pummica Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 I am just starting up geocaching and am looking for a GPS unit. I posted a ad on my local internet provider classified site and a person has emailed me saying they have a Garmin eMap that works great and he would even throw in a handlebar mount for $20. Does this sound like a good deal? Is the Garmin eMap a good unit? Any info would help!! Thanks Jessica Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 Welcome to the Forums! I am not familiar with that GPS unit, but if you can Mark your present location, and then edit that Mark to the coordinates of the cache you are looking for, it should work, if it has a "Go To" compass page that points to the cache. For that price, you can hardly go wrong if it can do those things. I'm sure someone who is familiar with that unit will come along with more info. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 I am just starting up geocaching and am looking for a GPS unit. I posted a ad on my local internet provider classified site and a person has emailed me saying they have a Garmin eMap that works great and he would even throw in a handlebar mount for $20. Does this sound like a good deal? Is the Garmin eMap a good unit? Any info would help!!Thanks Jessica Is this the unit? If so 20 bucks is pretty cheap to try it out and see if you enjoy geocaching. Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 (edited) That is a very old unit. there are two issues that may be a problem. 1) It is not waterproof 2) The memory chips are not standerd and may only be purchased from Garmin. When this model was first produced the chips were very expensive. Edit to add. The current price for a 128MB card for the e-map is $89.99 If it does include the memory card it is not worth $20.00 IMO Edited January 13, 2008 by JohnnyVegas Quote Link to comment
+benjamin921 Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 For $20, go for it. You don't need maps to find caches. If you find that you like it then upgrade to a newer unit at some point. If you find that you don't have time or don't like it, then you have only $20 into it and that is all. Quote Link to comment
QuigleyJones Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 Its a good deal, if I were offered it I would by it. Quote Link to comment
pummica Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 I am just starting up geocaching and am looking for a GPS unit. I posted a ad on my local internet provider classified site and a person has emailed me saying they have a Garmin eMap that works great and he would even throw in a handlebar mount for $20. Does this sound like a good deal? Is the Garmin eMap a good unit? Any info would help!!Thanks Jessica Is this the unit? If so 20 bucks is pretty cheap to try it out and see if you enjoy geocaching. Yes the $20 is for the unit and handlebar mount. jessica Quote Link to comment
+fratermus Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 I am just starting up geocaching and am looking for a GPS unit. I posted a ad on my local internet provider classified site and a person has emailed me saying they have a Garmin eMap that works great and he would even throw in a handlebar mount for $20. eMap for $20 is a fine deal, particularly with the mount (which is MSRP $20 by itself). I bought one for $20 at a thrift store and store it in the wife's car glovebox. The proprietary map memory IS expensive but you don't need it. The unit does come with some kind of rudimentary basemap of the US if I remember correctly. Once you get to the sale off-handedly ask them if they still have the PC serial cable (if they bought one). Remember to bat your eyes innocently. :-) Quote Link to comment
Barnie's Band of Gold Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 $20 is a small price to pay to geocache. If you don't get addicted (fat chance) then you should have no problem off loading it for your initial investment. Can't lose at this price point. Quote Link to comment
pummica Posted January 14, 2008 Author Share Posted January 14, 2008 I am just starting up geocaching and am looking for a GPS unit. I posted a ad on my local internet provider classified site and a person has emailed me saying they have a Garmin eMap that works great and he would even throw in a handlebar mount for $20. Does this sound like a good deal? Is the Garmin eMap a good unit? Any info would help!! Thanks Jessica Ok, I have got some more info about the unit from the guy. It also includes a 8mb data card, he put Kansas City area Metroguide maps on it (which is good because I live in central MO) and a serial port cable. Now even a as person who knows nothing about GPS this is sounding like a good deal to me. Does anyone out there have this unit? Do you like it? On another note he also says he has a Garmin Streetpilot III that he wants $50 for. Does anyone know anything about these? I dont think I will get it because 1 is probly good enuf but I was just wondering how good of a deal that is. Thanks jessica Quote Link to comment
+fratermus Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Ok, I have got some more info about the unit from the guy. It also includes a 8mb data card, he put Kansas City area Metroguide maps on it (which is good because I live in central MO) and a serial port cable. Now even a as person who knows nothing about GPS this is sounding like a good deal to me. Does anyone out there have this unit? Do you like it? I did say I bought one. I have used it and like it. It is older and functional. Buy the eMap and part it out if you must. Just the 8MB memory would likely bring $20 on eBay by itself. If you wait long enough he will sell it to someone else and the decision will be made for you. Quote Link to comment
