+FalseFruit Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I've been trying to find a suitable first GPSr for geocaching, and I've narrowed it down between the eTrex 29 or the eTrex 30. What would be the best device for a first time handheld GPS user? Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Little difference between the two. The '30 has an electronic compass and will share data with a compatible Garmin unit wirelessly -- like inches away, the '20 does not. For a first-timer, I would recommend the '20. Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 And don't forget there's a barometer in the 30 as well. Quote Link to comment
+FalseFruit Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 And don't forget there's a barometer in the 30 as well. Would the barometer be necessary for small day hikes and caches in the city? Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Didn't mention the barometer as it does little for occasional use. An extended camping/hiking excursion presents a different story, assuming that one knows how to apply barometric "trending". Our unit does, but have never seen occasion to apply it. Quote Link to comment
+FalseFruit Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Didn't mention the barometer as it does little for occasional use. An extended camping/hiking excursion presents a different story, assuming that one knows how to apply barometric "trending". Our unit does, but have never seen occasion to apply it. Thanks, I understand now. Quote Link to comment
Fangamon Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Don't waste your hard earned money on the 30 or the 20, both rather slow (USB v1) and clunky UI with immature buggy firmware and tiny screen. Eventually you will want to upgrade to a better 62s! Grab a 62S as it's a mature product with bigger screen, faster processor and USB v2. Also it has been around for a while so the software bugs have been sorted out completely! Good long term investment, easier to use, better firmware, more options, just a better overall product! Quote Link to comment
wmarek74 Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) eTrex 30 is the only option if you are lookin' for a GPS-receiver which works >20 hours on batteries and which has a relatively small size (and weight). Also, electronic compass has to be consider as current FWs (since FW 2.80) suffer from "GPS response at low speeds" what means in practice that with non-ecompass unit (eTrex 20) you will hardly see movement and map orientation in slow motion. I don't recommend GPS units without electronic compass at all! Overall, I would recommend eTrex 30 if energy-consumption and small-size is a priority. Otherwise I'd vote for Garmin Dakota 20 as a little less energy-safe unit, but currently the best-deal. Garmin Dakota 20 is accesible in the price equal or less than eTrex 20, but has much more capabilities, alike wireless transfer of data, e-compass, barometer. Edited October 8, 2013 by wmarek74 Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Also, electronic compass has to be consider as current FWs (since FW 2.80) suffer from "GPS response at low speeds" what means in practice that with non-ecompass unit (eTrex 20) you will hardly see movement and map orientation in slow motion. At least in my case... it seems that this problem has been rectified since a couple of firmware revisions. The heading low pass filter seems okay tuned to not throw my direction jumpy during bushwhacking. At circa 2.8-2.9 something, it was truly terrible. Otherwise I second the poster above - the firmware is not mature yet and processor rather slow - if you don't care about long battery life and/or a small size don't even consider any of the eTrexes over a 62s !!! Quote Link to comment
+BAMBOOZLE Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Don't waste your hard earned money on the 30 or the 20, both rather slow (USB v1) and clunky UI with immature buggy firmware and tiny screen. Eventually you will want to upgrade to a better 62s! Grab a 62S as it's a mature product with bigger screen, faster processor and USB v2. Also it has been around for a while so the software bugs have been sorted out completely! Good long term investment, easier to use, better firmware, more options, just a better overall product! + 1 ( or I should say 2 as I have two of them ) . Quote Link to comment
+luvvinbird Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Although I agree with everything stated about the 62s (I also own one), I find myself using my eTrex 20 and 30 quite a lot lately. Mostly, I like it's compact size. Don't forget, too, there's a signicant price difference between the 62s and the 20. I bought my eTrex 30 for $249 (CDN) and once saw the 62s at Bass Pro Shop for the same price, but that was rare for that unit. The 20, on the other hand, is averaging around $179. Quote Link to comment
Forkeye Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I have both the 30 and the 62sc and have no problems on either . The 30 is slower but only noticable when panning the map fast and it also gets way better battery life and due to its size is the one I always take hiking. Nothing wrong with the software at this time. Quote Link to comment
Forkeye Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I have both the 30 and the 62sc and have no problems on either . The 30 is slower but only noticable when panning the map fast and it also gets way better battery life and due to its size is the one I always take hiking. Nothing wrong with the software at this time. Quote Link to comment
wmarek74 Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Nothing wrong with the software at this time. BTW, don't you know in what way eTrex 30 calculates "Total ascent"/"Total descend"? I have FW 3.30 and I can't get where these sums come from. What is curious that they seem always less than suspected... Must be a wrong software, or something intentional? Edited October 8, 2013 by wmarek74 Quote Link to comment
Forkeye Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I am not sure either here is an older post that may help http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=194177 Quote Link to comment
wmarek74 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 @Forkeye You are wrong. I confirm stable elevation measurements, but my previous question refered to eTrex 30 calculation of total ascends/total descends. I wrote to Garmin and they admit their mistake and bug. You wrote that you do hiking. I suggest you to give it a try in the mountains. In this case, eTrex 30 software is far beyond all the other Garmins which calculate these values fairy good. The reason of faulty sums' calculation is that Garmin uses alghoritm which is based on changes of vertical speed in the time periods. If you move slow (when hiking uphills) your speed is so slow that eTrex 30 disregards them for total ascend. On the other hand, it works fairly good when cycling with constant pace or in the lifts. Look for confirmation in forum.garmin.de There are many numbers which confirm this BUG. BTW, this wrong alghoritm exists since the start of e30 till now, unfortunately (wrong software) :-( Quote Link to comment
