Moved back to the U.S. and need new GPS - no budget

[+gaijinboricua]

I used to be in Japan and used my iPhone for geocaching. I moved back to the U.S. some months ago and can no longer use my iPhone. I dont want to get into a new contract with AT&T, so I am thinknig of buying a stand alone GPS. Money is no object. What GPS you guys recommend? I used to love the paperless features of the iphone including the syncing and searching for geocaches on the go. I am not too much about the notes. Any other technological features such as posting to tweeter or facebook are a plus.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I like the Garmin Oregon 450 series, but the forthcoming DeLorme PN-60w should be able to post to Twitter and Facebook.

[+dakboy]

I like the Garmin Oregon 450 series, but the forthcoming DeLorme PN-60w should be able to post to Twitter and Facebook.

Only if you also have the SPOT Communicator add-on & subscribe to that service. The "bare" PN-60w only supports wireless mesh networking with other PN-60ws.

[+gaijinboricua]

Thanks for the input. I wonder if this will run in a monthly charge. I also wonder how accurate is this GPS and how well updated and detailed are the maps for DeLorme.

[+dakboy]

Thanks for the input. I wonder if this will run in a monthly charge. I also wonder how accurate is this GPS and how well updated and detailed are the maps for DeLorme.

The PN-40 and PN-30 use the same GPS chipset as the Oregon series, so there will be minimal differences in accuracy. They're very good.

 

There has always been a subscription fee for the SPOT service. This will be separate from PN-60w ownership - you do not have to have the SPOT device & subscription to use the GPS itself! There are several recent posts on the DeLorme blog about it. http://blog.delorme.com/

 

DeLorme's maps are very good, especially if you get the map library subscription.

Edited March 24, 2010 by dakboy

[+jopasm]

Have you checked with AT&T and other GSM carriers? Usually if you already own the equipment you can just get a SIM card and start a no-contract plan. Theoretically the contracts are just to recover the cost of the equipment.

 

Sometimes you have to try several people w/ AT&T b/f you find someone who knows what they're doing, they don't train their employees well. Never have, probably never will.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I like the Garmin Oregon 450 series, but the forthcoming DeLorme PN-60w should be able to post to Twitter and Facebook.

Only if you also have the SPOT Communicator add-on & subscribe to that service. The "bare" PN-60w only supports wireless mesh networking with other PN-60ws.

 

Thanks for clarifying that. Wouldn't want to mislead.

[+dakboy]

Have you checked with AT&T and other GSM carriers? Usually if you already own the equipment you can just get a SIM card and start a no-contract plan. Theoretically the contracts are just to recover the cost of the equipment.

If that were completely true, your monthly bill would be significantly lower after the 2-year contract term was up and you switched to month to month.

 

But that doesn't ever happen.

[+Chrysalides]

Have you checked with AT&T and other GSM carriers? Usually if you already own the equipment you can just get a SIM card and start a no-contract plan. Theoretically the contracts are just to recover the cost of the equipment.

If that were completely true, your monthly bill would be significantly lower after the 2-year contract term was up and you switched to month to month.

 

But that doesn't ever happen.

We can go really off topic and start blasting phone companies for their pricing policies but I suspect that will get a warning from a mod.

 

Instead, two things to consider:

 

1. The OP's iPhone may be locked to his Japanese carrier (SoftBank?)

 

2. T-Mobile has two comparable plans. Even More has subsidized phones, cost more per month, and comes with 2 year contract. Even More Plus has no subsidized phones, no contract, and cost less.

 

As for GPSr, I'd get the Oregon 450. Or the 550 if you want a camera. Or the "t" model if you want the maps.

[+gaijinboricua]

In regards to the iPhone. It is actually locked to softbank. I could modify it to work in T-mobile, but that is $50 a month and the iPhone GPS is not that good.

 

I prefer a standalone GPS that can be used almost anywhere in the world. for the SPOT plan I noticed that it comes to $99/year (about $8.3/month), which is more convenient as I barely use my cellphone.

 

I was looking at the PN-40 model, but I wonder what differs between the models. As the blog mentions some battery life differences. I wonder if there is some comparison table somewhere in the website.

[+dakboy]

I was looking at the PN-40 model, but I wonder what differs between the models. As the blog mentions some battery life differences. I wonder if there is some comparison table somewhere in the website.

There are only 2 models of the -40, the regular and SE. The only difference is the amount of internal memory available for map storage.

 

Differences between the -40 & -60 are pretty extensive, check the blog I linked above for a description. The -60 should have much better battery life, a new user interface, more internal memory, mesh networking with similar devices (-60w and -60wse models) and I'm sure more that I don't recall right now. If the SPOT is a serious consideration for you, it may be worth waiting for the PN-60w w/ bundled SPOT Communicator.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

There are only 2 models of the -40, the regular and SE. The only difference is the amount of internal memory available for map storage.

About 7.5GB more for the SE.

[+gaijinboricua]

Thanks everyone. I am putting my geocaching on hold until June. That's when the PN-60W is released. I hear there is a little learning curve, but it should be much.