Urban Geocaching

[BlackProphet]

I am a total noob and would like to enter the world that you all know and love.

 

I do have a question, I will be primarily Geocaching urban areas (starting with Toronto).

I will probably not be traveling to back country any time soon as my friends are all scaredy cats.

 

I was wondering if there were any suggestions from people as to what GPSr's work better in the city (if there are any).

 

Seems like the PN-40 and Oregon 450/550 are the standards right now. I have found the Oregon in Stores for a reasonable price in my area, does anyone know where to find Delormes in the Greater Toronto Area (I prefer a non touch screen, touch screens are my arch nemesis).

 

The Lowrance's seem to be a good compromise (touch screen and buttons), I also like the size (looked at one in the store today) for those that own them, are they still as buggy as before or has the firmware been improved?

 

As for price the best I've found for the Oregon 450 is $400. Anything around there would work for me. I'm not looking at the 550 because I will always have my phone with me, no need for the camera.

 

One more thing, I do travel at least once, usually twice a year so I guess that will make a difference. But again, usually urban areas.

 

Thanks for all your help in advance, I know I have a lot of questions, I've been lucky in that many of the other questions I had have been answered in the past few days!

Edited April 6, 2010 by BlackProphet

[+AgTitan]

I am a total noob and would like to enter the world that you all know and love.

 

I do have a question, I will be primarily Geocaching urban areas (starting with Toronto).

I will probably not be traveling to back country any time soon as my friends are all scaredy cats.

 

I was wondering if there were any suggestions from people as to what GPSr's work better in the city (if there are any).

 

Seems like the PN-40 and Oregon 450/550 are the standards right now. I have found the Oregon in Stores for a reasonable price in my area, does anyone know where to find Delormes in the Greater Toronto Area (I prefer a non touch screen, touch screens are my arch nemesis).

 

The Lowrance's seem to be a good compromise (touch screen and buttons), I also like the size (looked at one in the store today) for those that own them, are they still as buggy as before or has the firmware been improved?

 

As for price the best I've found for the Oregon 450 is $400. Anything around there would work for me. I'm not looking at the 550 because I will always have my phone with me, no need for the camera.

 

One more thing, I do travel at least once, usually twice a year so I guess that will make a difference. But again, usually urban areas.

 

Thanks for all your help in advance, I know I have a lot of questions, I've been lucky in that many of the other questions I had have been answered in the past few days!

you can get it for $287 here

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=245690

[+Chrysalides]

I've found that among tall buildings the Oregon is sometimes off by 50 ft or more, probably due to multipath. I believe the other units to behave about the same. So if you can use it with street maps that will help with narrowing down the actual location.

[+cterres]

The Endura firmware was better with update 1.2.

Update 1.1 was for map updates only and update 1.3 simple adds a navionics map viewer.

Still some issues, the next update 1.4 should be available in a few days.

The actual build is called a "release candidate".

 

For urban areas, you don't need a topo map, so look for the u.s. & canada street map (called "turn-by-turn").

In europe, Lowrance brings out some new maps with more details. Gladly for germany too, cause the first map release was a boring map completly in yellow colour.

 

But i don't know anything about canadian maps right now. Only the street map.

 

Garmin will release some new devices soon, so maybe you wait a few weeks?

The new DeLorme comes out in may too.

It's not the best time to decide what to buy right now.

[+teamhillside]

Just a thought - do you have a bluetooth enabled phone which can run java apps? If you are urban caching, walking around looking at your phone is much more discreet! For £10 I picked up a bluetooth GPSr which has 11hour battery life, far far superior accuracy (compared to my non-WAAS old eTrex) and I have the choice of user interfaces from a few apps which are free / very cheap.

 

Personally I use Trekbuddy, free (and legal) maps using the Mobile Atlas Creator on an old Sony Ericsson K750i and it works fine for me. Certainly if I was a noob I'd think about going down this very low cost route first of all!

 

HTH!

 

Matt

[BlackProphet]

Just a thought - do you have a bluetooth enabled phone which can run java apps? If you are urban caching, walking around looking at your phone is much more discreet! For £10 I picked up a bluetooth GPSr which has 11hour battery life, far far superior accuracy (compared to my non-WAAS old eTrex) and I have the choice of user interfaces from a few apps which are free / very cheap.

 

Personally I use Trekbuddy, free (and legal) maps using the Mobile Atlas Creator on an old Sony Ericsson K750i and it works fine for me. Certainly if I was a noob I'd think about going down this very low cost route first of all!

 

HTH!

 

Matt

 

This seems like a good solution. What kind of GPSR did you buy? Guess I will have to bite the bullet and get data for my phone.

 

I was looking at the PN-60 but I saw on amazon that it is not coming out until July. Not sure if I want to wait that long. I have seen no mention of new Garmins, I thought they just came out. Any links to some previews?

