Low End GPS recommendation - geocaching only!

[jczimmerman]

OK, please help out a newbie here!

 

Before we got interested in geocaching, I bought a Garmin Nuvi 350. Just LOVE it for navigating city streets, finding restaurants, landmarks, etc.

 

BUT - it really can't be used for geocaching. It can get me to the general area, help me find a parking space but is not accurate and directional enough to get me to geocache coordinates.

 

We do a lot of hiking in the woods and in gorges and gullies (looking for waterfalls!!), so we need a GPS with these qualities:

 

1) Low cost, preferably under $200

 

2) Good reception, esp under light to moderate tree cover

 

3) NO additional mapping software needed, just want something to use AFTER we get out of the car and start hiking

 

4) Ability to connect to my computer via USB

 

Friends we traveled with this weekend had the Garmin Etrex, but said they were not as happy with it as an older Magellan they had previously. I was looking at the Magellan Explorist 210 - comments, or other suggestions? It seems to me that satellite reception and accuracy in the field would be the most important requirements for us.

 

Thanks for any and all comments on this!

 

Joe

[hacksaw_sportrak]

OK, please help out a newbie here!

 

Before we got interested in geocaching, I bought a Garmin Nuvi 350. Just LOVE it for navigating city streets, finding restaurants, landmarks, etc.

 

BUT - it really can't be used for geocaching. It can get me to the general area, help me find a parking space but is not accurate and directional enough to get me to geocache coordinates.

 

We do a lot of hiking in the woods and in gorges and gullies (looking for waterfalls!!), so we need a GPS with these qualities:

 

1) Low cost, preferably under $200

 

2) Good reception, esp under light to moderate tree cover

 

3) NO additional mapping software needed, just want something to use AFTER we get out of the car and start hiking

 

4) Ability to connect to my computer via USB

 

Friends we traveled with this weekend had the Garmin Etrex, but said they were not as happy with it as an older Magellan they had previously. I was looking at the Magellan Explorist 210 - comments, or other suggestions? It seems to me that satellite reception and accuracy in the field would be the most important requirements for us.

 

Thanks for any and all comments on this!

 

Joe

 

I have a Garmin Etrex, Magellan Sportrak Map and a Meridian Gold. I find that my Mag's get me closer to caches under tree cover. I am at the point of buying the 210 myself, based on my positive experiences with the Magellan GPS's. But it lacks a key feature that would make life easier.

 

All of the above mentioned units are subject to the "boomerang effect" (due to the lack of a proper multi-axis compass, you have to move/wait to get a proper directional bearing). Granted - consider the source. I am more of a tech weenie than a cacher (thus the small number of finds).

 

The only thing that I would recommend is that you get a handheld with a multi-axis compass. The Meridian Platinum is an older model that has this feature, but the Explorist 600 is the only one in that line that has it. Don't get me wrong - my other GPSr's get me to the cache - but I pretty quickly got to the point where I'd really love that compass.

[+BlackRok]

I have the Explorist 210, and though only finding 4 caches so far, I enjoy this model.

The reception is great, even in heavy cover, and the USB connection is another big plus to upload your caches.

My only regrets are not having the Electronic Compass, and the color screen!

I have a friend who may wind up being a convert to Geocaching, so I may have a chance to upgrade in the future.

[+Tbear877]

OK, please help out a newbie here!

 

Before we got interested in geocaching, I bought a Garmin Nuvi 350. Just LOVE it for navigating city streets, finding restaurants, landmarks, etc.

 

BUT - it really can't be used for geocaching. It can get me to the general area, help me find a parking space but is not accurate and directional enough to get me to geocache coordinates.

 

We do a lot of hiking in the woods and in gorges and gullies (looking for waterfalls!!), so we need a GPS with these qualities:

 

1) Low cost, preferably under $200

 

2) Good reception, esp under light to moderate tree cover

 

3) NO additional mapping software needed, just want something to use AFTER we get out of the car and start hiking

 

4) Ability to connect to my computer via USB

 

Friends we traveled with this weekend had the Garmin Etrex, but said they were not as happy with it as an older Magellan they had previously. I was looking at the Magellan Explorist 210 - comments, or other suggestions? It seems to me that satellite reception and accuracy in the field would be the most important requirements for us.

 

Thanks for any and all comments on this!

 

Joe

 

I'm very new to this, my girlfriend is a pro ...

 

I bought a cheap IGO2 from Lowrenance for 80.00 I HATED IT! I ended up sending it back. Then I found a Magellan Explorist 400 which I ordered TODAY! Can't wait, it downloads everything for your from the computer...even the logs, NO MORE PAPER! I got it for 160.00 which is the best price, I shopped around.

