Best For $200-250?

[+pike1369]

Hi everyone,

 

Another new guy here, trying to figure out what works best for caching and of secondary importance--road trips. Radio shack is selling the Ex500 for 175 after rebates, and I saw a Cx for $242. Which is the way to go, or is there a better option? I saw a very attractive 210 package, but I'm a little worried about not having a card for it. Which brings me to my last question--I just bought a Palm M500, so do I even need a GPS with a SD card?

 

If you made it through all that and can help me, many thanks!!!

 

P.S. Found my first cache today--hoorah!

[+Miragee]

I would recommend you get the Garmin Vista Cx. That sounds like a very good price. Purchase the City Select software and you will be all set. I have the Vista C and love the auto-routing feature.

 

I have a Palm M500 and I've used it for more than a year with no problems at all. I installed Cachemate on it. On my computer, I use GSAK to manage the data and Export the files for the Palm.

[+pike1369]

It's actually a Legend Cx that I saw...but if I could find a vista for that price........

 

Anyway in relation to my quetion about using a PDA, what I am wondering is if it is possible to transfer data to the GPS from the Palm?

 

Anyway just to throw another monkey wrench in the works, how does the 400 fit in to all this? Seems identical to the 500, except for the color screen?

 

I'm a little nervous about buying a Magellan after reading this forum, but I live in Arkansas where most caches are in deep forest cover and I don't think the Etrex's could handle it.

[+Miragee]

All I know about the Magellans are the horror stories about their Customer Support. A friend of mine had two different ones that both went bad and it took him forever to get an RMA number to send the one that was still covered under warranty in for repair.

 

The newer Color units hold a signal better than the older Garmin units, but for that kind of tree cover, the best recommendation would be the GPSMap 60Cx with the Sirf chip. The reception those units get is fantastic . . . but they are a bit more than your budget . . .

 

I use GSAK to transfer the waypoints to my GPSr. After I send them to the GPSr, I Export that same data in the correct format for my Palm. I always have all the local caches on my Palm.

 

I think there are ways to connect the Palm with the GPSr, but I've never tried. When I took a road trip, I took my laptop and I could update the GPSr from it.

[+EScout]

$175 for the eX500 is very good value. Add $75 for a Mapsend program and a few dollars for an SD and you have it all. I have had mine for over a year, paid over $300. It has worked perfectly since I have had it. It has an excellent receiver, the most advanced file system of any GPSr, and the convenience of Lithium rechargeable battery. Yes, like your cell phone and PDA, you can charge it anywhere, without the bother of constantly removing and charging AAs in a charger.

[+IronmOn]

 

Anyway in relation to my quetion about using a PDA, what I am wondering is if it is possible to transfer data to the GPS from the Palm?

 

 

For using a PDA for Geocaching and doing paperless Caching I suggest reading an article writen

by Clan_Barron called Paperless Caching located here: http://65.34.18.106/content.php?article.15

 

As for Units for the amount of money you would like to spend, I suggest the Garmin legend CX $240 or the Garmin Venture Cx for $209, plus geting Mapsource City Navigator or City Select which also will give you Auto-route which is extremly helpfull for Driving.

 

Try checking Prices on EBay and/or some of these stores:

 

Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Category.asp?Category=277

 

Tigerdirect: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...x=10&image1.y=7

 

waterandwoods (EBay Seller): http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ2...Q3aMEFSQ3aMESOI

 

TigerGPS: http://www.tigergps.com/

 

You might also want to maybe look at the eariler Discussion:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...opic=132252&hl=

 

Hope this helps, Good Luck, and Happy Cache Huntingand most of all

Practice Cache and Release

[+Prothos]

All I know about the Magellans are the horror stories about their Customer Support. A friend of mine had two different ones that both went bad and it took him forever to get an RMA number to send the one that was still covered under warranty in for repair.

 

The newer Color units hold a signal better than the older Garmin units, but for that kind of tree cover, the best recommendation would be the GPSMap 60Cx with the Sirf chip. The reception those units get is fantastic . . . but they are a bit more than your budget . . .

 

I use GSAK to transfer the waypoints to my GPSr. After I send them to the GPSr, I Export that same data in the correct format for my Palm. I always have all the local caches on my Palm.

 

I think there are ways to connect the Palm with the GPSr, but I've never tried. When I took a road trip, I took my laptop and I could update the GPSr from it.

