Geomate.jr review

[+Justin Of Terrytown]

Has anybody ever used a Geomate.jr? I am thinking about getting one for myself to use (I am 27 years old) and am wondering if it will be a good one to use.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

You would be much further ahead if you got a real GPSr, instead.

 

Don't wanna say anything bad, so..............

[+Walts Hunting]

Garbage or maybe an ugly paperweight.

[+user13371]

Inexpensive, simple, easy to use, perfect for the technical inept who never wants to learn or do anything with a GPS, maps, or anything involving navigation. It's perfect for finding lamp posts in the middle of parking lots.

 

For not very much more money, you can have a much more versatile, dedicated GPS that's usable for finding a lot more. Like this.

Edited August 11, 2012 by user13371

[+Hynr]

This product came along a few years ago and met the needs of a special niche of geocachers (e.g. the "very-junior" segment); then the company ceased operations; then someone else bought it and it appears from the web page that he is starting things back up. I suggest you go to website, click on "about Brand 44" in fine print at the very bottom, and on that page click on the name of the guy who now owns this product line and send him an email message. Come back here and tell us what you find out.

[+SurvivorKids]

Has anybody ever used a Geomate.jr? I am thinking about getting one for myself to use (I am 27 years old) and am wondering if it will be a good one to use.

 

I think you would be disappointed with one. They're really for younger kids who need something simple to use. We've been Geocaching for a few years now and my 11 year olds are looking for something more sophisticated.

 

A real GPSr would be a better choice or even a smartphone

[ChefRd2000]

It's a kids toy. I'm in my 40s... So I must be a kid cuz I loved the geomate jr for geocaching!!! I gave up on it when the company was sold. (got a etrex 20 to replace it)

 

If they get things worked out... I will happily return to using the geomate. I loved it!!! (And miss it)

[+QuiltinNana]

I bought one late last year for my granddaughter's birthday in March, she turned 6. Once the company was sold, we were not able to update the maps, but as of late July, the map updating feature is now working again. She used it yesterday for the first time and had a ball with it. It was as accurate as the Etrex units we had with us. And she felt like she was in on the hunt like everyone else with it. It was also good in that we had a newer member of our group with us and our previous finds were not in the Etrex units, but they were in the Geomate Jr so he was able to pick up a couple of hides that we had already found.

 

The only issue I have with it, is that I can't figure out how to load pocket queries to it. It dumps my database, but does not load the pocket query correctly.

[+Fryguy1111]

All I can say is that the Geomate Jr. works just fine for what it does, shows a waypoint and a direction to it . The GPS is very good and holds a signal very well even under trees. The case is sturdy and water resistant and it's two AA batteries has lasted us well over 20 hours. It has a lanyard that is quite convenient when you need both hands so you can quickly just let the Geomate go and address the cache.

 

Note that the Geomate is NOT a paperless device, so you'll need to print out the cache descriptions, hints, past logs, etc. unless you have a smart phone that can display that info for you while hunting. What the Geomate DOES display is the GC Code, the coordinates, distance to cache, direction to cache, d/t of cache, size of cache, strength of the GPS signal, how many satellite are locked onto, current lat and long etc. You can even set a HOME waypoint so you can find your car if you've been out some distance hiking for a cache .

 

It comes preloaded with some 250,000 standard traditional caches, but no premium, puzzle, multi, virtual etc....just traditional. What you can do is what you'd do with any other GPSr devices, load one of your pocket queries (assuming you have a premium geocaching.com account) and have purchased the Geomate Update Kit. My sons use the Geomate Jr. and I load it with a single large PQ. I use Watcher - a GPX utility to merge multiple PQ's into a single extremely large PQ that I upload into my sons' Geomate. That way, I don't have to futz with it too often

 

I use my Blackberry Torch with CacheSense and they use their Geomate Jr. and it seems to have worked just fine for our 330+ finds . For a regular price of $69, you can't beat it...and I've seen it on sale for $50 on occasion too.

 

Edited to mention that there are only three buttons on the Geomate...and one is just the power button. So learning to use it with the two remaining buttons took my sons just a few minutes. Even my non-technophile wife figured it out, hehe.

Edited August 14, 2012 by Fryguy1111