iPhone Replacement

[+Bamilbis]

Okay, I've finally had it. I've DNF'd WAY too many caches due to my location hopping around at GZ. I just can't take it anymore.

 

I've been using my iPhone 4 and need your advice on what to get. I have been reading forums but I have a few specific needs and was hoping you guys could provide insight.

 

I travel A LOT. I do have a small windows notebook I take with me. I bring this up because of maps. I'd rather have all of North America loaded, but maybe that's not possible. Like I said, if needed I'll have my notebook handy. I also would like to go paperless as I'm paperless now with my iPhone. Basically, I want what I have now but it would be really neat if I had a device that could get me TO ground zero and not just NEAR ground zero.

 

Cost: Well, less is better, but I know myself and will find a way to convince my self to spend whatever it takes. $600 seems like a good ceiling.

 

I've thought about just getting a cheap unit and using my iPhone for all features except final navigation. Figured I could just enter a lat/long from the iPhone into a cheap GPSr, but then I'm taking two devices into the woods and am thinking maybe that isn't the way to go. Plus, I'm sorta partial to not destroying my iPhone along the way.

 

I've thought about those iPhone cases with a battery and gps chip set but I've heard pretty bad reviews on them.

 

So, I guess I'm down to a sub $600 unit with as much of North America preloaded (aerial too), Groundspeak friendly to download PQs and cache pages and logs and hints and stuff (more the better), good sized color screen, readable in sunlight, and most of all accurate. I don't want anymore wandering dots while I'm not moving.

 

Thanks in advance. Please post also if you think I've overlooked something.

[+mpilchfamily]

If your only real reason is for better accuracy then your out of luck. The iPhone 4 is pretty comparable with most hand held GPSr. But the Hand held do give you much better batty life and won't die if they get tossed around a bit of get wet.

 

Fact is no GPSr will land you right on top of the cache. Once your within about 30 feet of GZ your GPSr has done all it can to get you to the cache. There will almost always be some bouncing around when your at or near GZ.

 

Have a look at the Montana or Etrex 30. Overall i'd stick with a Garmin if you can. They have the best customer support and are the most favored brand among Geocachers.

[+user13371]

Garmin eTrex 10. $119 MSRP. I find it the perfect GPS to "fill in the gaps" as an iPhone cacher. Waterproof, rugged, very accurate, terrific battery life. It can work as a stand-alone "paperless" geocaching setup, but doesn't have any of th high-end features like a color screen, maps, etc... but that's what the iPhone is for, right?

 

If you were inclined to ditch the iPhone completely and use ONLY a handheld GPS, move up a step or two to the eTrex 20 or 30. The 20 get you lots of storage, color higher-resolution screen and mapping capability; the 30 had that and adds a compass and barometer.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Portland Cyclist

[+Keokas]

I bought the eTrex20 to get more accuracy and battery life over iPhone 4. The battery life of Garmin is superior comparing to iPhone but the accuracy varies a bit. Usually in the woods the eTrex is more reliable.

Anyway, today I went for a cache in a little park with some tree cover, and the iPhone lead me to the GZ straight away when the Garmin was still some 16 meters away. I found the cache immediately, so I didn't wait for better readings for the eTrex. Both devices were on well before arriving to the park, so it was not any warming up problem.

I usually cache with both devices, and I have noticed that the iPhone accuracy is not bad at all. For me, the device is supposed to lead me close to the GZ. From there I must search. It is however me finding the cache, not my GPS.

[+Styk]

I was disappointed with my 4S, one cache which was on a guard rail with only telephone/hydro poles around led me me around for quite a while. Finally, I used my geo sense to find it while the iPhone was still way off, like 15 meters. Sometimes I find certain areas are like a dead zone with the gps acting erratic. maybe it's the particular satellite pattern that day, I dunno.

 

In any case, with my older eyes, I prefer a larger screen, when I seen the Montana, I knew that it was perfect for me. I had a Oregon 450 previously and found the hi res screen was actually hard to see. Other then that it was a very good gps. The Montana is better still with a more easily read screen and the abilty to hold 12000 caches. Rotating screen orientation and battery life plus highly customizable screens. My personal favorite, the ability to supply power other then through a mini USB connector.