car gps

[basspond]

I'm going to purchase a car GPS. I would like to imput coordinates and download geocaches from website. What make & models would you recommend? Thank you

[+mpilchfamily]

I use a Garmin Nuvi 1300. Garmin has a nice plug in that allows you to download cords direct from the site. Just keep in mind that most Automotive GPS have poor battery life. Not to mention they don't take falls or moister too well. The biggest problem i have with them is the lack of digital compass and distance to cache. You'll get good road directions that will get you close to GZ but once you start walking around its not as straight forward as most of the hand held GPSs. They are usable but not the best. I find it handy to have a compass on hand. Gotta take the nuvi into pedestrian mode so i can get better directions to GZ. But then the map goes stationary where up is north so the compass is needed.

[+gnjeepn]

While you can cache with any Nuvi the easiest one to use for both caching and car use is the Nuvi 500 or 550. They are true paperless meaning you can down load the complete gpx file including descriptions, hints and past finders logs. It does have a compass but you have to be moving to use it. The battery in the 500 series is removable so you can get a spare battery to carry with you. It is the only waterproof nuvi as well so it is a little more forgiving than the standard nuvi's. We started out caching with a nuvi 550. The only difference between the 500 and the 550 is the 500 comes with the lower 48 states and topo maps. The 550 has North America and no topo maps. We didn't get the topo because I knew we could get decent free topo maps for the areas we frequent. The 550 did just fine. We eventually got a Dakota 20 for more portability. We still take both once in a while and have found that while the Dakota seems to be a little more accurate, it's not enough to make a big difference.

[+quadsinthemudd]

I think you might consider going a different route with the car GPS. The Oregon series! I dont use my Nuvi anymore because with my Oregon"s (300 & 550) you can make different profiles one for the car and one for the trail. I have two types of maps loaded into my Oregon one is routable streets and the other is topo. The streets maps I suggest you buy from Garmin that way you can enter addresses and it will work exactly like a Nuvi except it beeps instead of telling you what to do. I get all my topo from Gpsfiledepo.com they are free and have 20ft contour lines instead of 80 or 120. Right now you can almost steal a Oregon 450 from Gpscity.com I think and it will hold 5000 geocaches so it will hold a whole road trip vacation worth of geocaches. Just my two cents.

 

Also you can do this!!

 

[+Chrysalides]

I think you might consider going a different route with the car GPS. The Oregon series!

Personally, I find the Nuvi to be much better for car navigation compared to the Oregon, with its larger screen, 3D view, spoken street name. I have both.

 

Also consider that for little more than the cost of the Navteq maps, you can get a low end Nuvi.

[+briansnat]

I'm going to purchase a car GPS. I would like to imput coordinates and download geocaches from website. What make & models would you recommend? Thank you

 

If you're going to use it for geocaching the only good answer is the Nuvi 500 series. They are made to be compatible with outdoors use and have key geocaching features like a compass navigation screen.

[+Chuy!]

I use a Garmin Nuvi 1300. Garmin has a nice plug in that allows you to download cords direct from the site. Just keep in mind that most Automotive GPS have poor battery life. Not to mention they don't take falls or moister too well. The biggest problem i have with them is the lack of digital compass and distance to cache. You'll get good road directions that will get you close to GZ but once you start walking around its not as straight forward as most of the hand held GPSs. They are usable but not the best. I find it handy to have a compass on hand. Gotta take the nuvi into pedestrian mode so i can get better directions to GZ. But then the map goes stationary where up is north so the compass is needed.

Some Nuvi models have a satellite screen; wherein, you can navigate by the numbers. On my Nuvi 750 & 755, press and hold the strength signal bar in the menu screen until the sat screen opens up. However, to navigate by the #s, you need to have the cache coords handy. I have them with customized POIs. It take a little getting used to, but I find it more accurate than navigating by the map screen.

Edited December 24, 2010 by Chuy!

[+Tobias & Petronella]

I use a Garmin Nuvi 1300. Garmin has a nice plug in that allows you to download cords direct from the site. Just keep in mind that most Automotive GPS have poor battery life. Not to mention they don't take falls or moister too well. The biggest problem i have with them is the lack of digital compass and distance to cache. You'll get good road directions that will get you close to GZ but once you start walking around its not as straight forward as most of the hand held GPSs. They are usable but not the best. I find it handy to have a compass on hand. Gotta take the nuvi into pedestrian mode so i can get better directions to GZ. But then the map goes stationary where up is north so the compass is needed.

 

We use the Nuvi 1350T and are very happy with it. When driving we use "Automobile Mode" and then when we step out of our truck we switch it to "bicycle mode" which we preset for off road. We never use "pedestrian mode" for geocaching for the reason you stated, the map goes stationary. Bicycle mode is almost the same as Automobile Mode when it comes caching. But since you can set Automobile mode to default to "On Road" and Bicycle mode to default to "Off Road" we can switch between on and off road real fast.

 

Some Nuvi models have a satellite screen; wherein, you can navigate by the numbers. On my Nuvi 750 & 755, press and hold the strength signal bar in the menu screen until the sat screen opens up. However, to navigate by the #s, you need to have the cache coords handy. I have them with customized POIs. It take a little getting used to, but I find it more accurate than navigating by the map screen.

 

I agree. That satellite screen is a really great tool to use. We use the map screen to get close then then pop open the satellite screen for the detail coords. I feel that anyone that uses a Nuvi for caching should learn about POIs if their unit can use them.

[+Nighthawk700]

Is there a quick way to switch from Automobile Mode to Bicycle mode? I have the 1490, I'm not sure if it works the same, but seems I have to go back to tools, routing, etc. Would be nice if there was a quick way to switch. I just ordered a reman Nuvi 550 (waterproof, so I can use it on my motorcycle) that I think will also be used for geocaching in the car unless there is an easier way to switch the 1490.

 

If the original poster is still looking for a car gps to use for geocaching, http://www.tvnav.com/reman.htm has the Nuvi 550 for $150 (re-manufactured)

Edited December 31, 2010 by nighthawk700

[+Tobias & Petronella]

Is there a quick way to switch from Automobile Mode to Bicycle mode? I have the 1490, I'm not sure if it works the same, but seems I have to go back to tools, routing, etc. Would be nice if there was a quick way to switch. I just ordered a reman Nuvi 550 (waterproof, so I can use it on my motorcycle) that I think will also be used for geocaching in the car unless there is an easier way to switch the 1490.

 

If the original poster is still looking for a car gps to use for geocaching, http://www.tvnav.com/reman.htm has the Nuvi 550 for $150 (re-manufactured)

 

I'm not sure if this works for the 1490, but here is what I do on the 1350T.

 

In the top left corner of the screen is the signal strength (Green Bars) and next to that is a picture of the Mode (Auto, Ped, Bike) you are in. Hold and release that picture and it will take you to the Usage Mode menu. Then just select which one you want.

 

One extra step that you will need to do when setting up the different modes is to go to the Navigation screen while in each mode to set the defaults for Route Preference. This only needs to be done once. After that every time you go in to a different mode the Route Preference will also change (or stay the same) to what you had chosen before.

[+Nighthawk700]

Just tried it out, SUCCESS!!! Thanks!!!!