tdriversteve Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Only recently started geocaching,have been using my friends e-trex legend and found it reasonable. Without any fancy descriptions of functions can somebody tell me what is the best unit to buy,if not a legend? Quote Link to comment
+Scorpion King Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Only recently started geocaching,have been using my friends e-trex legend and found it reasonable. Without any fancy descriptions of functions can somebody tell me what is the best unit to buy,if not a legend? Garmin 60csx Quote Link to comment
+geognerd Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Now hold on. Let's find out what Steve wants to do with his GPS receiver before recommending receivers that cost well over $300. Does he want to use it for car navigation, getting directions from one place to another? Does he want to use street and topo maps, which add to the overall cost? Does he really need a thermometer, barometer, and electronic compass in his GPS receiver? How much does he want to spend? The Legend is a very popular GPS receiver and will definitely work for geocaching. But if you want to use any maps on your receiver, you should probably consider one with more memory and probably a color screen. The Garmin GPSmap 60CSx mentioned by Scorpion King is good, with expandable memory and good reception, but you could save a few bucks by getting the GPSmap 60Cx. The 60Cx lacks the barometer, altimeter, and magnetic compass. I like Magellan's eXplorist line, but you'll be in trouble if you ever need the company's customer support. It sounds pretty lackluster compared to Garmin's. However, the eXplorists are cheaper than the 60Cx/CSx. Quote Link to comment
+gilliancclarke Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 I'm also a little confused - do i need a electronic compass to find caches? Can I download the wap points to the etrex legend? Quote Link to comment
tdriversteve Posted May 4, 2006 Author Share Posted May 4, 2006 Firstly,thanks for replying. I intend to use the gps for geocaching and hiking,mainly in England,but possibly abroad when on holiday. My budget is around $300 dollars or up to around £180. As a guide i can buy a new e-trex legend for £121 on Amazon,sorry i'm not really into exchange rates! Quote Link to comment
+oldsoldier Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 An Etrex will work fine. Granted, you dont get alot of the fancy mapping stuff, but, hey, reading maps is an art, and fun . I use a foretrex, which I love. I just print a map of the area before I go out. I like mapreading though. Quote Link to comment
+Red90 Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 If you want Garmin, the Venture Cx is the best bang for the buck. It is a Legend Cx without the card and cable. You can buy the card and cable yourself much cheaper. The 60Cx is a lot more expensive but gets you: Slightly better reception, slightly larger screen, serial transfer option, external antenna option. Does your $300 budget include maps? Maps add a lot to the overall cost (especially in Europe) and you should keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 The Legend is a very popular unit, with lots of bang for your buck (or lots of pop for your pound, or something). I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a very functional unit. It doesn't have lots of bells and whistles, but it is a step above the cheap entry level units. The Megellan counterpart, if you want to compare, is probably the Explorist 210. It is also a solid well regarded unit, but sells for a bit more. Quote Link to comment
Alphawolf Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 Just go get a Garmin Foretrex 101 and a $12 magnetic compass. You won't then have to buy any additional software to load into your unit. For hiking and geocaching, this is all you need. Then, you won't be sorry for spending the extra $100 on mapping software that is one fourth the detail of good paper maps anyway. I have several GPS units, up to and including color mapping, talking units. For off road hiking, the Foretrex is the unit I always grab! Quote Link to comment
+CheshireFrog Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 If you've been using a Legend and you're comfortable with it, then get a Legend. I have a Magellan, and have owned two Garmins, but I'm not rabidly loyal to either. The Legend is a fine unit, and there's no reason to learn a new GPS's controls if your already comfortable with what you've been using. Quote Link to comment
tdriversteve Posted May 5, 2006 Author Share Posted May 5, 2006 Thanks everyone for your kind advice,i shall study amazon and e-bay this weekend,and make up my mind then. Looking at the prices,the cheaper version of the garmin 60 comes out best,although the price difference with the legend is negligible. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 I'm also a little confused - do i need a electronic compass to find caches? Can I download the wap points to the etrex legend? You don't need one to find caches. All it will do for you is that when the compass is on your GPS will point the right direction when you are stopped. If you don't have one you have to take a couple of steps before It can figure out which direction you are faced and point you the right way. You can donwload waypoints to most GPSs as long as you have a computer cable. The legend has a computer cable available (I think it comes with one). The GPSs that don't let you connect to a computer (that I know of) are: The Gecko 101. The Magellan explorist 100, 200, and 300. There are a few others but most Garmins and Magellans do connect. Quote Link to comment
+HooloovooUK Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 I've just ordered a Vista C. I decided against the black and white Legend since I read it was old and slow. The black and white Vista is only a couple of pounds cheaper than the Vista C on Amazon, so that's a no brainer. The Vista C is £33 more expensive than the Legend C but I decided I wanted the electronic compass to avoid having to keep walking backwards and forwards to get a bearing direction. Like you I was tempted by the GPS 60 at just £111 but I wanted the compass, colour screen, and mapping so ended up spending almost double Quote Link to comment
tdriversteve Posted May 7, 2006 Author Share Posted May 7, 2006 Finally decided on the legend,but i'm quite sure someone will tell me i've made the wrong decision! Another point i noticed whilst seaching amazon for a unit,if you go on to the american version of amazon model numbers seem to be slightly different to their british counterparts,confusing the issue even more! Quote Link to comment
-Oz- Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 i'm quite sure someone will tell me i've made the wrong decision! Steve, you've definitely made the correct decision. Based on your budget and needs the legend is the way to go. I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensly. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 i'm quite sure someone will tell me i've made the wrong decision! Steve, you've definitely made the correct decision. Based on your budget and needs the legend is the way to go. I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensly. Ditto. To the OP. The legend works just fine, holds 1000 waypoints and has mapping ability. It will work well for you for a long time. If you do decide to upgrade you will know enough from using the legend to know exactly what you want to upgrade to. Plus the GPS is good enough you may never choose to upgrade. Quote Link to comment
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