Garmin Nuvi 205

[mysscryss]

I'm fairly new to geocaching...I'd been thinking about getting a GPS system for

my car because of an upcoming move...

 

The Garmin Nuvi 205 is within my budget -- will this system work for geocaching as well?

Or should I spend a little more and go for the nuvi 360? Are the differences in the systems

worth the extra cash?

[ryguyMN]

I'm fairly new to geocaching...I'd been thinking about getting a GPS system for

my car because of an upcoming move...

 

The Garmin Nuvi 205 is within my budget -- will this system work for geocaching as well?

Or should I spend a little more and go for the nuvi 360? Are the differences in the systems

worth the extra cash?

 

The issue with those nuvis you mentioned is that they are not waterproof. You risk damaging the units in the rain. The 205 and 360 weren't designed for geocaching, but you can use them out in the field using the off-road function. If you want a unit designed for both auto navigation and geocaching, and willing to spend a little bit more, then the nuvi 500 is what you are looking for.

Edited August 26, 2008 by ryguyMN

[mysscryss]

I'm fairly new to geocaching...I'd been thinking about getting a GPS system for

my car because of an upcoming move...

 

The Garmin Nuvi 205 is within my budget -- will this system work for geocaching as well?

Or should I spend a little more and go for the nuvi 360? Are the differences in the systems

worth the extra cash?

 

The issue with those nuvis you mentioned is that they are not waterproof. You risk damaging the units in the rain. The 205 and 360 weren't designed for geocaching, but you can use them out in the field using the off-road function. If you want a unit designed for both auto navigation and geocaching, and willing to spend a little bit more, then the nuvi 500 is what you are looking for.

 

I'd rather stay at home during rainy days than spend THAT much extra

As long as the 205/306 will work off road I think I'd be happy.

Especially being new at it, I don't want to put a lot of money in it just yet.

 

But I also didn't want to buy something that wouldn't work for geocaching as well.

[mysscryss]

I'm fairly new to geocaching...I'd been thinking about getting a GPS system for

my car because of an upcoming move...

 

The Garmin Nuvi 205 is within my budget -- will this system work for geocaching as well?

Or should I spend a little more and go for the nuvi 360? Are the differences in the systems

worth the extra cash?

 

The issue with those nuvis you mentioned is that they are not waterproof. You risk damaging the units in the rain. The 205 and 360 weren't designed for geocaching, but you can use them out in the field using the off-road function. If you want a unit designed for both auto navigation and geocaching, and willing to spend a little bit more, then the nuvi 500 is what you are looking for.

 

I'd rather stay at home during rainy days than spend THAT much extra

As long as the 205/306 will work off road I think I'd be happy.

Especially being new at it, I don't want to put a lot of money in it just yet.

 

But I also didn't want to buy something that wouldn't work for geocaching as well.

[ryguyMN]

Don't blame you for wanting to save the $$$. Just wanted to warn you that these toys can't get wet!

 

I'll have to get back to you on the geocaching abilities of the 205. I have the 255, which is essentially a 205 with text-to-speech. The 205 does have microSD slot if you wanted to add Topo maps down the road. With the 205, I think you can enter coordinates, but I'll check it out. I strictly use mine for the road, but I believe others have had a positive experience using it off-road.

[+KeeperOfTheMist]

just recently got one of these after using my phones (iden 776 w/gps tracker)gps for a week. the phone worked but really badly like 40 seconds between coord updates. only found 3 caches with it. ** edit- almost forgot to mention at least 45 seconds if not 2 minutes+ for it to initially find sats sometimes and dont move**

 

went and got a nuvi 205 and it works ok as a geocache finder.. kind of have to get used to changing from auto to pedestrian mode before you get really close to the saved cache coords, btw it dont tell you these (Coords) unless you manually entered the coords as a saved place (so far that i have found), and no compass. but it accepts topo maps and also found free trail and federal land maps as well that can be changed in setting (have to shut off the stock garmin map but it works really well) still looking for a routable trail map since we have plenty of nice trails (after you get past the river odor) that are mapped..

 

overall not a bad device and also has plenty of storage for maps. whole state topo/trail/street maps and 500 local caches stored in waypoints and still have plenty of free space, makes me wonder why i bought a 2 gig micro-sd for it. maybe a big state like texas or alaska might need all the space but here not so much..