I use a magellan explorist 210. It comes with software designsd for geocaching but i still use GSAK. the explorist i have seems to hold signal batter than a friends garmin in thick tree cover. I too have heard the horror stories but have not had to contact them. I have also heard of good stories just as i have heard good and bad about garmin. I bought a 4 year extended warrenty from the store. They provide free in house repalcements.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I havebeen usong my Explorist 500 for over a year now without problems.

I started with the old yellow e trek the a legend, I kept lossing signels in the trees.

Then I switch to a Magellan meridian gold, sport track map, and now my Explorist 500, all my Magellan have out maintained a better lock then the garmin e-trex.

on feature some people over look in the Magellan Explorst 500 is the easy way of loading sever cache files onto the SD card or the internal memory,

You can have files set to reflect a geographic location you plan to cache in, you can have files the reflect the difficulty or terain ratting. You can set these files to reflect anything you like. As far as Magellan topo softwar and Garmins, Magellan topo software includes all street names Garnin does not.

Garmin has not improved the chipsets in the new X versions of the e-trex as they have in the larger versions such as the 60CX.

BTW, do not bother with a magnetic compass in a GPS, for the most part they are not worth the cost and you would be better of spending the money on some good hiking boots.

[+pike1369]

Wow! Excellent advice all around!

 

I know these types of threads are a dime a dozen, but I want to say thanks for helping anyway.

 

For me, maintaining signal lock in the trees is paramount, because in Arkansas thats just about the only kind of terrain we have. If the legend Cx can't handle it, then I really wouldn't have much use for it!

 

And on the Topo software--so are you saying that all I need is the topo for cahing AND autorouting? That would be a great value indeed.

[+pike1369]

Another good deal to ask about---

 

for $259 Tiger GPS is offering a Ex400, case, Topo software, SD card and cables.

 

Should I forget the 500 and get this deal?

[+geognerd]

And on the Topo software--so are you saying that all I need is the topo for cahing AND autorouting? That would be a great value indeed.

Nope. Sorry. The Topo3D doesn't autoroute. You would need to buy DirectRoute for autorouting. Most current version of DR is v3. Honestly, I'd say the eX500 for $175 is a better deal. You'll get a color screen, which is especially useful if you are going to be using any sort of maps. Use the $80 you save over the eX400 Topo Package and put that toward whichever mapping package you want. An SD card included in a package is no big deal because they are relatively cheap now. For a SanDisk 512MB card, I see them run about $25-45.

[+pike1369]

To add to the confusion, I now have an offer to buy a Garmin 60Cx with maps loaded, for $350.

 

So basically it's come down to either the Ex500 or the Garmin 60Cx (I think either one will suit me best for the heavy forest I live in).

 

Final comments?

 

And again thanks for participating!

[+geognerd]

To add to the confusion, I now have an offer to buy a Garmin 60Cx with maps loaded, for $350.

Caveat emptor. If the unit comes with the maps already loaded, there may be some copyright and licensing issues. You won't really own the maps. What will you do if you need to clear the memory card for some reason? You won't have the CD/DVD available to reload the maps onto the card.

[+pike1369]

I decided on the Ex500. With shipping and tax it came to $259.00 (overnight shipping added $15).What did it for me was the ability to get alot extra stuff for it cheap--spare batteries from a Motorola phone for $8, car charger for the PSP $5, memory card $19.99 w/shipping, etc.

 

Hope I've made a good decision, and thanks for all your help guys!

[+Team Cotati]

Do yourself a gigantic favor, get the most full featured Garmin that $250.00 can buy.

Edited June 9, 2006 by Team Cotati

[+pike1369]

Do yourself a gigantic favor, get the most full featured Garmin that $250.00 can buy.

 

Well unfortunately, to get one of the good Garmins that will work in the trees I call home, I would have had to spend $150 more--something I just don't have at the moment. Thanks anyway for the vote of confidence.

[+RayDar_]

Anyway in relation to my quetion about using a PDA, what I am wondering is if it is possible to transfer data to the GPS from the Palm?

GeoNiche is a 100% paperless solution for Geocaching with your Palm and a compatible GPS receiver.

[+hidnseek]

If you google you should find links for cable for the gps and palm. I have one and have only used it a few times but it is handy. GPS is magellan and Palm is 505m