Suggestions for GPS

[+LEO Cachers]

Hey everyone... We are new to the game and are hooked already. We have been using a free GPS ap on our Driod, but would like something a little more reliable and accurate. Can you suggest a unit that is easy to use and syncs with the geo caching website? Thanks!

[+cantuland]

...Can you suggest a unit that is easy to use and syncs with the geo caching website? Thanks!

Garmin Colorado 400t with Garmin MapSource MetroGuide North America to upload POIs along with the topo maps. Get a BirdsEye subscription from Garmin for awesome aerial maps. Then search the internet for free maps and upload a few more free topo maps, free county line maps, and lots of other freely available maps. Get an SD Card with lots of memory on it so you can add lots of GPX files to the card. Using your premium membership, you can download 1000 geocaches per GPX file, 5 files per day, centered on different points in your Virginia area. Upload all the GPX files to your SD card. Change them all to .GPY except for the one that you want to currently use; leave that one as GPX. Then as you move from one area to another, put the SD Card into your mobile phone or computer and change the filetypes so that the previous location is now a GPY and the new location is a GPX. Then your Garmin will look at a new set of 1000 geocache locations. The Colorado will hold 2000 waypoints in memory. Swapping the GPX files will just swap out your geocaches so it isn't like you are ADDING another 1000 geocache waypoints, just substituting.

 

That's what I do.

[+Colonial Cats]

It's hard to beat a DeLorme. Here is their site.

[+briansnat]

How much are you willing to spend? What features do you want? Is vehicle navigation important? Magnetic compass? Color display? Touch screen? Screen readability?

[frozenflyboy]

It's hard to beat a DeLorme. Here is their site.

Wow the maps are a heck of a lot cheaper than Garmins! What s the quality difference?

[+LEO Cachers]

How much are you willing to spend? What features do you want? Is vehicle navigation important? Magnetic compass? Color display? Touch screen? Screen readability?

 

We were planning on getting a GPS for the car anyway, but had been putting it off. We would like something that can be used in the car as well as a handheld. Probably not going to spend more that $400. Thanks for your response and input...

[+velrahnkoon]

How much are you willing to spend? What features do you want? Is vehicle navigation important? Magnetic compass? Color display? Touch screen? Screen readability?

 

We were planning on getting a GPS for the car anyway, but had been putting it off. We would like something that can be used in the car as well as a handheld. Probably not going to spend more that $400. Thanks for your response and input...

 

The problem here is that a good car unit is not the best handheld unit, and vice versa. You can get handhelds that route you to your destination, but a dedicated car GPSr will do a better job (and you get a bigger screen so you can keep your eyes on the road easier). The reverse is that a good car unit doesn't do well in the middle of a field or under tree cover when you're trying to get an accurate fix on a geocache.

 

So you're going to have to decide what's more important - cache hunting or vehicle. You can get some of the top end models spending that kind of money. You may even be able to get yourself a car AND a handheld unit, middle of the line, for $400 total.

[frozenflyboy]

The problem here is that a good car unit is not the best handheld unit, and vice versa. You can get handhelds that route you to your destination, but a dedicated car GPSr will do a better job (and you get a bigger screen so you can keep your eyes on the road easier). The reverse is that a good car unit doesn't do well in the middle of a field or under tree cover when you're trying to get an accurate fix on a geocache.

 

So you're going to have to decide what's more important - cache hunting or vehicle. You can get some of the top end models spending that kind of money. You may even be able to get yourself a car AND a handheld unit, middle of the line, for $400 total.

This discussion about car vs handhelds ( http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=254172 ) seems to be quite contentious on this site. I have not done a lot of caches, but my Nuvi 660 (old as Methusala's sp. goat ) seems to work as well as my brand spanking new Colorado 300. In fact my Colorado is no where near as user friendly as my Nuvi. The Colorado has no maps of any kind. Maps seem to be quite expensive at Garmin and I cannot put the purchased maps (lifetime plan) on my two GPSs. Only good for one.

