Sould I stick with the Garmin Etrex H?

[dasha-sita]

I'm new to geocaching and I've read some positive things about this GPS. But the thing that kinda bummed me out is that there's so USB cord included (is there?) and I don't know where to buy one of these older usb cords for it.

 

But All I really was gonna do is geocache with it. I also heard that there are no maps on it, so my queston is, is it really that important to have maps when you wanna geocache?

 

And last but not least, are there any GPS's that you recommend? My budget is $110 because I don't wanna spend so much on a new hobby I'm starting.

 

So will I be fine with the Garmin Etrex H? One the garmin is filled up with cordinets, can you erase them?

 

Thanks everyone, sorry for being such a noob.

[radkids]

I'm new to geocaching and I've read some positive things about this GPS. But the thing that kinda bummed me out is that there's so USB cord included (is there?) and I don't know where to buy one of these older usb cords for it.

 

But All I really was gonna do is geocache with it. I also heard that there are no maps on it, so my queston is, is it really that important to have maps when you wanna geocache?

 

And last but not least, are there any GPS's that you recommend? My budget is $110 because I don't wanna spend so much on a new hobby I'm starting.

 

So will I be fine with the Garmin Etrex H? One the garmin is filled up with cordinets, can you erase them?

 

Thanks everyone, sorry for being such a noob.

 

We also started with the Garmin H. It didn't take us long to realize for our new hobby it was a pain to enter in the coordinates. It's doable, but takes awhile. Also you can delete them when you want. We bought a Garmin HC off of ebay for about $100 and are super happy with it.

[+WestSideDaddy]

The etrex is a perfectly good GPSr, but if you plan to use it I would recommend getting the data cable and GSAK.

 

That way you can transfer your caches (500) to your device (easy to do with GSAK) using the %drop2 name.

 

You will have to keep a paper copy for your caches, hits and logs unless you have a smart phone that can handle that. I used the ipod macro to generate Notes for my old ipod that I could then read in the field.

 

I eventually bought the new explorist GC ($200) which, despite a for issues, I really like. 10k caches with logs and hints and everything stored on it. Decent performance and not a bad price.

[+Druce_n_Eulla]

I too went with the eTrex H and loved it for a year. We also figured why spend so much on a hobby we may or may not stick with.

Yes you will need a data cable and if you have a newer computer without a serial port you will need the trendnet usb2serial adapter sold on amazon. So in this case a step up would be a good idea like an eTrex venture HC which has usb hookup. It will probably end up being the same money after you purchase the cables for the eTrex H.

Also check your local bass pro shop or cabelas and see if they have any deals on returns in their inventory, I got an Endura Out&Back for $137 which is a heck of a deal. Who knows maybe you will find a better model for the money you want to spend, never know.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Druce_n_Eulla

[+TexDan1]

I have the original Etrex. I'm new to this too, but I like toys and I've had this older Etrex for many years. I just went on line to e-bay. I found the data cable, but I purchased an aftermarket stye with a USB plug not the Serial Port plug. This cable came with a driver disk and all you have to do is load the software on your computer. I don't have serial ports on my laptop so the usb was the only option for me. Once you load the software it will assign a port for your new cable. Mine was assigned to port 13 at first. When you load the update software from garmin it will seek out your device, but the software only looks for ports 1, 2, 3 or 4, so it didn't see port 13. I was feeling risky and went into my laptop software control panel and went to hardware devices. I changed the location from 13 to 4. When I went back to the garmin update software, it located the device on port 4. Garmin downloaded the updated software for my etrex. So now my unit communicates with my lap top and has the most recent version of software on the device from garmin.

 

Please note I am running windows XP Professional on my laptop, so you may find a differt problem or maybe none at all depending on your computer system

 

Now just plug it in, find locations on Geocaching .com and load them to your unit...it's easy once you get the cable setup complete.

 

Good luck!

[+jazzmonster]

I had the same dilemma when I started. I don't know if I will enjoy geocaching and I have an iPhone - what should I do?

 

After lots of reading, I decided that the little bit of caching (one cache!) that I'd done with my iPhone, geocaching was something I wanted to do more of - really fun, great exercise, curing my asthma etc and that if I was going to stick at it, I should get something at least half decent. I'd just got a Christmas bonus from work so put the extra together and bought a new Dakota 20, which I love.

 

It wasn't long after that my family and friends were asking me about geocaching so I decided to bite the bullet and get a spare (so I didn't have to give up mine!) I bought an Etrex off ebay. I am so glad now, that I didn't buy it to begin with! Whlst it is a perfectly good unit, and the GPS is accurate, I didn't have a cable so entering all those co-ordinates manually is tedious (and painful!) Once you've got used to running a quick Pocket Query (and I've learnt to do this regularly, just before going out as caches get moved from time to time), you don't want to go back to entering co-ordinates. I could buy a cable but then I've got used to colour screens and more features!

 

I have since bought two Venture HC's for anyone coming with us, a Colorado 300 for my hubby (which is more manly sized to my more lady sized Dakota 20) but which I secretly prefer to my Dakota 20, I use my iPhone sometimes when I'm getting stuck and want a photo clue and the Etrex, perfectly good as it is, is going on ebay!

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I'd go with the Venture HC instead. It's $114 at Amazon right now, which is a good deal as they often have it at $130. It has a USB cable, easier to read screen, better interface and accepts maps.