Geomate Jr. GPS

[+ser1987]

Hey fellow Geocachers!

 

I am still a new geocacher (Since Dec 2009) and I have yet to get a GPS unit. I've been venturing out with my son and my dad (who has the geocaching iPhone app) so I haven't needed one myself until I got really into it. I've been look at the Geomate Jr as a starter unit for me (and my 6 year old son) but I've been a little spoiled on the iPhone. Can anyone who has experience with the Geomate Jr. tell me about it and the pros/cons. What do you all recommend (as a starter)?

 

Thanks in advance for your appreciated tips and opinions!

 

Sarah

[+bittsen]

Hey fellow Geocachers!

 

I am still a new geocacher (Since Dec 2009) and I have yet to get a GPS unit. I've been venturing out with my son and my dad (who has the geocaching iPhone app) so I haven't needed one myself until I got really into it. I've been look at the Geomate Jr as a starter unit for me (and my 6 year old son) but I've been a little spoiled on the iPhone. Can anyone who has experience with the Geomate Jr. tell me about it and the pros/cons. What do you all recommend (as a starter)?

 

Thanks in advance for your appreciated tips and opinions!

 

Sarah

 

It's my understanding that the Geomate Jr comes preloaded with geocaches and you are sort of stuck with them until there are updates.

I could be wrong.

 

If that's the case then I would shy away from it because caches get published and archived every day. It wouldn't be fun to go look for a cache that's on the Jr when it was archived a couple months prior.

 

I would suggest (for the same relative price) a used Etrex or something similar. You can usually find one on Ebay or Craigslist for under $100. If you get one, make sure they have the purchased maps installed because it makes it easier to navigate caches around town.

 

Just a suggestion, of course. I'm sure you will get a few more opinions.

 

Edited to add that you could put a "want ad" here http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=13

 

And also get reviews in the GPS and Technology forum.

Edited March 16, 2010 by bittsen

[+Mom-n-Andy]

Hey fellow Geocachers!

 

I am still a new geocacher (Since Dec 2009) and I have yet to get a GPS unit. I've been venturing out with my son and my dad (who has the geocaching iPhone app) so I haven't needed one myself until I got really into it. I've been look at the Geomate Jr as a starter unit for me (and my 6 year old son) but I've been a little spoiled on the iPhone. Can anyone who has experience with the Geomate Jr. tell me about it and the pros/cons. What do you all recommend (as a starter)?

 

Thanks in advance for your appreciated tips and opinions!

 

Sarah

Amazon.com has the geomate jr for $70 and a cable (not sure whether it will let you add geocaches) for $25. For $122 Amazon has a new Garmin etrex Legend H with monochrome screen and a high sensitivity receiver and which can be easily updated with geocaches. You will be much happier with the Legend.

[+The Neumanns]

we started with the geomate jr. Its nice in the fact that you can just follow it around to various caches, its pretty acccurate when it comes down to it, the GPS coords feature has always been spot on for us.

now the cons....it will pick and choose which caches to take you to. It will only find micros under a 2 star rating, and any other size up to a 3 star rating. If your in an inclosed area sometimes its wont pick up any signal at all and all it will say is "find clear skys" very annoying.

 

hope this helps

[+Scubasonic]

Hey fellow Geocachers!

 

I am still a new geocacher (Since Dec 2009) and I have yet to get a GPS unit. I've been venturing out with my son and my dad (who has the geocaching iPhone app) so I haven't needed one myself until I got really into it. I've been look at the Geomate Jr as a starter unit for me (and my 6 year old son) but I've been a little spoiled on the iPhone. Can anyone who has experience with the Geomate Jr. tell me about it and the pros/cons. What do you all recommend (as a starter)?

 

Thanks in advance for your appreciated tips and opinions!

 

Sarah

 

I would spend a little extra and get a REAL GPS in the long run you will be happier.

 

Scubasonic

[+hukilaulau]

I'm pretty old school. I wouldn't recommend a Jr. as your FIRST gps. Mostly because I think you should read the cache pages before you go hunting when you first start out. Later, if you really get into it, you might want a Jr. for traveling. Especially for those "Random Reststop Caches."

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I can't comment on the GeoMate Jr. itself as I have never seen one.

 

I can tell you just from reading about it that if you stick with geocaching you will likely quickly outgrow it.

[+ser1987]

Thanks everyone for your insight! I may skip on the Jr. because I've read reviews on at least 3 different websites and it doesn't feel right for me.

 

I'll look into the etrex legend, I know someone who has that and he has never had a problem with it.

 

I'm not too terribly worried about the cost of a GPS unit, I'll pay a little extra for reliability and quality. My main concern is how user friendly it is and if it's worth the money I'm paying for it.

 

Thanks again and I'll keep looking for more replies!

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Thanks everyone for your insight! I may skip on the Jr. because I've read reviews on at least 3 different websites and it doesn't feel right for me.

 

I'll look into the etrex legend, I know someone who has that and he has never had a problem with it.

 

I'm not too terribly worried about the cost of a GPS unit, I'll pay a little extra for reliability and quality. My main concern is how user friendly it is and if it's worth the money I'm paying for it.

 

Thanks again and I'll keep looking for more replies!

