+BlueGoldGoat (BGG) Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 Considering a new GPS and was looking at the Garmin 60csx or the DeLorme PN 30 - thoughts? Problems? Quote Link to comment
+Ike 13 Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I swear by my Delorme PN 40. I haven't had a chance to play with all the maps. I just loaded the standard. It does paperless very easily, the accuracy is great, the battery life is very comparable to other units, the compass is amazing and always points me in the right direction while others are doing the drunken bee dance, and it's cheaper than a lot of comparable units. Quote Link to comment
+jsdad Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Considering a new GPS and was looking at the Garmin 60csx or the DeLorme PN 30 - thoughts? Problems? Not sure about the 60csx for loading pocket queries for caches. But the Delorme PN-40 gets another vote. I've had mine for a few weeks. Fantastic unit for geocaching. Works slick for quick downloads of ALL the info. The accuracy is balls on! And very fast to acquire satellites. Even the street navigation isn't the worst. Not as good as my Nuvi for street, but that's not why I bought it. All the maps that come with it are GREAT. You don't have to spend another nickle. The Garmin is a great unit as well, but plan on dropping another +$100 to get any kind of decent map. Plus with Delorme coming out with the PN-60, there are some really good deals on the PN-40 right now. Best bang for the buck. IMHO Plus the company has really great service. Quote Link to comment
+Ed and Joyce Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I'm really no help, but my PN-40 is on it's way:) FYI, I ordered mine through Wal-Mart you can pick it up at your local store or have it delivered for $.97. I wanted to have a little insurance if anything was wrong with it so stayed away from ebay for this purchase. Good luck with whatever you choose! Quote Link to comment
NordicMan Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 The PN-40 is an excellent GPSr and has some very nice paperless Geocaching features, and is great bang-for-the-buck Some small issues with it though, it's car navigation is pretty basic, and be sure to carry extra batteries with you as it won't last a full day on one set. The 60CSx is also an excellent unit but it doesn't support paperless Geocaching. It's now a fairly old model yet has some great qualities, such as it's proven ruggedness. LOTS of people have-or-had used a 60CSx on this forum! Quote Link to comment
+BlueGoldGoat (BGG) Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 Thanks all, glad to hear no serious problems or quirks. Quote Link to comment
+BlueGoldGoat (BGG) Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 I'm really no help, but my PN-40 is on it's way:) FYI, I ordered mine through Wal-Mart you can pick it up at your local store or have it delivered for $.97. I wanted to have a little insurance if anything was wrong with it so stayed away from ebay for this purchase. Good luck with whatever you choose! Wow, Wal-mart beat most other places in pricing. Thanks for the tip. BGG Quote Link to comment
+droidster Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 With the PN 40 can you see satellite photo imagery? As it looks on google earth? Is that downloadble to this unit? Quote Link to comment
+droidster Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 With the PN 40 can you see satellite photo imagery? As it looks on google earth? Is that downloadble to this unit? Quote Link to comment
+onthegomom Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I loooooove my PN-40. I looked at the 60Csx, but went with the DeLorme for the one reason of the paperless. I am so glad I did, my dad did the opposite and got the 60Csx and wishes he would have gotten the PN-40 as well, oh well, I tried to talk him into it Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) With the PN 40 can you see satellite photo imagery? As it looks on google earth? Is that downloadble to this unit? While I don't know whether you could get the photo imagery, I would ask why would you want it? The draw to good mapping is the topo imagery. A photo overlay would probably render the topo useless or close to it. EDIT: Just checked Topo 8®. With subscription, Delorme is actively providing download/updates with photo imagery. Integrated so that it wouldn't eradicate the topo features. Edited April 18, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee Quote Link to comment
+Bosn Ski Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 With the PN 40 can you see satellite photo imagery? As it looks on google earth? Is that downloadble to this unit? Yes you can order aerial images using the TOPO8 software included with the -40. While not quite google quality, it is better than nothing. I have been a PN-40 user for 8 months and will never consider another brand GPSr for geocaching. I also recommend GSAK for loading the PN with caches. Quote Link to comment
+jsdad Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 (edited) With the PN 40 can you see satellite photo imagery? As it looks on google earth? Is that downloadble to this unit? You get a $40.00 gift credit included with the PN-40 for additional map uploads from Delorme. I uploaded a few satellite and areal maps to play with. Pretty cool feature. You can overlay these maps on top of the Topo 8 & street maps, or hide them once in the field. You also get a 30 day free premium geocache membership too! Edited April 19, 2010 by jsdad Quote Link to comment
+SgtSue Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Depends on what is important to you. The 60CSx is an excellent model. Easy to load. Holds 1000 geocaches and as many POIs as the memory will hold. Accurate with great visibility - just won't do paperless. Don't know a lot about the PN-40. I was excited to try them out but when I looked at them found the font used to small for easy reading. If you have better eye sight it maybe perfect for you, or they may have increased the size of the font by now. I would suggest a hands on evaluation prior to purchase to see if whatever device you are thinking of is right for you. Quote Link to comment
+missionMode Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Not to throw a wet blanket on all this PN love... since I feel the same way about mine... but I glanced at BGGs profile (I was curious whether Blue and Gold meant my local Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team - in which case I would start giving you advice for using a PN in Canada) and I noticed that all of your finds are in Europe... I'm not sure how good international support is in the PN at this time. I know they are working on it, and will likely have more to say in the next week or two, but you might want to make sure you check into that fully. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I have a PN40 and a 60CSX. If I lost the 60CSX I would buy another 60CSX. If I lost the PN40 I would buy a different unit. If I was carrying both and someone put a gun to my head demanded one of my GPSes I would hand over the PN40 in a heartbeat. The 60CSX beats the PN40 in every important category. Features, ease of use, screen readability, reception, battery life. The only advantage that the PN40 has is the paperless caching feature. Not that the PN40 is a bad unit. It's not, but it's no 60CSX. Quote Link to comment