+Chuy! Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 I have experience with both the eMap and the StreetPilot III. I installed maps from my MetroGuide onto a co-worker's eMap. I think he too also had 8mb memory. It's not alot but MetroGuide mapsets are not as large as City Navigators/City Select. It's a very basic GPS unit, by today's standards but as folks have pointed out, it will get you to the cache. The serial connection may be a hindrance if your computer does not support it - most of today's computer's don't. But you can enter coords manually. The eMap is a handheld unit, whereas the StreetPilot III is an auto-routing dash unit. It too uses a propriety memory card (don't know if it's the same as the eMap); a 128mb cards comes with it. We have one at work, but we haven't used it in years. It can be battery operated but takes 6 or 8 batteries to run. It does not have a compass screen but you could cache with it using the satellite page by lining up the coordinates. For caching the eMap is the preferable model of the two. Offer him $60 for both! Quote Link to comment
+Fair Feather Friends Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Does anyone out there have this unit? Do you like it? Yes, I have one and its a fine geocaching GPSr. I use it along with my little Geko, and like you picked it up cheap. I always thought that one day I would upgrade to a 'better' GPS unit but to be honest haven't bothered as the emap does everything I need it to do. You can't seriously go wrong for $20 - I wouldn't hesitate in buying it. Quote Link to comment
+Snake & Rooster Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Does anyone out there have this unit? Do you like it? Yes, I have one and its a fine geocaching GPSr. I use it along with my little Geko, and like you picked it up cheap. I always thought that one day I would upgrade to a 'better' GPS unit but to be honest haven't bothered as the emap does everything I need it to do. You can't seriously go wrong for $20 - I wouldn't hesitate in buying it. I used an eMap for the first 100 or so caches I found and it worked fine. After it became obvious that caching was something I'd be doing a lot of, I upgraded. Get the eMap and see if caching is your thing. If so, you can always upgrade for big bucks later. Quote Link to comment
Source_GPS Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Does anyone out there have this unit? Do you like it? Yes, I have one and its a fine geocaching GPSr. I use it along with my little Geko, and like you picked it up cheap. I always thought that one day I would upgrade to a 'better' GPS unit but to be honest haven't bothered as the emap does everything I need it to do. You can't seriously go wrong for $20 - I wouldn't hesitate in buying it. I used an eMap for the first 100 or so caches I found and it worked fine. After it became obvious that caching was something I'd be doing a lot of, I upgraded. Get the eMap and see if caching is your thing. If so, you can always upgrade for big bucks later. I still own my e-map and use it as a backup or loaner. Great GPS. You can still find some new old-stock from time to time and they sell for around $100. $20 is a great deal. Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Thats an old unit.... Make sure I understand right -- are you paying them the 20 or they paying you 20 to take it?? (kidding) It will get you to caches - all else is bells and whistles. Quote Link to comment
phern47 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) The E Map is a great unit. I used a Garmin 45 for a while and then a Lowrance GlobalNav 200 for a few years too. These units do not have mapping like the E Map. They worked great. For 20 dollars, grab the E Map before somebody else buys it. It will get you to a catch as well as the newer GPS units.....the ones that are problem free that is. As you can probably see right here in the forum, everybody seems to have something going wrong with their brand new expensive GPS. When it comes time to upgrade, you will know exactly what you want and you won't have some pimply faced teenager in some store trying to explain how that 300 dollar GPS works and why you should have bells and whistles with your GPS. When you do upgrade, keep the E Map as a backup to get you out of trouble. If you don't buy the EMap, I will. Edited February 21, 2008 by phern47 Quote Link to comment
GPS-Hermit Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Just take someone with you and if it works buy it. You can always upgrade later and it really is a good idea to have a back-up unit to take along if you are off trail and caching. Later it will be your back up. When you up grade get waterproof, until then don't risk the rain. Don't go by your self until you get better at it and use good sense out there. Lots of it. Quote Link to comment
phern47 Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 You can always protect the GPS by buying a product along the lines of "Aquapac" http://www.aquapac.net/ Quote Link to comment
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