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I am looking for a mountable GPS for the car with turn by turn directions, preloaded maps, and most importantly, the ability to take pocket queries. Basically I would like a way to navigate from cache to cache without having to look down all the time. I, and the other drivers, would greatly appreciate any direction anyone could give. :rolleyes:

 

PS. Already have a great GPS for the field. Just want something for the car.

Edited by patandkat
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I have used my Garmin Nuvi. I think it is a 1350 model. I load the PQ through GSAK and then to the Nuvi. Have to make a few changes to get it to put the names on that Nuvi. I have to play around with it each time I do it as I don't do it that often. My handheld gps has routing feature on it and I use that more often.

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Was hoping to get one that I could just keep in the car mounted on the windshield. Something that takes regular pocket queries.

 

How are you going to get to the cache if the GPS is kept in the car mounted on the windshield?

 

Maybe he plans to drive right up to the cache, more likely, he'll use his handheld:

PS. Already have a great GPS for the field. Just want something for the car.

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Takes Pocket Queries, right from Geocaching.com? Sounds like you want a Montana, not a Nuvi. Yes, it is a field unit, but it has a Nuvi size screen and takes 12,000 geocaches in a GPX file.

 

Having said that, if you're willing to put GSAK in between your download and loading the Nuvi, there are macros that do a great job. Right now I have 37,000 geocaches loaded on my Nuvi 360. I don't have the cache details but I do have the waypoint to route to. Cache details are on my eTrex.

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So i guess I am still not finding what I am looking for. My field device is a dakota20. I can do a pocket query and put it straight into my device via the usb cord. I dont have to convert files or put it through GSAK. I just click and drag the file over to the GPX folder. I love how easy it is. What I am looking for in a car GPS is the same system. I want to just grab the file and drag it over. Every one I have seen only lets you load one at a time and that is now what I am looking for. Is there a NUVI or something that accepts GPX files?

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So i guess I am still not finding what I am looking for. My field device is a dakota20. I can do a pocket query and put it straight into my device via the usb cord. I dont have to convert files or put it through GSAK. I just click and drag the file over to the GPX folder. I love how easy it is. What I am looking for in a car GPS is the same system. I want to just grab the file and drag it over. Every one I have seen only lets you load one at a time and that is now what I am looking for. Is there a NUVI or something that accepts GPX files?

 

Car navigation device that allows direct copying of GPX files similar to Dakota 20.

 

Hmmm.... Montana 600?

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As far as I know, the only Garmin Nuvi's that natively do paperless geocaching are the old nuvi 500 and 550. They should directly accept Pocket Query GPX files. If you want something newer (and want to spend a lot of money), you can add voice prompted automotive navigation and City Navigator maps to the Garmin Montana.

 

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So i guess I am still not finding what I am looking for. My field device is a dakota20. I can do a pocket query and put it straight into my device via the usb cord. I dont have to convert files or put it through GSAK. I just click and drag the file over to the GPX folder. I love how easy it is. What I am looking for in a car GPS is the same system. I want to just grab the file and drag it over. Every one I have seen only lets you load one at a time and that is now what I am looking for. Is there a NUVI or something that accepts GPX files?

 

Unfortunately...I don't think there's anything that will be a dedicated street navigator AND a dedicated handheld GPS either. If it existed and it was as easy as you want it to be....we'd all have one.

 

If you do some research... you should be able to put GPX files on a Nuvi. There's a whacky phenomenon about the Nuvi and countless different methods of putting gecocaches into them. Depending on how you do it, will depend on how it'll show up in the unit (as Favorites or POI's). With favorites, you are limited to a certain number (under 1000 depending on your unit). With POI's, you can load thousands and thousands.

 

Look at Garmin POI loader program and do some research with this. File format is critical for it to work properly. POI loader is exactly that..will remove & install POI's (onto a NUVI).

 

Ultimately...it's not as easy as you expect it to be.

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So, I like the Nuvi 500 series, but see it's discontinued. This seems exactly what I am looking for. Basically if we oculd get a little larger screen and a model that is still in production. Does anyone know what the current version of this Nuvi is? Thanks so much for the advice.

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We have two Garmin Nuvi 550 only used in the car. We use our 60CSx's for the hunt. I just checked and Amazon has the Nuvi 550 for sale at $299.90. I never checked the Nuvi 500. Easy to load PQ with GSAK. Very easy to use. Sorry, I just read you don't want to use GSAK. I use GSAK to load all of our GPSs and haven't tried to just drop the PQ into the file, but sure it would work.

Edited by W7WT
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Still looking for that magic model. The 500 and the 550 have the features I am looking for, but I need something with a little larger display. Maybe I just need to learn to use the POI updater or whatever. Is it fairly simple? Will I be able to just drive down the road and see the caches on the map?

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