Best GPS for Geocaching in a budget

[JGPS24]

I'm looking for a new GPS, for my old one is outdated and I would like a new one so it would be easier to go geocaching but I'm also on a budget for I don't have a job and I'm going to college in a few years. What GPSs do you recommend for me?

[+Chi-Town Cacher]

What's the budget you have available for the new GPSr? Also, do you intend on using it for anything other than geocaching? The more info you can provide the better folks can assist you.

[+Rockin Roddy]

What's the budget you have available for the new GPSr? Also, do you intend on using it for anything other than geocaching? The more info you can provide the better folks can assist you.

 

MC has it right, we need more info or you'll not see helpful answers. Would you like routing with your unit? How about paperless caching? Do you travel much out of the USA? Are you MAC or PC? Answers to these questions dictate the response you get!

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

In the absence of more info, my standard entry level recommendation is for a Garmin eTrex Venture HC. I would not buy anything below that level. I would go for used before buying an eTrex H or non-high sensitivity chipset model.

[+teamhillside]

In the absence of more info, my standard entry level recommendation is for a Garmin eTrex Venture HC. I would not buy anything below that level. I would go for used before buying an eTrex H or non-high sensitivity chipset model.

 

What's wrong with the basic eTrex? I have the non-H version, and I don't recall ever been so far away from GZ that a "better" GPS would have helped me much. Simply for geocaching, its fine. For paperless caching, you need other tools too. For use as a live-mapping tool (either walking or driving) it doesn't work either. But as a budget GPS for geocaching, its perfectly good.

 

Matt

[robertlipe]

I'm with Redwoods Mountain Biker on that. With that model going for just a bit over $100 these days, going downhill from there to sacrifice the color screen, (limited) mapping, USB, and better UI for an eTrex H just doesn't make sense to me. eTrex + serial cable (and increasingly, a USB/serial adapter is required) often costs about the same as Venture HC anyway.

[JGPS24]

My budget is around $350- $400. And yes, I mainly want to use my GPSr for geocaching.

[NordicMan]

Wow that's a generous budget! For that price range and if your primary usage is Geocaching, a Delorme PN-40 is probably your best bet. Great Geocaching features including paperless caching, maps are included at the price.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

If you want simple, with a great interface, I'd go with a Garmin Oregon.

 

If you want aerial imagery and don't mind the complexity of its mapping software, I'd go with the DeLorme PN-40.

[JGPS24]

I aslo forgot to mension that I want to upgrade from my old blackand white, large pixels GPSr that weighs around 2 pounds for one that has color and base maps. I looked at the DeLorme PN-40 and what is an electric altimiter used for? I was looking at the Garmin Dakota 20, but thanks for the idea of the DeLorme PN-40.

Edited September 24, 2009 by JGPS24

[NordicMan]

The "barometric altimeter" is used to determine your current altitude, also tracks your travels up & down hills when hiking etc.. Personally I find that feature to be of little value, some other people might find it more useful.. Some units may even use it to track (& forecast) weather trends.. like if it's going to start raining any time soon lol. Not sure how much the DeLorme uses that sensor for.

 

The Dakota 20 is also an awesome unit, brand spanking new on the market!

Edited September 24, 2009 by NordicMan

[JGPS24]

Yeah. On garmin.com it said that it wasn't sold within a hundred miles of my home, but I looked in Dick's Sporting Goods and saw it for sale!!!

[+Chi-Town Cacher]

Wow, you surpised me! When you said a budget I was thinking you were thinking maybe $100 or so. With your budget you've really got a lot of possibilities to choose from. Personally I'm a HUGE fan of the Delorme PN-40 and it's little brother the PN-30! I don't know if you've already seen it or if you're even interested, but if you CLICK HERE you can see a recent post I wrote that listed not just the pros, but also the cons of the Delorme PN-40. Even though it has a few cons (like every unit will) at least for my geocaching needs its pros definitely outweigh the cons.

 

If you decide the Delorme PN series is for you then you might want to do some price shopping to see who has the best deal on them. Some places you might want to price compare would be Walmart.com, Amazon.com, REI.com, the garage sale forum here on Groundspeak and also eBay. Of course when buying from individuals versus companies the return priviledges may be quite different.

 

Regardless of which GPSr you buy make sure to save your receipts since after trying it out you may find it's not quite as good as you'd hoped it would be for you and you may want to return it. I think pretty much all the reputable retailers will accept returns.

 

Good luck on find a great GPSr! Let us know what you end up going with.

[+StarBrand]

If you want simple, with a great interface, I'd go with a Garmin Oregon.

 

If you want aerial imagery and don't mind the complexity of its mapping software, I'd go with the DeLorme PN-40.

