Can I use my Garmin car GPS

[zaneiz]

I just recenty puchased a Garmin 205 for travel. When I found that I could enter coords. we used it and found our 1st cache. Can I use this on a regular basis or was I just lucky we found it with this device?

 

Thanks

[Melchet]

On a similar vein....

 

Completely new to this and being a bit of a skinflint I was wondering about buying a Nuvi 500/550.

 

My reasons for this are:

 

1. I don't own any sat-nav for the car

 

2. As it's waterproof it should be OK on my motorbike too

 

3. It appears from the research that I have done online that it would be good for geocaching.

 

Any advice would be gratefully received. I know I am trying to get a multi use product and that it might not be as good at some things as others, but would this be a good choice to at least start with?

 

Zaneiz sorry I can't help with your question, but I thought that we both might get an answer that woud be helpful!

[+Brassine Family]

Honestly, I don't see why you could not use your car nav. system. If you are able to enter the coordinates and have what they call an off road feature built into the system, then by golly, go for it!!!!

 

Pretty much the difference between hand held and car gps is, hand held was made for outdoors and can be converted to work inside a car. plus they are set up to take on the out door elements. ex. rain, snow, etc.

 

The car gps is mad for the car and streets etc. they are NOT made for snow and rain etc.

[+sportside]

Can't help you on that particular unit, but I used my Tomtom to find my first one... I used the 'Where Am I' screen, which shows the coordinates of where you are (on a Magellan Maestro it's the AAA screen). It works, as long as you can keep the signal. Mine will not allow you to navigate to a specific spot in the woods though - must be on roads, yours may be different. That is where the coords screen comes in... get near where you need to be, then switch screens.

 

The day after I found cache #1, my Garmin Venture HC came in. I have not used Tomtom for finding a cahce since Amazon has the best price on the unit...

[+Brassine Family]

Thanks for bringing that up Sportside!

 

I totally forgot all about that. On your car gps units, you usually have to have a clear view of the sky. If you get into alot of tree cover you will lose your signal and then your pretty much up the creek.

[+PJPeters]

On a similar vein....

 

Completely new to this and being a bit of a skinflint I was wondering about buying a Nuvi 500/550.

 

My reasons for this are:

 

1. I don't own any sat-nav for the car

 

2. As it's waterproof it should be OK on my motorbike too

 

3. It appears from the research that I have done online that it would be good for geocaching.

 

Any advice would be gratefully received. I know I am trying to get a multi use product and that it might not be as good at some things as others, but would this be a good choice to at least start with?

 

Zaneiz sorry I can't help with your question, but I thought that we both might get an answer that woud be helpful!

For the money, I'd get a mapping handheld GPS if you're interested in geocaching. You can get maps for them, and the cost would be about the same as (or less) than the Nuvi.

See GPSMap 60cx (or CSx), or the eTrex Vista HCx or Legend HCx. You can find them all for under $300, and when you get the City Navigator (aprox. $150), you're in the same position as your Nuvi, plus you can use it in the woods, as well as buy your next tank of gas with the money you've saved.

[+rubberchickenclan]

i use a garmin 250 which is intended to be used in my car, it works just fine there is software on the site that will let you download the gc strait to your unit instead of typing in th gc. the only problem i have had so far is that the unit wants to stick to the roads and if the cache is close to a road it thinks you are still on the road. i usually just turn it off and back on and that fixes it.

[+Sarrisco]

Hello all! I'm new to all of this but it sounds great. At the very least it'll get me out of my apartment lol. Anyways, not a week ago I got me a Tomtom One V3 because well, lets say being lost is more familiar to me than knowing where I am hehe. So, while finding out how to mod it I stumbled across Geocaching. I'm gonna get me a Garmin eTrex H in the near future. (Can't afford too much but if you guys have suggestions on a better model please advise) In the mean time, Any advice for using my Tomtom until I'm able to upgrade? Oh, just a bit of side info, I've already got some POI's entered with the help of GSAK.

 

Thanks in advance.

[+Binrat]

http://pilotsnipes.googlepages.com/index.html

 

I have a 760 and it works great to get me close by car, then I use my handheld to take me the rest of the way.

 

Binrat

[zaneiz]

Thats good to know about the coord screen. I went in search of 3 today. All were busts. One had too many people in the area, #2 had been destroyed by hurricane gustav and the 3rd was too close to an adjacent road. My car GPS kept thinking I was on the road. I'll try the switching of the screens tomorrow. Thanks

 

BW

[+MichiSeekers]

We just started geocaching a little over a month ago, using a Garmin Nuvi 260W. It worked well enough for us to find 50 caches our first month, but I decided to buy a Garmin eTrex Venture HC specifically for caching. Now we have both units when we go out and the eTrex is a lot more accurate and quicker for me to use. We got a really good deal on the eTrex through Amazon.com. I think you will be happier with an eTrex or similar unit rather than one designed for automobile use.

[+sportside]

The price of the HC on Amazon is better than I could find anywhere (never checked eBay). It's far better than wandering around with a car unit.

 

Basically what we're saying is... yes, you can use a car unit if it has a coords screen, but you will be much happier with a handheld GPSr.

Edited October 12, 2008 by sportside