GPS under $150 with cable

[chuckr30]

First, is there a GPS under $150 which will have a cable to download waypoints from the PC?

Which has the best accuracty for a unit in this price range?

 

Thanks.

 

p.s. Serial connection not an option. New computers have not had serial ports for 4 years. It needs USB connectivity.

Edited March 23, 2007 by chuckr30

[+Knight2000]

Hi, pretty new here too.

 

But i have searched around a lot for what to get as it seems i cant find anywhere that compares the features of many different models.

 

I just bought a Magellan Meridian Gold from Walmart for $150. You can add maps later with an SD card and it connects via serial. This unit was on clearance at the stores i saw it at.

 

I think most will say the Garmin eTrex Legend. It appears to be $115-$125 online. Serial connection 8mb internal memory and the ability to add maps later. (Im not sure how much map info u can add though.)

 

I have seen other units that meet those criteria but it was a Cobra unit which despite getting good reviews on the net all over- people here dont seem to like too much. Plus i figured the software made for getting info from pc to gps would probably be very limited.

 

Happy hunting!

[+briansnat]

Some current models that come to mind that fit your criteria:

 

Garmin Etrex Legend (usually around $120 and you need a serial/USB adaptor)

Magellan eXplorist 210 ($139 on Amazon.com)

 

Some models that you need to buy the cable separately, but will still have you under $150:

 

Garmin eTrex ($89 + $30 for the cable)

Garmin Geko 201 ($109 + $30 for the cable)

 

A model that uses a card reader instead of a cable:

 

Lowrance iFinder H20 ($135)

 

If you can find the Magellan Meridian Gold that Knight2000 mentioned, that would be a good choice. It's been discontinuned, but might be a good deal if you can find one.

 

Of the ones I mentioned above, I think the Lowrance iFinder H20 is the best of the bunch. The basic unit is only $135 and it has expandible map memory, so you can add maps and more memory later on should you decide you need them. The H20 is a great unit with excellent reception and a good sized display with outstanding resolution.

 

I'm sure that someone else will chime in and recommend the Garmin Venture CX which is around $180. The Venture CX is a great deal, as its the only color unit with expandible map memory and autorouting in its price range.

 

There is little difference between the accuracy of consumer grade handhelds. What differences there are can be measured by couple of feet, which is inconsequential unless you are a professional surveyor (and if you are you won't be using a consumer grade unit).

 

Where there are differences is the reception. Some units offer better reception under heavy leaf cover than others. While all the units above work fine under leaves if used properly, the eXplorist 210, iFinder H20 and Venture CX and Meridian Gold have reception that is a cut above the rest of the crowd. The H20 is by far the best of all.

Edited March 23, 2007 by briansnat

[+Always & Forever 5]

Some current models that come to mind that fit your criteria:

 

Garmin Etrex Legend (usually around $120)

This is a good unit, but be careful, though...it used to only come with a serial port cable, so unless you have a serial port on your PC you will have to buy a serial/USB adapter (~$35).

 

Unless this has changed, of course...

[+geognerd]

First, is there a GPS under $150 which will have a cable to download waypoints from the PC?

Which has the best accuracty for a unit in this price range?

 

Thanks.

The two leading budget contenders in my book are the eXplorist 210 (currently $100 at Circuit City!) and the eTrex Venture Cx (~$180). The 210 is monochrome and has 22MB of memory. The eTrex Venture Cx, while a little bit out of your price range, is quite nice. It does not come with a data cable or microSD card, but chances are good you have the mini-B USB cable already and the microSD card is cheap. For this additional cost over the eX210, you will get a color screen, better autorouting, and Garmin's nearly infallible support.

 

About accuracy, the $60 iFinder GO is just as accurate as the $350 GPSmap 60CSx. What you probably mean is receiver performance. For your budget, an eXplorist (or Lowrance mentioned by B-snat) will have the best receiver performance. The old eTrexes will perform just OK, but you need to make sure to hold it flat so the antenna is oriented properly. The color eTrex units perform much better than the old ones. I haven't used one personally, but from reading the forum I would assume that it comes in a notch below the eXplorist.

 

You might also want to take a look at the manuals online to get a feel for the user interfaces of the different handhelds you are interested in. Magellans are menu and list-based, Garmins use icons.

Edited March 23, 2007 by geognerd

[+briansnat]

For this additional cost over the eX210, you will get a color screen, better autorouting, and Garmin's nearly infallible support.

 

This is also something to consider. Magellan's reputation for customer support ranges from lousy to abysmal, while Garmin consistently receives praise for their excellent customer service.

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

Since I do not upload/download waypoints I cannot really comment on individual units for this ability, but I too have been surprised that most of them still use serial.

 

Ironically, another old unit that used a USB cable was the Whistler Galileo (Cobra's radar detector rival), I used to have it, but it was a waste because you couldn't use programs like GSAK, only their very incompatible (with geocaching.com) software.

