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GPS unit just for geocaching suggestions?


booshtukka

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I've been messing with geocaching for ages, but typically in cities or urban areas. I don't do much in the way of serious hiking or biking.

 

I have a few bluetooth GPS units, and tried several J2ME apps for geocaching which were all okay. I have a Tom Tom 730T for the car, which is great.

 

I've now come into some cash. I want a box, dedicated, just for geocaching. One with as many geocaching specific functions as possible, but other than that, I don't really know what I want - and reading this forum just makes my ears bleed :blink: I don't want to get too technical. I want to find some geocaches on geocaching.com, throw them into a device somehow, and then find them as accurately as possible and paperless.

 

I don't mind having the ability to see maps, and go hiking, and things like that, but typically I just want to drive somewhere, walk for an hour or two with the kids, and find a geocache too. If it could connect to the internet with my phone to get new ones on the fly, that would be pretty great.

 

I live in the UK, and use a mac - if that makes any difference.

 

Is there a nice simple - "just buy this one" answer? I'm guessing not. Help! :ph34r:

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My experience is that, no matter what piece of high-tech equipment you buy, whether it's a GPS or a TV, you will "grow into it" -- before long, you'll know your way around all the stuff that just looks confusing now.

 

If I had the money, the 400T or GPS60 or something like that would be what I use -- but I went a bit cheaper and got a Legend HCx.

 

So... if you have the cash available, get the 400T and play with it a while.

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I have both the CO and OR and I prefer the OR for paperless caching. It doesn't have the special geocaching mode screens that the CO does but because it doesn't have a special geocaching mode like the CO it has other benefits: navigating to a geocache works exactly like navigating to a waypoint, geocaches show up in the recent finds list and you get a nice preview map around the geocache which allows you to navigate to a child waypoint (e.g. parking) instead of the geocache. The CO preview screens provide a nice summary of the cache you are seeking but I prefer interface on the OR where I can switch back and forth between compass, map and cache description if I need to. Admittedly this just a matter of preference however.

 

Oregon doesn't have an internet connection. What it allows you do is mark a geocache as logged in the field (found, DNF, need maintenance) and later connect to your computer and upload your finds to Groundspeak using what are called fieldnotes. The geocaching pages of the wiki's linked in my signature have the details. The OR and CO both support this but it is much easier on the OR to enter simple text notes because of the touch screen.

 

GO$Rs

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I bought a GPSr pretty much only to geocache, and I went with the etrex Legend HCx, and it's worked great! Color screen, high-sensitivity receiver, you can add memory, USB connection, it's nice and compact, and I found it online for $188 shipped. Just because you CAN buy an expensive top-of-the-line model doesn't mean you HAVE to buy an expensive top-of-the-line model! The paperless caching capabilities of the Oregondo sound really nice, though. I'm contemplating a move to the Oregon myself, but I also use my Legend on my mountain bike and motorcycle, so I want to see what kind of handlebar mounts come out for it before doing anything. I know RAM is coming out with something, and they already have a holder for the Oregon, but looking at the holder and he similar handlebar mount for the Colorado, I'm not sure how well that will work on my motorcycle. Especially since I don't NEED to upgrade my unit, I just kind of WANT to.

Edited by HondaH8er
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I'm happy to go high-end! Is the 400t the dog's danglies or complete overkill for someone like me?

The Oregons and Colorados are complete overkill for you based the needs mentioned in your original post.

 

I think the best GPS for you is Venture HC. I would say the Etrex H is sufficient if you have a computer with a serial connection, or don't mind entering coordinates manually.

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I'm happy to go high-end! Is the 400t the dog's danglies or complete overkill for someone like me?

The Oregons and Colorados are complete overkill for you based the needs mentioned in your original post.

 

I think the best GPS for you is Venture HC. I would say the Etrex H is sufficient if you have a computer with a serial connection, or don't mind entering coordinates manually.

They are not overkill - he mentioned paperless caching in the OP. I can't hink of anything better for one unit paperless caching other than the Colorado and Oregon. The Oregon is my choice.

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A friend of mine heard me talking about geocaching, but he had no unit. He apparently did his research, though.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a cell phone with you while out on these treks, one that had pretty good rural coverage, in case you need an ambulance or a tow truck? And for going paperless, how about being able to use your GPSr/cell phone to get wifi in the 'burbs, so you can log that "found it!" right away?

