Ok, I don't know what I'm looking for...

[+Rosie_Posie]

Hello all. So I have seriously become addicted to geocaching this summer. I'm really enjoying myself. But so far I've only been using the GPS on my phone. So far its been working pretty well but it does have trouble once we are deep in the woods. It seems to get confused and point every possible direction! haha

 

I would really like to upgrade and purchase an actual GPS that is ideal for geocaching. (My birthday is coming up in August, and so I'm hoping I can drop some hints about a really awesome birthday present!) The problem is I really have no idea what kind of GPS to get. I need something that will work well, is very user-friendly, and not too crazy expensive, but also not one that is so cheap that it doesn't work well.

 

I do lots of urban geocaching and lots of geocaching on trails in the parks/woods near where I live. Nothing too crazy though (at least not yet!)

 

I would love some suggestions for the best GPS for me. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[+6NoisyHikers]

We love our Magellan eXplorist GC - it's designed for geocaching and has a decent basemap included that will get you around your urban/suburban neighbourhoods. You can get them on sale occassionally, but they cost about $150.

[4xCharmed]

I'm wondering the same. I was using google maps on my droid phone to start out and noticed since I downloaded the GC app that it made a HUGE difference in getting me to the right locations! Before I splurge, I wanted to make sure it would be a hobby that I'd stick with. Now all the kids are into it, so I want to upgrade to an actual gps unit because the battery on my phone dies quick and from what I'm reading here, taking phones into certain places is just asking for them to be destroyed... plus, with how quick my battery dies, I'd be screwed if I got bit with a snake or took a roll down a hill (caching in flip flops = NO!)or something and I was alone and had no phone to call 911 :/

[+Cardinal Red]

I am a 100% Garmin user. A friend who had been using a car GPS recently got a Magellan eXplorist GC. When I asked him what had decided him on the Magellan, his response was that he go it new for about $90. Wow, even I was impressed. It would take me months to really learn how a Magellan works (Garmin user, remember), but I was impressed.

 

I don't think that special is available every day. I know the price of discontinued Oregon 450's has been dropping. Very good units. There are several Garmin eTrex units available at different price points. You get what you pay for there. Many that buy the cheap one want to upgrade very soon. I don't know what is important to you though. I bet you don't know yet either.

 

I am not a cell phone cacher (and never will be). In the early days, the GPS implementation in many cell phones was a joke. I had nothing good to say about them. But it seems they have since gotten much better. Both interested parties asking questions here are Regular Members. I believe even as Regular members you were able to access many cache details via your cell phones. Is that correct? And you probably have quite good maps through the cell phone. MANY GPS units don't have good maps unless you pay extra for them. I understand the quality and availability of some free maps is getting better, but it's extra effort to find and download them. Not everyone considers that easy.

 

In any case, there are NON-PAPERLESS and PAPERLESS GPS units. The NON-PAPERLESS units usually hold fewer number of Geocaches and only a fraction of the cache details that the PAPERLESS units can. BUT, to have access to all that wonderful extra detail (Description, Hints, Size, Type, Difficulty, Terrain) you have to keep current (Buy and keep renewing over time) a Premium Membership. In the range of $30 to $40 per year. Are you both prepared to pay for that?

 

Neither one of you ever having owned a dedicated GPS unit, don't expect it to be the same experience as using a cell phone. And the more a GPS unit can do, the steeper the learning curve to figure it all out. Lots of us have gone through that learning curve, and it's easy now. It wasn't easy on day one.

Edited July 7, 2013 by Cardinal Red

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I agree with Cardinal Red, except that I did use a couple of Garmins, switched to Delorme and never looked back... oh, well.

Everything else in that post is spot-on!

 

A little hint here: Most GPSr units come with a "quick-start" guide. Rarely do they include a full manual. Trash that "quick-start" guide -- go online to the manufacturer's website and download the full manual. You can save it to your computer and wouldn't have to print the whole thing out, but it would be handy to do so.

Remember this -- the manual will tell you how to do everything with the unit. It WILL NOT connect-the-dots regarding the use of all those features in conjunction with one another. It remains up to you to connect those dots. Generally, the more you read that manual, the more it all makes sense (just like reading the geocaching and cache placement guidelines ).

 

One side-note regarding signal reception -- with any unit, either phone or dedicated GPSr, there can be times that you lose signal acquisition. Learn to recognize those conditions and anticipate such happening. Such as rain -- rain itself doesn't block reception however, wet (forest) canopy is far superior at blocking signals than is dry canopy. Large, steep hills; deep valleys (canyons) and buildings are also pretty good at it, too.

 

Spare batteries are cheap and easy to change out in any GPSr, so that is a definite plus!

Edit to add: Don't even THINK of putting those Dollar Store-type no-name batteries in your expensive GPSr. Always use name brand batteries, it just may save your unit (which costs far more than any batteries).

 

Lastly, rather than basing your purchase solely upon unit price, determine just what bells and whistles you want -- THEN look for the best priced unit. If you purchase based primarily on the unit cost, you will end up being left "wanting". Bite the bullet and pay the price, you'll be happier in the long run.

Edited July 7, 2013 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+redwoodkestrel]

I've owned and cached with Magellans (GC and 510) and a Garmin eTrex 20. I really like the Garmin: great battery life, free maps online, better accuracy (at least so far as I can tell) than the Magellans, and very user-friendly.

 

They're slightly more expensive than the Magellan eXplorist GC, but still under $200, and well-worth it, in my opinion.

[+splashy]

Oregon 450 or Etrex 20/30, the last also has a 10 model, but due to large maps it's not wise to buy any gps model without an uSD possibility.

What today seems as a huge memory, tomorrow might be small.

I don't know if you can do paperless geocache with the etrex models. With the Oregons you can.

The Garmins have free topo AND streetmaps available for download.

 

See Gpscity for prices. And also important the Video's how to start with your model.

Edited July 7, 2013 by splashy

[team tisri]

Hello all. So I have seriously become addicted to geocaching this summer. I'm really enjoying myself. But so far I've only been using the GPS on my phone. So far its been working pretty well but it does have trouble once we are deep in the woods. It seems to get confused and point every possible direction! haha

 

I would really like to upgrade and purchase an actual GPS that is ideal for geocaching. (My birthday is coming up in August, and so I'm hoping I can drop some hints about a really awesome birthday present!) The problem is I really have no idea what kind of GPS to get. I need something that will work well, is very user-friendly, and not too crazy expensive, but also not one that is so cheap that it doesn't work well.

 

I do lots of urban geocaching and lots of geocaching on trails in the parks/woods near where I live. Nothing too crazy though (at least not yet!)

 

I would love some suggestions for the best GPS for me. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

Lots of different units out there and it's really hard to recommend anything without knowing things like whether you prefer a large unit or a small one, a touchscreen or buttons, what sort of budget you've got to work with and so on.

 

As people have said to get the most out of the more modern units you'll need a premium membership, so if you don't want to be paying for that a lot of features will be of limited use.

 

Your best bet is probably to find an event nearby, go to the event, and ask people there to show you their devices. Then you can actually see them in the flesh, fiddle with them a bit, and decide which one you like the best.