ao318 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I have a PN40 and a 60CSX. If I lost the 60CSX I would buy another 60CSX. If I lost the PN40 I would buy a different unit. If I was carrying both and someone put a gun to my head demanded one of my GPSes I would hand over the PN40 in a heartbeat. The 60CSX beats the PN40 in every important category. Features, ease of use, screen readability, reception, battery life. The only advantage that the PN40 has is the paperless caching feature. Not that the PN40 is a bad unit. It's not, but it's no 60CSX. I also own both and feel exactly as briansat does. I love my 60CSX and really like my PN-40. Quote Link to comment
+sunnyfm Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 (edited) I just received my PN30 today and am trying to download some pocket queries. The computer keeps saying it can't find a device. I put the SD card in and new batteries - don't know what else to do Edited April 19, 2010 by sunnyfm Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I just received by PN30 today and am trying to download some pocket queries. The computer keeps saying it can't find a device. I put the SD card in and new batteries - don't know what else to do SD card in the PN-30/40 series is typically for maps. You can also store other info and files on it. Your device alone will hold 1000 caches internally, so that is not your problem. Are you loading through GSAK or Cache Register? I think (not positive) that you need one or the other, that manages the PQ info for delivery to the unit. What you are probably finding is a "connectivity" problem. I have it occasionally (have heard of others, too) with my PN-40. Sometimes there is a connectivity problem with the USB ports on the front of the CPU -- the backside ones (I have heard) usually work better. When I happen across this problem, I check the connection(s) at both ends of the cord to make sure it is well established. Once done, the upload through Cache Register takes over, automatically. Quote Link to comment
+weustamiata Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 PN-30 works great, accuracy is spot on. However, I have a question: Is it possible to enter coordinates directly into the GPS, or do you always have to download them via computer. Occasionally, we read a log sheet where the owner has noted his coordinates were a bit off, and he give a new set. Also, we've found a few multiple caches where the first find has a set of coordinates leading to the actual cache. Thanks in advance for the info! You can also reply to me directly - dicklewis@aol.com Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 (edited) PN-30 works great, accuracy is spot on. However, I have a question: Is it possible to enter coordinates directly into the GPS, or do you always have to download them via computer. Occasionally, we read a log sheet where the owner has noted his coordinates were a bit off, and he give a new set. Also, we've found a few multiple caches where the first find has a set of coordinates leading to the actual cache. Thanks in advance for the info! You can also reply to me directly - dicklewis@aol.com You can enter coordinates in every hand held unit that I'm aware of by marking a waypoint, then editing the coordinates to match those of your desired destination. Edited April 19, 2010 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
+weustamiata Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Thank you! Wow! That was a fast reply! Quote Link to comment
+Pax42 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I just received my PN30 today and am trying to download some pocket queries. The computer keeps saying it can't find a device. I put the SD card in and new batteries - don't know what else to do You can use GSAK, Cache Register or the Topo software that came with your 30 to load PQs to the device. Which method are you trying to use? Quote Link to comment
+Pax42 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Considering a new GPS and was looking at the Garmin 60csx or the DeLorme PN 30 - thoughts? Problems? As was mentioned by Missionmode, Delorme does not currently offer much in the way of maps outside North America although some new things seem to be in the pipeline. For now you may be better off with a Garmin handheld if you are indeed outside the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. Quote Link to comment
+The Yinnies Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 PN-30 works great, accuracy is spot on. However, I have a question: Is it possible to enter coordinates directly into the GPS, or do you always have to download them via computer. Occasionally, we read a log sheet where the owner has noted his coordinates were a bit off, and he give a new set. Also, we've found a few multiple caches where the first find has a set of coordinates leading to the actual cache. Thanks in advance for the info! You can also reply to me directly - dicklewis@aol.com Yes you can, this is a sweet feature of the PN's. Find the cache on the unit hit enter hit the arrow button up to the coords on the page enter and move the arrow buttons till you have the new coords enter arrow down and hit route. You can also use this for multi's. It will have all of your cache info and you do not need to make a waypoint like on the garmins. Thanks Quote Link to comment
+weustamiata Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Thank you so much - a great way to do it. That is why these forums are so helpful to us newbies! Quote Link to comment
+TomToad Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I just received my PN30 today and am trying to download some pocket queries. The computer keeps saying it can't find a device. I put the SD card in and new batteries - don't know what else to do If you are trying to transfer caches via the web page "Send to GPS" function, note that the plug-in doesn't work with Firefox 3.6. You need either an earlier firefox version or Internet Explorer. If you are trying to use Cache Register, Topo USA, or GSAK, you might not be getting good connection on the usb cacble. Try rubbing the contacts on the cable and on the PN-40 and see if that helps. If not, then it would be time to contact customer service at Delorme. Quote Link to comment
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