Great decision, get what you want, not what's cheap!

 

My uninvited recommendation, look for a used Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. It will do everything you need, with maps and navigation it is far more useful than just for geocaching.

[+sbell111]

Thanks everyone for your insight! I may skip on the Jr. because I've read reviews on at least 3 different websites and it doesn't feel right for me.

 

I'll look into the etrex legend, I know someone who has that and he has never had a problem with it.

 

I'm not too terribly worried about the cost of a GPS unit, I'll pay a little extra for reliability and quality. My main concern is how user friendly it is and if it's worth the money I'm paying for it.

 

Thanks again and I'll keep looking for more replies!

You can't go wrong with any of the etrexes. Take a look at each model's features so you can get what you need, but won't be spending more money for features you don't want. Don't avoid used units. Great bargains can be found on ebay.

[+Aerodoq]

Hey fellow Geocachers!

 

I am still a new geocacher (Since Dec 2009) and I have yet to get a GPS unit. I've been venturing out with my son and my dad (who has the geocaching iPhone app) so I haven't needed one myself until I got really into it. I've been look at the Geomate Jr as a starter unit for me (and my 6 year old son) but I've been a little spoiled on the iPhone. Can anyone who has experience with the Geomate Jr. tell me about it and the pros/cons. What do you all recommend (as a starter)?

 

Thanks in advance for your appreciated tips and opinions!

 

Sarah

 

I wrote a bit about our experience with it here: http://www.leftcoastfloyds.net/2010/01/geomate-jr/

 

A>

[+briansnat]

Thanks everyone for your insight! I may skip on the Jr. because I've read reviews on at least 3 different websites and it doesn't feel right for me.

 

I'll look into the etrex legend, I know someone who has that and he has never had a problem with it.

 

I'm not too terribly worried about the cost of a GPS unit, I'll pay a little extra for reliability and quality. My main concern is how user friendly it is and if it's worth the money I'm paying for it.

 

Thanks again and I'll keep looking for more replies!

 

Make sure it's the Legend H or HCX. The original Legend was a fine unit in its day, but its day was 8 years ago.

I mention this only because there are plenty of used original Legends out there and I still sometimes see them being sold new, in box, online.

 

The Venture HC is also a good choice and costs roughly the same as the Legend H, but has a color display. You may also be able to find a DeLorme PN20 in that price range and it is a lot of GPS for the money.

[+mahini]

I'll sing the praises of the junior! I got one as my first gps (my only previous caching experience was someone else's blackberry). I used it for about my first 40-ish finds... I upgraded to a Delorme PN 30, which i LOVE, but I still take my junior along as well.

 

My junior is very accurate, very easy to follow. Yes, they are pre-loaded caches, but with the upgrade cable, you can get up to a 4* difficulty now, so unless you're climbing mountains, you're not going to miss out on much! The main things you don't get are members only caches, & the descriptions, hints, etc. I'm a texting fiend, so I've learned how to text for the info on the caches that I do try with my junior.

 

This weekend, we went on a road trip to Kansas City... since we had no plans, except 1 night's lodging, I didn't even bother with my delorme. KC is a large area to try & load caches for! Instead, I just took my junior along, with its pre-loaded cache list & away we went! Its nice to just power on, have an arrow pointing to the 20 nearest caches & I can pick which ones to find, based on the direction we walked!

 

I'm a fan. I'll recommend it til the cows come home... and I'll keep using it right along my fancy-schmancy delorme :-)

[+ser1987]

So after some wonderful insight and valuable opinion from all of you and a some others, and after days of research I have finally chosen my GPS and ordered it!

 

Drumroll...................

 

Garmin eTrex Venture HC GP... $123.54

 

Of course that doesn't include what I paid for next day shipping...but I'm satisfied with the user reviews (4.5 stars out of 5) and happy with all that it includes! Considering that I'm a rather new geocacher, I think this was the right unit for me! Thank you everyone and I'll keep you updated on my success with the eTrex Venture!

[knowschad]

So after some wonderful insight and valuable opinion from all of you and a some others, and after days of research I have finally chosen my GPS and ordered it!

 

Drumroll...................

 

Garmin eTrex Venture HC GP... $123.54

 

Of course that doesn't include what I paid for next day shipping...but I'm satisfied with the user reviews (4.5 stars out of 5) and happy with all that it includes! Considering that I'm a rather new geocacher, I think this was the right unit for me! Thank you everyone and I'll keep you updated on my success with the eTrex Venture!

Good decision!

The way I see it, if you had bought the Jr for $70, and found that you enjoyed Geocaching, you would have bought the Venture anyway, and so you would have then had $193 invested unless you could sell the Jr., which probably wouldn't happen. You did well.

Edited March 17, 2010 by knowschad

[+louchem]

Great choice on the Venture HC. I picked one up about 2 years ago as my first caching GPS and haven't looked back and haven't felt any need to upgrade. I personally think it is still the best value on the market for the features you get at that low of a price level. There may come a time when you want to go paperless (I just use CacheMate on my Windows smartphone) or you might want to load more maps (I just use the free Ibycus maps for my local area and change out when I travel) but for basic caching it is a great unit. Good luck with it!!

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS and Technology forum.