Agreed

[ao318]

If you want simple, with a great interface, I'd go with a Garmin Oregon.

 

If you want aerial imagery and don't mind the complexity of its mapping software, I'd go with the DeLorme PN-40.

 

I also agree. I have played with both and the only thing I personally don't like about the PN series is the small screen, but I would still but it if I were to buy a new one. I also am interested in the Dakota series but you will have to buy maps for that GPS'r increasing your cost by about another $100.00.

 

As others may have said, it is best to go somewhere that sells most of these models and actually hold them, see them, and play with them.

[JGPS24]

Thanks for the insight for the Dakota! I would not have known that you have to buy the maps seprate! I think I might go with the Delorme PN-40 and go from there. I'm still open to suggestions for others.

[+Cherokee Bill]

My budget is around $350- $400. And yes, I mainly want to use my GPSr for geocaching.

 

At that budget go for the Garmin 60 CSX. I have one and would not trade it for any other

[+Team CowboyPapa]

The "barometric altimeter" is used to determine your current altitude, also tracks your travels up & down hills when hiking etc.. Personally I find that feature to be of little value, some other people might find it more useful.. Some units may even use it to track (& forecast) weather trends.. like if it's going to start raining any time soon lol. ......

This is true.

Consequently, I find it just as convenient and more reliable to use the Topo maps that come bundled with my PN-40 for that.

I just eyeball the current position indicator with respect to the bounding contour lines and estimate local elevation.

Probably, good to within ±20ft and no worse than the barometric altimeter's estimation at its best.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Team CowboyPapa

[ao318]

I also have the 60CSX and love it, but it does not come with mapping software. To get either Topo or Navigator, you are looking at another $100.00 or so. This was not a bad decision prior to the PN series or some of the Garmin Series that now have maps installed or come with a disk.

 

If you want the most bang for your buck than the PN series offer that. I in-fact recommended it to a friend who is getting started in geocaching and told him that, "I love my 60 CSX, but go check out the Delorme because they offer maps where alot of the Garmins do not." He chose the Delorme.

 

I probably would still choose the 60CSX because I like the way it feels, yet very similar to the Delorme, and most importantly I like the larger screen. Again, make sure you play with a few different GPS's before you buy. You have to make your own decision.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

...... and don't mind the complexity of its mapping software, I'd go with the DeLorme PN-40.

This characteristic of the DeLorme Topo USA 8.0 mapping application is mentioned from time to time herein.

If this concerns you, I would suggest that you request further elaboration.

Namely, in the context of buying a DeLorme PN-40 vs. a Make A, Model B:

1. Which common task is more complex when performed on both?

2. Does the less complex software

2a. come bundled in the box with GPSr Make A, Model B?

2b. if not, as third party software, where does one aquire it and for how much extra cost?

[+Team CowboyPapa]

My budget is around $350- $400. And yes, I mainly want to use my GPSr for geocaching.

 

At that budget go for the Garmin 60 CSX. I have one and would not trade it for any other

I will not disparage that GPSr whatsoever.

It is a fine unit and has stood the test of time.

 

OTOH, it has been my experience and that of may others,

that we start geocaching making notes on little pieces of paper, or shirt pocket spiral bound notebooks,

transition to printing out the full geocache descriptions on 8 1/2 x 11 stock and, finally,

evolving into a full paperless mode.

 

Those who cache paperlessly with the above recommended unit must do so by also using another

hardware device, such as a PDA, and some additional 3rd party software.

I suggest that if you are considering that unit for geocaching and might want to do so paperlessly,

you might request further definition from those that use it caching in the field as without direct, hands-on experience,

as I cannot provide that.

[JGPS24]

Thanks! I will check out more on the Garmin 60CSX and the Delorme PN Series.

[+Hultis-]

I use my Legend HCx (pretty much the same as 60CSx, and in this question exactly the same) for paperless caching and have done it since I started. I find that it works very well with a few limitations, i.e. reading and storing full descriptions and logs as it gets annoying to read. Sometimes I want those logs or that long description, so if I were to choose a GPS and had one with a larger screen capable of showing lots of text that only cost a little bit more than the equivalent without that function, I would choose the sooner (unless it had bad cons). When logs or description is wanted one can of course use a phone or computer, but it's a bit more work.

 

So in short: built-in paperless functions can be convenient and useful, and is worth a bit extra (but IMO not twice the price), but can be recreated almost fully using only a cheaper GPS, or fully using a cheap PDA or modern phone along with the GPS.

[JGPS24]

Nice idea for useing a PDA as well as a GPS. Unfortunatly, I'm having troubles using my PDA for web browsing...

