GPS Unit for new geocacher

[+msphynx]

Ok...i'm new to geocaching. I'd love to of course have the latest and greatest but perhaps can't stomach the price. so...maybe someone can help me.

 

best case - works with my car, and motorcycle like my bmw's in-car navigation, yet portable so i can go find caches. hopefully has all the maps i'll need for the US. and of course hopefully a very quick response updating my location when i'm looking for a cache.

 

next best - ok maybe the vehicle / geocahcing thing is too expensive, how about just a unit for caching that is very accurate and will not make me wait 5 minutes and keep changing my distance / direction to the cache?

 

ok maybe we're at the cheap but great category now...so what will get me out there and isn't alot of work trying to capture the caches in memory i need to go hunt down?

 

oh...and is there a way to keep these finds marked or seperated as found vs not found vs to do list?

[+mailgirl1978]

Hi,

 

I'm new to this too! I just received my GPS today! I ordered it from amazon.com. It is a Garmin eTrex Venture HC and it's on sale for around $113 with free shipping! (It is normally 199!)

 

I'm not sure how this one measures up to the others but we went caching today and it worked great!

 

Good Luck!

 

Brooke

aka "The mailgirl"

[+daffyduc]

I am also new to the game and have been using a garmin nuvi 200w (purchased for travel purposes) It has been doing fine.

 

the nuvi has a pedestrian mode which seems to work well. I am concidering picking up a cheap handheld from eBay but for now the garmin has scored me 2 caches on my first day of hunting

 

the gps got me within 4 feet of the cache.

[+SwampYankee]

Check out the garage sale forum on this site. Good deals pop up there all the time. Do a search on here of the forums for the one your looking at and these guys and gals will pretty much fill you in on a specific model.

A good popular used one, will get you most if not all your money back if you want to try another one, and we all seemed to need to try a lot of them. I still have 3 of them. Each has a feature I like a little better than the other one. All were bought used and with the extra ones I can bring a friend along ot make the next victim of Geocaching.

 

SwampYankee

[+briansnat]

best case - works with my car, and motorcycle like my bmw's in-car navigation, yet portable so i can go find caches. hopefully has all the maps i'll need for the US. and of course hopefully a very quick response updating my location when i'm looking for a cache.

 

Some possibilities:

 

Garmin Legend HCX

Garmin Vista HCX

Garmin Map 76CSX (or CX)

Garmin Map 60CSX (or CX)

 

With the above you'll need to buy the City Navigator software for vehicle navigation.

 

Garmin Quest

Garmin Quest II

 

These two are more oriented for the vehicle but work nicely as a handheld. More expensive, but the City Navigator software is included in the price.

 

next best - ok maybe the vehicle / geocahcing thing is too expensive, how about just a unit for caching that is very accurate and will not make me wait 5 minutes and keep changing my distance / direction to the cache?

 

Garmin Venture HC

Garmin Summit HC

 

ok maybe we're at the cheap but great category now...so what will get me out there and isn't alot of work trying to capture the caches in memory i need to go hunt down?

 

Again the Garmin Venture HC

 

oh...and is there a way to keep these finds marked or seperated as found vs not found vs to do list?

 

All the above units have a geocaching feature that allows you to mark a cache as found once you've found it.

That give it a different icon (open treasure chest vs. closed for unfound)

Edited August 6, 2008 by briansnat

[+daffyduc]

after 7 successful caches I hit a little snag today.

the nuvi is not going to work quite as well as I had thought. today I attempted my first cache in a conjested area (down town) and the nuvi kept ping ponging my cursor from one street to another instead of actual distance from the cache.

 

so in light of this I am purchasing one of the 2 below.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Garmin-eTrex-Legend-Ha...86.c0.m14.l1318

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-GARMIN-ETREX-ADVEN...86.c0.m14.l1318

 

please let me know what the differences are and why one would be a better choice. the only diffs I see are the size. after a few minutes of research I cannot decide. I am leaning twords the legend based on size alone.

 

thanks

Thomas

Edited August 9, 2008 by daffyduc

[Neos2]

There are reasons to lean toward the Legend over the eTrex. You can compare the two here very easily.

