Paperless Geocaching GPS tracker for under 100.00?

[+indigo1975]

Just begun Geocaching and using a Smart phone at present. Very accurate on the Samsung Galaxy S2, but battery drains so quickly.

 

Is a paperless GPS system available in the UK for less than 100.00? I'm not sure what I am looking for, so hoped someone could help

[+figures]

Some people use GPS enabled PDA systems they've bought off ebay. I'm probably not the best person to ask on those as I don't use one but others should be able to give you advice

 

Then there are dedicated handheld GPS devices, of which the market leaders are Garmin and to a lesser extent Magellan (and some others). With the Garmin's you need to have a Colorado, Oregon, Dakota or Montana to have proper paperless facilities. New those cost a lot more than £100 and I'm not sure if you could get one second hand for £100. There are tricks you can do with more basic models to get hints in cache titles but they are cludges and involve extra steps. I think Magellan and other makers are similar in terms of pricing.

 

My advice is that if you're enjoying caching, save up and buy the best unit you can get. Also check out your local cache meets as there might be someone selling an old unit / willing to go out caching with you.

[+firestars]

I use a Garmin Etrex H alongside my Blackberry.

 

I preload the Garmin and only whip the BB out _if_ I need to use the hint. So I am paperless on my travels and only carry the two items that most of us would have with us anyway.

 

Around the £60 mark.

[+drsolly]

Just begun Geocaching and using a Smart phone at present. Very accurate on the Samsung Galaxy S2, but battery drains so quickly.

 

Is a paperless GPS system available in the UK for less than 100.00? I'm not sure what I am looking for, so hoped someone could help

Fujitsu Loox 720 on Ebay - £70

16 gb CF card - £20

Bluetooth GPS - £10

 

You can also get extra batteries for the Loox on Ebay. My Copilot GPS lasts 13 hours.

 

I doubt if you could actually find anything better, even spending five times as much.

[+drdick&vick]

I just picked up a Acer PDA with built in GPS and use it as a back up to the Oregon and got the mapping.

Got it for £37

[+firestars]

Just begun Geocaching and using a Smart phone at present. Very accurate on the Samsung Galaxy S2, but battery drains so quickly.

 

Is a paperless GPS system available in the UK for less than 100.00? I'm not sure what I am looking for, so hoped someone could help

Fujitsu Loox 720 on Ebay - £70

16 gb CF card - £20

Bluetooth GPS - £10

 

You can also get extra batteries for the Loox on Ebay. My Copilot GPS lasts 13 hours.

 

I doubt if you could actually find anything better, even spending five times as much.

 

Against a Garmin with a years warrenty, batteries that last 24hrs+ for half the price?

 

The mind boggles.

[+drsolly]

Just begun Geocaching and using a Smart phone at present. Very accurate on the Samsung Galaxy S2, but battery drains so quickly.

 

Is a paperless GPS system available in the UK for less than 100.00? I'm not sure what I am looking for, so hoped someone could help

Fujitsu Loox 720 on Ebay - £70

16 gb CF card - £20

Bluetooth GPS - £10

 

You can also get extra batteries for the Loox on Ebay. My Copilot GPS lasts 13 hours.

 

I doubt if you could actually find anything better, even spending five times as much.

 

Against a Garmin with a years warrenty, batteries that last 24hrs+ for half the price?

 

The mind boggles.

 

Yes, even against that.

[Remote Part]

The eTrex 10 will do paperless geocaching. Available in September, there's a few places listing it for less than £100.

[+PopUpPirate]

Just begun Geocaching and using a Smart phone at present. Very accurate on the Samsung Galaxy S2, but battery drains so quickly.

 

Is a paperless GPS system available in the UK for less than 100.00? I'm not sure what I am looking for, so hoped someone could help

Fujitsu Loox 720 on Ebay - £70

16 gb CF card - £20

Bluetooth GPS - £10

 

You can also get extra batteries for the Loox on Ebay. My Copilot GPS lasts 13 hours.

 

I doubt if you could actually find anything better, even spending five times as much.

 

Against a Garmin with a years warrenty, batteries that last 24hrs+ for half the price?

 

The mind boggles.

 

Yes, even against that.

 

Completely agree with PDA caching. Our PDA of choice is the very similar HP iPAQ rx5720 / rx5915, also known as the UCD (Ultimate Caching Device) OS 1:25k maps, SIRFSTAR gps chip, all-day battery life, under £100. Same crack as the Loox. Only - repeat ONLY - disadvantage is less robustness.

[GerritS]

Have tried various caching devices Etrex, Blue tooth, PDA & Various phones.

 

Have to agree if your hooked get a good GPS/ or PDA (if you can get your head round it and not break it).

 

I presently have Oregon and Samsung Galaxy S2

 

Oregon does give better fix and battery life (although touch screen is poor). I find myself using GS2 to navigate to parking then, turning GPS off on phone use Oregon on foot. At GZ I log them on GS2 that as I go better data entry, it also allows me to walk to the next using Oregon.

 

Doing this I guess a basic GPS could replace Oregon but a decent fix is useful under tree cover..

 

My problem is I need simple I tend not to cache for 2 months then trying to remember how to install PQ's maps etc can get a bit much...

[+FOX 661L]

Got to both agree and disagree with the others about getting a secondhand PDA on ebay

 

Personally I use a Dell Axim X51V with a Compact Flash GPS receiver, 3600mAh battery (lasts 8 hours with the screen on constant full brightness) about £60 all in on ebay... However... then you come to maps, and your budget soon shoots well over the £100 line.

 

There are whole torrents of 1:25000 Memory maps available if you know what I mean (not that I encourage or condone that sort of thing)

 

If you are going to do this, make sure you get a PDA with a VGA display - 640 x 480 pixel... most are QVGA and 320 x 240 pixel just doesn't cut it

 

(my 'alternate' GPS is a Vista Hcx, with Talky Toaster maps... cost a lot more than £100 and I still had to have a PDA with the cache descriptions on for paperless caching... nowadays it only gets used when I'm out on my bike cos it has a handlbar mount and the PDA doesn't!)

Edited August 22, 2011 by FOX 661L

[+drsolly]

The Dell X50V and HP Ipaq 4700 seem to be the same thing as the Loox 720, and one of those, plus a 16 gb CF card, plus a decent £12 bluetooth gps, plus a spare battery if you're likely to be out more that several hours, plus an Aquapac or equivalent, plus a PDA protection case (I use an aluminium thing), gives you the best kit you can get, and it's under £100 total.

 

I'll be doing a talk on the technology of caching at the Geolympix next year; everyone's welcome to come along and dispute my opinions!

[+TheBoySmythe]

Like most, I use 2 devices.

 

Samsung Galaxy android phone - for Descriptions, Hints, and Logging on the trail

I run it with the GPS off and in flight mode (no Data) using a PQ for the information

Massivly extends the battery time.

 

Then I have an ETrex H - for a more acurate fix at the GZ.

 

Bought a spare battery for the phone for less then a Fiver! Well worth it!

 

TheBoySmythe