best budget GPSr under £150 / $250

[Nick and Fish]

Hi, I have read lots of post on this forum about 'which GPS' etc however there seems to be few reviews or reccomendation of devises under £150 / $250. So in short I'm looking for your reccomendations and experiencs of these type of devises.

 

The following fall within my budget;

 

Garmin eTrex Legend HCx (not sure if I haven't read a bad review about this device on here somewhere )

Garmin eTrex Venture HC

Garmin eTrex Vista HCx

 

Any others welcomed.

 

The much talked about colorado and Oregon are over budget.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments I know these questions get put up a dozen times a day!

[+StarBrand]

Both the Legend HCx and the Venture HC are excellent units. I perfer the Legend HCx due to the addtional memory expansion and the possibility of autorouting.

 

Small handheld size, long battery life, geocaching mode, USB connections, color screen, mapping, rugged.

 

You might also consider the Lowrance Endura Out&Back - just out so very few reviews but it does look promising.

[NordicMan]

Well the Vista HCx is top-of-the-Etrex-food-chain it's the very best one

 

Works great right out of the box. Later you can add routeable street maps if you want, and it'll give you turn-by-turn navigation

[kcacher8]

I use a legend Hcx and I am satisfied with it. There is alot of manual work compared to some of the reviews I've read for some more pricier units. I'm still new myself and don't fully understand PQ and stuff but I know that when I click "Send To Device" it names the file the GC**** code on the gps and under notes it puts the name of the cache. I then go in and name the file the name of the cache and put my notes under notes (very limited space). So in other words it gets it on there for me but if I want to customize it I have to do it manually (there could be an easier way and if you figure it out please share). I am not a premium member so that could have something to do with it.

 

The coordinates are good.

 

I priced mine at sears for about $ 280 but Walmart had it for $180, sears had a price match plus 10% so I actually got it cheaper at sears than I could at Walmart. Not knockin Walmart, just saving some money.

 

However if you want streets on it your going to spend another $100 on map software.

[+macatac1961]

 

However if you want streets on it your going to spend another $100 on map software.

That's the downside, but you can always add street maps or topo maps later on when your budget allows. You can still find caches, and your way back to the car, just the way it comes right from the box.

[+StarBrand]

I use a legend Hcx and I am satisfied with it. There is alot of manual work compared to some of the reviews I've read for some more pricier units. I'm still new myself and don't fully understand PQ and stuff but I know that when I click "Send To Device" it names the file the GC**** code on the gps and under notes it puts the name of the cache. I then go in and name the file the name of the cache and put my notes under notes (very limited space). So in other words it gets it on there for me but if I want to customize it I have to do it manually (there could be an easier way and if you figure it out please share). I am not a premium member so that could have something to do with it.

 

The coordinates are good.

 

I priced mine at sears for about $ 280 but Walmart had it for $180, sears had a price match plus 10% so I actually got it cheaper at sears than I could at Walmart. Not knockin Walmart, just saving some money.

 

However if you want streets on it your going to spend another $100 on map software.

I actually perfer the GC code for name as it is always unique. Having said that, both GSAK (geocaching swiss army knife and EasyGPS can send either name as what you see on the unit.

 

Being a Premium member allowd you to get all the cache listing data in a file - at least some of that can be transferred to the unit.

[+Damin69]

I think you should consider the Delorme PN line also. All of them have been selling for under $250 and they all offer paperless caching right out of the box and come with decent set of topo map as well as Auto Routing with out having to buy additional maps.

[+racingmissy]

I right now have a Garmin e-trex. Was looking to get something a little better. I would only be using it for cacheing. I have a Tom Tom to get me on the roads where I need to go. What would anyone suggest to purchase.

[+briansnat]

I think you should consider the Delorme PN line also. All of them have been selling for under $250 and they all offer paperless caching right out of the box and come with decent set of topo map as well as Auto Routing with out having to buy additional maps.

 

He seems to be from the UK or Australia judging from his spelling and I don't believe DeLorme makes mapping software for outside the US yet.

[+Von-Horst]

He seems to be from the UK or Australia judging from his spelling and I don't believe DeLorme makes mapping software for outside the US yet.

 

Yep. No point in buying a DeLorme in the UK.

 

There are free Garmin-compatible maps (part of the OpenStreetMap UK Project) of the UK available -- see post 110 of this topic here. for details.

 

Mike

[Nick and Fish]

Hi

 

Thank you all for your responces. I am indeed from the UK. Manchester infact (loads of Caches around here! ) I have looked at the PN range because they have maps already built in, but if they are just US then I guess its not gonna be so helpfull .

[+SAM.T]

I have the etrex legend hcx and find it easy to use, also very easy to download the cache files to, no format conversions needed, everthing done at a click of the mouse!

Cheapest i found in the uk was from pentagongps.co.uk

Hope this helps,

Sam.

[+Tahoe Skier5000]

Hi

 

Thank you all for your responces. I am indeed from the UK. Manchester infact (loads of Caches around here! ) I have looked at the PN range because they have maps already built in, but if they are just US then I guess its not gonna be so helpfull .

 

Nick,

 

the Delorme PN series is great. I'd recommend the PN-20 or 30 if you're on a budget, otherwise the PN-40 is where its at!

 

I've owned a ton of GPS's from Garmin, Magellan and Lowrance and so far this PN-40 is my favorite. Very fun to use. Good luck!

[+MI_CO]

I started geocaching in October '08 and have a Garmin Venture HC and it is serving me well (over 200 finds and 7 of my own caches). It is rugged, water-resistant, and accurate, I have dropped mine and took it in rain and it just keeps on going. In the Garmin line, the Venture HC is at the top of the 'entry level' GPSs. To go to the next level of Garmin GPSs, it is a big price increase. For example, I spent $99 USD for my Venture HC (though haggled a bit). The next level, the Oregon series, is $300+ USD, which was too much money for something I wasn't sure I was going to stick with (though I am hooked on geocaching, I wasn't sure at the time).

 

The Venture HC is good for hiking, but if you are looking for a dual purpose GPS, both woods and road, you might be better served with one of the higher end GPS units because to get software for the Venture HC to handle roads too would get pricey.

 

Edited the word 'waterproof' to 'water-resistent.' Unit is rated to 5' underwater, making it 'resistent' not 'waterproof.'

Edited August 9, 2009 by MIGolfer