 

in short it gets the job done is expandable though could use a few more zoom levels (just 1) and if your good with maps and get the software it is color so you can add satallite images for your area and add them to maps (havn't done this as lack of patience with software and time needed, could be out looking for more caches) and the nice part it can tell you what roads to take to get to the cache as well.

 

hope this helps anyone interested in this model.. there are definately better models that will work much better in the bush but this one as long as you are nice to it will get you there, oh and a raincoat will be a good investment for it i see plenty of holes for water to slip in.

Edited October 26, 2009 by KeeperOfTheMist

[Contra1971]

i used mu Nuvi 200 for a few, and it works, but remember to change ot to pedestrian and off road mode each time and then it will work kinda well

 

but the no compass bothered me so i got a Magellan Meridian Gold, it is B/W but has a compass, it sucks at streets but is water proof and rugged as all heck, and is much better suited for geocaching, it was used and i got it for $50 with all the accessories, so get both!

 

buy the Nuvi (new) and get a used Magellan, it works well for me

[+sledgehampster]

To really make use of the Nuvi's paperless caching abilty check out http://pilotsnipes.googlepages.com/index.html. I use it on my 205W and it is great.

 

I also downloaded the FREE topo maps from http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/ for it.

 

In case of rain carry a sandwich bag with you. You can put the Nuvi in it and still use the touchscreen. Just be careful and don't drop it...

 

In case that happens I bought a Speck Tough Skin case for mine also.

 

Hope this info is helpful. I neither work for nor stand to gain anything from mentioning these products or websites. I just have past experience that was positive.

Edited October 26, 2009 by sledgehampster

[+BADFISH2]

I'm using the Garmin 205 and I find it works well. You do not need to switch to pedestrian mode for geocaching unless you want to navigate city streets. The pedestrian vs. automobile mode only changes how the system routes you (one way streets etc.) and the time to arrival. I never switch to pedestrian mode.

When I get close, I switch to the overhead view by pressing the screen and zooming all the way in.

Someone mentioned in another topic that you can activate a coordinates screen by pressing the satellite signal strength indicator bar for about 5 seconds. I use this instead of the "Where Am I?" because the info is easier to see. Plus you can see how the satellites are lining up with you. I switch to this view when my vehicle indicator is right on top of the cache icon ( I am still saving my caches to favorites.)

What I don't like is that it isn't designed to be comfortably held in your hand especially while trekking through the woods. Plus lining up coordinates is a little tricky. I think an arrow pointing the way would be easier.

As for the lack of waterproofness or drop resistance, I put mine in a small zip lock plastic travel bag (used for holding bathroom supplies while traveling) with a microfiber cloth when it's wet out. I can still use the touch screen, the unit stays dry and has a little padding if I drop it. I don't use the bag on dry days so I have to be careful not to drop it.

I'm shopping for a hand help unit but I'm in no hurry so I'll wait until I find a really good deal.

[+BigCarbonFootprint]

just recently got one of these after using my phones (iden 776 w/gps tracker)gps for a week. the phone worked but really badly like 40 seconds between coord updates. only found 3 caches with it. ** edit- almost forgot to mention at least 45 seconds if not 2 minutes+ for it to initially find sats sometimes and dont move**

 

went and got a nuvi 205 and it works ok as a geocache finder.. kind of have to get used to changing from auto to pedestrian mode before you get really close to the saved cache coords, btw it dont tell you these (Coords) unless you manually entered the coords as a saved place (so far that i have found), and no compass. but it accepts topo maps and also found free trail and federal land maps as well that can be changed in setting (have to shut off the stock garmin map but it works really well) still looking for a routable trail map since we have plenty of nice trails (after you get past the river odor) that are mapped..

 

overall not a bad device and also has plenty of storage for maps. whole state topo/trail/street maps and 500 local caches stored in waypoints and still have plenty of free space, makes me wonder why i bought a 2 gig micro-sd for it. maybe a big state like texas or alaska might need all the space but here not so much..

 

in short it gets the job done is expandable though could use a few more zoom levels (just 1) and if your good with maps and get the software it is color so you can add satallite images for your area and add them to maps (havn't done this as lack of patience with software and time needed, could be out looking for more caches) and the nice part it can tell you what roads to take to get to the cache as well.

