new GPS

[+TheRudderpost]

I am a very inexperienced geocacher who operated for a while with a borrowed GPS.

Now I am going to buy my own but dont really know what to look for.

I'd welcome input on the relative merits (or not) of teh following

Garmin Etrex

GPAMAP60CSX

GPS60

eTrex Legend

eTrex Vista cx

eTrex Vista

 

I'm new at using this forum so will accept email also at canajanz at xtra dot co dot nz

Thanks for any help you all can give me

[+Carla6]

I am a very inexperienced geocacher who operated for a while with a borrowed GPS.

Now I am going to buy my own but dont really know what to look for.

I'd welcome input on the relative merits (or not) of teh following

Garmin Etrex

GPAMAP60CSX

GPS60

eTrex Legend

eTrex Vista cx

eTrex Vista

 

I'm new at using this forum so will accept email also at canajanz at xtra dot co dot nz

Thanks for any help you all can give me

[+Carla6]

I would recommend going to a map GPS if budget permits. I started with a legend and it is very accurate and I was very pleased with this, even though the black and white screen makes it a bit harder. I recently bought a colorado which removes those painful printouts and that is fantastic but for accuracy and response time my legend was slightly better. Have had reception problems with the basic extrex model so would try to stay away from this. Hope it helps, Carla

 

 

I am a very inexperienced geocacher who operated for a while with a borrowed GPS.

Now I am going to buy my own but dont really know what to look for.

I'd welcome input on the relative merits (or not) of teh following

Garmin Etrex

GPAMAP60CSX

GPS60

eTrex Legend

eTrex Vista cx

eTrex Vista

 

I'm new at using this forum so will accept email also at canajanz at xtra dot co dot nz

Thanks for any help you all can give me

[Otematata]

Hi,

 

Yes, I would agree if you can afford a map gps then I would definitely get one of those. However these are quite expensive but you may get a good deal on one of these on Trade Me. I have Garmin GPS 60 (the yellow one) and I find it very good for geocaching as it has a special geocaching mode on it and it is in the middle range of Garmin's GPS. I wouldn't get an eTrex on the principle that it is very difficult and costly to connect to a computer however if you don't wish to connect it to a computer than and eTrex would be fine. I would also buy Garmin as they are very reliable and currently is the only GPS that you can submit coordinates to from the geocaching website if you connect your GPS to a computer.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Otematata

 

P.S. If you get an eTrex make sure you get the new one with the high sensitivity as they're a lot better than the old ones.

[+TheLads]

I have been using an eTrex Summit for 8 years now and it still works fine, it's not mapping, but the magnetic compass works well. I can upload caches to it no problem with the Garmin cable and a Keyspan USB to Serial adaptor using the Garmin Plugin for the geocahcing website. (This option dosn't work on the Mac OS but there is a work around) Altough the limit of 6 charactors for waypoint names can be pain as some cache names GCxx... can be longer that 6.

 

I have recently upgraded to a Garmin Oregon 300, very much the same as the Colorado, but with a touch screen, which makes input and moving the map around much easier, and it's not actually that much more costly. The accuracy seems quite good, finds lots of satellites, much better than the eTrex, but the it is 8 years old. However I like the eTrex's magnetic compass better, the Oregon is slow to switch between GPS and compass and can be slow to update. But still stoked with the Oregon, paperless caching, street and topo maps. And you just plug it into USB (Mac or Windows) and it works fine.

[+Kiwi Nomad]

Hi canajanz

You will find lots of New Zealand cachers on http://forums.gps.org.nz/ . Do a search and you will find plenty of opinions on which gps is best and also how / where to find maps for New Zealand.

Edited October 24, 2008 by Kiwi Nomad

[Whio]

Hi Canajanz.

I bought an etrex about a year ago, mainly to get into geocaching and assist when tramping. Etrex is a great entry level GPS and pretty dadgum cheap these days.

 

It's a great way to learn the ways of a GPS unit. Remember the unit is not usually wrong, you have to make sure the coordinates that have been entered are correct - double check!

 

Once you get the hang of a GPS you may want to upgrade to something with a few more bells and whistles.

 

For the price and features you can't really go wrong, but keep asking around for advice!

 

Whio!

Edited November 24, 2008 by Whio