RamblinBear Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Also, the Etrex 30 has ANT+ technology embedded, so you can use it with compatible heart-rate and bicycle cadence sensors. In many ways, it's quite a bit more versatile than the 20. Depends if you'd use/want those features enough to justify the extra cost. Quote Link to comment
Forkeye Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I wasnt aware of the ascent/descent problem on the 30 . Maybe I need to take both my 30 and 62sc out at the same time for a comparison test. Total ascent/descent is not a function that I use much Quote Link to comment
wmarek74 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) Give it a try and you'll see that this particular function (total ascent/descent) gives random values in eTrex 30. It is weird that such perfect GPS-unit with correct altitude readings has implemented such fake algorithm in trip computer. You don't need to take both units to recognize this problem. The simpler test is to make a close, round trip in the hilly terrain and at the same start/finish point of the trip You will see differences between ascents and descents. Typically: the ascents will be underestimated due to lower speed of ascending. Garmin respect this observation, but he is hardly doing anything with this. Edited October 9, 2013 by wmarek74 Quote Link to comment
Forkeye Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) Ok thx I will give it a try.I seem to recall noticing it before. I guess if they havent fixed it yet they probably arent going too. Didnt the Vista have an odometer problem that they could never seem to fix either? Edited October 9, 2013 by Forkeye Quote Link to comment
Fangamon Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) I admit that I have an Etrex 20 (v3.30) and I'm quite happy with it because I can run all my maps on it from the SD card! I didn't want the 30 as my pilot buddies said it was no good for aviation as the extra sensors didn't work accurately and the fact the electronic compass was continually in error requiring constant calibration made the unit down right dangerous to use for flight! Why would I want to pay an extra $120 for features I would prefer to disable! The 20 got it for me! -------------------- I just don't understand why Garmin don't make their GUI's and firmware open source and with user editing and customization softwares available to all. With such a large community of willing users and modders, let the users beta test and hot fix them for selves. Makes for better products with cured software in a quicker time than in-house! I still love my Etrex H (v3.10) better, 'less is more' on this classic! Edited October 10, 2013 by PigSti Quote Link to comment
tr_s Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 I didn't want the 30 as my pilot buddies said it was no good for aviation as the extra sensors didn't work accurately and the fact the electronic compass was continually in error requiring constant calibration made the unit down right dangerous to use for flight! Why would I want to pay an extra $120 for features I would prefer to disable! The 20 got it for me! True actually, even if significantly better in the latest firmware revisions. What's worse, there is a bug such that in the rare case the magnetic compass direction will couple into the device even if the magnetic sensor is completely disabled in the menus. Sometimes, it can even result in the direction arrow rotating while the compass rose does not (yeha...) Here's a youtube video of one moment when I experienced it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpivT2WTevQ The magnetic direction is supposed to be ignored completely though if you are moving faster than a few miles an hour. Doubt any planes are that slow. Quote Link to comment
+Red90 Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 The electronic compass would never be on while flying an airplane.... It is for use when stopped or moving very slowly. Quote Link to comment
Fangamon Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 (edited) The electronic compass would never be on while flying an airplane.... It is for use when stopped or moving very slowly. LOL, what's the point of that! Two steps forward and the electronic compass is a waste of money... So I was right to get the 20! Save yourself some bucks guys, don't fall for the hype! PS: My Suunto compass doesn't have buggy softwares and works just fine @ 500+ kph... Edited October 10, 2013 by PigSti Quote Link to comment
wmarek74 Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 The electronic compass would never be on while flying an airplane.... It is for use when stopped or moving very slowly. LOL, what's the point of that! Two steps forward and the electronic compass is a waste of money... That's right that unexperienced turists may have problem with compass. Otherwise, in eTrex 30 compass works just fine! Quote Link to comment
Forkeye Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) For the most part the compasses on both my 30 and 62sc have been fairly reliable, but of course fairly isnt good enough for an aircraft .I always carry my Suunto compass when hiking, its always correct. All you really need is a device that has good maps and gives your position and the positions of other waypoints that you may want to know and the direction to them. Guess the 20 fits this requirement fine ,some people just like to have all the features offered I guess. These electronic compasses are for recreational use only. I used to use my gps 12 and a real compass and always find my mark, in fact I can covert my geo cache co-ordinates into MGR ,use a topo map and a compass with a romer on it and find most caches ,its kind of a little more of a challenge and fun to do. Edited October 11, 2013 by Forkeye Quote Link to comment
Fangamon Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 For the most part the compasses on both my 30 and 62sc have been fairly reliable, but of course fairly isnt good enough for an aircraft .I always carry my Suunto compass when hiking, its always correct. All you really need is a device that has good maps and gives your position and the positions of other waypoints that you may want to know and the direction to them. Guess the 20 fits this requirement fine ,some people just like to have all the features offered I guess. ^^ +1 Quote Link to comment
Fangamon Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) That's right that unexperienced turists may have problem with compass. Otherwise, in eTrex 30 compass works just fine! Well well, lookee here... I indeed purchased an eTrex 30 some days back. It couldn't calibrate the compass, systematically failed in the 3rd step (it is a known error, there are threads about it). Then I went and replaced the unit with the 62s and did a cache with it. Another satisfied Etrex 30 compass customer, NOT! Edited October 20, 2013 by PigSti Quote Link to comment
Fangamon Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) Board differences: Edited October 20, 2013 by PigSti Quote Link to comment
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