thegadgeteer Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I'm looking for advice on buying a GPS. I'm a total newbie. Never used a GPS for geocaching, and I am a Mac user. My budget is anything under $300. What should I get? Julie http://www.the-gadgeteer.com Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I think I read somewhere that Garmin will be Mac compatible soon. I'm moving this to the GPS Units and Software forum where those who know a lot more than I do about this can comment. Quote Link to comment
+aaromash Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 My Garmin Etrex is bright yellow. I would think that would apeal to a Mac user. Quote Link to comment
thegadgeteer Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Ha! Well I'm looking for a unit that will interface well with a Mac. I know some do not have USB cables, etc. Julie My Garmin Etrex is bright yellow. I would think that would apeal to a Mac user. Quote Link to comment
+NinjaMonkey Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I have a Garmin 60CS and it works well with my Mac. A program called MacGPS Pro will allow USB transfer of waypoints and tracks. Later on this year Garmin will be making its software Mac compatible so you'll be able to transfer maps without using a Windows PC. Quote Link to comment
thegadgeteer Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Is the 60CS easy to read in direct sunlight? Is it easy to use for someone that has NEVER tried geocaching before? I have a Garmin 60CS and it works well with my Mac. A program called MacGPS Pro will allow USB transfer of waypoints and tracks. Later on this year Garmin will be making its software Mac compatible so you'll be able to transfer maps without using a Windows PC. Quote Link to comment
ciprol Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Garmin's eTrex Vista Cx when bought off discount places would satisfy your budget. It's USB based and would work with LoadMyTracks on the Mac. However, full functionality would come by the end of the year when Garmin promised to release offical Mac softwares. Quote Link to comment
+geobc Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Is the 60CS easy to read in direct sunlight? Is it easy to use for someone that has NEVER tried geocaching before? The screens on the 60CS is absolutely fantastic and very, very easy to read in direct sunlight. I really wonder why my Palm TX' colour screen can't be that good. As for learning how to use it, it's no harder than any other GPS IMO. GeoBC Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Garmin is Mac compatible. I use a yellow etrex, and use MacSimpleGPS to download -or is it upload?! -the waypoints to the GPS. www.macsimplegps.com/ It's free! And you can drag and drop .loc and .gpx files into a window ready to download to the GPS. G Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 ps. You will need a serial assistant to connect the garmin lead to a USB port, as the garmin lead is a serial port connection. I use a keyspan one. Quote Link to comment
Barrikady Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 ps. You will need a serial assistant to connect the garmin lead to a USB port, as the garmin lead is a serial port connection. I use a keyspan one. The above quoted statement is not true. If, for example, you purchase a Garmin 60Cx, you can attach the GPS to your Mac running OSX by means of a USB cable. You can then download tracks, waypoints and routes to the Mac with the free LoadMyTracks. I have the 60Cx and a Mac and it is a sweet combination...which will be even sweeter when Garmin releases its software as Mac compatable. Barrikady Quote Link to comment
+ArtieD Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 Also, if you have a new Intel Mac you can actually boot up Windows XP and then you can use any GPS you'd like. I have a Legend C with a USB cable and it works just fine. Quote Link to comment
dragonflyladyofarizona Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 I think I read somewhere that Garmin will be Mac compatible soon. We just got the Garmin Rino 530 and it is compatable with mac. I have both a mac and windows pc at haven't tried the mac yet but I love this Garmin Rino 530 newegg.com has the lowest prices under $300. Make sure and purchase the Mapsource US topo program you can get it online at walmart.com for $75. Quote Link to comment
ciprol Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 It's hardly Mac compatible yet. We need a Mac version of MapSource before we call it compatible. At present, there are lots of work arounds through third party softwares. Irrespective, you'll still need a PC to upload maps to your Garmin unit. Waiting and waiting... Virtual PC on the Mac may work. BootCamp on new Mactels with Windows may work. Parallel's Workstation running on new Mactels may permit MapSource to run under OS X. Quote Link to comment
Team Kryptos Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 I am using a Vista Cx with a G5 running MacGPS Pro. Works good (not great, some crashing) together. I got the Vista Cx because it does not require a different cable, it is USB. Some other Garmins req. a special cable, more info on MacGPS pro site if you go with that software. As for maps, you can get state specific topos (around $30) from MacGPS Pro site, or if you have the Garmin Cx models you can spring $80 and get regional micro SD cards with topos on it. I did that and for my $80 I got all of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, part of SD, Minnesota, Missouri. Go to Garmin site for your region. Easy installation! After punching in coords by hand for 350 finds ( and how many DNFs) the waypoint files are a blessing. And the maps on my old Maggie left MUCH to be desired. Quote Link to comment
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