Recommendations for me - GPSr for caching & driving?

[+JRTTeam]

I'm seeing loads of friends with the on the dash navigation GPSs (TomTom, etc). I really like those. Is there a some sort of model that I can use with GPS - enter coordinates and has resolution to 3 decimal places, runs on batteries and is portable for walking around... AND will get you somewhere when you enter an address / has maps?

 

Thanks!

[+Chuy!]

Here is Garmin's GPS dash line. The Nuvi's, StreetPilot Cxxx, and Quest models all feature rechargeable batteries, come preloaded with detailed maps of the U.S. , and have the three decimal thingy. As to entering coords, that's tough to answer as Garmin does not advertise this. From experience and from others have said on the forums, the Quests, Nuvi 660 and Nuvi 670 allow manual entering of coords. The Nuvi 250 (and presumably the 200) do not. For the others, you'll have to contact Garmin or ask the respective owners.

 

With Garmin, most of the handheld units accept AA batteries. I think the Geko's and Forerunners use AAA. Many of the handheld models accept the same maps of the dash units and auto-route you to an address or waypoint. None of the handheld models speak; they ring/whistle to alert of an upcoming turn. The batteries in the handhelds last at least twice that of the rechargeables for the dash units. You gotta weigh these and other pros and cons between the handhelds and dash models.

[emptyhelmet]

Actually, my new Nuvi 200 allows manual inputting of coordinates. I'm still trying to get better results cache-hunting however.

 

Here is Garmin's GPS dash line. The Nuvi's, StreetPilot Cxxx, and Quest models all feature rechargeable batteries, come preloaded with detailed maps of the U.S. , and have the three decimal thingy. As to entering coords, that's tough to answer as Garmin does not advertise this. From experience and from others have said on the forums, the Quests, Nuvi 660 and Nuvi 670 allow manual entering of coords. The Nuvi 250 (and presumably the 200) do not. For the others, you'll have to contact Garmin or ask the respective owners.

[+briansnat]

For geocaching, stay away from units designed specifically for vehicle use like the Streetpilot and Nuvi. The battery life is insufficient, they are not waterproof and not physically designed to be held in the hand.

 

The Garmin Map 76CSX and Map 60CSX are excellent hand helds that also work fine in your vehicle for providing turn by turn directions. The negatives for vehicle use are the small screen size, no touch screen display and no voice prompts (they do beep when turns come up).

 

The Garmin Quest and Quest II are designed chiefly with vehicle use in mind, yet they also work nicely as hand helds. The negatives for hand held use are the internal, rechargeable battery and the fact that the screen doesn't orient correctly for hand held use.

 

So in short the Map 76 and 60 units are chiefly hand held units that will also work in your vehicle.

 

The Quest units are primarily vehicle units, but are also designed with hand held use in mind.

 

The Quest units come with the mapping software (City Navigator) included in the price, but City Navigator will run you around $100 extra with the hand held units.

Edited December 28, 2007 by briansnat

[Worzel]

I use and can recommend the TomTom One V2, running the free Offroad Navigator program for geocaching when required. Takes some setting up, but once done, it works equally well as a street address navigator and a database-free point-and-shoot GPS unit. It's not rugged, and the battery life is only adequate (2-3 hours approx), but it works fine.

[cowboyshootist]

I'll add the Magellan Crossover to the suggested list. This unit has very good vehicle navigation and good "off road" navigation as well. If your geocache is under water it will do marine navigation too.

 

The Crossover is waterproof, has a large screen, runs about 8 hours on batteries comes with a nice car mounting system, takes SD cards and IMHO is about the best multi-purpose unit out there. The form factor is not ideal as it seems more geared towards car use but it's not horrible.

 

If you look at one in a store keep in mind that there is a firmware update that radically changes the vehicle nav and makes it similar to the Maestro units that Magellan is currently selling. I am told there are some additional updates coming in March that will address other aspects of the unit. I think it's the best all-in-one unit on the market.

 

You can get these online from Costco for $229 which is a pretty good deal.

[appletree]

The Quest works great for car and caching. Battery life is very long, and the display is easy to read. Yes, it is primarily a car device, but it is fully capable as a trail unit. It will find a cache as easily as any other GPSr, although the process of entering coords. and configuring the settings for off-road use, though simple, must be learned. The Quest is especially effective when used with a small external amplified antenna.

[+JetSkier]

I'll add the Magellan Crossover to the suggested list. This unit has very good vehicle navigation and good "off road" navigation as well. If your geocache is under water it will do marine navigation too.

 

The Crossover is waterproof, has a large screen, runs about 8 hours on batteries comes with a nice car mounting system, takes SD cards and IMHO is about the best multi-purpose unit out there. The form factor is not ideal as it seems more geared towards car use but it's not horrible.

 

If you look at one in a store keep in mind that there is a firmware update that radically changes the vehicle nav and makes it similar to the Maestro units that Magellan is currently selling. I am told there are some additional updates coming in March that will address other aspects of the unit. I think it's the best all-in-one unit on the market.

 

You can get these online from Costco for $229 which is a pretty good deal.

 

How do you know there are updates coming in March? I'm happy to hear that since they have finally responded to my requests for some new features in Outdoor mode geared towards geocaching, as well as other outdoor activities. Here's the response that I got:

 

Thank you for contacting Magellan. This email is in response to your query

about the Magellan CrossoverGPS.

 

Our Sincere apologies for the delay in responding your email.

 

We understand from your mail that you have taken time to let us know what

can be added to the firmware update so that you can use the unit well in the

future for the outdoor mode.

 

I would like to inform you that we have escalated your querys to the

appropriate department and the necessary actions will taken soon to meet the

customer satisfaction.

 

If you have further queries, please get back to us.

[+embra]

The Quest works great for car and caching. Battery life is very long, and the display is easy to read. Yes, it is primarily a car device, but it is fully capable as a trail unit. It will find a cache as easily as any other GPSr, although the process of entering coords. and configuring the settings for off-road use, though simple, must be learned. The Quest is especially effective when used with a small external amplified antenna.

Agree with all, but I would stress that without an external antenna the reception is pretty poor under foliage. I've even lost lock in my car just driving under trees lining the street. It's rare enough driving that I still heartily endorse the Quest for driving use (voice directions are quite nice), but if you walk into the woods you'd best plan on buying an antenna.