Jump to content

Best Geocaching GPS Brand?


Headhardhat

Recommended Posts

Lets face it, we live in a Coke or Pepsi kind of world. Once we choose a brand we like we tend to stick with it.

 

So when it comes to geocaching and actually finding the cache itself , what brand of GPS do you like best? and why? What would it take for you to switch brands or upgrade to a different unit?

 

Thanks in advance for any input. Information provided is going into an upcoming post and GeoSnippits episode.

 

-HHH :D

Link to comment

The "best" geocaching gps hasn't been built yet.

 

magellan has one GREAT feature that garmin hasn't, and that's "file managment". Ie, caches loaded in folders.

Number unlimited (okay, there probably are limits, but they're really really high). Also the ability to have one user made geocache folder loaded, and one POI folder loaded. Way useful.

 

I have many many folders with caches - broken up by area. Each folder of caches is relatively small (easier faster shorting) should I move out of range of one folder, I load the next. It's wunnerful.

 

Otherwise, Garmin is better than Magellan. Better product service, easier loading.

 

That best unit would have the small size of the Magi eXplorist line, with folders!, it would have the chip set and memory to hold the entire .gpx as the Colorado and Oregon, and would be Wherigo capable. You could direct load individual caches to it. It would be sturdy. It would tolerate salt water immersion to a shallow depth (deep would be good, but pricey). It would cost under $500 (way under would be nice, but unlikely)

 

It would be on store shelves in time for Christmas... :D

there would be one in my Christmas stocking... :D

Link to comment

Another vote for the DeLorme PN-xx. With the aerial imagery and the upcoming geocache widget, this already is a great unit for caching but will be even better now. There is currently an 800 character that will be lifted so that will make this paperless. The mapping is the best around.

 

I have used a III+, eTrex, eTrex Summit, Vista and a 60cs and now the PN-20/40. They all work, it just depends on what features you want. If it can display coordinates, then it will work just fine.

Link to comment

I'm going to add another vote for the PN-xx series. The PN20 while a bit slower then some people want, is a great gps with all of the things you can do with the maps. It is the third gps that I have owned. I had an old Garmin (can't remember the model off the top of my head since I am at work) that worked well but was black and white screen. My 2nd gps was the explorist 500 (I have to say that what I paid for it was a steal and it was a great unit). I had no complaints and never had to deal with customer service so it was a fantastic unit that still works awesome today. My 3rd gps is my PN-20. It is a bigger package then the explorist but has been a great unit for me for the past year. The ability to download a variety of maps with their new annual download subscription is HUGE. There is a little bit of a learning curve to the software but nothing that is too intimidating if you put in a little work. Now I am contemplating an early xmas present for myself and going to purchase the pn-40 that is shipping now. Some of the limitations that were had on the PN-20 (mostly screen redraw speeds) seem to have been addressed and all reports are this is leaps and bounds ahead of the 20. The screen size has never been an issue for me. If I can't see the screen while I am out hiking, then I need to find another hobby because if I can't read something 2 feet away from my face, what else am I not going to see???? lol

Link to comment

From what I have read I am convinced the Magellan Platinum is superior to the newer units. I have used them for years and currently have 8 , 6 of which I got on ebay. They have a 3 axis compass, sd card slot ( a 2G card holds maps of every state in the U.S.), sunken-large screen, wonderfull operating buttons,waterprof/floating ( split line case has O-ring gasket) quad-helix antenna all of which the new ones lack ( some have some features, but not all) The Mapsend Streets and Destinations software works great with these...your maps can be loaded to multiple units, card swapped unit to unit etc. and can be had on ebay for $20 to $40....NO EXPENSIVE WEIRD MAP STUFF. Once you find a cache you can delete it from your map screen.

 

If I HAD to change it would be a Garmin 60 CSX hands down. Has above features plus color but screen is smaller and buttons WAY smaller plus expensive map hum-bug.

Link to comment

Well.. I am a recent convert from Magellan - I stareted out with a 2000 (yes, that many years ago) had a platinum, explorist 500, explorist 600 and am now very happy with my Garmin Oregon.

 

Magellan customer service is horrible, their response time for updates has gone from ok to absolutely horrendous... it seems that they rushed out the newest model (Triton) to try to stay competative, but lost a lot of confidence in end users when it was so buggy....

 

I emailed them a number of times to no avail and am happy to have left and gone to the dark side.

 

The Oregon is super fast at updating and screen switching - all the Magellan products were far slower.... I remember caching with Amazon Annie and drooling over her Garmin days after I had purchased my explorist 600 - her screen updated much smoother and faster. It also displayed much more data (and I had Canada Topo installed)

 

The garmin units also do not suffer from the boomerang effect where it seems you can overwalk a Magellan and end up past the cache before the compass swings (Maybe I walk too fast - everyone complains about it..LOL) but the Garmin seems to keep up to me fine....