 

Speaking of Cobra, the reason it gets such a bad rap here is that their handhelds tend to be really really awful in caching/hiking conditions. They tend to lose satellite lock quickly under trees, etc. and when you turn them on, take a very long time (10 minutes or more!) to get a fix. Actually, I've tried (but never owned) the Cobra handheld units and this is very true of the 100 and 500. The 1000 (the last handheld they made, they now only make "car" GPS devices, which should tell you something) was a bit better, but like my Whistler you couldn't use it with GSAK, easyGPS, etc. I bet the good reviews you saw were for those, they actually have a decent rep for automotive GPS.

 

By the way, you should be able to buy on eBay a serial to USB converter if you need one. Good luck!

[chuckr30]

 

By the way, you should be able to buy on eBay a serial to USB converter if you need one. Good luck!

Serial to USB convertor did not work for me on my digital camera. Nor did it work for someone on this site with his GPS. I only know of 1 person where a serial to USB device did work. Therefore, a serial cable is not an option.

[+welch]

 

By the way, you should be able to buy on eBay a serial to USB converter if you need one. Good luck!

Serial to USB convertor did not work for me on my digital camera. Nor did it work for someone on this site with his GPS. I only know of 1 person where a serial to USB device did work. Therefore, a serial cable is not an option.

Theres likely lots of people that serial>usb cables have worked for, its just not something people talk about a lot.

How ever the reason you might want to focus on is the download speed. Usb is much faster, if you use an adator cable you'll going to have to download at 'serial' speed.

[+briansnat]

 

By the way, you should be able to buy on eBay a serial to USB converter if you need one. Good luck!

Serial to USB convertor did not work for me on my digital camera. Nor did it work for someone on this site with his GPS. I only know of 1 person where a serial to USB device did work. Therefore, a serial cable is not an option.

 

I use a serial/USB convertor for my 2 Garmin units (Vista and Geko 201) and my Magellan Meridian and it works just fine. I think it was a Belkin brand.

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

Maybe serial-to-USB varies with the brand and the computer, I have never used one, but have seen similar things with those PS/2-to-USB converters for mice and keyboards as well as parallel port to USB converters.

 

If you're a little more technically inclined (not for a "super casual" user but don't need to be a tech professional either) you could probably buy a serial port card (again I think on eBay) and gain the ability to connect a serial cable to your PC. I did this once (albeit a couple of years ago and may not have been with Windows XP) on a PC that had no serial port and have done it numerous times for parallel ports when the converter to USB didn't work.

[+niffir]

 

By the way, you should be able to buy on eBay a serial to USB converter if you need one. Good luck!

Serial to USB convertor did not work for me on my digital camera. Nor did it work for someone on this site with his GPS. I only know of 1 person where a serial to USB device did work. Therefore, a serial cable is not an option.

 

I use a serial/USB convertor for my 2 Garmin units (Vista and Geko 201) and my Magellan Meridian and it works just fine. I think it was a Belkin brand.

 

I bought a USB to serial converter (I assume that is what we are talking about here-- serial port on device to USB port on computer) on ebay for use with the ancient Palm I bought for paperless caching. It was a no name cable that came with a driver cd. Auction price $.99, with inflated shipping and insurance at $6 or so. I didn't expect it to work, based on the negative comments on the forums, but it has worked perfectly from the moment I installed it.

[+Skyfire & RandomConfusion]

I use a both a eTrex Legend (2 of these actually) and the eTrex. I got both units used from different sources without a cable so I purchased the cable on e-bay. I have yet to find a USB cable for this one. The serial to usb I have would not work with any of the GPSr on the 4 different computers I tried it on.

 

What about the Garmin eTrex Legend C? I don't have any experience with it, but it is USB and I found some new and used on e-bay that are under 150.

[+EScout]

I have seen people reporting the eXplorist 500 for under $200. eBay now has a bunch for that or less. One seller has a bunch of refurbished units for $175 delivered. Refurbished units are thoroughly checked out, often returns because someone did not like, or did not know how to use, etc.

This unit has color, memory card, USB, internal battery that does not need another charger, etc, and is a great value at this price.

[+ac7ss]

I use:

Lawrance I-go (Yellow) $65-75

Serial Cable $30

keyspan USB-Serial adapter $30

 

This system works wonderfully under Windows and Linux. (personally tested)

 

The laptop receives NMEA via the usb port. (mapping software on laptop)

 

The GPSr can receive NMEA formatted WP information from the laptop. (1012 wp capacity)

 

All this for about $130-$150 (depending on your shopping savvy and patience)

 

The reason that all GPSr use serial port communications is that it is the NMEA standard for inter-device communications. (4800 8n1 no flow control) things like a boat's autopilot, wind information, time, remote speed indication, etc.

 

The real advantage of the I-finder GO is the battery life. (~40 hours without the backlight.)

Edited March 25, 2007 by ac7ss

[+Sileny Jizda]

Just picked up an eXplorist 400 last night at Wal-Mart for $150 plus tax. Uses usb cable, has power adapter and was able to purchase Mapsend software for an additional $10 online. Used it today and it works great.

 

One note, ask the cashier to look under the display case. We did and this one was there waiting at the same price as the eXplorist 210 on display. They never had it out because they didn't get a promo model for the case to display. Their loss our gain.