We are newbies....Hello

[The4.5Links]

Hello to the wonderful world of Geocaching!!! We are a new family that has just entered into this fun sport. We are from the Poconos and we have so many caches hidden in this area. We also want to start hiding some ourselves and I know that is not possible without a GPS. We are wondering what is the best but affordable GPS device we can get and where can we get it.

We have found some already with the clues but we want to find more our kids love it and so do we. I think we have more fun than the kids do....lol

[+kywaterfowler]

What do you consider affordable? What is your budget?

[The4.5Links]

What do you consider affordable? What is your budget?

Prolly less than $100....

[robb01]

I am looking for the same

 

Edited September 7, 2010 by robb01

[+Mongo1965]

Check out the units at walmart while I did not get mine there they seamed like some decent units. One place to try if you have them near you is pawn shops thats where I got mine. I pick up a Magellan Triton 2000. for around $150 this unit has a lot of bells that I still don't know how to use though I did use the built in flash light to find a cach as the sun was setting.

 

One thing though if you find one at a pawn shop and they say on we also have the national geographic map for it do bother as we though oh great maps we don't have to buy only problem is the previous owner registered the maps so we couldn't use them at all.

[+ngrrfan]

What do you consider affordable? What is your budget?

Prolly less than $100....

I seriously doubt that you will find something for that amount. HOWEVER.... walmart online has a Garmin eTrex Venture HC for about $140. It's a great little unit for geocaching.

[+kywaterfowler]

One other thing you might want to think about is if you have a smart phone with a GPS using that for a while. You can use them to find caches, but I would really use them to hide caches.

[+mrssanta2]

I am really new at this too. I have only found 3 caches so far. I started out using my Tom Tom but found out quickly that it is cumbersome to try to use. I finally settled for the eTrex Venture H but I think it may be hard to find. I noticed it is discontinued. Someone said you can get them on Ebay for about $75. I like mine but didn't realize even with that you can be as much as 30 to 30 feet off. The one I found this morning said I was 26 feet away when I found it. I am glad you have your kids along, they are good at looking in little places.

[bella'speople]

I'm a newbie too and bought a Garmin etrex H to see if this is something I'll continue. So far so good. Cheap. Gets me to the spot accurately. I can see I will upgrade at some point but there's certainly nothing wrong with this unit... and I LOVE geocaching.

[+knowltonGeo]

Depending on your requirements for geocaching, the "Geomate Jr." may be an option for you, and it is under $100:

 

http://mygeomate.com/Home.action

 

I bought mine at Target for $70.

 

A word of warning. This is a no fuss / no muss GPS device. Simple to use. Which means it is not as sophisticated or versatile as more expensive GPSs.

 

It comes pre-loaded with 250,000 cache locations.

 

It has a data cable (not included) that you can purchase separately so you can get all of the caches that were published since you bought the unit (or whatever version it has on it).

 

You basically scroll through the 20 closest cache locations until you find one that you think is suitable in terms of difficulty, terrain, cache size (all represented by icons).

 

You can get into the details on the site. I am just highlighting some of my experience with the device and the features.

 

Bottom line...for the money....it DEFINITELY WORKS for caching. I have found 4 caches so far using it.

 

Good luck,

 

Tom

[+BZLuck]

I'm brand new too!

 

I'm due for an upgrade on my Verizon phone in about 2 weeks and for many more reasons than getting started in Geocaching I've been looking into a Droid X.

 

I used to (I swear I did, but after searching the entire house and garage, I'm clueless to where it might be) own a Garmin eTrex Summit that I thought I could use to get started in this adventure, but alas, I have located the cover, the car mount, the cables and the user manuals, but no GPS unit, except the Garmin Nuvi in my Xterra.

 

From what I've read the latest generation of "smart phones" that are GPS enabled seem to be a good overall investment for getting started here, with a few available apps loaded.

 

Good luck to you, (and us) in our latest adventure!

[+randco]

The eTrex Legend is a good beginners handheld receiver. But you must remember that it will only have a basemap, so you will need some other means of getting driving directions to the cache site. I started with an eTrex Legend but returned it and upgrade to the GPSMAP 60CSx. I had the features that I needed.

Check Amazon for pricing on the handhelds. You might be able to get a good used one.

 

Have fun and be safe.

[+Rookies2001]

I'm totally new to this and found an E-Trex Legend on Craigslist for 50 bucks.

It works great!

 

Good luck to all of us!