Changing Main Purpose from Boating/Fishing to Geochaching

[+Filibogado]

Let me start off by saying that I got shafted - not sure if by Amazon or by Garmin, and that's why I'm changing my choice of a handheld. I bought a brand-new Garmin 76CSX from Amazon. It arrived today, but when I tried to register it at the Garmin website, it said "SERIAL NUMBER ALREADY REGISTERED".

 

Which really pissed me off, for how could I have received a brand new product if the one I received has a serial number that has already been registered to somebody else? It also had minute scratches on the back despite the new-appearing packaging. Boy, am I hot under the collar.

 

Anyhow, this fiasco is welcome because I then realized that I will be using the handheld 5 days a week geocaching near the White House in DC during my lunch break, and using it for boating or fishing only occasionally. My thanks also goes out to the fellow who said that the Garmin 76CSX looks like a remote control from the 1972 era for a black and white Zenith TV. My apologies to 76s-series owners, but, boy, it is big and not so pretty. The ones with touch screens are more appealing to me, but I can go for a conventional button keypad if the usable screen area is just as big.

 

So now its back to the drawing board. What would you guys recommend for a handheld that is:

 

1. compact, looks and feels great, suitable for geocaching in elegant surroundings like 1500 Pennsylvania

Ave. DC

2. Waterproof (doesn't have to float)

3. Large, high resolution color screen

4. paperless

5. USB

Any other important geocaching and boating feature

 

Thanks again for any feedback.

 

Fil

[+Renegade Knight]

Let me start off by saying that I got shafted - not sure if by Amazon or by Garmin, and that's why I'm changing my choice of a handheld. I bought a brand-new Garmin 76CSX from Amazon. It arrived today, but when I tried to register it at the Garmin website, it said "SERIAL NUMBER ALREADY REGISTERED".

 

Which really pissed me off, for how could I have received a brand new product if the one I received has a serial number that has already been registered to somebody else? It also had minute scratches on the back despite the new-appearing packaging. Boy, am I hot under the collar.

 

Anyhow, this fiasco is welcome because I then realized that I will be using the handheld 5 days a week geocaching near the White House in DC during my lunch break, and using it for boating or fishing only occasionally. My thanks also goes out to the fellow who said that the Garmin 76CSX looks like a remote control from the 1972 era for a black and white Zenith TV. My apologies to 76s-series owners, but, boy, it is big and not so pretty. The ones with touch screens are more appealing to me, but I can go for a conventional button keypad if the usable screen area is just as big.

 

So now its back to the drawing board. What would you guys recommend for a handheld that is:

 

1. compact, looks and feels great, suitable for geocaching in elegant surroundings like 1500 Pennsylvania

Ave. DC

2. Waterproof (doesn't have to float)

3. Large, high resolution color screen

4. paperless

5. USB

Any other important geocaching and boating feature

 

Thanks again for any feedback.

 

Fil

 

Your currnet GPS is well suited to caching. You just don't like it.

You can trade it out for the 60 Series. it's essentially the same thing, but more svelte.

Or you can go touchscreen with the Oregon series.

 

That's about it since you arleady have a great (if annoying becuase it's registered) GPS.

[+briansnat]

The 76CSX is an outstanding unit for geocaching or all around use. If you don't like the way it looks, the 60CSX is essentially the same unit in a different form that might be more appealing to you.

 

If compact size is important, look at the eTrex line. The eTrex Vista HCX is similar in capability to the 60CSX and 76CSX, but considerably smaller. The reception isn't quite up the the 76CSX/60CSX, but neither is the reception of any other unit on the market.

 

None of these are true paperless but they do have a limited paperless capability where you can get hints and other info onto the unit.

 

If you want fully paperless you have 3 choices. The Garmin Oregon/Dakota line, the Garmin Colorado and

the DeLorme PN40 (I wouldn't recommend anything from Magellan).

 

With these units there are tradeoffs however as far as battery life, screen visibility, reception and certain features.

 

The DeLorme PN40 has a very nice paperless interface with the new Cache Register app and gives you good bang for the buck, with maps included in the price. On the downside reception isn't nearly as good as a 76/60CSX and the screen is unreadable if you are over a certain age and need reading glasses. Battery life is horrible, bordering on unacceptable and the autorouting feature is very primative when compared to the Garmin units.

 

Many have complained about the Oregon's dim screen. Also reception isn't quite as good as the 60/76CSX units, but it gets high marks for ease of use and its paperless caching feature. I'm personally still not sold on the long term durability of a touch screen device for hard outdoor use. Time will tell as far as that.

 

Similar to the other two above, the reception of the Colorado isn't quite as good as the 76/60CSX and it's missing a lot of the nifty features that the 60/76CX and Vista HCX have. I scratched the Colorado off my want list as soon as I learned of all the missing features. Rather than building on the 60/76CSX feature set, they totally scrapped them and buit a new unit from the ground up. Perhaps if you never used a 76/60CSX

you might not miss those features, bu many 76/60CSX users were mightly disappointed in the Colorado line

when it was released.

