magellan explorist 100...any good for newbies?

[+Monkey Junky]

We are just starting and are addicted. We've been borrowing a GPS but see that the Magellan is dirt cheap at Bimart this week. Is it any good? We've been using a Garmin etrex and a Garmin Rino.

[+embra]

The 100 has the same basic innards as the 400, 500, and 600 in that it should be as sensitive as its big brothers. But many geocachers find it unsuitable because there is no computer interface, and so coordinates must be entered manually. There are a few who don't mind that, but it gets old fast.

 

The 210 is the cheapest Explorist that can be hooked up to a computer. If you like the etrex, those can be pretty inexpensive, too.

[+Fitzdawg]

You might try searching ebay for an etrex venture (the green one). It is basically the same as the old yellow etrex, but has the added ability to load waypoints using the included serial cable as opposed to having to type in each cache. The really great part is that for some reason the green venture has not retained as much resale value as the yellow etrex, which has fewer bells and whistles. You may have to be patient, but it's not that hard to pick up a used green etrex venture for around $50 with shipping on ebay. I just bought one for $52 (including shipping) to use as an inexpensive backup unit since my explorist 500 decided to stop working.

[RV'n Iowans]

The eXplorist 100 is a dandy beginner unit; easy to use, accurate and not a major investment in case you decide Geocaching is not your thing.

 

Got ours for $35 at Wal Mart=close out price; think they're making room for the Triton series. Plan to upgrade someday but for now I'm very satisfied with the 100!

 

Dick

[RV'n Iowans]

Oh yea, entering coords by hand is time consuming, but not that big of a hang up, IMO.

 

Dick

Edited November 20, 2007 by RV'n Iowans