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cheapest gps unit you can buy?


tylee10

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so i just got into geo caching and i have been using my tom tom gps but i need more of a pin point of the cache location. so please let me know if you know of any hand held gps that works for you and affordable?

Cheapest second hand or cheapest new?

 

If looking at new, the recently announced eTrex 10 looks good to me: RRP of $119.99, USB interface, and high sensitivity. The marginally lower cost eTrex H (RRP $99.99) only has a serial interface, so I'd count it out. (Yes, you can get USB-serial converters if you need them, but they tend to cost too much and some are buggy. Go straight to USB, do not pass go!)

 

For second hand ... look in the GPS Garage Sale forum. As before I'd be looking for a high sensitivity unit with a USB interface, and mapping doesn't hurt but the maps cost money too and you did say "cheapest".

 

All that said, I'm still using a Geko 201 (serial interface, via a special USB-serial cable), monochrome, no maps, AAA batteries, and without the newer "high sensitivity" GPS receiver chips ... and it still finds caches. Or I still find caches. And sometimes fail but that's usually not the GPSr's fault! :)

 

Good luck.

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Probably the Magellen Explorist GC. It's got the caches pre-loaded and is designed especially for geocaching. Should be able to pick one up online for under $150. I don't own one but I was at an event with a guy who had one and it seemed to keep up with the ones everybody else had. He said that he loved it.

 

You won't go wrong with a Garmin eTrex Venture HC. There are cachers that own one of these and have found 1000s of caches with them.

 

Personally, I want a unit that I can download pocket queries into or at least the names and coordinates of a cache. OK, I've got a Delorme PN-20 which is a fine unit, however it's a real pain in the butt to try to hand load coordinates into it. The point of this paragraph is that its worth spending more money for something that you can get the coordinates and other information into easily. A unit with paperless geocaching capabilities is worth it also.

 

If you want to go rock bottom in price you can get a Geomate Jr.. But you have to get the update kit with it. The update kit consists of a connector cord so that you can plug the thing into a computer to download new coordinates. I own a Geomate Jr. I got lucky and got it at Target on close out for about have the price. You cannot enter coordinates into a Geomate Jr manually they have to be entered off of the computer. So a Geomate Jr will cost about $70 and the update kit will cost you $25 so unless you find a bargain you will be into it for $100.

 

If you get anything from the Garmin Etrex series make sure that its got an H in the name. That stands for "high sensitivity" Further, I recommend that you get a newer model that has a USB rather than a serial port like some of the old Garmins did.

 

You should be able to get a Garmin Etrex H for about $70 on ebay or amazon. It will do you fine to get you started. But the additional features of the Garmin Etrex Venture HC will be well worth the extra cash.

 

The Lowrance brand offers a lot of features for a low price but I do not recommend them. I haven't seen any geocachers use them. I asked about them and have been told that they are of poor quality and unreliable.

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The most inexpensive new GPS you can buy for Geocaching is the Geomate Jr. While simple in use and features it is only $50 new. With that said I really recommend checking out the new eTrex 10 (Starting around $119.) Has many more features you would want for Geocaching.

One of our users found an eTrexH in the close-outs at a Best Buy just a few days ago. No telling if there's any in your local store, but it's the cheapest thing (at $39) you can possibly buy new that is entirely adequate for caching. You'll need to pick up a data cable for it to load caches, but we can point you to those.
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The most inexpensive new GPS you can buy for Geocaching is the Geomate Jr. While simple in use and features it is only $50 new. With that said I really recommend checking out the new eTrex 10 (Starting around $119.) Has many more features you would want for Geocaching.

One of our users found an eTrexH in the close-outs at a Best Buy just a few days ago. No telling if there's any in your local store, but it's the cheapest thing (at $39) you can possibly buy new that is entirely adequate for caching. You'll need to pick up a data cable for it to load caches, but we can point you to those.

 

For $39 I would buy them just to keep around as a backup. Thats an amazing price. I assume they are getting rid of them for the new units coming out. It will be interesting to see if they drop the price of the Venture HC as well as I know all of my local stores have tons of them in stock.

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The first GPSr that I was satisfied with was the venture HC. The high sensitivity chip makes a big differance. Plus, some of the older models use an obsolete connection. I found this out when I paid good money against a broken old venture.

 

It doesn't have an external card but I have the SE map from gpsfiledepot.com and its pretty quick and easy to load differant segments of the map when I need to.

 

The battery life isn't that great, and the only rechargeable it likes are eneloops.

 

For some reason my venture HC is more accurate than my vista and oregon, at least according to the satilite page. It doesn't have the odometer glitches that the vista has either.

 

Check around for refurbished units, they are cheaper and have the origional warrenty. You might could get a vista for cheap.

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