New Starter Gps Questions.

[Family von Tomkinson]

Hi,

 

newbie query, probably been asked a thousand times but I found myself boggled by the wealth of responses to similar questions.

 

I am looking for a GPS unit for my ten year old to go cache hunting. Easy to read/use are the prerequisites. I would welcome any advise on one of these, our local camping shop has some but all I can remember is that they were bright yellow (re-reading that, I sound really dim and probably shouldn't go geocaching...)

 

For myself, I have an Xda IIs with GPRS/Bluetooth. Has anyone else tried to load Tom-Tom or another GPS application onto an Xda? Would I be better just buying a second unit?

 

Ta, Shane

[+Pharisee]

If they're bright yellow then it's highly likely that they're Garmin units... either an Etrex (orangey yellow) or a Geko (almost flourescent yellow and a bit smaller). Both are reliable, easy to use and perfect for geocaching.

[Family von Tomkinson]

If they're bright yellow then it's highly likely that they're Garmin units... either an Etrex (orangey yellow) or a Geko (almost flourescent yellow and a bit smaller). Both are reliable, easy to use and perfect for geocaching.

 

Aha, the Geko does sound familiar- brilliant, thanks!

 

Shane

[johnzissler]

Hi Shane, Just to let you know that I am newbie too and i asked this same question a while back. The answers all pointed towards the Garmin units. There are a few to choose from and I found that the Garmin Etrex Legend was the one for me. It is easy to configure, easy to read, I can use Autoroute on my PC or Laptop with it, I can use EasyGPS to download all the waypoints from the Geocacheuk.com, it will hold 1000 waypoints, it was bought off eBay and came with MapSource maps of the United Kingdom, and the price was £89.99 so I am well pleased with it. Only two gripes ....and they are not really gripes more of observations really and that is the later versions (The C) are colour screens, and have more memory. Anyway Shane that my 2p worth.

Red Squadron

[+Nellies Knackers]

I have an XDA2i and tomtom navigator 5 runs fine on it, the copy I have is installed from sd card.

Also beelineGPS, gps dash, gps tuner amongst others but cachemate is a must (at only £4.50ish) and with the cachenav plugin you have the pointy bit included in the same program.

And if you're feeling wealthy memory-map is the dogs danglies for mapping with gps tracking.

[+The Hokesters]

I run and XDAIIs with TT Navigator 5 and think it is great. If you want any more advice PM me.

 

Simon

 

Oh, I also have a Geko 301 - perfect for caching and nice and small.

[+mollyjak]

Last year after following my hubbie back and fore and fore and back ( we hadn't been in the sport for long) I wanted one as well. We bought a yellow etrex and it has been great for me. Our main GPS downloads with all the extras needed gets us there and then I can use mine as well when we get out of the car. Info can also be downloaded straight into it with a cable. If you want it for your son then you won't need too complicated one yet????? Mine was new off ebay about £ 65

[+McDeHack]

As said you can load Tomtom to your PDA. Also you can download ALL the cashes in the UK as POIs to Tomtom.

[The Toughs]

I have a 60csx, and now my Dad is hooked on this Geocaching and wants to buy a GPSr. He is thinking of a legend could someone tell me how big an area of mapping (topo) will fit on the 8mb internal memory.

Sorry about the thread hi jack

[+Geo-Kate]

I have a 60csx, and now my Dad is hooked on this Geocaching and wants to buy a GPSr. He is thinking of a legend could someone tell me how big an area of mapping (topo) will fit on the 8mb internal memory.

Sorry about the thread hi jack

 

Just a quick reply to the toughs...

In a city area, 8mb will only let you dowload one 'tile'. An example is london, the tile was 10X17mi, and was just under 8mb.

 

In less densly populated areas with fewer roads and data, you can get 4 tiles on, just. Most out of town areas will let you dowload 2 or 3 before the 8mb limit is crossed. You can decrese the file size by about a third by not getting routing data sent over, if the space is more important.

 

In response to the OP, I would strongley recommend an Etrex yellow standard thingy if that is all you need, i.e. no maps. They are rugged, water proof and perfectly adequate for hunting down a cache if you use seperate paper maps or maps on a PDA.

As said, you can pay more and get colour screens, more memory for loading maps, and ones with better receivers to get a more accurate fix under challenging conditions.

[+ryme-intrinseca]

I must admit, when we first started caching, we bought the cheapest unit we could find. This was the basic Garmin eTrex, from gpsforless.co.uk. We have now found over 100 caches with it.

 

I did think about upgrading to one with a base unit, but I'm very attached to my eTrex, so I'm going to hang on to it for now. The only additional purchase I have since made was a PC connection lead, from eBay. This makes it much easier to download multiple waypoints, which can take a long time to put in manually.

[+macroderma]

I have a 60csx, and now my Dad is hooked on this Geocaching and wants to buy a GPSr. He is thinking of a legend could someone tell me how big an area of mapping (topo) will fit on the 8mb internal memory.

Sorry about the thread hi jack

Further to the last post I have just been caching to/from and in Cornwall when I visited my parents

 

MapSource download for Devon/Cornwall/Somerset/Bristol and the M4 corridor west of Swindon (ie 1 tile north and south) was less than 8 mb

 

It really does depend where you go - there is more detail in cities

 

I have not found it to be a limitation; however, if you intend UK wide caching on a regular basis as you travel around (like many do) you'll need more memory (or a laptop to download to the GPS!)

[+Geo-Kate]

I have a 60csx, and now my Dad is hooked on this Geocaching and wants to buy a GPSr. He is thinking of a legend could someone tell me how big an area of mapping (topo) will fit on the 8mb internal memory.

Sorry about the thread hi jack

Further to the last post I have just been caching to/from and in Cornwall when I visited my parents

 

MapSource download for Devon/Cornwall/Somerset/Bristol and the M4 corridor west of Swindon (ie 1 tile north and south) was less than 8 mb

 

It really does depend where you go - there is more detail in cities

 

I have not found it to be a limitation; however, if you intend UK wide caching on a regular basis as you travel around (like many do) you'll need more memory (or a laptop to download to the GPS!)

 

Which maps are they? Is that with the Topo GB maps or road maps like Metro Guide or City Select? The road only maps take up far less memory. I highlighted a similar area and ended up with a file over 60mb!

 

Really, really sorry for the thread kind of losing it's OP

[+wizard1974uk]

I want to upgrade my unit, but alas with me being jobless by christmas, I have to try and hang on to my pennies.

[+macroderma]

I have a 60csx, and now my Dad is hooked on this Geocaching and wants to buy a GPSr. He is thinking of a legend could someone tell me how big an area of mapping (topo) will fit on the 8mb internal memory.

Sorry about the thread hi jack

Further to the last post I have just been caching to/from and in Cornwall when I visited my parents

 

MapSource download for Devon/Cornwall/Somerset/Bristol and the M4 corridor west of Swindon (ie 1 tile north and south) was less than 8 mb

 

It really does depend where you go - there is more detail in cities

 

I have not found it to be a limitation; however, if you intend UK wide caching on a regular basis as you travel around (like many do) you'll need more memory (or a laptop to download to the GPS!)

 

Which maps are they? Is that with the Topo GB maps or road maps like Metro Guide or City Select? The road only maps take up far less memory. I highlighted a similar area and ended up with a file over 60mb!

 

Really, really sorry for the thread kind of losing it's OP

 

That's Map Source - so they aren't true maps, just roads and points of interest-no contours etc