 

I have another friend that has the 210 and he loves it, and his wife has the 200. But I choose the 400 for the downloading....

[+humanloofa]

I have not had a problem with my E-trex legend, all though I upgraded recently to the Garmin 60csx. Look around and see what you want than look on froogle.com, lots of good buys there. Saved me about $150 off my new one. Just checked you can get one around $120 and you can add features to it latter if you want.

Edited September 5, 2006 by humanloofa

[+oldsoldier]

I strongly recommend the etrex series. You can go basic, all the way up to the Legend X series. These will all do exactly what you are looking for, without breaking the bank.

[+geognerd]

I bought a cheap IGO2 from Lowrenance for 80.00 I HATED IT! I ended up sending it back. Then I found a Magellan Explorist 400 which I ordered TODAY! Can't wait, it downloads everything for your from the computer...even the logs, NO MORE PAPER! I got it for 160.00 which is the best price, I shopped around.

 

I have another friend that has the 210 and he loves it, and his wife has the 200. But I choose the 400 for the downloading....

Actually, you'll still need paper or a PDA. The eXplorists do not show previous logs. The Geocaching POIs are useful, but only give you the basic information like cache name, cache owner, date placed, date last found, difficulty, terrain, cache type, and the first 20 characters of the hint. It's better than nothing, but not as good as having a printout or a PDA. The eXplorist 4/5/600 have a better implementation of the Geocaching POIs than the 210 and XL because they use a newer firmware that allows you to mark the caches as found. Not sure why Magellan doesn't bring the 210 and XL up to speed with the other units.

[+BFPierce]

My first GPS unit was/is the Lowrance Ifinder M&M. I picked it up on ebay for less then $100, and I absolutely love it. Reception under tree cover is great, battery life is only OK, but I ease of use had me up and running with it in less then an hour. It's a great sturdy unit with a very nice sized screen.

[+StarBrand]

For just a basic unit that will get you to the cache - you just can't go wrong with the etrex legend. There are cheaper models that all work but the Legend has mapping and a computer cable to download cache waypoints much faster. Garmin's plain GPS 60 is a basic unit with a dedicated Geocaching mode which can aid you in getting to several caches in a n area more efficiently.

[+bumblingbs]

I'm very sad today, on and off. I think my GPSr is dying, then it comes back, then slows again. Oh dear. Anyway, it's been a good friend, but never did do well under tree cover. If I'm to buy a new one, I've been told that Magellan is better for that.

Don't know if they still even make mine, but its a Garmin Etrex Venture. Always did lose signal under trees. Heck, I loved it anyway.

[+briansnat]

Since you do a lot of hiking and looking for gorges and gullys you probably would eventually want topo mapping software, so stick with a mapping unit.

 

For just a bit over $200 (around $220) you can get a Lowrance iFinder H20 Plus package complete with mapping software, memory card and card reader (its around $135 without the Plus package, but I strongly suggest topo software for hiking). The iFinder H20 might be the best pure geocaching unit around. Reception under trees was way better than any Garmin or Magellan I used it next to and its the cheapest unit that I know of that has expandible memory.

 

The Garmin eTrex Venture is around $160 with the current rebate and is a good choice. It has the advantage of compact size, light weight and expandible memory.

 

The Magellan eXplorist 210 is another decent choice in that price range, but unfortunately the unit comes along with Magellan's reputation for abysmal customer service, so you'd better hope your unit doesn't have problems.

 

The topo software would be an extra $90-$110 for both the Venture and eXlporist.

 

If you have no intention of ever buying topo mapping software, any of these units would be overkill. There really is no point in having a mapping unit without maps. Perhaps something like a Garmin Geko 201 (the smallest and lightest handheld GPS on the market) or a Garmin 60 would do the trick. Both are good, basic units that don't have mapping. They do however have a screen that shows you where you are in relation to your destination or other waypoints.

 

Another point. If you are doing a lot of hiking in gorges and gullys, I think a unit with a patch antenna will perform a bit better than one with a quad helix. The patch's strong point is receiving sats overhead, while quad helix antennas do a better job with sats lower on the horizon.

 

Of the units I mentioned all have a patch antenna, except the Garmin 60, which uses a quad helix.

Edited September 6, 2006 by briansnat

[gerboa]

I have 3 Garmins low med top end

 

The low end ETREX is great

 

(but I'm gonna get a CSX}

[jczimmerman]

Since you do a lot of hiking and looking for gorges and gullys you probably would eventually want topo mapping software, so stick with a mapping unit.

