cmosley26 Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 im a new cacher and looking to get a good gps but on a budget....does anyone know if the garmin nuvi 255w is gonna be a good choice? if not then any suggestions?? Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 It's not good for geocaching. Automotive units generally are poor choices for geocaching. They don't have a compass navigation screen which is an important feature for many geocachers, they have lousy battery life, they don't have field replaceable batteries, they are not water resistant, or rugged enough to handle the abuse they will receive while geocachig and they are simply not designed to be held in the hand. Can it be used for geocaching? Sure, just the way you can use a butter knife as a screwdriver, pound in nails with the heel of a shoe and play tennis with a baseball bat. It works, but there is a better tool for the job, which in the case of geocaching is a hand held unit. If you don't have a lot to spend consider a Garmin eTrex Legend H or Venture H. You can find them for about $120, or perhaps consider looking for a higher end unit used. With the new Garmin 62S being released you might be able to pick up a used 60CSX for within your budget. Quote Link to comment
+Walts Hunting Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 Can it be used for geocaching? Sure, just the way you can use a butter knife as a screwdriver, pound in nails with the heel of a shoe and play tennis with a baseball bat. It works, but there is a better tool for the job, which in the case of geocaching is a hand held unit. Love that quote. I always use fighter/bomber. Can do both jobs but not the best for either. Quote Link to comment
+splashy Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The only real problem are the batteries, the compass you buy for e few bucks and this is better anyway, the 255 in a zipp bag will be 'waterproof' As a starter you will be ok. See other postings about this. Quote Link to comment
cmosley26 Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 well i'd like to have something i can use in the car and for geocaching.... Quote Link to comment
+Tuena Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 well i'd like to have something i can use in the car and for geocaching.... I've got one & combine it with a Garmin Map 60CSX. I use PilotSnipes program to download geocaches to the 255W via GSAK & use it to get me close to the cache at which time I switch over to the 60CSX. I've rated my 255W with half a star but that's another matter - in car navigators are not designed for geocaching. I have 21000+ caches on GSAK & can download the lot to the 255W but generally just download caches based on States. Quote Link to comment
+allenite Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 (edited) Is it an ideal tool? No, but can it be used? Certainly. It also depends on what type of caching you primarily do. For urban caching, it will work fine. When I am urban caching, I use often use it even when my 60 is present. If I have a distance of less than 150 feet and a general direction, I can many times judge where to go. I used mine in Alaska after GW8 and got 33 caches with it, when I lost my 60CSx. When I was out, I had no access to power, so I quickly learned to conserve my battery. My 255 was purchased in April 09, so it is not new, but I still got around 4 or so hours of battery with it allowing me to cache for 6-7 hours on a charge by turning it off when it was not needed. When I looked at the next cache and saw it was a quarter mile down the way, I turned it off until I got closer. Also lock your screen when you are not using it, it will dim the screen. When you are closing in on the location of a cache, give it time. It takes longer than many of the handhelds to settle down. Under tree cover, the accuracy will degrade much more than a handheld as well. Also when approaching the cache, click on the top bar where it says arriving at [insert cache name] and click on it again in the page that comes up. This will give you a 2d map with a better updating distance than the main display. Edited August 2, 2010 by allenite Quote Link to comment
sviking Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 (edited) Whoops...double tap... Edited August 2, 2010 by sviking Quote Link to comment
sviking Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 (edited) As an owner of several Nuvis, they are GREAT for the car, but I can't think of a WORSE unit for outdoors/caching type use. Sure, it can "work", but... Edited August 2, 2010 by sviking Quote Link to comment
+eastnortheast Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I have a nuvi 255 for the car. As others have stated, it is not that good for geocaching, but the nice thing is that you can download the cache information and, in conjunction with a handheld GPS (e.g. Garmin etrex), go "paperless". Yes, I know it is a pain to carry two GPS units, but if you are not going to be remote from a power source for a long period, it is a nice compromise to printing out reams of paper. Quote Link to comment
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