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Very Newbie Geocaching GPS Questions!


o2bcool

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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 by o2bcool
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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!

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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!

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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 by Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide
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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

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