Which GPS?

[batesie]

Im pretty new to geocaching, and i am totally addicted.

 

At the moment i have a Garmin etrex, and it is a basic thing. You put the co-ords in, and it takes you there. I have been reading about GPS' that you can put like the cache description, put multiple caches in at the same time, and other things on.

 

So i was just wondering which GPS you would think would be the best, and cheapest, for me.

 

 

thanks alot

 

Batesie

Edited September 2, 2008 by batesie

[Geo-Ninjas]

Batesie,

We are in the same boat. I have exactly the same GPS and am looking for something with a port I can connect to my computer.

 

Good luck and I am watching this post for any info that comes in.

 

Geo-Ninjas

[Geo-Ninjas]

I little digging into the site and I found this...

 

This site: http://gpsinformation.net/ has helpful information on different consumer GPS Units.

 

Hope it helps

 

Geo-Ninja

[+crosby7]

I little digging into the site and I found this...

 

This site: http://gpsinformation.net/ has helpful information on different consumer GPS Units.

 

Hope it helps

 

Geo-Ninja

 

I am partial to the Garmin 60csx, it was the one my department used, so I was already used to it. I can't stand to use someone elses "other" now...Good Luck, you will love whatever you get, remember, it is what you do with it, not what you do it with.

[+StarBrand]

Best unit I have found for under $200 is the Garmin Legend HCx. Color screen, expanable memory, autorouting, USB, rugged, long battery life, Geocaching mode.

 

You can't put the whole cache page description on it but you can use Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) to load and sort of encode a lot of the information onto the unit.

[+Delicache]

I am new to caching and i bought a legend hcx and i am glad i did! Extremely easy to use and with the city navigator software i can get anywhere. I owned a meridian gold a few years ago but it was so tedious to use that it sat in a drawer for a long time.

Andre

[+Night Stalker]

I use a 60CX. It has been a very good unit, but if i had it to do again I would have spent the extra 50 and gotten the 60CSX. I don't care about the barometer, but the built in electronic compass seems to make the unit a little more stable when I am moving slowly.

 

There are a couple of new units, specifically the colorado and the Oregon which have some neat capabilities, but they still have some issues, and they are pretty expensive.

[+The Bax]

Go the Garmin 60CSx - it's unreal. You won't be disappointed.

[+UncleJimbo]

I have been very happy with Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, and I only paid a little over $200 for it when I bought it a year ago.

[+MrHollick]

Currently I have a Garmin Nuvii 200 that sort of works but is a hassle you just have to keep backing out and hitting the coordinates button. But seems fairly accurate, I also use my iPhone 3G With the App Geopher Lite, It is really cool app that lists all the caches near you from the geocaching website descriptions and all, the only thin is the gps isnt all that close but seems to get you close enough to fumble around a bit. It lists the target coords and your coordinates,seems to update rather slowly.

 

I wish I could find something cheap to plug in the coordinates and then It would show me an arrow to follow and take me to those coordinates. Thats all I really need, anyone know something like that??

[+fairyhoney]

I am a firm believer in the Garmin. However, when I was looking for a new GPSr ( no, I haven't bought a new one yet) , the salesman stated that with the Magellan, you don't have to buy maps like you do for Garmin. Any advise?

[+briansnat]

I am a firm believer in the Garmin. However, when I was looking for a new GPSr ( no, I haven't bought a new one yet) , the salesman stated that with the Magellan, you don't have to buy maps like you do for Garmin. Any advise?

 

The salesman was not informed, or not being honest. Like Garmin, Magellan units come with terrible base maps and you need to purchase additional software for detailed maps. Both Magellan and Garmin sell proprietary mapping software and design units so that they will only use the proprietary software.

 

When the Triton series was introduced Magellan (to great fanfare) made it compatible with National Geographic Topo maps, along with their proprietary mapping software. NG Topo is far better than both Magellan's and Garmin's topo mapping software because of the terrain detail. But you still have to buy it and it runs you about $100 per STATE - and from what I've heard it doesn't work all that well either.

Edited September 17, 2008 by briansnat

[EdNemo]

I am getting ready to pick up a Samsung A837 cell phone with GPS. I was wondering if this sort of GPS works well as a geocaching device. It has an A-GPS system in it. Any ideas?

[+Colonial Cats]

I favor Lowrance first with Garmin a close second. Garmin is the most common for handheld Global Positioning System Receivers (GPSrs) and their software is the most compatible with geocaching.com features (this is a big plus for many cachers). I like the Lowrance GPSrs better myself. They are of equal or better quality and are more economical. We spent $360 ($400 retail) for our first GPSr that included a car adaptor and mapping. A comparable Garmin bundle would cost around $500.

 

I know the Lowrance line better than the Garmin line. A base Garmin (ETrex) costs about $100 but it is very basic without mapping or memory. A top line Garmin (GPSMap60CSX) would cost, with mapping $600. The various extras in between include internal memory, external memory cards, high detail mapping, automatic routing (like in a car), electronic compass & altimeter, color screen, 16 channel satellite receiver (versus 12 channel), and route planning.

 

Some Lowrance GPSrs to consider-

 

iFinder Go2-16 channel-small black&white display-built-in map-64MB internal memory-$100

 

iFinder Explorer-12 channel-large black&white display-custom mapping-memory card-electronic compass and altimeter-$210 + $100 = $310

 

iFinder H2O-12 channel-large black&white display-custom mapping-memory card-$170 + $100 = $270

 

iFinder H2O c-16 channel-large color display-custom mapping-memory card-$270 + $100 = $370

 

iFinder Expedition c-16 channel-large color display-custom mapping-memory card-electronic compass and altimeter-microphone (not very good)-mp3 player(not very good)-$300 + $100 = $400

 

The features I find important are 16 channel (most receptive to satellite signals), color display (you can see it easier), custom mapping software, and memory cards (I use 2GB SD cards). The electric compass and altimeter are nice but do not really add anything. Don't worry about the microphone (really poor) or the mp3 player (really basic).

 

I would recommend the H2O c if you think you will really get into it. Otherwise, the red Go2 (not the yellow Go) would be a good first GPSr.

[+fairyhoney]

I have come across one cacher from around here that uses and thoroughly believes in the Lowrance.

I have never heard of anybody else until you . Are they hard to come by?

I have the $100 yellow Garmin. Which has suited me just fine. Of course, I usually cache with my son who uses a Magellan. - He claims that it is hard for him to input on my type of Garmin due to things being on the sides.

Anyways, I would Love to upgrade Oh dilemma, dilemma

[+Colonial Cats]

I have come across one cacher from around here that uses and thoroughly believes in the Lowrance.

I have never heard of anybody else until you . Are they hard to come by?

I have the $100 yellow Garmin. Which has suited me just fine. Of course, I usually cache with my son who uses a Magellan. - He claims that it is hard for him to input on my type of Garmin due to things being on the sides.

Anyways, I would Love to upgrade Oh dilemma, dilemma

 

It's all personal preference. The only store I've seen them in is at Bass Pro Shoppe. Not many of those around. You can get them easily on-line but it would be better to handle one before you buy. You can check them out at http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Outdoors/

 

They are a little cheaper and I believe that they are at least equal quality. They also really pull in the signal. The only draw-back is that they use a different software system then the garmins. They will mean an extra step or to if you automatically download waypoints.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Colonial Cats