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Garmin Nuvi Pedestrian Mode


ventura_kids

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How good does the pedestrian mode work on the Garmin Nuvi series?

Are they accurate enough to geocache with?

Do they get down to less than 2 meters?

Do they show accuracy while searching?

I was thinking of getting one of the ones with lifetime traffic....like a 265WT.

 

I have a Garmin nuvi 275 and it works decently for caching. granted I am pretty new to caching but I do have one complaint. The refresh rate seems slow when walking around. It has caused me to walk by a cache a few times just to realize I passed it.

 

I still use it though. I just bought a cheap handheld to make up for this problem. but with the stuff you can do with custom POI's and paperless caching I don't think I would ever give up on the nuvi.

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They are accurate enough, but I do not think they get WAAS. They have a very nice paperless caching feature using GSAK. With Nuvi in hand, it gives you the number of feet to the waypoint, and you can follow the map to the waypoint. I found a "vehicle" icon which is a small circle with a dot in the middle which is better to use than the regular vehicles. Best use for a Nuvi is to move you along the road, announce the caches as you near, and view on a larger screen.

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How good does the pedestrian mode work on the Garmin Nuvi series?

Are they accurate enough to geocache with?

Do they get down to less than 2 meters?

Do they show accuracy while searching?

I was thinking of getting one of the ones with lifetime traffic....like a 265WT.

I have a Nuvi 200W that I used for geocaching before I upgraded to a Colorado 400t last year.

 

Pedestrian mode works well. I used On Road / Automotive mode to drive to the location, then switched to Off Road / Pedestrian for my search.

 

Yes they are accurate. Typically put me withing 10-15 feet of most of the caches I found.

 

Less than 2 meters? Is there any GPS that regularly gets that accurate? Even if one did...that doesn't mean the geocache will be less that 2m from where you're standing due to inaccuracy of the hider's GPS.

 

No accuracy while searching. I don't even recall a screen which reports the accuracy...and I rarely check the accuracy of my Colordao while I'm hunting a cache since that info isn't on the geocaching screens.

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How good does the pedestrian mode work on the Garmin Nuvi series?

Are they accurate enough to geocache with?

Do they get down to less than 2 meters?

Do they show accuracy while searching?

As far as I'm concerned, people take that "accuracy" display in their GPS units way too seriously. I've done quite a bit of experimenting with my old GPS12 and my new Oregon 400t and found that the reading is basically meaningless.

 

I started benchmarking long before it was a popular hobby. In fact, I started with a Silva Prospector (magnetic compass) and geo survey maps because handheld GPS units weren't available yet. But since they have been available, I've never missed an opportunity to save a waypoint for every survey disk and marker I find and I've done followup research on the vast majority of them.

 

And I've lost track of the times that my GPSr was only showing an accuracy level of 50-75 feet yet the waypoint coordinates I saved at the time were within a couple of feet of the published coordinates of the benchmark. That's basically been the rule instead of the exception. Likewise, my GPSr has led me right to the majority of the caches I've found and it doesn't seem to matter what that silly "accuracy" reading says.

 

But I digress .... I have an Oregon 400t and a nuvi 500 and while my Oregon is my primary caching tool, I've also found plenty of caches with the nuvi. The main difference is the Oregon responds to changes in location and direction almost immediately, but I find myself constantly waiting for the nuvi to respond when I use it at walking speed. Accuracy-wise I think they're fairly similar, but caching with the nuvi is a study in patience. In addition, the nuvi is a real P.I.T.A. when I'm afoot because I basically have to carry it in my hands the entire time unless I happen to be wearing a shirt with an oversized pocket. I can hang the Oregon from a neck strap or carabiner clip, but the nuvi doesn't have any attachment points for things like that.

 

Pete

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I geocache with a nuvi and have no complaints other than that you must gold it while walking around and there is no internal compass (which you don't need and of you want one them you can just bring it along). Google nuvi paperless geocaching and there is an awesome website on how to use your nuvi.

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OK, they may be more accurate than I thought. All I know was that someone using a Nuvi claimed my coords were 100 feet off, I went and doublechecked them only to see they were spot-on according to an eTrex and a PN-40.

 

That's like someone saying you're Rolex is way off according to their sundial :D

 

Other than a Nuvi 500 or 550 a Nuvi isn't much good walking to a cache.

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