Size isn't one of them--they have the same body size and same screen. The biggest difference is the Legend can accept additional maps, and will hold more waypoints.

 

You can sometimes get these units for around $50 on the garage sale forums here. We started with Legends and used them for several years and our first few hundred finds. They work nicely and were the best low-end unit of their day-- but they are outdated technology. The two things they lack are the high sensitivity chip and the micro SD card storage. That means fewer maps can be loaded at once and you'll spend some time trying to get your signal again in the woods. You will likely outgrow this unit quickly and decide to upgrade to another unit.

 

Also on the lower end, and a huge step up from either of these two units would be the Legend HCx or the Vista HCx. Either of these has the distinct advantage of allowing you to add a micro SD card for even more map storage--or points of interest.

 

Going up slightly from there would be the 76 CSx, which has all the features of the 60 CSx, but a lower price (You can get one for around $225 new if you watch for sales--and I've seen them for around $150 on the garage sale forum). The body style doesn't appeal to everyone; they are like a big TV remote. I had a 76CS and liked it a lot (until I got my 60 CSx).

 

Of course, I think the 60 CSx is the cream of the crop in geocaching gps units. Anything from this last four can be used to auto-route (the unit will give you driving directions to the cache or another waypoint). City maps will cost another $100 or so--but you can add them later and just use the base map to get started. You won't outgrow any of them as soon. The Vista HCx seems to have had some real problems lately (see all messages in the technical forum) but when it's working right, they look like a good unit.

 

Compare these last four I mentioned here.

 

But bottom line: if the budget is tight, the eTrex Legend is a good little workhorse. I use them with my classes. They do lose their signal at times, but that can be worked around. They are nothing fancy, but we kept ours to use with guests (and with my larger classes) when we upgraded.

Edited August 9, 2008 by Neos2

[+briansnat]

after 7 successful caches I hit a little snag today.

the nuvi is not going to work quite as well as I had thought. today I attempted my first cache in a conjested area (down town) and the nuvi kept ping ponging my cursor from one street to another instead of actual distance from the cache.

 

so in light of this I am purchasing one of the 2 below.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Garmin-eTrex-Legend-Ha...86.c0.m14.l1318

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-GARMIN-ETREX-ADVEN...86.c0.m14.l1318

 

please let me know what the differences are and why one would be a better choice. the only diffs I see are the size. after a few minutes of research I cannot decide. I am leaning twords the legend based on size alone.

 

thanks

Thomas

 

I'm not sure if I would go with either. Both are very old units. The technology is at least 8 years old, which is ancient in the GPS world. For not a lot more (about $89) you can get an Ttrex H, which has a high sensitivity receiver, or a Venture HC ($115) which will be comparable with the Legend, but with 3 times the map capacity, a color display, more waypoint capacity, a high sensitivity receiver and a USB connection.

 

With the first three units you will probably need to buy the PC cable (I think it comes with the Legend though) and a USB adapter (if your computer is less than 5 or so years old). Those two will run you 40-60 bucks.

 

With the Venture HC, you still need the USB cable, but most people have one or two laying around. They come with some cell phones, most digital cameras and numerous other electronics. I'm sure one came with your Nuvi. I have a half dozen and never purchased one. They all came with a product I purchased.

 

So once you've figured in the cost of the cable and USB adapter you're close to the price of the Venture HC.

[+daffyduc]

What about the eTrx H below?

 

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...;ci_sku=6015179

 

Edited August 9, 2008 by daffyduc

[Neos2]

What about the eTrx H below?

 

It will point you to the cache and tell you how much further you need to go to get there.

 

There is no basemap, maps can't be added later, it won't take data cards.

 

It will hold the waypoints for 500 caches.

 

It doesn't come with a cable, but it will accept one (needs a serial port for connection).

 

It does have the high sensitivity receiver (so it won't lose the signal like the plain Legend).

 

Still, I'd choose the Venture HCx over this one, for the few dollars more.

 

The chief problem with all the lower end models is you outgrow them quickly if you stick with geocaching--and if you don't decide to keep caching, they don't have a very good resale value. I also think some people stop caching because they find it too challenging, but they may not have felt that way if they had slightly better gps units.