[+Searching_ut]

The "barometric altimeter" is used to determine your current altitude, also tracks your travels up & down hills when hiking etc.. Personally I find that feature to be of little value, some other people might find it more useful.. Some units may even use it to track (& forecast) weather trends.. like if it's going to start raining any time soon lol. ......

This is true.

Consequently, I find it just as convenient and more reliable to use the Topo maps that come bundled with my PN-40 for that.

I just eyeball the current position indicator with respect to the bounding contour lines and estimate local elevation.

Probably, good to within ±20ft and no worse than the barometric altimeter's estimation at its best.

 

People like me, who are into Peak bagging sorts of adventures, and often use the GPS unit for fitness testing (In my case seeing how much age is slowing me down) tend to like the barometric altitude feature. GPS units have altitude errors of roughly twice the positional error, which makes using one to measure how much altitude you gained or lost difficult at best. Most people aren't so much involved in climbing, and only notice how far off their odometer readings are, without realizing the altitude data is even worse. for those who aren't into climbing though, I can't imagine the barometer to be anything but a waste of battery life.

[ao318]

Those who cache paperlessly with the above recommended unit must do so by also using another

hardware device, such as a PDA, and some additional 3rd party software.

I suggest that if you are considering that unit for geocaching and might want to do so paperlessly,

you might request further definition from those that use it caching in the field as without direct, hands-on experience,

as I cannot provide that.

 

I am one of those that have the 60csx that transitioned from notes, to printing the pages, to using a PDA, and now to the Iphone. I do not mind having the Iphone loaded with all of my PQ's for paperless caching because I carry my phone with me wherever I go so it's no big deal.

 

It was a pain to write down notes because I would surely forget something. Printing the pages is nice but such a waste of paper. The PDA was the best investment for paperless because it was inexpensive, no monthly contract, and easy to use. Best of all it was always available to use with any GPSr that I went out with. Just load it up and you are ready to go. With the software you download for the PDA, you can get your coordinates from your GPSr and enter them into the PDA for caches near you. This was nice in case you hadn't loaded all of the caches in your GPSr. The biggest negative to the PDA is that the information is outdated as soon as you place it on the unit. You do not get updates of any cache that might have been disabled or archived.

 

That is where the Iphone is great. It gets real time information on cache status via the GC app and the PQ's you can download to the phone at any moment on the road, you do not have to download anything from home. It also has a pretty accurate compass that I will sometimes compare my GPSr with to verify if I am going in the right direction. Again, the best part of this process is if my GPSr broke down I could still use the GC app on my Iphone to either cache with or use in conjunction with another GPSr while mine is being repaired.

 

In fact, that is what I will be doing tomorrow because I just sent my 60CSX in for replacement and will be using my daughters Legend HCX in conjunction with my Iphone.

 

Hope this helps out...

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I also am interested in the Dakota series but you will have to buy maps for that GPS'r increasing your cost by about another $100.00.

 

You can get free maps at http://gpsfiledepot.com

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

...... and don't mind the complexity of its mapping software, I'd go with the DeLorme PN-40.

This characteristic of the DeLorme Topo USA 8.0 mapping application is mentioned from time to time herein.

If this concerns you, I would suggest that you request further elaboration.

Namely, in the context of buying a DeLorme PN-40 vs. a Make A, Model B:

1. Which common task is more complex when performed on both?

2. Does the less complex software

2a. come bundled in the box with GPSr Make A, Model B?

2b. if not, as third party software, where does one aquire it and for how much extra cost?

 

I'll keep your questions in mind if and when I get around to doing a comparison!

[JGPS24]

GPSfiledepot web site is pretty neat! Thanks for the site. Does it have maps for the Garmin GPS12 by any chance?

[+victorymike]

For mapping on a budget I'd reccommend a non digital compass/barometric altimeter equipped unit (most people, myself included, get very little use out of those options...which get in the way most of the time anyway). Something like a Garmin GPSMAP 60 or 76 C would be ideal. If you want to have the ability to load massive amount of detailed maps in the future then you can go with the "x" models (60Cx or 76Cx). For your price range you should be able to pick up either of those units, City Navigator 2009, and maybe even a car charger for your GPS (then you'd just need a car mount). That would be a full package deal and upgradeable in the future (if you wanted to buy Topo maps or bluetooth or whatever).

 

Looking around on eBay you should be able to get either Cx unit for ~$250, maps for under $100, and a charger/mount kit for $50. $400...complete kit!

Edited October 22, 2009 by victorymike

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I think that getting a non-high sensitivity chipset model would be a big mistake, especially for a geocacaher.