 

My 2cents in 6.5 years of GPS's

 

From what I have read I am convinced the Magellan Platinum is superior to the newer units. I have used them for years and currently have 8 , 6 of which I got on ebay. They have a 3 axis compass, sd card slot ( a 2G card holds maps of every state in the U.S.), sunken-large screen, wonderfull operating buttons,waterprof/floating ( split line case has O-ring gasket) quad-helix antenna all of which the new ones lack ( some have some features, but not all) The Mapsend Streets and Destinations software works great with these...your maps can be loaded to multiple units, card swapped unit to unit etc. and can be had on ebay for $20 to $40....NO EXPENSIVE WEIRD MAP STUFF. Once you find a cache you can delete it from your map screen.

 

If I HAD to change it would be a Garmin 60 CSX hands down. Has above features plus color but screen is smaller and buttons WAY smaller plus expensive map hum-bug.

Link to comment

Delorme PN-20 get's my vote. I've owned several Magellans and a Garmin in the past and they were no where near as useful and fun to me. I love the paperless caching feature, the awesome maps, the color of the unit. I can see myself being a Delorme owner for as long as I continue hiking, biking and caching. Love it!

Link to comment

I must speak for the small number of devoted Lowrance users. There's not a lot of chatter on the forums about this brand since they are basically user proven, solid, dependable devices. The mapping software is great and once they get a sat lock they keep it. I made the switch from Magellan to a Lowrance H20c a couple years ago and have never looked back.

Link to comment

I own a Magellan Sport Trak. Last year I purchased a Triton 300 based on my previous experience. That was a big mistake. Triton was not ready to be released and Magellan knew it. If their testing didn't catch the problems the feed back they received should have. WWW.Tritonforum.com chronicled Triton's many defficiencies yet they continued to sell their defficient product with misleading promotions like you don't need a PHD to use it. I spent more time figuring out how to work around their nonoperational features than actually caching. They advertised 10 hour battery life yet on Triton Forum they admitted it was less. National Geographic Topo Maps is their major selling point. What they don't tell you is that in order to transfer map data to their Vantage Point Software you must up load NG Topo it to your Trinton and then down load it to Vantage Point. If you are foolish enoughn to purchase a Triton make it a Triton 400 so you can store map data on the SD Card. I am constantly running to Vanatge Point to up and down load map data because there isn't enough internal memory. Had Magellan advertised the actual map coverage of the Triton 300, I would have purchased an Explorist instead. Now, I will never buy another Magellan product. :blink:

Link to comment

I guess I am a Garmin - Pepsi man.

Garmin is still the only unit that has position reporting.

I have found that they tend to be a little more accurate.

And if the Military uses them they must be good.

I use the Garmin Rino's.

 

I have always liked Pepsi as well.

It doesn't leave that sticky taste in my teeth.

But since I lost all my teeth it really dosen't bother me as bad anymore.

 

But my 1st GPS was a Magellan and I still have it.

A 1995 model.

It only went to 2 decimal points....imagine that for finding geocaches.

Link to comment

The products they make and sell is the most important thing, but I have really come to appreciate the nature of the organization that stands behind their brand. I had a similar trajectory to DyverDown, moving through a Magellan Meridian and Explorist, but taking the Delorme branch at the end.

 

I really liked my Meridian Platinum, and thought highly of the Explorist 500 I had. But it was the user community that provided the zing in using them. There was a relatively high degree of hacks and customizations that could be implimented--I appreciated that Magellan built things in such a way that they were possible, but it was the user community that cultivated and shared them. Magellan used to crank out firmware updates every 4 months or so with the Meridians, and I was happy with those--cool new features for no additional cost (for the most part--autorouting, a significant feature upgrade, did require the DirectRoute software). But with the Explorist firmware upgrades became annual at best, and pretty much died out. The last firmware upgrade only came in European flavor...how much work would it have been to make it available in North America, for pete's sake?

 

So to move over to Delorme's product is a night and day experience. The Delorme forums are a happy place to be right now...lots of anticipation with a newly shipping model, much appreciation and joy as the devices are taken out for their initial use, a few frustrations getting smoothed out with Q&A's...and Delorme is already talking about firmware upgrades with significant geocache functions before Christmas. They're soliciting input, and right in there answering questions that come up. They're downright friendly...I just ran through a list of Delorme employees who participate on the boards and came up with 8 names off the top of my head--and there are more that I'm just able to recall immediately.

 

Whenever a suggestion was sent to Magellan, it just went into a black hole. Even early on in my Magellan days, an active participant on the Yahoo Meridian Users group commented that he had met some Magellan reps at a trade show and they had commented that they didn't think that highly of the user groups--saw them as whiney, demanding complainers. Delorme implicitly and explicitly appreciates user input--even the complaints. They seem to be gushing with all sorts of things that make my life interesting in ways that I like.

