Compare Oregon, 60csx, Nuvi 500, Nuvi 200 in addition to Explorist 400?

[+cuzinpepper]

Okay so for like 2 wks I have been searching the forum, reading reviews on Amazon, reading Garmin's website and talking to fellow cachers. I still can't decide.

 

Want I'd like to know is which one of these will show and make a sound to tell me when to turn and then I can pull it out of the car and go find the cache with adequate accuracy. I own the Explorist 400 and am wondering if the Nuvi 200 will hold 500 POIs and will it do like the Nuvi 550 and show you with an arrow when you are approaching a POI and in which direction. That's the last thing I want to do is use to GPS to find caches but I will if it's more cost effective.

 

I'd like to pull the GPS out of the box with up-to-date road maps and use gsak to transfer caches and walk out the door. Is this possible? I just moved to a new area and I don't own a road gps that will show me where to drive to get there. Completely paperless is cool but not required.

 

I was reading something about special batteries to get the most out of the Oregon what are they and where do you buy them?

 

Are there are threads answering these questions if you'll direct me there I'll read them. Thank you for your time. Seriously I'm torn and just want the best for my money. Getting my car to the cache is my biggest issue right now.

[+briansnat]

I'd say that judging from your criteria, the Nuvi 500 (or 550) is your best bet. It's a pretty decent blend of a hand held unit and automotive device. Personally I don't like the ergonomics of walking around to what amounts to a picture frame in my hand, but if you can deal with that the 500 series does what you want it to do.

[+wkmccall]

Okay so for like 2 wks I have been searching the forum, reading reviews on Amazon, reading Garmin's website and talking to fellow cachers. I still can't decide.

 

Want I'd like to know is which one of these will show and make a sound to tell me when to turn and then I can pull it out of the car and go find the cache with adequate accuracy. I own the Explorist 400 and am wondering if the Nuvi 200 will hold 500 POIs and will it do like the Nuvi 550 and show you with an arrow when you are approaching a POI and in which direction. That's the last thing I want to do is use to GPS to find caches but I will if it's more cost effective.

 

I'd like to pull the GPS out of the box with up-to-date road maps and use gsak to transfer caches and walk out the door. Is this possible? I just moved to a new area and I don't own a road gps that will show me where to drive to get there. Completely paperless is cool but not required.

 

I was reading something about special batteries to get the most out of the Oregon what are they and where do you buy them?

 

Are there are threads answering these questions if you'll direct me there I'll read them. Thank you for your time. Seriously I'm torn and just want the best for my money. Getting my car to the cache is my biggest issue right now.

I have the 60csx and it will do turn-by-turn with beeps/sounds for on-road and come out of the vehicle to take me to the cache (after recalculating for Off-Road). It holds up to 1000 caches/waypoints and custom POIs are limited to the amount of space on the SD card.

 

As far as "Up to date" maps out of the box, I guess that would depend on the package you purchase and if there have been any updates since the package you purchased was boxed.

 

60csx batteries (2 AA batteries) pretty much last all day for a day of cache and longer (for me), but then again, I use a power supply when I have it in my vehicle between caches.

 

Paperless: There is a way to paperless with a GSAK macro (kind of), but I've never cared for it.

 

You might also want to look at the Earthmate PN-40. The people I know that has the PN-40 love it, but I've never used one and couldn't give any details on it though.

[+Paul_Aris]

Hmm, I have a colorado 400T and have CN NT 2009 loaded on it as well. I can auto-route. It will beep when there is a turn and also shows the text on the screen ie turn left on leoanard rd.

 

I also have a Nuvi 200w. I pretty much leave it in the car. I may enter the cords before leaving and have that route me to get me close spot to park but then I used the handheld. If I had to have one GPS it would be a handheld outdoor GPS for sure.

[+pklong911]

I have had the Oregon 300 now since the beginning of the month and LOVE it. I love the paperless function and use the GSAK to transfer the PQ's to my unit. I still will have to add street maps to get turn by turn though. I have not had a problem with battery drain. My 8 year old was messing around with it and still had enough juice for caching. It's small, light, accurate, and the touch screen works great with my 8 year old, easier to use for him. My vote...Oregon.

[+OpenTrackRacer]

Keep in mind that with the 60CSx you'll have to invest in maps for routing (same with the Oregon). In addition, it's not capable of fully paperless caching. The Nuvi 500 looks pretty trick if you're okay with the form factor. It doesn't have a compass which can be a detriment in some cases. I'm not sure how good the Geocaching features are. As someone else mention, the DeLorme PN-40 might also be worth a look. It'll do street navigation out of the box with no additional maps to buy. In addition, you can pay $30 a year for unlimited map and imagery downloads. It's capable of paperless Geocaching right now and that aspect is being improved all the time.

[nathantw]

For what it's worth, my wife has a Nuvi 680 and I have a 60CSx. My 60CSx is able to route me to any address as well as her Nuvi. However, when geocaching there is no way in the world we'd try to use a Nuvi mainly because it just doesn't work very well with that. It's wonderful for driving, but not being able to customize your fields for hiking is a huge problem. I'm sure it's possible to do geocaching, but, in my case, we don't need to. Plus the battery doesn't last very long.

 

The Nuvi to geared very heavily towards walking around a city and driving. The 60CSx was geared for the outdoors person with the convenience of routing for driving to your fishing hole.

