Ready To Upgrade, Suggestions?

[+StfRon]

OK, after several months with my eTrex Legend, I'm ready to upgrade to a more accurate unit. I want a unit that is color, and has alot better reception under deep tree cover. I'd like to stay under $300- does anyonr have suggestions? I'm thinking a Garmin 60c or a Magellan eXplorist 600. I'm a little hinky about the Garmin, just because I'm not happy with the Legends performance. Thanks in advance~

[+Team Cotati]

OK, after several months with my eTrex Legend, I'm ready to upgrade to a more accurate unit. I want a unit that is color, and has alot better reception under deep tree cover. I'd like to stay under $300- does anyonr have suggestions? I'm thinking a Garmin 60c or a Magellan eXplorist 600. I'm a little hinky about the Garmin, just because I'm not happy with the Legends performance. Thanks in advance~

 

Get the most Garmin x series that your budget can stand. You might want to consider going over the budget just a tad. Today, no serious cacher ought to be purchasing a unit that does not have memory card capability.

Edited June 15, 2006 by Team Cotati

[+Miragee]

If you don't do a lot of traveling, you could be happy with a Legend C or Vista C, if you can find one of those on eBay. They were discontinued when the 'x' versions came out.

 

For $300.00, you should be able to get a Legend C and the City Select software to take advantage of the unit's ability to auto-route you around unfamiliar areas.

 

If you need lots of map memory because you travel frequently, you will want one of the 'x' units, either the Legend Cx or the Vista Cx is in your price range. The GPSMap60Cx/CSx is a bit over your price range, but the reception for those units is fantastic.

[+demhackbardt]

Not sure what your requirements are, but for your 300 budget you can get a Lowrance H2OC with the mapping software. It's got the newer sirf III chip like the garmin x models. I just got the expedition C (like the h2o with a couple other features) for only 323 (tigergps.com) and I'm totally happy with it.

[+dragon0987]

i just upgrade from a garmin legend to a garmin 60csx and it performs awesome under tree cover, my wife had the legend and i had the 60csx on our last outing and the legend kept losing sats and the 60csx never lost any sats the whole time probally spent 2hrs under dense trees, i bought mine at gpsdiscount for 500 with mapsource topo , a case and recargable battery kit otherwise you can get just the unit for 400

[+StfRon]

OK, what's the difference between a '60CX' and a '60CSX'?

[+geognerd]

The S in 60CSx stands for Sensor. It has an electronic compass and barometric altimeter. Sensored units, both Magellan and Garmin, seem to have more problems than their non-sensored equivalents.

[+StfRon]

Ahhh, OK..so those are features I don't need, Thanks!

[+geognerd]

You mentioned the eXplorist 600. That has a triaxial compass, thermometer, and barometric altimeter too. The eXplorist 500 is the equivalent without the sensors.

[+media601]

Ahhh, OK..so those are features I don't need, Thanks!

 

The electronic compass is handy because it points at a waypoint when you're standing still. It does need to be calibrated occasionally, notably whenever you change the batts. I agree the barometric altimeter is something you won't need unless you want to use the GPSr in an ultralight aircraft.

 

REI.com is clearancing the 60cs for $300.00. No memory card capability, but still a darn good deal, especially considering it is priced comparable to the Vista C and just a bit more than the Legend C.