+moparots Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 (edited) Hello Everyone from Clermont Florida. Our little family just found out about this GREAT hobby. We found our first find yesterday and three today. We love it, especialy the 4 year old. (actualy I think I like it the Most) We dont have a GPS ....YET (I know, I know) Would love some suggestions on quality, value, and brands? We promise to get one Soooon. We will have lots of questions I'm sure. Looking forward to listening and telling lots of stories in the future. Craig, Carol, and Killian Edited January 19, 2009 by moparots Quote Link to comment
+badlands Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hello Everyone from Clermont Florida. Our little family just found out about this GREAT hobby. We found our first find yesterday and three today. We love it, especialy the 4 year old. (actualy I think I like it the Most) We dont have a GPS ....YET (I know, I know) Would love some suggestions on quality, value, and brands? We promise to get one Soooon. We will have lots of questions I'm sure. Looking forward to listening and telling lots of stories in the future. Craig, Carol, and Killian Welcome to geocaching! The GPSr will depend a lot of what price range you're in. There are some excellent lower priced units and some reasonably priced full featured units. Quote Link to comment
+badlands Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hello Everyone from Clermont Florida. Our little family just found out about this GREAT hobby. We found our first find yesterday and three today. We love it, especialy the 4 year old. (actualy I think I like it the Most) We dont have a GPS ....YET (I know, I know) Would love some suggestions on quality, value, and brands? We promise to get one Soooon. We will have lots of questions I'm sure. Looking forward to listening and telling lots of stories in the future. Craig, Carol, and Killian Welcome to geocaching! The GPSr will depend a lot of what price range you're in. There are some excellent lower priced units and some reasonably priced full featured units. Quote Link to comment
+badlands Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Hello Everyone from Clermont Florida. Our little family just found out about this GREAT hobby. We found our first find yesterday and three today. We love it, especialy the 4 year old. (actualy I think I like it the Most) We dont have a GPS ....YET (I know, I know) Would love some suggestions on quality, value, and brands? We promise to get one Soooon. We will have lots of questions I'm sure. Looking forward to listening and telling lots of stories in the future. Craig, Carol, and Killian Welcome to geocaching! The GPSr will depend a lot of what price range you're in. There are some excellent lower priced units and some reasonably priced full featured units. Quote Link to comment
+badlands Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Sorry about the tripple post, computer is going wanky. Quote Link to comment
+SkellyCA Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Welcome to Geocaching! GPS units range from about $99 to about $499. Most people here recommend Garmin Units. I use a Magellan Triton 400 myself. If you give us an idea of your price range, we can recommend something. Quote Link to comment
+moparots Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Welcome to Geocaching! GPS units range from about $99 to about $499. Most people here recommend Garmin Units. I use a Magellan Triton 400 myself. If you give us an idea of your price range, we can recommend something. Thanks for the replys, I would say some where in the 300 dollar range. Thanks Quote Link to comment
jammun Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Welcome to Geocaching! GPS units range from about $99 to about $499. Most people here recommend Garmin Units. I use a Magellan Triton 400 myself. If you give us an idea of your price range, we can recommend something. Thanks for the replys, I would say some where in the 300 dollar range. Thanks Hi moparots -- I also am new to geocaching. My wife bought a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx for me as a Christmas present. I think she paid around $240 for it on Amazon. Once I add the topo maps that will add another $90. We've finally had some decent weather, so we did our first search yesterday, at a park not far from our house, and the Garmin seems to be a nice little unit and very accurate -- it guided us to within 10 feet of the cache. I can't wait to take it out again attempt to find some of the caches close to our house -- there are probably 10 caches in the immediate neighborhood (within a mile or two). I prefer to get familiar with the Garmin in an area I know fairly well, then once we get the hang of it we'll start adventuring further from home. I'm sure others here will have additional recommendations, but I was not disappointed in the Garmin (though the manual leaves a lot to be desired). -Jammun Quote Link to comment
+Colonial Cats Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 There must be at least 100 different models and they're all the right one depending on your use. They all should be handheld made for hiking. They all should be shock and water resistant. By brand name, Garmin is the undisputed leader. I haven't heard many complaints. I prefer Lowrance GPSrs. I believe that they are quality products and not quite as expensive. Magellan has its fans but I have heard complaints about customer service. DeLoren has a couple of units on the market. I've heard mostly good things about them. It would be advisable to check out the manufacturers web sites. In general, the more you pay the more you get. Some specs to consider- How many satellite channels? Most GPSrs do 12 or 16. Mine do 16. Are the files generally compatible with most software including software from geocaching.com? Garmin is very compatible. My Lowrance units are not compatible with all software choices but I can usually use conversion software to get around this problem. Does the GPSr pull in the signal well and how well does it keep a lock on it? I'm very happy with mine. Does it have a base map? Can you add more detailed topo maps? Yes for mine. Does it have a memory? How much? Does it use a SD memory card? SD cards in mine. Does is have a USB, serial, or no computer connection? None. My Lowrance units use a special card reader for the SD cards. Does it have a Color or Black & White display? Mine have color displays. I wouldn't have a GPSr without color. Do you want an electronic compass and altitude indicator? I have one with and one without. Do you want paperless caching capability on your GPSr or would you be happy using a separate PDA? I use an old PDA for paperless caching. This feature is available on a few new expensive models. There are more choices but you get the idea. You can pay retail anywhere from $90 to $700 depending on your preferences. In my opinion, you should pay at least $200 to $300 for a GPSr that's a keeper. Check out the "GPS and Technology" section in this forum. Also check out this link. Buying a GPSr Good luck and happy caching! Quote Link to comment
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