GPS unit suggestions

[A1smallfry]

Hi fellow Geocachers!

I would like to get some opinions on a good, simple, basic portable GPS unit for a person with a limited budget.  I am enjoying the activity so much I am thinking about placing my first cache, but I know I need a GPS to establish the coordinates.  It occurred to me that it could conceivably come in handy for other uses as well.  I would be grateful for any advice--thanks!

[+grimpil]

I will speak up as a relative newbie to all this.  If you can get your head around the truly awful & pretty much useless manual but have an intuition to teach yourself I would suggest the Garmin eTrex10.  I got this for hiking & it does what I need as I had no need for a unit with more than basic mapping as I am a paper mapaholic.  However I decided to have a go at caching 2 months ago & have now upgraded to the eTrex30x.  No regrets as I learnt the gps principles on the 10, but with my somewhat elderly eyes the colour screen of the 30x makes life easier.  And it has more capacity, including slot for microSD.

I found the 30x for £170.  The 10 is around £75.  You might find a second hand real bargain - friend of mine picked up an eTrex20 for £40.

Edited March 30, 2018 by grimpil

[+cerberus1]

14 hours ago, A1smallfry said:

I would like to get some opinions on a good, simple, basic portable GPS unit for a person with a limited budget.  I am enjoying the activity so much I am thinking about placing my first cache, but I know I need a GPS to establish the coordinates.  It occurred to me that it could conceivably come in handy for other uses as well.  I would be grateful for any advice--thanks!

You don't say what phone you're using, but if you can mark your location you've established coordinates. If using the geocaching app,  a brief tutorial on hiding a cache with a phone is here.   

If you still feel you need a handheld GPSr, I'd skip an etrex 10, which is a basic unit.  If you enjoy the hobby, you'd probably upgrade quick enough that the cash on a basic model's wasted.  Maybe save a bit for a better model (reviews are everywhere here, and google) when you can, and you'd be much happier with your one purchase. 

[+Viajero Perdido]

If your phone works well enough for finding caches, then - with the use of an averaging function - it should be good enough for hiding one.

On Android, I've been happy with the GPS averaging app, and like how it even integrates with my caching app of choice (Locus Map) to pass the coords over, without having to fuss with copy-and-paste.

If you're on a limited budget, seriously, try to make the phone work.

[+noncentric]

I agree with cerberus1 about skipping the eTrex 10. You can likely find a used eTrex 20 for a decent price. It has been replaced by the eTrex 20x, so there may be some good deals on used units. I'd suggest checking craigslist, offerup, or eBay.  If you're close to St Louis, then there's an eTrex 20 on offerup for $70 right now.

Edited April 3, 2018 by noncentric

[robertlipe]

There are also discussions pinned at the top "What GPS Should I buy" that go into background of phone vs. "real" GPS and who works best with each. While you're there, be sure to read up on Pocket Queries, a subscription-driven way to get data from the site and into your devices.