Well, he waited for the iPhone G3 to come out and it seems to be doing the trick for him, cause he's logging 3 times as many finds as me.

I won't go that route, because I don't want to have to pay a monthly fee just to go geocaching (speaking of his phone bill; myself, I prefer the pay-as-you-go cellphone services).

I just ordered a GPS Map 76CSx, and I hope it does for me what my iQue M3 can't: keep me caching for more than an hour and a half (the iQue battery life is not good; I have a car charger but it takes about another hour and a half to recharge it). Plus the 76CSx ( and the 60 CSx, I think) have some handy geocaching utility.

stweedle

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A friend of mine heard me talking about geocaching, but he had no unit. He apparently did his research, though.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a cell phone with you while out on these treks, one that had pretty good rural coverage, in case you need an ambulance or a tow truck? And for going paperless, how about being able to use your GPSr/cell phone to get wifi in the 'burbs, so you can log that "found it!" right away?

Well, he waited for the iPhone G3 to come out and it seems to be doing the trick for him, cause he's logging 3 times as many finds as me.

I won't go that route, because I don't want to have to pay a monthly fee just to go geocaching (speaking of his phone bill; myself, I prefer the pay-as-you-go cellphone services).

I just ordered a GPS Map 76CSx, and I hope it does for me what my iQue M3 can't: keep me caching for more than an hour and a half (the iQue battery life is not good; I have a car charger but it takes about another hour and a half to recharge it). Plus the 76CSx ( and the 60 CSx, I think) have some handy geocaching utility.

stweedle

 

I use a reqular Garmin Legend HCx and since I always have my cellphone with me - a blackberry, I can use CacheBerry for paperless geocaching. Plus, I can log into gc.com and log the find while out in the field or wait until I get back and pull them into GSAK.

I'm very happy with the Legend HCx, but just ordered a 60CSx to upgrade.

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They are not overkill - he mentioned paperless caching in the OP. I can't hink of anything better for one unit paperless caching other than the Colorado and Oregon. The Oregon is my choice.

So, is there no way to load caches with descriptions onto a Vista HCx/ Legend HCx/ 60 CSx?

 

...

Well you can sort of with the POi feature but then you lose the ability to make good use of the Geocaching mode. Also - It just isn't the same and you are limited to the total length of descriptions. and you have to sort of "code" the info over using GSAK or similar.

 

On the Colorado and Oregon the listings look remarkably like they do on the Internet (minus photos). Inlcude hints, logs, ability to mark as DNF, found, maintenance, etc... right on the unit.

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So, my Oregon 400t came - and I love it. Some weird things to get used to, but so much nicer than my previous ridiculous setup.

 

Yes, the screen is dim, but I'm holding it in my hand so I don't care :ph34r:

 

I was surprised to find it was not rechargeable and didn't include batteries, but it's not a big deal. It seems very very accurate.

 

I love being able to send caches to it straight from the site, and ALL the info is there!

 

I can log caches as found or not found, but this doesn't seem to feed back into geocaching.com - and then, I don't know how it would without some kind of conduit. So, I am finding them, and manually logging my finds when I get home, using the 400t as reference. Does anyone know of a way to automate this?

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So, my Oregon 400t came - and I love it. Some weird things to get used to, but so much nicer than my previous ridiculous setup.

 

Yes, the screen is dim, but I'm holding it in my hand so I don't care :ph34r:

 

I was surprised to find it was not rechargeable and didn't include batteries, but it's not a big deal. It seems very very accurate.

 

I love being able to send caches to it straight from the site, and ALL the info is there!

 

I can log caches as found or not found, but this doesn't seem to feed back into geocaching.com - and then, I don't know how it would without some kind of conduit. So, I am finding them, and manually logging my finds when I get home, using the 400t as reference. Does anyone know of a way to automate this?

 

My Account>Access My Fieldnotes>Upload Field Notes From Your Garmin Colorado (Works for Oregon, too).

 

Once the field notes are uploaded and displayed, click on the log option. Any notes that you entered on the cache in your Oregon will show up, which you can modify. Once you submit the log, the cache will be removed from your field notes on the site, but will remain on your Oregon unless you delete the text file.

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