 

For just a bit over $200 (around $220) you can get a Lowrance iFinder H20 Plus package complete with mapping software, memory card and card reader (its around $135 without the Plus package, but I strongly suggest topo software for hiking). The iFinder H20 might be the best pure geocaching unit around. Reception under trees was way better than any Garmin or Magellan I used it next to and its the cheapest unit that I know of that has expandible memory.

 

The Garmin eTrex Venture is around $160 with the current rebate and is a good choice. It has the advantage of compact size, light weight and expandible memory.

 

The Magellan eXplorist 210 is another decent choice in that price range, but unfortunately the unit comes along with Magellan's reputation for abysmal customer service, so you'd better hope your unit doesn't have problems.

 

The topo software would be an extra $90-$110 for both the Venture and eXlporist.

 

If you have no intention of ever buying topo mapping software, any of these units would be overkill. There really is no point in having a mapping unit without maps. Perhaps something like a Garmin Geko 201 (the smallest and lightest handheld GPS on the market) or a Garmin 60 would do the trick. Both are good, basic units that don't have mapping. They do however have a screen that shows you where you are in relation to your destination or other waypoints.

 

Another point. If you are doing a lot of hiking in gorges and gullys, I think a unit with a patch antenna will perform a bit better than one with a quad helix. The patch's strong point is receiving sats overhead, while quad helix antennas do a better job with sats lower on the horizon.

 

Of the units I mentioned all have a patch antenna, except the Garmin 60, which uses a quad helix.

 

hey briansnat -

 

Thanks for the great post. Right now we have a couple books that we use to find waterfalls, but I suppose with mapping software we might be able to find our own. Obviously I'm familiar with city and street maps in my Nuvi, but what are the advantages of using topo maps while hiking? (was that a dumb question?) I would guess it locates streams and shows you the altitude of the terrain you're traveling in?

 

Question for you - what do you think of the advice from other posters about the compass capability?

 

And the patch antenna - are they sold separately?

 

I'd like to stick with the Nuvi and my geocaching GPS choice for a while, I think I'll be buying a new digital camera next year so I don't want to be upgrading soon.

 

thanks to everyone else for their posts too!

[+TeamHarrison]

Obviously I'm familiar with city and street maps in my Nuvi, but what are the advantages of using topo maps while hiking? (was that a dumb question?) I would guess it locates streams and shows you the altitude of the terrain you're traveling in?

 

You're dead on with your assumptions on the advantages of Topo maps.. Here's a very simple example of how you would find Topo maps useful in potentially finding waterfalls.

 

The elevation (altitude) of the terrain will be represented by the elevation lines. Some of those lines will have the actual measurement printed on them. If you see a series of these lines coming together with a stream running through them, you might have found a waterfall! (Again, a VERY simple example.)

 

Once you learn to "read" the Topo, it will tell you quite a bit!

[avroair]

Etrex legend is a very handy unit. I have seen the legend X sells for $179 on rebate and has great accuracy.

[+CacheHunters42]

Hello, I know of a place where you can get a decent Garmin for under $150 e-mail me for the info.

[Ghengis Jon]

I've used the Magellan Sportrac series for a few years now, and cannot find a single bad (or even marginal) thing to say about them. Cheap, rugged, accurate and reliable. I realize that Garmin et al also make quality products, but I can only speak from my experience.

 

I've heard other cachers say that Magellan's customer service is ' less than stellar'. I've never had a problem with my poor abused units, so service doesn't ever enter my formula. The darn things are so cheap that if one started to fail, I'd simply buy another. But I can't kill or wear out the two I already have.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Ghengis Jon

[Iwuzere]

FWIW I'm perfectly happy with my plain yellow GPS60, it's not too big, the screen is clear, it works well, has USB and an external antenna socket, it gets me to the caches just fine (says he with a score of just 6 finds so far!), batteries last well, simple to use, etc etc.

 

I don't need a compass, can't see the point.. whenever you move it shows you your heading within a moment or two.. it takes no time at all to work out which way is north and get your bearings. In fact my wife and kids actually call it my "compass thingy".

 

[+team5150]

Wally World has the Etrex Legend Cx online for 237 + about $5 shipping, then there is the $50 rebate. That brings the cost down to around 190, thats a heck of a deal for an 'x' series unit, IMHO. It has the color screen and is expandable with the SD card, which is a huge plus! (That price includes the SD card, cables and all that fun stuff to get you started.)