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Suggested Garmin GPS's For Beginners


LCP1963

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A good one to start would be eTrex 10 or 20. The Etrex 10 retails for $110 in Canada, and I have seen it on sale for less. If you are on a tight budget, you can likely get a used older eTrex for $40 or less. Just try to get one with an H in the name (eg. eTrex Legend HCx).

 

Edit: Or if you have a smart phone, it may work fairly well. If you have one, what phone is it?

Edited by Andronicus
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I currently use my iPhone3GS and it works well but unfortunately drains the battery like no other, so...

I have looked at the above mentioned units and like what I see, so thank you.

 

That being said, I am looking to spend around $200 for a beginner unit...

suggestions?

 

Thank you in advance.

A few years ago I struck it lucky and grabbed an Oregon 300 for $200

Don't know the range too well now but the new etrexs look promising

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I currently use my iPhone3GS and it works well but unfortunately drains the battery like no other, so...

I have looked at the above mentioned units and like what I see, so thank you.

 

That being said, I am looking to spend around $200 for a beginner unit...

suggestions?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

I just got a smoking deal on an Oregon 450 from gpscity.com for $200 Decent size touch screen and waterproof 10' for 30 mins.

 

Not sure how long it will be on sale, but I think its worth looking into

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The Oregon Series is definetly worthwhile looking into.

 

I've got the 550T and I'm really happy with it.

You wouldn't need the 'T' for Geocaching, a barometric altitude-sensor is overkill here, but I initially bought it for Paragliding and found it to be more than perfect for Geocaching.

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I have an Oregon 550 which I like a lot and should have bought when I first started, you can get one right now on Amazon for $250. I don't have the "T" and I agree with MarkKer that you don't the pre-installed topo maps for geocaching. I have a friend who has a ETrek and they will do the job, though.

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I just got a smoking deal on an Oregon 450 from gpscity.com for $200 Decent size touch screen and waterproof 10' for 30 mins.

 

Not sure how long it will be on sale, but I think its worth looking into

 

Beginner here, and I bought one of those too. It should arrive today. Once it does, there goes my productivity on other tasks the rest of the day! I am very excited to get familiar with my new toy...errr, TOOL.

 

BTW, I checked and that price is no longer being offered; the price was $279 when I looked yesterday.

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A good one to start would be eTrex 10 or 20. The Etrex 10 retails for $110 in Canada, and I have seen it on sale for less. If you are on a tight budget, you can likely get a used older eTrex for $40 or less. Just try to get one with an H in the name (eg. eTrex Legend HCx).

 

Edit: Or if you have a smart phone, it may work fairly well. If you have one, what phone is it?

I Recommend the etrex 10

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A good one to start would be eTrex 10 or 20. The Etrex 10 retails for $110 in Canada, and I have seen it on sale for less. If you are on a tight budget, you can likely get a used older eTrex for $40 or less. Just try to get one with an H in the name (eg. eTrex Legend HCx).

 

Edit: Or if you have a smart phone, it may work fairly well. If you have one, what phone is it?

 

I have an iPhone 3GS.

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A good one to start would be eTrex 10 or 20. The Etrex 10 retails for $110 in Canada, and I have seen it on sale for less. If you are on a tight budget, you can likely get a used older eTrex for $40 or less. Just try to get one with an H in the name (eg. eTrex Legend HCx).

 

Edit: Or if you have a smart phone, it may work fairly well. If you have one, what phone is it?

 

I have an iPhone 3GS.

From what I have heard, the 3GS will usualy be ok for finding caches, but not very good for hiding. If you are looking at getting a new phone soon, the newer iPhones are supposed to be fairly good for geocaching. I use my Samsung Gallaxy SII HD LTE. It is really great with a clear view to the sky. Under cover, not so much. I have to switch to something better then. I think this is a typical best case for smartphones. Depending on your typical caching locations, this may be good enough.

 

As for the eTrex looking like toys, they are actualy fairly rugged. They are water proof, and shock resistant. You can also get some prety nice cases to make them almost indestructable. They are quite small, so if you need reading glasses, but don't want to use them when out caching, you may want to look for a GPS with a larger display.

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A good one to start would be eTrex 10 or 20. The Etrex 10 retails for $110 in Canada, and I have seen it on sale for less. If you are on a tight budget, you can likely get a used older eTrex for $40 or less. Just try to get one with an H in the name (eg. eTrex Legend HCx).

 

Edit: Or if you have a smart phone, it may work fairly well. If you have one, what phone is it?

I Recommend the etrex 10

 

I have a iPhone 4.

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Andronicus, Thank you very much for the info.

Personally I want to get away from using the phone hence my battery of questions.

The eTrex series was suggested else where to me and I have been looking into them as well.

 

I guess the bottom line is:

I want something that is definitely Geocache friendly, maybe even designed for it, and affordable (around $200 or so).

 

You guys have been super helpful so far and I thank you much for your time and opinions.

 

Now, time to make a choice, with Winter in full swing (living in NYC) I have some time to pick one up in time for the Spring thaw.

 

Thanks again.

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A good one to start would be eTrex 10 or 20. The Etrex 10 retails for $110 in Canada, and I have seen it on sale for less. If you are on a tight budget, you can likely get a used older eTrex for $40 or less. Just try to get one with an H in the name (eg. eTrex Legend HCx).

 

Edit: Or if you have a smart phone, it may work fairly well. If you have one, what phone is it?

I Recommend the etrex 10

 

I have a iPhone 4.

Although I have never used a iPhone 4, I have heard that they work fairly good for geocaching. The battery life and toughness can be a issue. Those problems can be compensated for. Get a tough case (otter box perhaps), and an external battery powered phone charger (with lots of mAh; more than 1000). That should get you set up really nice.

Edited by Andronicus
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Now, time to make a choice, with Winter in full swing (living in NYC) I have some time to pick one up in time for the Spring thaw.

 

 

After a few days out with my Oregon 450 I will completely recommend it, couldn't see caching without it. about 10 hours use and the battery meter just hit half!

 

As for winter I bet there are plenty of caches you can still hit in NYC in the snow. I do know your sorrow though, Sunday I drove upto many caches that I knew were right there, but buried under 2' of heavy wet snow

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What are you geocaching with now?

 

I would spend a little more money and get a better unit to start off with. It'll have more & better features and be better to use....which will make your geocaching experiences easier and more fun. Whatever you buy, look at its features - some units don't do certain things (like 3 axis compass, support for certain caches, or whatever).

 

If for some reason - you do not like the unit, or aren't geocaching as much as you would've wanted/liked - you can always post and sell the unit pretty quickly.

 

We have both Oregon 450 and a 62s. At this point, I think the 62s is our favorite. Although - the touchscreen is nice (on the 450), the 62s(non touch screen) screen is much better looking and crisper/clearer and easier to SEE.

 

I think both of these units get great reviews too. Search around....maybe you'll find a used one cheaper.

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I don't recommend the eTrex 10 simply because the maps are useless and can't be updated. My step-mom bought one that came as a geocaching bundle and was very disappointed that you can't even see the major highways here in BC. It will point you in the direction of the cache, but you can't see that it is on the other side of a lake or a freeway. The only reason she manages to find caches is because my Dad has his own high-end Garmin that he uses for search and rescue and he does the mapping to get them into the area.

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