o2bcool Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 (edited) My 13 yr old daughter and I want to start Geocaching, and we're looking for an easy to use, beginner GPS unit in order to start up. There is a Garmin eTrex Legend on sale near by ($110), but it looks to have a serial cable instaed of a USB (I know these are old, discontinued Garmin units). We also are Mac people, so I'd need a unit that is compatable with Apple. Any suggestions? Also, is connectivity to a computer a requirement to start? We're anxious to get out and get started! Thanks in advance everyone! John C Edited April 23, 2010 by o2bcool Quote Link to comment
+CortandTrent Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 If you do decide to go with that eTrex I have a serial to USB cable that I can send you for a few bucks. I had one but honestly I can't remember if I ever used it with my Macbook or not. I'm pretty sure I did with GPSbabel or something but I can't remember for sure lol. Quote Link to comment
o2bcool Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 If you do decide to go with that eTrex I have a serial to USB cable that I can send you for a few bucks. I had one but honestly I can't remember if I ever used it with my Macbook or not. I'm pretty sure I did with GPSbabel or something but I can't remember for sure lol. Thanks very kindly for the quick reply! So I gather there is something that switches Serial to USB then? That is good. What is 'GPSbabel'? Thanks again for your help and guidance! Quote Link to comment
+trondkj Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I have used an old yellow etrex with serial only via an usb-serial adapter that I used with my macbook pro. I did use the MacCaching application. Quote Link to comment
o2bcool Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 I have used an old yellow etrex with serial only via an usb-serial adapter that I used with my macbook pro. I did use the MacCaching application. Where do I find the MacCaching application? Is this software I need to buy from Apple? Thanks as well for your help! Quote Link to comment
+trondkj Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Where do I find the MacCaching application? Is this software I need to buy from Apple? Thanks as well for your help! http://www.maccaching.com/ Quote Link to comment
Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 (edited) My 13 yr old daughter and I want to start Geocaching, and we're looking for an easy to use, beginner GPS unit in order to start up. There is a Garmin eTrex Legend on sale near by ($110), but it looks to have a serial cable instaed of a USB (I know these are old, discontinued Garmin units). We also are Mac people, so I'd need a unit that is compatable with Apple. Any suggestions? Also, is connectivity to a computer a requirement to start? We're anxious to get out and get started! Thanks in advance everyone! John C No idea where you are but $110 is a bit much for a basic Legend, as far as I am concerned. You really should get a colour unit, perhaps like this Refurbished Legend CX for $109 from DrivenGPS. Far better unit with USB connection and MicroSD card for adding extra maps. The Legend only has 8 megs of memory so you won't get much in the way of maps on it. Edited April 23, 2010 by Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide Quote Link to comment
+Redwoods Mtn Biker Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 The Legend and Legend Cx are older units with a dated chipset. If you go for an eTrex, get one with an H in the name, which stands for high-sensitivity chipset. Do not get an older one. Amazon has the eTrex Venture HC for $120 today. Watch the price. Its been as low as $109 over the past few days. It is an excellent starter GPS. Quote Link to comment
o2bcool Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 Where do I find the MacCaching application? Is this software I need to buy from Apple? Thanks as well for your help! http://www.maccaching.com/ Thanks very kindly for the link! I Quote Link to comment
o2bcool Posted April 24, 2010 Author Share Posted April 24, 2010 The Legend and Legend Cx are older units with a dated chipset. If you go for an eTrex, get one with an H in the name, which stands for high-sensitivity chipset. Do not get an older one. Amazon has the eTrex Venture HC for $120 today. Watch the price. Its been as low as $109 over the past few days. It is an excellent starter GPS. Thanks for the important tip Rick. We're up here in 'The Great White North', and I see the unit you speak of is $180 here at Amazon.ca (seems strange, especially considering our dollars are at par these days). I'll keep looking for this model; it is an easy one to use as well I gather Rich? Thanks again for the help and direction, John C Quote Link to comment
+Redwoods Mtn Biker Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Ouch! I'm not sure there is any such thing as an easy to use handheld GPS. For simple and cheap, you might want to check out the Geomate.jr. For ease of use, I'd go with a Garmin Oregon or Dakota, but they will cost much more. Quote Link to comment
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