 

Anyone in Canada (and Ontario Specifically) using a Delorme? Where did you get yours from?

 

can you get turn by turn maps from gpsfilesdepot.com?

[Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide]

 

you can get it for $287 here

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=245690

 

It may be best for BlackProphet to buy in Canada since he or she is talking about caching in Toronto.

 

Here's a better Canadian price: http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-oregon-450.html

 

$329 less a $50 US rebate brings it down to almost exactly the same price as quoted in the the other topic.

 

Oops - the price of $329 already is adjusted down to reflect the rebate so it's actually about $380 until you get the rebate back.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide

[+teamhillside]

This seems like a good solution. What kind of GPSR did you buy? Guess I will have to bite the bullet and get data for my phone.

 

I bought something like this (in the UK)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GLOBALSAT-BLUETOOTH-...23#ht_500wt_956

 

Don't necessarily need a data bundle for the phone (I don't have one), all of the apps / downloads can be made from your PC. Trekbuddy is free (though I suspect you can donate), other tools are similar.

 

I'll be honest and say its not the most simple way of doing things, but for a limited outlay I personally think it delivers sufficient bang for my "bucks".

 

Of course, YMMV!

 

Matt

[BlackProphet]

YMMV?

 

Still hoping to hear about any Canadian Delorme users. Or should I just give up and deal with the touch screen?

 

Sorry if I am breaking any bumping rules.

[Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide]

YMMV?

 

Still hoping to hear about any Canadian Delorme users. Or should I just give up and deal with the touch screen?

 

What's so bad about a touch screen? The Oregon's screen might not be as bright under certain conditions as other screens but it sure is sharp. The resolution's very good on it, so you can see details you wouldn't on other lower resolution units like the 60 and 76 series.

 

Not sure how the Garmins compare to Delormes. I've tried others but always came back to Garmin.

 

And if you're looking for reasonably priced maps in Canada I'd suggest Garmin's Topo Canada V4 because it has Metroguide data included for turn by turn routing, and Topo maps of Canada with Digital Elevation Model data so you can see 3D views of the terrain around you. Granted those views are not of much us in Toronto, but they are still nice to have, and for $100, I think it's good value for the money.

[BlackProphet]

What's so bad about a touch screen?

 

Its totally a preferance thing. Big hands + Fat Fingers + a lack of fine motor skills = Hate of all things touch screen. Has nothing to do with the brightness. I just dont like them.

[+dfx]

YMMV?

"your mileage may vary"

[+Styk]

What's so bad about a touch screen?

 

Its totally a preferance thing. Big hands + Fat Fingers + a lack of fine motor skills = Hate of all things touch screen. Has nothing to do with the brightness. I just dont like them.

 

I too avoided the touch screen but finally got tired of waiting for Garmin to fix the Colorado and jumped on the oregon 450 with $50 rebate deal. Totally awesome product, the screen buttons are spaced apart except on the text input screen, you shouldn't have any problems otherwise. I've cached with several differentl Magellan's, and several different Garmin's. Always like the Garmins personally. Delorme looks good but maps are limited for Canada. Heard pretty good things about Lowrance too but never personally tried them.

[+embra]

Still hoping to hear about any Canadian Delorme users. Or should I just give up and deal with the touch screen?

Until very recently, DeLorme PNs were not available in Canada. Since DeLorme is expanding their coverage to include Canada, I think they are lining up Canadian retailers. There was a recent report that PNs had been sighted in an upcoming catalog for some large retailer. Unfortunately, I can't remember who and I can't find the post.

[+EnduraExpert]

What's so bad about a touch screen?

 

Its totally a preferance thing. Big hands + Fat Fingers + a lack of fine motor skills = Hate of all things touch screen. Has nothing to do with the brightness. I just dont like them.

I thought that I would throw out the suggestion of the Lowrance Endura line of GPSr's, they use both a touchscreen and button. If you look at either the Safari or Sierra and add the optional US & Canada Turn by Turn card you will get detailed street maps with voice direction.

 

We will be releasing a detailed Topo mapping card for Canada late in Q2.

 

Just a thought.

[+Triple Crown]

I've found that among tall buildings the Oregon is sometimes off by 50 ft or more, probably due to multipath. I believe the other units to behave about the same. So if you can use it with street maps that will help with narrowing down the actual location.

 

Having the aerial imagery on either the DeLorme PN series or the Garmin Oregon series helps in urban areas a LOT! You can see where the cache is on the map, regardless of where the GPS thinks you are. The Oregons have a much higher resolution screen so you can zoom in quite a bit closer, but I'm not sure what aerial imagery is available for Canada from either company.

Edited April 14, 2010 by Triple Crown