Is The Tom Tom XL 340-S sensitive enough?

[aligirl1006]

I'm new to geocatching and I was wondering if the Tom Tom XL 340-s is sensitive enough for geocatching? I do have the ability for walk and bicycle mode on this GPS.

 

Aligirl1006

[+Jeep4two]

Sensitivity isn't much of an issue if you are buying a new GPSr. Virtually all GPSr's on the market today have high sensitivity receivers (chipsets) that will do a fine job of holding satellite lock in most condition.

 

However the TomTom XL 340-s is GPSr designed for in-car use. Not that you couldn't use it for Geocaching. I mean you can dig a 2 foot deep post hole with a tiny garden shovel, but post hole diggers are a much better choice.

 

Consider a hand held GPSr that can also serve your in car needs. The Garmin Oregon 300 (or 400, or 500, or 550) would be a nice choice. The Dakota line is slilghtly less expensive and very similar. There are other models out there like the PN-30 and 40 that can also do the trick. The Garmin Oregon and Dakota have automotive modes that give you a 3D road view like the traditional in car units, then you can switch to the more Geocaching friendly views when you get out of the car.

 

I personally use the Garmin 400t and have loaded routable maps that I previously owned (there are also free routable maps for the Garmin units called OSM Routable - Open Street Maps).

 

If you really have to have a driving (in-car) GPSr and want to Geocache the Nuvi 500 and 550 are both 'rugged' in-car units that are Geocaching friendly (waterproof, rugged, compass navigation/bearing).

 

Most in car units don't have a bearing pointer. They also lack sufficient zoom to zoom in and navigate to the cache once you get close.

 

Information to the more popular devices is here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=230083