far, I just have to remember to lock my car door now!

 

I'm still on my first one. I'm paranoid about it being stolen, so I always hide it well. It's kind of held together with epoxy and toothpicks now though. But it's hard to let go of your first!

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1st-Magellan GPS 2000 that I got used from the e-place for $20. Used it for 6 months then it quit getting lock. Donated it to someone who needed a battery cover.

 

2nd and current- Geko 101 that I got used from the e-place for $50. Smaller than my cell phone. Tough as nails. Been dropped, tossed, wet, muddy, sat on, left for dead, and still works fine so that's what I use. Just wish the batteries lasted a little longer.

 

3rd-?. Was thinking about getting a fancy one but contemplating getting 2 yellows and sending one to my dad, he needs to get out more often. I like the challenge of straight line navigation in a curvy world anyway.

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My first one was a Garmin eTrex Legend. Didn't much care for it so I took it back to the store.

 

My second one which I still have is a Garmin Rino 130. However, this was recently chewed upon by my lovely little puppy who I guess wasn't able to find her first cache alone, so took it out of the GPSr. Both the GPS and radio antenna are just about chewed off and the screen is quite scratched up (puppy teeth are sharp). It still works, but if I can convince the wife to give me an advance on my allowance I may upgrade.

 

My third one is a yellow eTrex. I bought it a few days before the puppy incident, psychic? No... stupid. I'd been planning a caching trip for the weekend while the wife was out of town, but stupid me, I left my GPSr in the car she took, and so went out and bought the eTrex. Why the puppy didn't chew that one up instead? It didn't cost as much, that's why.

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My current unit is a Mag SportTrac Whatever. Must be 3 or 4 years old and still working dependably. The backlight feature makes a humming noise when used, but other than that, I can't kill the beast. Its been dropped, tossed, drowned, subjected to -20 to 105 degree temperatures, and just generally abused. If and when it ever dies or loses its accuracy, I'll replace it with a similar unit.

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I've been caching for a few ywars and I've had 2 GPS's. My first was a Cobra GPS100, not a very popular brand and for good reason. It may be perectly sunny and standing in the middle of a large field and still not get a signal. My second and current GPS is a Lowrance iFinder. Another not so popular brand but it works phenomonally.

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I've been caching for a few ywars and I've had 2 GPS's. My first was a Cobra GPS100, not a very popular brand and for good reason. It may be perectly sunny and standing in the middle of a large field and still not get a signal. My second and current GPS is a Lowrance iFinder. Another not so popular brand but it works phenomonally.

How's that Renault working for you?

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