 

Garmin has interesting stuff out now, and has in the past had a very reputable customer service reputation. If they have stumbled some with the Colorado, they have a long ways yet to fall and remain the dominant force in handheld GPS. Also, the availability of free and user-generated maps is a big plus. But IMO Delorme has the zing.

Link to comment

I must speak for the small number of devoted Lowrance users. There's not a lot of chatter on the forums about this brand since they are basically user proven, solid, dependable devices. The mapping software is great and once they get a sat lock they keep it. I made the switch from Magellan to a Lowrance H20c a couple years ago and have never looked back.

 

Another vote from the small band of dedicated Lowrance users.

 

I retired my AirMap 500 from Geocaching this year in favor of the Expedition C (I got tired of waiting for the AirMap to give out, it's still running fine. :blink:) I bought the unit with only Geocaching in mind. The choice was logical since I already owned the mapping software, and had a spare SD card.

 

Things I like about it for Geocaching are:

 

Fully supported by GSAK, cache info can be sent to the name field, and soon the comment fields as well.

 

Cache data is stored in file format on an SD card. Only minor issue is you have to get the card out of the battery compartment for loading, but it's quick and easy to load caches. 1000 can be shown at any time, with as many files as you like on the card. (Save memory space, but with a large card a non issue.)

 

Electronic compass. Didn't think it would be a very useful feature at first, but I can't live without it now. No more direction jump when your standing around, point your nose and go straight to the cache from a dead stop.

 

Brilliant color screen, little dark without backlight in shade, but reads good in direct sunlight.

 

I'm very happy with the unit, even if people call it a brick. :sad:

Link to comment

I must speak for the small number of devoted Lowrance users. There's not a lot of chatter on the forums about this brand since they are basically user proven, solid, dependable devices. The mapping software is great and once they get a sat lock they keep it. I made the switch from Magellan to a Lowrance H20c a couple years ago and have never looked back.

Hear, hear! I couldn't have said it any better. We have a Lowrance H2Oc and an Expedition C. They are both great dependable units. :blink:

Link to comment

I guess I'm a Dr. Pepper. I love my Delorme PN-20. The ability to overlay the satellite maps, topos, and even nautical charts it what sold me. I only wish the screen were a bit larger, but I'm sure that would effect battery life.

 

Kent

 

Switched from a Gold to PN-20. Liked the gold but wanted something new. I bought 2 of them and so far they are great. Screen could be bigger and it could be a little faster on the re draw but still really like them.

I also like Dr. Pepper :sad::blink:

Link to comment

Garmin gets my vote...I have the 60csx & will not change unless I start hearing better things about the Oregon & Colorado...A friend has a Magellan & when we go caching he always walks 100' past the cache ....there are days when his GPS is better locating caches but not many...One thing I do like about Magellan is their maps

Link to comment

I am a dedicated Triton 2000 user and it now works great for me. It is true that when it was released it had many problems but now it works very well. Accuracy is spot on and the camera and voice recording are nice features for keeping track of cached found etc. Even though their customer support is lousy I still like my unit alot.

Link to comment

I have owned Garmin, Magellan, and Lowrance units. They all worked well, but lacked good topo maps. My last GPS was a PN-20, which I liked so well, that after only four months of use, I've traded up to the new PN-40. The Delorme topo maps are the best, and then add USGS maps, and air photos to the mix, for a very useful device in the great outdoors. Also, I now can do paperless caching. Plus you get top notch service from Delorme.

Link to comment

I started out caching with Garmin, and have had the 60CS then the 60CSX when that came out. I wasn't too thrilled with any of the new Garmin releases this year though and tried a DeLorme PN40. After 5 years and 5K finds, my 60CSX is now in my wife's car and I'm a VERY happy DeLorme PN40 owner. I really enjoy caching with aerial photo images, and the paperless caching. I look forward to the next upgrades that will make it even more cacher friendly. Delorme seems more in tune with what cachers are interested in than either Garmin or Magellan.

Link to comment

I started out caching with Garmin, and have had the 60CS then the 60CSX when that came out. I wasn't too thrilled with any of the new Garmin releases this year though and tried a DeLorme PN40. After 5 years and 5K finds, my 60CSX is now in my wife's car and I'm a VERY happy DeLorme PN40 owner. I really enjoy caching with aerial photo images, and the paperless caching. I look forward to the next upgrades that will make it even more cacher friendly. Delorme seems more in tune with what cachers are interested in than either Garmin or Magellan.

Extremely well. I finished up a 70 mile hiking trail using the that coveres open areas to deep canyons covered with trees. No issues.
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...