Looking to buy used GPS

[Pharaoh316]

Hello all!

 

I'm new to the site and to geocaching (my first excursion was Saturday, Nov. 3rd). I looking to buy a reliable inexpensive GPS. It could be used or new. If I buy one outside thee forums, could anyone possibly recommend a brand name and unit number that will last me a while? I only ask that it be water tight, rechargable battery with a decent lifespan, USB computer interface and that it's easy to use as I can be technologically impaired at times. If someone has a used one that meets these requirements, please let me know.

 

Thanks!

Edited November 7, 2007 by Pharaoh316

[+fratermus]

I think more of the Magellans come with rechargeable internal batts. It rules out most Garmins other than the wrist-mounted ones (I love my dead-simple foretrex 201 though).

 

Can a Magellan-familar poster chime in?

[+RussellM]

Can't you buy recharable battery packs shaped like two AA? That way you could go with the superior brand (Garmin). Some of the etrex models are perfect for those getting started. I would recommend a blue etrex legend based on simple features and cost, but there are as many units as people. Happy buying!

[phern47]

If you want something for geocaching, I would say that the ordinary Garmin Etrex (the yellow one) would be just fine. You should be able to find one on ebay for about 50 dollars. They have a great battery life. You can buy excellent rechargeable batteries and a charger for about 20 dollars. Buy the batteries that have the highest milliamp hours and the slowest charger you can find.

 

If it's just for geocaching, having internal maps is not necessary. All you want is to have something to point the way. The type of terrain you will be walking over is described in the directions for the cache. When you get within 50 feet of the cache, there are hints as to exactly where the cache is situated. The Yellow Etrex has WAAS and will take you within 15 feet of the cache. Having a highly sensitive H series GPS may be nice but the cacher before you....what did he use? If his GPS was not WAAS enabled and he did not use one of the new highly sensitive GPS units, the cache could be anywhere within a 50 foot radius no matter how good your GPS is.

[+maldar]

I have to say that the Garmin etrex ledgend is the lowest you should go. You can find them in these forums for around $60-80 and on ebay for about $100. You can get them new from GPScity.com for about $130.

 

The reason I like this model so much is that it has mapping and has the tracks feature. Tracks allow you to follow your same path in, on your way out. This has helped me out many times as I have started back thinking I was heading in the correct direction and then looked at the GPSr and thought how stupid I was to not follow it back out. Other times I didn't like the way I came in and found a better trail and was able to take a short cut and have less travel time and reduce my impact on the enviroment.

 

You can get an Energizer slow charger w/8 AA and 4 AAA for about $15-20 at Sam's.

 

I have also had my unit since 2002 and the screen just recently started getting lines in it, but is still useable. I would not have purchased another one unless I thought they where good and I would never recommend anything I was not willing to use myself.

 

Garmin helpped me out when my GPSr got run over in the street, by selling me a unit for 50% off. They even tried to recover my data from the crushed unit. Very Good customer service if you ask me.

[+Flo.]

I bought a Garmin etrex (yellow) for $60 at a local store here in KC. It was returned/used but the person who returned it said it was not what they were looking for. I was lucky. We used it for about 8 months and loved it. The only thing I did not like was the fact that I had to manually enter coords. I made too many mistakes. So I bought a Garmin etrex Legend HCX. I love it. But that little yellow etrex was just as good as my new one in finding caches for alot less money. My friends bought it from me and now they bought a new one and sold it to their mom. Its still going stong after all this time and it was cheap. I would recommend it as a starter gps.

[+fratermus]

I bought a Garmin etrex (yellow) for $60 at a local store here in KC. It was returned/used but the person who returned it said it was not what they were looking for. I was lucky. We used it for about 8 months and loved it. The only thing I did not like was the fact that I had to manually enter coords.

 

You can upload to the yellow eTrex via serial cable, unless I'm missing something here.