Thinking of upgrading?

[+Mr_Snrub]

Hello all! I recently got into geocaching a few months ago, and now that the weather is warmer, and I have a bit more time to get out, I'm hooked. I began geocaching with a Magellan explorist GC, and that is my current GPSr. It's a great little unit, but I am starting to see some weak points (quite a bit of bounce under cover, rotates crazily when standing still). I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to upgrade to a little more powerful GPSr. I'm looking at the Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSx, it's within my price range, and the features look like they can't be beat. How are the base maps on this unit? Is this a good unit? I'm going off to college in two months but still plan on getting out and caching thanks for any input

[+eusty]

Not sure about the 60csx as I've never used one, but some on here swear by them.

 

As for basemaps...don't bother as they are pants There are plenty of free choices for mapping though, depending on where you want the maps to cover

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=277241

Edited July 4, 2011 by eusty

[+mpilchfamily]

Don't go with the 60CSX. One of the great features of your GS is its ability to do paperless caching. If you move to the 60 you'll loose that feature. I'd suggest looking at the 62 or having a look at the Dakota 10 and 20. The base maps on most units suck. Fortunately the Garmin units i mentioned can use the free maps at GPSFileDepot. Thats a big down side to the GS is the inability to add extra maps.

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/

[+Mr_Snrub]

Thanks for the advice guys I definitely don't want to lose the paperless caching feature, so I think I'll look at upgrading to better explorist or possibly a Garmin.

[+mpilchfamily]

I'm pretty sure all the other explorist models are able to have better maps install. Just not sure if there are free maps available or if you have to use the ones offered by Magellan.

[+Mr_Snrub]

I'm researching the explorist 610 now, it's a bit expensive, but it looks like it has pretty detailed base maps, and it includes summit series Topographic maps, which is pretty cool

[+Viajero Perdido]

For me the killer feature in favor of Garmins (any model really) is the wide variety of maps available for them. There are plenty of third-party maps, many of which are hobby projects but of surprisingly high quality.

 

I like to travel, and I love knowing I'll probably find maps with a bit of googling after I decide on a new destination.

 

I don't think any other brand comes close to Garmin in terms of map availability.

[+CacheFreakTim]

Hello all! I recently got into geocaching a few months ago, and now that the weather is warmer, and I have a bit more time to get out, I'm hooked. I began geocaching with a Magellan explorist GC, and that is my current GPSr. It's a great little unit, but I am starting to see some weak points (quite a bit of bounce under cover, rotates crazily when standing still). I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to upgrade to a little more powerful GPSr. I'm looking at the Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSx, it's within my price range, and the features look like they can't be beat. How are the base maps on this unit? Is this a good unit? I'm going off to college in two months but still plan on getting out and caching thanks for any input

 

I would pass on the 60 series as they do not have paperless caching. If it were me and I wanted to upgrade from the GC I would go with the Dakota/Oregon series. They are touch screen like the GC but you gain a bunch of other features.

 

Also the upcoming new eTrex units (10,20 & 30) will be out by September....they are not touch screen but are more inexpensive than the Dakota/Oregons and will have paperless caching. It might be worth waiting to see how they compare.

[+Mr_Snrub]

Thank you so much everyone for your input, so now I'm gonna be looking at the higher end explorists and also the Garmin Dakota series

[+michaelnel]

Beware of the high end explorists. See my review of the 710 in this forum.

Edited July 5, 2011 by michaelnel

[+TheJudgeFamily]

go for a dakota 10! brilliant gpsr for paperless

[+eusty]

Although if you can afford a bit more then SD slot on the Dakota 20 as it opens up a lot more possibilities

[Contra1971]

when people say "paperless caching"

what are you refering to?

[Wintertime]

when people say "paperless caching"

what are you refering to?

They mean that the GPS receiver has PDA-like capabilities and can therefore display the cache description, logs, etc.--not just the cache's coordinates as a standard GPSr does. So you don't have to print out the cache information before you leave home--you can download information on hundreds of caches to your GPSr and have them right at hand as you travel around.

 

I'm really looking forward to this capability with the eTrex I just ordered. I had to take public transit somewhere yesterday, and if I'd had information about all the light-rail-station caches with me, I could have looked for the cache at my destination while waiting for the guy from the car shop to come pick me up.

[Contra1971]

cool