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bahorns

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I just heard about this sport and am shopping for GPS unit. I am looking at buying a garmin etrex (Yellow). I like the legend but etrex yellow is cheaper and don't want to invest too much just yet. Does anyone know if you can you download the waypoints to the etrex yellow? And any other GPS advice would be greatly appreciated.

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The yellow is a very nice little starter unit. You can upload waypoints to the unit through an optional cable (about 38.00 from Garmin). It can hold 500 waypoints. It will not take additional maps.

 

The Legend was my starter unit. It holds 1000 waypoints, comes with the data cable. It comes with a built-in base map and others can be added later (We never added any other maps to ours). My husband liked his so much that he bought me one shortly after we began caching, and the only reason we upgraded was to get auto-routing.

 

I recommend you consider the Legend. If you do take to this activity, it will offer you a few advantages. If you drop out, it will likely have slightly better resale appeal. But in all honesty, the yellow will do a fine job and is a good starter unit.

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The Legend is only about $20-30 more than the yellow e-trex and had the cable and ability to hold maps. Definately worth it!

 

JohnAengus

 

Agreed. Once you add in the cost of the cable that comes with the Legend, but not with the yellow, the price difference is minimal.

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OK...so let me get this straight...

The Legend gives you maps so you can find the waypoint easier, and lets you upload/download waypoints to it (using GPS Easy or GSAK).

The yellow just directs you toward the waypoints you manually enter. You bring along maps to get you in the general area, then use the yellow.

 

I'm new (obviously) and trying to decide what unit to invest in. I want to geocache with my 7yr old daughter, and maybe get Daddy hooked.

 

Thanks.

Beth

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The Legend has a base map on the unit and it comes with the cable that connects to your computer, unlike the little yellow eTrex.

 

The Legend can accept additional maps, should you decide to buy them, like Garmin's Topo, for instance.

 

The Vista is similar to the Legend but it has 24 MB of memory for maps vs. the Legend's 8 MB of memory.

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OK...so let me get this straight...

The Legend gives you maps so you can find the waypoint easier, and lets you upload/download waypoints to it (using GPS Easy or GSAK).

The yellow just directs you toward the waypoints you manually enter. You bring along maps to get you in the general area, then use the yellow.

 

I'm new (obviously) and trying to decide what unit to invest in. I want to geocache with my 7yr old daughter, and maybe get Daddy hooked.

 

Thanks.

Beth

I bought the etrex legend on a recommendation from a family member who is in the military. I'm a mom with three kids and a solo geocacher most of the time. I had never used a compass or even seen a gps b4 geocaching and I think the legend is really great. I'm happy I bought it. I got a great deal on ebay and bought it brand new. I think i paid around 130.00 (that was including the shipping) The legend is user friendly and the manual is very good too. Hope this helps and happy cachin' from one momma to another! :D

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I agree with Smilingsteeles' post up there. I have an etrex legend, and it is easy to use, comes with the cable to download waypoints, and the capibility to hold a little mapping should you decide to get it sometime down the road. (You won't need it if you are just geocaching in your area, so don't even worry about it right now. I don't have it. )

 

I paid about $123 on Amazon- that was the best price I found. (It was the same price as Wal Mart, but our local store didn't have them.)

Edited by Sevilon
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My first GPS unit was a Legend, which I bought for navigation and hiking ... at that time I wasn't even aware that geocaching exists. As you can see from my stats, the "find a cache" aspect of having a GPS didn't really take off yet anyway, we use it occasionally to find new parks to have a nice walk or hike. That part of the game has satisfied us more than enough so far.

 

I passed the Legend on to my stepson last year and upgraded to a VistaCS. From day one I used the extra maps, on the Legend as well as on the VistaCS. They are essential for using the GPS as an on-road navigation aid. My GPS serves as a navigation and tracklog device most of the time ... in a carrying case strapped with a bungee cord to the handlebars of my 150cc motor scooter (my car is STA-BIL loaded and insurance suspended right now).

 

Why did I say all that?

 

It seems to me that you're not really sure that you will like geocaching enough to get fun worth $100 or more out of it. If that's the case, ask yourself if you would spend $300-$400 on a routing navigation system, that will "allways" get you to your destination, unless you run out of gas or get stuck in the snow/mud.

 

I came from that other direction, so I never had to ask myself if I should spend $100 on it. I already had a $300 GPS when discovering geocaching at all. Plus me and my family like hiking anyway.

 

Ask yourself "what will I do with this thing if I don't like geocaching?". If you still don't know, see that you find someone who has a GPS you can borrow to try the sport first.

 

Jan

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I started out with a cheap little magellin and got fed up with inputing every waypoint in mannually that I eventually bought a Legend. I not only use it when caching. I use it when I am traveling out of town so i do get lost. And while I'm in a new town9out of state mostly) I will upload maps for the new area to the GPS and have the ability to navigate even the smallest streets.

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