 

Also I bought a mount for the Nuvi that allows me to mount it on my bicycle handlebars for transit to caches. As far as accuracy, the Colorado is not like it is in the videos at Garmin where the girl walks right up to the cache. I did not expect this as GPSs of any variety have repeatable accuracies (with WAAS) of something like 10 meters (30 feet) and I find the Colorado to be no better in tree cover than the ancient Nuvi.

I bought the Colorado because my Nuvi software doesn't store tracks that I can download and put on the net site ( http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map_input ) so I can see where I went on my catamaran and more importantly the speed I was going

The only downside to the Nuvi is that if it rains, the unit is not 'appy. So you get a Ziploc baggie, or wrap it in Saran Wrap if you insist on GCing in the pouring rain .I still wrap my Colorado when I go on the boat but that's just me and the boat is frequently going through waves.

 

With the car GPSs screen size matters. Don't be cheap. It is a wee bit dangerous to be squinting to see the screen while driving. The larger screen allows you to see it in your peripheral vision so you still watch traffic. I normally put on the voice anyways so I can watch traffic.

 

If I had my druthers I would just get a Nuvi again, but a newer Nuvi. OR I would look at the other brands a little more carefully.

Edited July 19, 2010 by frozenflyboy

[+DustyWalker]

Wait a bit and get one of the new Garmin 62's.

[+warphead]

figured i would chime in with what i bought since it stays within the $400 budget.

 

originally i bought a garmin nuvi 255wt for travel. found out about geocaching and used it for awhile. it's not the best for geocaching but worked. only major downside is that you need to change it to off-road mode when you get out of the car and start searching for the cache. this was on-sale at best buy when i got it for $110.

 

over the weekend i bought a hand-held. it's the magellan explorist gc. since i don't go hiking or needing it to find trails and it would be used solely for geocaching, it was a good choice for me. holds more geocaches than i will probably ever be able to find (10,000). these can be had for $200.

 

i used both of these at the same time this weekend which seemed to work out great. you can use GSAK to load up a PQ into the nuvi for paperless caching with it and also have the same PQ loaded into the explorist gc. now when i want to go, i load up the cache in each gps and use the nuvi to get there with the car and then the explorist gc when we get out of the car.

 

this setup would meet your needs for in-car and also have a nice hand-held that you wouldn't have to worry about rain or dropping it like you do with an in-car only unit like the nuvi.

[+briansnat]

How much are you willing to spend? What features do you want? Is vehicle navigation important? Magnetic compass? Color display? Touch screen? Screen readability?

 

We were planning on getting a GPS for the car anyway, but had been putting it off. We would like something that can be used in the car as well as a handheld. Probably not going to spend more that $400. Thanks for your response and input...

 

Automotive units generally make lousy geocaching units. Some hand helds work fairly well for automotive navigation, but not quite as well as an automotive unit.

 

So if geocaching is a planned use you are better off getting a hand held. The Garmin hand helds do a particularly good job of automotive navigation, though you don't get voice prompts. Perhaps something like an Oregon 450 running City Navigator will do both jobs well.

Edited July 20, 2010 by briansnat

[beaquel]

My advice to you is set a budget for how much you want to spend and then hit Craigslist for a used model being sold by a guy upgrading to the latest and greatest. Either that, or ask your Fraternity brother who is a Garmin employee for his friend/family discount. That helps too. Being an Electrical Engineer isn't always super cool, but it does have a few perks. I also highly recommend getting a turn by turn one for a car and a handheld for geocaching. It's just easier that way as long as you can afford it. Less compromise equals more ease of use in both instances of usage.

 

UPDATE - I just jumped on the local St. Louis Craigslist and found a used Garmin Nuvi 205w for $45. Can't beat that, plus it leaves you with plenty of money left over for a nice handheld unit like an eTrex or Oregon.

Edited July 20, 2010 by beaquel