[+briansnat]

Keep in mind that with the 60CSx you'll have to invest in maps for routing (same with the Oregon). In addition, it's not capable of fully paperless caching. The Nuvi 500 looks pretty trick if you're okay with the form factor. It doesn't have a compass which can be a detriment in some cases. I'm not sure how good the Geocaching features are. As someone else mention, the DeLorme PN-40 might also be worth a look. It'll do street navigation out of the box with no additional maps to buy. In addition, you can pay $30 a year for unlimited map and imagery downloads. It's capable of paperless Geocaching right now and that aspect is being improved all the time.

 

I think the Nuvi 500s do have a compass screen.

 

I have a PN40 and it does autorouting out of the box, but it's not particularly good at it. And the interface is very clunky when it comes to keying in addresses and the like. I still can't get it to find my home address. Maybe I'm doing it wrong and need the read the user manual, but I never needed a user manual to figure out how to key an address into any of the Garmins or Magellans I've used, so I think that says something about the lack of intuitiveness in the PN40 interface.

 

The PN40 is a fine unit in many ways, but if a primary use will be automotive navigation I wouldn't recommend it.

Edited March 21, 2009 by briansnat

[bmk1]

The nuvi 500 does have a compass screen but I don't know if is an electronic compass or if it works off the satalites. I would want an electronic myself

[+lookn4gz]

I use a nuvi 200 for caching and works pretty good. I can load over 2000 caches in it for paperless caching with the help of gsak macro and a sd card. The macro will let you look for just earth caches or traditional caches etc. I purchased a refurbished model for around $100 and feel it is worth that easily. Now the bad news. The nuvi is more for road trips so it is not water proof at all. The nuvi doesn't work well in deep woods or around tall buildings. The battery life is not the best and it is not rugged. You will need to change to off road and walking to cache and back again to get turn directions. The unit doesn't git in your hand as well as other gps's. I am thinking about upgrading to the orgeon and not getting the city maps and use my nuvi for that. Hope that helps. Let me know if you need the settings for the gsak.

[+cuzinpepper]

Thanks everyone. I'm leaning towards getting the Nuvi 500 and using it and having my Explorist 400 for back up. I haven't decided if the Oregon is worth the money and is it easy to buy the right road maps and load them on the unit?

[+briansnat]

Thanks everyone. I'm leaning towards getting the Nuvi 500 and using it and having my Explorist 400 for back up. I haven't decided if the Oregon is worth the money and is it easy to buy the right road maps and load them on the unit?

 

I don't think the Nuvi 500 costs much less than the Oregon. Anyway loading maps is quite easy with any Garmi unit.

Edited March 22, 2009 by briansnat

[NordicMan]

Thanks everyone. I'm leaning towards getting the Nuvi 500 and using it and having my Explorist 400 for back up. I haven't decided if the Oregon is worth the money and is it easy to buy the right road maps and load them on the unit?

 

I don't think the Nuvi 500 costs much less than the Oregon. Anyway loading maps is quite easy with any Garmi unit.

 

I saw the Nuvi 550 for the first time just yesterday at the Toronto Sportsmen show. I was quite impressed with it and was contemplating grabbing a show special LeBaron was offering, but decided against it till I researched the model further.

 

GPScity.ca lists the Nuvi 550 at $350 CDN which includes maps(!) The Oregon 300 goes for $450 and you still need to add the maps (City Navigator lists $92CDN).

 

I might just grab the Nuvi now, it seems a great unit. The Garmin rep did say though the battery won't last nearly as long as my Vista Cx (5 hours tops) so, it would need to constantly be plugged in during drives between caches, and/or buy additinal batteries..

[+subthemariner]

Okay so for like 2 wks I have been searching the forum, reading reviews on Amazon, reading Garmin's website and talking to fellow cachers. I still can't decide.

 

Want I'd like to know is which one of these will show and make a sound to tell me when to turn and then I can pull it out of the car and go find the cache with adequate accuracy. I own the Explorist 400 and am wondering if the Nuvi 200 will hold 500 POIs and will it do like the Nuvi 550 and show you with an arrow when you are approaching a POI and in which direction. That's the last thing I want to do is use to GPS to find caches but I will if it's more cost effective.

 

I'd like to pull the GPS out of the box with up-to-date road maps and use gsak to transfer caches and walk out the door. Is this possible? I just moved to a new area and I don't own a road gps that will show me where to drive to get there. Completely paperless is cool but not required.

 

I was reading something about special batteries to get the most out of the Oregon what are they and where do you buy them?

 

Are there are threads answering these questions if you'll direct me there I'll read them. Thank you for your time. Seriously I'm torn and just want the best for my money. Getting my car to the cache is my biggest issue right now.

[+subthemariner]

Okay so for like 2 wks I have been searching the forum, reading reviews on Amazon, reading Garmin's website and talking to fellow cachers. I still can't decide.

 

Want I'd like to know is which one of these will show and make a sound to tell me when to turn and then I can pull it out of the car and go find the cache with adequate accuracy. I own the Explorist 400 and am wondering if the Nuvi 200 will hold 500 POIs and will it do like the Nuvi 550 and show you with an arrow when you are approaching a POI and in which direction. That's the last thing I want to do is use to GPS to find caches but I will if it's more cost effective.

 

I'd like to pull the GPS out of the box with up-to-date road maps and use gsak to transfer caches and walk out the door. Is this possible? I just moved to a new area and I don't own a road gps that will show me where to drive to get there. Completely paperless is cool but not required.

 

I was reading something about special batteries to get the most out of the Oregon what are they and where do you buy them?

 

Are there are threads answering these questions if you'll direct me there I'll read them. Thank you for your time. Seriously I'm torn and just want the best for my money. Getting my car to the cache is my biggest issue right now.

The Oregon 400 is very good except for poor screen view in the sun. That has been a problem for me.