Help I need a GPS

[+beaniejunkie]

So my kiddos want to start hiding caches and we found out that our cell phone programs are woefully inaccurate in getting coordinates anywhere close to the actual hiding spots. I am considering a garmin 550t? Is this a good unit for beginners? We just need something simple and accurate. It seems a decent price with a lot of features. Are there any others we should consider? What do you all like to use. And what works best. Up until now our Android phones have worked well and we haven't needed to consider any other units. Thanks in advance for the help.

[+colleda]

For beginners a Garmin Etrex 10 (no maps or SD card) or Etrex 20 if you want maps and greater capacity. We use both and they are highly accurate and cheap.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

If price is a major consideration I would go with the Oregon 450...can use detail maps and has 3 axis compass/pointer....these have been priced below $200 lately.

 

I have the above unit but my wife and I much prefer the Garmin 62S ....we each have one.....a button controlled unit with large bright screen.

 

None of the units come with detail maps. There are free maps available but I always buy the Garmin City Navigator maps ( $60-$70 )

[+u1bd2005]

For beginners a Garmin Etrex 10 (no maps or SD card) or Etrex 20 if you want maps and greater capacity. We use both and they are highly accurate and cheap.

 

I agree, I've not used the 20, but just recently got an Etrex 10 for my first gps device (I wasn't bothered about the maps or storage.)

 

What used to be an accuracy of around 16-30 feet on my smartphone has been reduced to an accuracy of around 3-5 feet on the etrex 10.

 

It's took me directly to the couple of caches I've tried so far with it (which I had previously had failed attempts looking for with my smart phone.)

 

Even with the minimal internal storage I downloaded a PQ of a 10 mile radius of my house, which worked out at about 990 caches + waypoints.

 

I managed to get them all onto the device. So I'd estimate it would hold around 1000-ish (including waypoints for parking etc...)

[+slippery pete]

My GF has a 550T and I have to say the touch screen aggravates us. I have an older 60csx, which has button controls, and I much prefer it. If you cache in cold weather you may also appreciate a unit with buttons instead of a touchscreen.

 

That said, I do wish mine could hold as many caches as the 550T can.

[+TJPost]

I love my Garmin Oregon 450 - touchscreen, easy to download caches. Hubby has the Garmin 60CX - more accurate on cloudy days in the woods. We bought our units after talking to fellow cachers at events - we found out what the locals liked and then bought units that others had; we figured that way if we had questions we had someone to talk to and someone who could show us how to use the features on our units. We're both very happy with our GPS'r.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

My GF has a 550T and I have to say the touch screen aggravates us. I have an older 60csx, which has button controls, and I much prefer it. If you cache in cold weather you may also appreciate a unit with buttons instead of a touchscreen.

 

That said, I do wish mine could hold as many caches as the 550T can.

 

I have a Oregon 450 and the touch screen bugs me as well. It seems like almost every time I try to scroll the screen it ends up placing a marker on the map instead and the only way to get rid of it is to touch the back button, which causes it to revert to the original zoom level. I used to have a 76CX and preferred the button controls but that GPSr was stolen.

 

 

[+slippery pete]

My GF has a 550T and I have to say the touch screen aggravates us. I have an older 60csx, which has button controls, and I much prefer it. If you cache in cold weather you may also appreciate a unit with buttons instead of a touchscreen.

 

That said, I do wish mine could hold as many caches as the 550T can.

 

I have a Oregon 450 and the touch screen bugs me as well. It seems like almost every time I try to scroll the screen it ends up placing a marker on the map instead

 

Yes! This is it exactly

[+DoverRamCachers]

I'm new the geocaching world and I'm interesting in making this a serious hobby of mine because I like hiking/outdoors so why not search for caches too. Right now, I just use my phone with c:geo. I just purchased the premium membership so I could download PQ's to my phone. I would like to upgrade to a handheld GPS and am I'm doing research on which is the best to get for a beginner. My question relates to the maps that one needs to download for the GPS. I am very ignorant to what a 1:100k or 1:24k map is and how that relates to the GPS. If I were to buy a unit what maps would I need to go geocaching on hikes, around town or anywhere in the US?

 

Thanks in advance.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

I'm new the geocaching world and I'm interesting in making this a serious hobby of mine because I like hiking/outdoors so why not search for caches too. Right now, I just use my phone with c:geo. I just purchased the premium membership so I could download PQ's to my phone. I would like to upgrade to a handheld GPS and am I'm doing research on which is the best to get for a beginner. My question relates to the maps that one needs to download for the GPS. I am very ignorant to what a 1:100k or 1:24k map is and how that relates to the GPS. If I were to buy a unit what maps would I need to go geocaching on hikes, around town or anywhere in the US?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Again, we really like the Garmin 62S and have a few of them along with dozens of others.

For detail road maps I use the Garmin City Nav. 2014 on a micro SD card ( the last two I bought on Ebay for less than $25 each )....just put it in your cards SD slot, turn the unit on, and you will see detail street maps.

I think GPS City still has the 62S and Oregon 450 ( if you must have touch screen ) for less than $200.

Edited December 20, 2013 by BAMBOOZLE

[Keystone]

Oh, my. I was busy in October on a geocaching adventure when this thread was first posted. Now that it's been bumped, I will belatedly move the discussion from the Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS and Technology forum.

[+ecanderson]

450 is the preferred unit here, with none of the touch screen issues mentioned above.