What is the best GPS you can get for cheap?

[Blackfoot17]

Please list the GPSr in this format:

 

GPSr name & model number

antenna type

screen size

price

 

Anything else you can think of

[reef mapper]

Go and do your own online work

 

Best and cheap don't go together. The question should be "what should I buy to do what I want?". Delorme or Mobile Mapper to do post processing to be within a metre of real space; some supermarket special to find a pizza outlet.

[ao318]

The big choice for me in deciding which GPS was right for me was serial cable vs USB cable. I did not want to purchase a gps with a serial cable. Next I wanted to know which GPS's came with the usb cable and which did not and how much was a cable if it did not come with one.

[+Wesbo]

Please list the GPSr in this format:

 

GPSr name & model number

antenna type

screen size

price

 

Anything else you can think of

Best for what? Geocaching? Boating? Getting to and from the mall? You can get a used etrex for a song on ebay and you can get a Trimble surveying setup with sub-centimeter accuracy for the price of a pretty nice car.

 

Need some specifics...

[Motorcycle_Mama]

What are your intended uses? (geocachin, car, motorcycle, hiking, boating, other?)

 

What features are important you? (Bluetooth, Text to Speech, MP3s, ability to store routes on the unit, multi-point routing, traffic, other?)

 

What price range are you thinking about?

 

Where are you going to use it? (ie what maps are important to you?)

 

Do you want to be able to load Custom POIs?

 

Do you want the ability to enter coordinates and/or see your current coordinates?

 

Do you want the unit to be able to record a tracklog? Do you want the unit to be able to show the tracklog? Do you want to be able to have the unit navigate the tracklog?

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Best and cheap don't go together.

 

What he said.

[ryleyinstl]

I’m going to take a leap here and say you want an “affordable” GPRs for geocashing. My recommendation would be a Garmin Venture HC https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=8707

 

 

cheap

 

small

 

light

 

great battery life

 

display maps (free HQ maps are available for USA/Canada)

 

high sensitivity antenna

 

can babysit your kids

[Source_GPS]

I have to agree with MM. You need to identify what the primary use will be - then you can narrow down your choices by price.

[jmundinger]

I’m going to take a leap here and say you want an “affordable” GPRs for geocashing. My recommendation would be a Garmin Venture HC https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=8707

 

I'll second that motion.

 

And, although I have some level of agreement with those who suggest that the question can't be answered without also knowing something about intended use and budget, I'd note that the Venture HC will do (and do well) everything that a person has a right to expect from a consumer grade gpsr. Other units might have more bells and whistles, but they won't do what a Venture HC does any better than the Venture HC does it.

[ben_r_]

Dont go cheap and get the Garmin 60CSx.

[+LEGO]

Here's the best "cheap" GPS'er that you can get:

[KUBECLAN]

I would assume they only want the GPS unit for caching ...

[Blackfoot17]

The primary use would be Geo caching.

[+peto_geo]

I feel a refurbed Delorme PN-20 would be your best bet. I picked up mine for $200 but I think they are around $170 now. You get all the mapping you could want with the unit along with $100 of aerial and USGS (topo quads) downloads. I think starting Oct. 15th Delorme is going to start offering unlimited downloads (aerials, topo quads, etc) for one year at $30/year. It also does paperless geocaching for the majority of caches. Just my opinion.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

A Garmin eTrex Venture HC. High-sensitivity chipset, and you can add maps to it. There are many free maps available for Garmin units.

[+Ratsneve]

The primary use would be Geo caching.

Are features like paperless geocaching, screen size and readability, and a variety of different types of maps important? You might want something you could accidentally drop and get soaking wet but will survive the fall and stay dry inside? How much receiver accuracy for the price do you think you'd like? Do you expect your GPS to take you right to the catch in all kinds of terrain and weather--no caves please? If you have a problem or question that you can't resolve in the GPSr manual how important is easily reaching technical support to you?

 

Your simplest solution might be to find cheap and buy it. Any GPS can be used to geocache unless it isn't portable for even a short walk.

Edited August 30, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+TeamSeekAndWeShallFind]

A Garmin eTrex Venture HC. High-sensitivity chipset, and you can add maps to it. There are many free maps available for Garmin units.

 

We have 3 fairly inexpensive gpsr's:Etrex Summit HC,Etrex Venture HC and a plain old Etrex. I use the Summit and I love it.My better half carries the other 2 and he SWEARS,SWEARS,SWEARS by the less expensive one which is the plain old Etrex;$200 vs. $100. He says the Etrex takes longer to latch onto the satellites than his Venture and therefore it makes his compass read better? Wether this makes sense or not,we have not had a DNF since we started caching almost a year ago and him and his Etrex have an uncanny,very scary nack for finding micros everywhere and anywhere!!

