Which Gps Is Right For Me?

[+VicHager]

I am brand new to geocaching and have not got the foggiest which GPS to go for. I want it to be as cheap as possible and initially I will only be able to hunt in Cornwall and Devon, UK. Can anyone recomend or warn me off any models? Thanks, Vic.

[+alanann&sparky]

I am brand new to geocaching and have not got the foggiest which GPS to go for. I want it to be as cheap as possible and initially I will only be able to hunt in Cornwall and Devon, UK. Can anyone recomend or warn me off any models? Thanks, Vic.

 

Hi Vic

 

We were new to geocaching not so long ago, and after much deliberation purchased a Garmin e-trex. See link here for details. We also brought ours from these people and have been very happy.

 

You can find more details via this forum section too.

 

We've been really please with our e-trex, it does everything we need, and is under a £100. Now we have been geocaching for a while though we are considering looking for something a little more sophisticated, but that will depend on our budget! Hope that helps? Alan

[Iwuzere]

I'm trying to choose too.

That globalpositioningsystems site is handy for reviews with screenshots and manuals to download.

Their prices compare well (as do many other online sites - try others too!) to the hassles of auction sites and the broadly similar prices there.

 

The Gecko models are cheaper but are more limited - you may find you really want to connect the thing to your PC, and the cheap Geckos don't allow that.

 

Up the price range a bit we have etrex Legends and Ventures which are the same handy size but give you mapping facilities - which could turn out to be well worth the extra money, but I'm not sure I need all that because I generally know how to get to areas, I just need to know more precisely where I am when I get there! I believe they also support WAAS/EGNOS (a system that provides greater accuracy, same thing but called WAAS in the USA and EGNOS in Europe) whereas the basic yellow etrex doesn't? I still haven't found the definitive answer on this one - some say it does, some say it doesn't.. the manual doesn't mention it at all.

 

Then there's the GPS 60, which is tempting me. It's slightly bigger than the etrex line and there's no mapping, but it has :

a bigger clearer screen with more options than the basic etrex (alarm, calculator, games)

a better 'Helix' aerial (the etrex 'patch' antennas need the units to be held flat for best results)

a socket to allow an external aerial to plugged in, in the car

a USB connection to the PC as well as the slower serial connector

has WAAS for sure

slightly longer battery life

 

Hopefully someone will correct me if I've made any mistakes here.

 

Good luck choosing, and please tell us what you've bought. ta! It's a bit of a minefield, but the extra features you'll get for the extra money will probably be well worth the small extra outlay and save you having to upgrade. I like the size of the very popular yellow etrex but I'll probably get the more recent GPS 60.

[+scott9282]

Advice I always give... Try Before You Buy! What works in my hand might not work in yours. In another similar thread, the placement of controls on the Garmin 76 was brought up.

 

If it's not comfortable to hold, you won't use it.

 

Get as much GPSr as you can afford. You will experience "mission creep" with a GPSr. You bought it for geocaching. Then you found out it had autorouting so it's in your car. Now you put sales contact locations on it, and so on.

 

Color is great. I've had a Magellan Sportrak Map, grayscale. I now have a Garmin 60C. I will never go back to grayscale after this.

[+Miragee]

I started with the Vista, one step up from the Legend.

 

When I saw how useful auto-routing was, since I am unfamiliar with the huge metropolitan area near where I live, I upgraded to a Vista C.

 

I like the small size of those units compared to the larger format of the GPS 60, GPS Map60C, and the 76 models.

[+Blue Knicker brigade]

We had a Cobra something or other from ebay which worked... but was really naff!, We now use an E trex (very good)

[appletree]

Consider the Garmin Quest. At this point, it is the only autorouting, voice prompting GPSR that is also fully capable as a hand held device for caching. Some of the newer features of car units such as preloaded maps, voice synthesized street names, 3D overhead display, and touch screen are lacking, so the price has plumeted. However, none of the newer units works on the trail. The quest works great, especially with an external antenna.

[+VicHager]

Thanks everyone, we have ended up with an iFinder GO2. Seems good so far, but have nothing to compare it to. VicHager

[+Team Cotati]

I am brand new to geocaching and have not got the foggiest which GPS to go for. I want it to be as cheap as possible and initially I will only be able to hunt in Cornwall and Devon, UK. Can anyone recomend or warn me off any models? Thanks, Vic.

 

Whatever unit you choose, get SD memory and routing capability. Nowadays doing otherwise is IMHO a significant mistake.

[Iwuzere]

Well I've finally bought one! The GPS-60 arrived today, and it all seems very friendly to use. I've had a good rummage through all the submenus and got it all set up, found my home location to within 9ft after averaging for a minute or two... what an impressive piece of tech!

 

Watch out local caches.. here I come!

 

Now I just have to track down that useful posting on these forums somewhere.. the one that explains the difference between shaded sats on the sat positions display, non-shaded, flashing (!?), the D symbol.. how to tell if it's found a WAAS sat.. etc. The manual doesn't explain it at all. I even ended up with a D floating in the middle of where a bar could be.. but there was no bar at all

 

Then I have to get my head around tracks versus routes.. hopefully this will seem ridiculously simple when the penny's dropped

 

Then.. connecting to the PC.. even more joys of Figuring Things Out... all good clean fun