Edited July 2, 2009 by briansnat

[+StarBrand]

The 60CSx has long been considered the finest Geocaching unit available - the 76CSx is functionally identical. Most other units are measured by the 60CSx. However - the 60CSx does not have any sort of native paperless geocaching.

 

Having said that - the only true paperless units are the Garmin Oregon series or Colorado series or Dakota Series, the Delorme PN series or the (not released yet) Lowrance Endura series.

[+StarBrand]

... the reception of the Colorado isn't quite as good as the 76/60CSX and it's missing a lot of the nifty features that the 60/76CX and Vista HCX have....

I'll stack the reception/accuracy of my Colorado up againist any unit out there. However, I do agree that many 60/76CSx users find the feature set lacking.

[+Wild Thing 73]

Garmin Map60CSx......................

[+Jeep4two]

If paperless isn't high on the list I think you'll see most recommend the 60Csx for its great performance and accuracy.

 

The Colorado gets high marks for accuracy as well as Starbrand has pointed out. If you use it for boating you should be aware that some have had water leakage issues with the battery cover. I'm not familiar with the feature set limitations referred to by Starbrand and don't have a Colorado so I'd say he's a better authority on that. It does have paperless caching however.

 

Finally the Oregon. Some have issue with the screen brightness and readability. I'm not one of them. I've had my Oregon 400t for a while now and I'm very pleased in all lighting conditions encountered when using the unit as a handheld. When mounted in the car however I have to make sure it is adjusted for optimal viewing to prevent glare - but it has proven very serviceable in the car. When on a 12v power adapter in the car (via the USB port) the screen is brighter than when on batteries solving most viewability issues for me.

 

I love my Oregon and am glad I went with it versus the 60Csx for the paperless, ease of data entry via the touch screen, navigation of menus via touch screen, feature set, accuracy and Garmin software support (mostly Beta so far, but I've had mine only about a month and a half or so and there have been several updates since I got mine).

 

The Oregon 300 or 400t would fit your needs, or maybe even the 550 (not sure about US availability, but it adds a camera). Read up on the different 400 models if you are interested in topo, or marine maps as the preinstalled map, or go with the 300 if you don't need a preinstalled topo or marine. You can always add those seperately via the microSD card.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[+WRASTRO]

I have found nearly 2,000 caches with my 76cs (no x) and found 13 today in heavily wooded areas, though some were a bit challenging. Not sure why you would care about the appearance but as others have stated, the 60csx is essentially the same unit in a "cuter" container. If you want a touch screen you already have some great advice.

[+TDS Bob]

Hello Filibogado. Just a quick question. Did you try to register the 76CSx with the number molded in the back (10R-022508 or similar?). The reason I ask is that I too was caught by this. I entered this number (on the back of the unit, as instructed on the website) only to get the same message. I then realised that the REAL serial number is located behind the rubber battery cover between the batteries and the 4pin data port!!!! Enter this one and you're away (At least this is the case with the Australian version).

 

The Garmin 76 map series units are extremely good units. Being a Surveyor I have used LOTS of different GPS Units ranging from under A$200 to $100,000+ over the last 15years. These units are that good that I have two of them (GPSMap 76 and recently a GPSMap 76CSx). I have owned the 76 for several years with it used at least every week as well as every trip on my boat without a problem (I must admit that I haven't tested the 'it floats' claim but it is definitely waterproof as I hose it off when I wash the boat!).

 

Yes the units are a bit bigger, but they still fit easily in your hand/pocket. The larger size means that they are more able to take the knocks without dying (Mine has been dropped onto a bitumen road more than a couple of times over the years!)

 

This is of course only my opinion and please don't think I am trying to change yours. Hopefully I have helped with the serial number problem

 

Oh, and one last thing, touch screens are NEVER as reliable as buttons!

[+Wild Thing 73]

GPSMap 60csx...Just ADD: GSAK, CacheMate, and a PDA. by becomming a premium member, all these program will work for you...It will be a great journey.....Check out my "profile Page"...Good luck and stay safe.

[+Neos 1]

GPSMap 60csx...Just ADD: GSAK, CacheMate, and a PDA. by becomming a premium member, all these program will work for you...It will be a great journey.....Check out my "profile Page"...Good luck and stay safe.

 

Or substitute IPod for PDA.

[+Filibogado]

GPSMap 60csx...Just ADD: GSAK, CacheMate, and a PDA. by becomming a premium member, all these program will work for you...It will be a great journey.....Check out my "profile Page"...Good luck and stay safe.

 

Thanks, I did all of the above. My problem is with the CacheMate, because even after paying the registration fee and installing it on my Motorola Q9C, the program came with no instructions on how to use it. Am I supposed to download cache info from my PC, or enter the data manually? I don't want to ask the company for a support ticket if the answer to the question is available by asking experienced users. Thanks again.