Garmin 200 Nuvi owners

[+JPost]

I don't have anything to compare it to but my Nuvi 200 has worked well and I'm wondering how others feel about geocaching with it since it is the cheapest GPSr I can find. It can be a little jumpy sometimes abd some of the options are limited but you can't beat it for the price. I have found the POI to be a useful tool but can't seem to figure out how to do a mass delete of caches without doing a hard reboot and erasing everything. I know we are only limited to 500 and I don't know if that is low compared to better GPSr's. Overall, I am happy with my 200. It does everything I need it to from road trips to GCing in the woods on my mountain bike.

[+isuquinndog]

I wish it had a better compass. But it's GREAT for paperless if you use GSAK with it. I mean you get so much information on the screen.

[+JPost]

I wish it had a better compass. But it's GREAT for paperless if you use GSAK with it. I mean you get so much information on the screen.

 

So there is a way to get cache info from GSAK on the 200? I just downloaded GSAK yesterday and played with it a little. And, I guess I'm not real familiar with the term 'paperless caching'. Does that just mean having access to GC info on the trail (cache size, hints, logs, etc)? That would be cool to have and I thought you could do it with GSAK somehow but I haven't found how to yet.

[+Cacheoholic]

http://pilotsnipes.googlepages.com/index.html

[+fegan]

I started geocaching with a Nuvi 200W. Found a few hundred caches with it...always felt it was accurate...liked that I could drop a GPX on it, but never learned about loading caches as POIs until long after I upgraded. After a few close calls with the Nuvi, the last where I almost dropped it in a puddle, I decided I needed something a little more rugged and waterproof (and decided I wanted to go paperless). Upgraded to a Colorado 400t and gave the Nuvi to my girlfriend. I still use it from time to time for driving directions, but mostly use the Colorado.

 

Even though you can load cache information as POIs to get most of the paperless caching ability...there's no way to mark those POIs as found and write a field note. I consider those to be key to the paperless ability of the Colorado, I can make a short note about the Find (or DNF), including TB drops/pickups, and then upload that info when I get home.

 

The Nuvi was great...but I'm glad I upgraded to the Colorado.

[hoyshnin]

I have over 2100 waypoints loaded on my nuvi 255W (without using the sd card) and I could probably load a lot more. I use gsak to transfer them over (follow the pilotsnipes website above). Here are things I like/dislike about my nuvi.

 

Likes:

I only have to use one device for 1) navigating on the roads to the cache location, 2) navigate offroad to the cache location, and 3) read all the information about the cache (logs, hints, description, etc).

 

I can use the offroad feature to get very close to the cache and then switch to seeing my actual coordinates to get right on top of the cache.

 

It seems to have excellent accuracy (though I know that many other gpsr's are more accurate).

 

Dislikes:

It is not very durable (so I carry it in a protective bag and attached a lanyard to it to put around my wrist when I'm holding it in my hand).

 

It's not water resistant (which means I don't use it when it's raining, but here in Los Angeles it RARELY rains).

 

It only has a battery life of 4-6 hours (so I'm getting a backup battery pack soon that will use AA's to extend the life of the battery for as long as I cram AA's into it).

 

It can't be carried around my neck or clipped on my belt (but there are cases with these things that you can purchase and I personally use a digital camera bag (the bag I mentioned above) to carry it around my neck, and then the lanyard to put it on my wrist).

 

It's not as accurate as other GPSr's (but it's worked great for me regardless).

 

It doesn't have an internal compass (so I bought a compass that I bring with me).

Edited September 24, 2009 by hoyshnin