 

hope this helps anyone interested in this model.. there are definately better models that will work much better in the bush but this one as long as you are nice to it will get you there, oh and a raincoat will be a good investment for it i see plenty of holes for water to slip in.

 

Keeper, just a note, your Nuvi will hold at least 60,000 caches with cache page, hints, logs, and pics in internal memory. Use GSAK macro to load. Also, where did you find the free topo map for Nuvi you referenced?

 

T

[+sledgehampster]

BigCarbonFootprint, I got the free TOPO map here GPSFileDepot

[+romoshka]

Im not a techno-idiot but am no servant either. I ran into a fellow cacher today and he told me/showed me how he uploaded some software into his Nuvi to enable paperless caching and as my Palm with cachemate had died I was very interested. So I poked around here and found the post by sledgehammer and happily went about the process. I already had GSAK and sucessfully DL's and opened POIinstaller but then the snag occured. When I tried to "Download Garmin Nuvi GSAK Macro" file I get the following msg: "Firefox can't find the file at /C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/garmin-nuvi-exportgpx.gsk." It seems that it is trying to route me to my own c: drive rather than connecting me to a site. I get the similar msg for every hyperlink I try. When I try to open it in IE, IE says that http://sites.google.com/site/pilotsnipes2/...?attredirects=0 is a Firefox document. HUH This is WAy beyond me! Any suggestions out there?

[+sledgehampster]

This is WAy beyond me! Any suggestions out there?

 

Seems to be an issue with the webpage. I tried it on Firefox and IE just now and both would not work for me. Not sure what to tell you at this point. Try again later perhaps...

[+George1]

To really make use of the Nuvi's paperless caching abilty check out http://pilotsnipes.googlepages.com/index.html. I use it on my 205W and it is great.

 

I also downloaded the FREE topo maps from http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/ for it.

 

In case of rain carry a sandwich bag with you. You can put the Nuvi in it and still use the touchscreen. Just be careful and don't drop it...

 

In case that happens I bought a Speck Tough Skin case for mine also.

 

Hope this info is helpful. I neither work for nor stand to gain anything from mentioning these products or websites. I just have past experience that was positive.

 

If you load the Topo maps on your Nuvi how do you see or access them? Are they there with the roads or do you switch map sets.

[+romoshka]

Seems to be an issue with the webpage. I tried it on Firefox and IE just now and both would not work for me. Not sure what to tell you at this point. Try again later perhaps...

 

While there may have been a problem with the webpage earlier I tried a computer at work and was able to see and navigate all over it there but somehow my computer has decided that the link in on my c drive and trys to redirect me there. I even copied and e-mailed myself the URL - pasted that inot the browser (firefox and IE) and it still diverts to my c drive (file:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/index-3.html). Can anyone help me? I replaced my old tired desktop with a newer one this evening (Im working on my laptop now) and perhaps I can go through the new desktop and get it to work there but would love to fix the problem on this laptop.

Edited November 9, 2009 by romoshka

[hoyshnin]

If you load the Topo maps on your Nuvi how do you see or access them? Are they there with the roads or do you switch map sets.

 

You go into the settings under map and you can choose which maps to show (you can show them WITH the streetmaps, or on their own, or your streetmaps alone).

[+sledgehampster]

You go into the settings under map and you can choose which maps to show (you can show them WITH the streetmaps, or on their own, or your streetmaps alone).

 

That is correct, sorry I didn't get back to this quicker, been kinda busy.

[+romoshka]

This is WAy beyond me! Any suggestions out there?

 

Seems to be an issue with the webpage. I tried it on Firefox and IE just now and both would not work for me. Not sure what to tell you at this point. Try again later perhaps...

 

WOO-HOO! i got the Nuvi to work ... sort of. The pocket query resulted in 209 caches and poiinstaller processed all 209 but there are only 48 on my Nuvi. So I ask the experienced masses - what now?

[Motorcycle_Mama]

The menu will only show the 48 closest locations to your current location. The list will change as you move. The rest are there and can be searched by name. Try it.

[hoyshnin]

The menu will only show the 48 closest locations to your current location. The list will change as you move. The rest are there and can be searched by name. Try it.

You can also look at the map and scroll around on it at 300 ft. or closer and see all the geocaches.

[+romoshka]

The menu will only show the 48 closest locations to your current location. The list will change as you move. The rest are there and can be searched by name. Try it.

 

Cool! Thanks