 

We were in the deep woods the other day with some serious canopy and it had just stopped raining,zero open sky,major cloudiness.We're in this serious mess of thousands of downed branches and humongous downed trees looking for a micro with one of those lovely clues that goes something like this,"Container is attached to a downed branch with a wire." Real nice when you're in the rainforest getting eaten alive by Mosquitos.

 

Anyway,I got the Summit on and he's got the Venture on.After 10 he says (in not so nice words),"F"orget this!" and takes out the cheapo Etrex.He lays it down on a log,lets it latch onto the llites, it reads 4',BOOM cache is in his hand in 30 seconds.True story.He LOVES his Etrex.Most inexpensive but very reliable!

 

Note:All gpsr's are accurate to within 15' no matter how expensive/inexpensive they are. The more expensive units only have more fancy stuff that you probably won't use anyway!

Edited August 30, 2008 by TeamSeekAndWeShallFind

[+StarBrand]

Low end: Garmin eTrex Yellow "H" model - about $90 - will help you find any cache out there. B&W Screen, serial connection, no maps, high sensitivity.

 

Low-mid: Garmin Venture HC - color screen, long battery life, high sensitivity, limited map memory, USB, geocaching mode - about $138

 

Mid-Range: Garmin Legend HCx - color screen, long battery life, USB, rugged, map memory expandable, autorouting, high sensitivity, dedicated Geocaching mode. About $190.

 

Mid-upper: Garmin 60CSx. All of the above with a larger screen, electronic compass and electronic altimeter. Long considered the Best Geocaching unit available!! About $280

 

High Range: Garmin Oregon 400t, touch screen, 3d topo, paperless geocaching, dim screen, very rugged unit - about $500

 

High Range crossover unit: Nuvi 500 Street unit with paperless geocaching and rugged housing for trail use. Dedicated battery with short life - about $500

[Sara&Henrik]

Excellent info, StarBrand.

 

Just a shame that I can't settle for cheap stuff. Has to be one of the Oregons.

 

Cheers.

[+Ratsneve]

Excellent info, StarBrand.

 

Just a shame that I can't settle for cheap stuff. Has to be one of the Oregons.

 

Cheers.

Confirm this with Garmin if you like because last I knew you could squeeze the information out of them if you got the right tech who had the data sheet. For whatever reason the 400t Colorado and Oregon both end up with the largest chunk of free memory--slightly over 1 GB--then any of the others and this value has been confirmed by myself and many others with these GPSr's. All the other models have substantially less free memory. The problem was that the last time I asked Garmin to confirm free space of the 400t Colorado they were in denial that it was over 1 GB and not close to what their data sheet said at the time. I really hoped that Garmin would correct this statistic but because of constant other problems with the Colorado I never followed up on this blatent error on their part and currently if you compare units all the 400 lines just say 'yes' to having internal free memory.

 

So, I would still recommend the Oregon 400t unless you can see where the 300 would still give you all the free memory you might need for maps outside of what you might do with the MicroSD slot. If you have no use for the base topo map you can learn exactly what file(s) it involves and move them off of the 400t and back them up for possible future need. This would give you still more free memory on the Oregon. Moving certain files off and on the Oregon does not pose any problems but DO NOT format these partitions. It appears that something else might be going on with that process that is unrecoverable so far.

Edited September 1, 2008 by Ratsneve

[+McFlyAway]

I was thinking about getting an Apisphere Geomate Jr for my geocaching needs. The color's bright so you can see it good, and it's inexpensive. I've got two questions: (1)What are the pros and cons of getting this?, and (2)What would be the cheapest place to get one (that includes online sites, stores like Target and Walmart, etc)?.

 

Thanks,

geoguy14

[+Sol seaker]

I was thinking about getting an Apisphere Geomate Jr for my geocaching needs. The color's bright so you can see it good, and it's inexpensive. I've got two questions: (1)What are the pros and cons of getting this?, and (2)What would be the cheapest place to get one (that includes online sites, stores like Target and Walmart, etc)?.

 

Thanks,

geoguy14

 

The geomate Jr. is kind of like training wheels for geocaching.

Once you use it for a while, you're going to want to move on to something else.

There is a lot it can't do, and it has a lot of limitations.

 

At this point both Garmin and Magellan have put out GPS's that are paperless (you can upload the whole cache page into the GPS, not just the coordinates) for around 150.00. This is the best way to go I believe.

 

Perhaps someone else has the information on those two machines.

 

This is one of those times it would have been good to start a new thread, because all of the information that is on this thread already is 3 years old, which in GPS years is eons. All previous information on this thread is obsolete. GPS's change faster than computers or even cell phones these days.

[+McFlyAway]

Just got a Magellan Explorist GC for my birthday. It's a lot better than my Ecco. Easy to use, good basemap, awesome waypoint storage. It's amazingly amazing.