+Team Mixster Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 Does anyone have recommendations or reviews of the existing GPS in-dash receivers that are good for Geocaching? Currently we carry a laptop and etrex legend w/ cable, it would be nice to only need the etrex (for out-of-car) and the nav unit in the car (which would accept coordinates as well as addresses). Any ideas? -Mike from Team Mixster Quote Link to comment
+leatherman Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I don't know about in dash receivers, but the Street Pilot III is the only one I would buy. Especially if it's for vehicle navigation. It can be used in other vehicles. If a caching buddie should drive, or something along those lines. You can also use the mapping software you have for your Legend. Although I think it comes with software.? If someone comes in and mentions the GPS V, ignore them. That would be the bottom of the barrel in regards to your inquiry. Pepper playing nice! Mokita! Quote Link to comment
+wickedsprint Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 So would a streetpilot, at least a V you can walk around for more than 2 hours before you burn up the batteries... Quote Link to comment
Cypress Cacher Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I would not use the SPIII for Geocaching. It is WAY too large and the batteries only last for about 2 hours. It is great for auto navigating though. The unit that seems to be a good balance is the Garmin GPS V. It is small and light weight, but has excellent geocaching functions. For navigating it is OK, not great because it has a much smaller screen, but there's always a tradeoff. Quote Link to comment
kirklyn Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 i use a garmin 176c in my car and switch it to my boat when i use that.color is okay without backlight on but much better when on so i wired mine directly. detail is great and it can accept all mapsource products. i use r&r u.s. great for on and off road excursions. i have no clue on battery life and they also make the greyscale 176. no geocaching icons but i use it to just get close then use my legend. kirk Quote Link to comment
+leatherman Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I think that the two stupid battery comments deserve a good flaming. I'm beginning to believe that people that buy the GPS V develop brain damage shortly after using it. Maybe there is some kind of radiation emitted from the device due to the excessive battery capacity. Any negative opinion or comment about the GPS V almost always results in an off topic unintelligible retort. Back to topic. The two hours of battery life is irrelevant. The topic is about an in vehicle GPS navigation system. Similar to a laptop connected to a GPSr. Which they are already using. Translation. Mixster wants a large color screen, large map capacity with a convenient in/on dash mount. The GPS V does not fit this criteria. My suggestion does not fit the in dash criteria. However it does have a larger color screen and up to 128megs of memory for maps. Additionally the SP III is more familiar to use. Since they already own a Garmin. It can be moved to other vehicles. Not exclusive to one vehicle like an in dash system. It can also be taken inside to be connected to a desktop. End of rant. Bring it on. Pepper playing nice! Mokita! Quote Link to comment
Cypress Cacher Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 The original question was "Does anyone have recommendations or reviews of the existing GPS in-dash receivers that are good for Geocaching? Did you miss the part about "...good for geocaching?". Last time I checked some portion of geocaching was done outside of the car, typically away from the power source in the car so battery run time is relevant. I don't mind being flamed, but you should read the post carefully before you flame someone. In this case your flame is inappropriate. Quote Link to comment
+leatherman Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 There's that brain damage again. Read the whole topic. If your capable. If you take all the elements of the original post, a simple person would understand it's about an in vehicle system. To be used in conjunction with a hand held device for the routing to geocaches. Therefor they would use the Legend that they already have for the "outside of the car" portion of geocaching. Thus making the battery life of the navigation system they inquired about irrelevant. Don't take individual words or sentences out of context. Trying to strengthen your weak argument. The topic is, again, in vehicle navigation systems. Not let's twist the topic into a discussion about the misrepresented superfluous virtues of the GPS V. The GPS V obviously does not fit this situation. This is fun. Keep it coming. Pepper playing nice! Mokita! Quote Link to comment
+Team Mixster Posted July 3, 2003 Author Share Posted July 3, 2003 Before this gets way out of hand I should probably clarify. Really I'm looking for a replacement for the laptop/gps combo in the car. I will still use the etrex legend outside the car, I just think it's a pain in the butt to carry the laptop and gps in the car all set up. By 'good for geocaching' I simply mean it should be able to accept waypoints (in Nxx xx.xxx, Wxxx xx.xxx format) Whether I have to manually type them in or it accepts input from a laptop for setup is fine. Does that clear it up a little? -Mike Quote Link to comment
pdumas Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 I would add to the question but leatherman has all the answers. Quote Link to comment
+bigeddy Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team Mixster:Does anyone have recommendations or reviews of the existing GPS in-dash receivers that are good for Geocaching? There are many factory-installed, dealer-installed and third-party navigation systems available that are permanent installations. I've got a Volvo Navtech system (Navtech supplies many car manufacturers). It's very convenient for road navigation but is not so great for geocaching. The major limitations: - The base map is not very good in rural areas and public lands. MapSource on my Garmin is much better. Perhaps some suppliers other than Navtech have more complete coverage of minor roads. - Lat-lon waypoints can be entered but only in degrees-minutes format. Addresses and POIs are easy. - There is no input port for outside sources like a computer. For trips that involve a lot of driving in unfamiliar places I will use the car system to guide me to the vicinity of a cache. One nice feature is the ability to create an itinerary with linked destinations: a couple of caches, a restaurant, another cache, the campground... the bank to get a loan to pay for all this technology. Quote Link to comment
Spryfry Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 I have an SP3 for about a year now, and love it. It keeps surpassing my expectations every time its used. I use it in multiple vehicles, but have never used it outside the car, as it is a little too heavy. Just my two-cents. I'm out! ------------------------------------ Meridian Platinum ...... Priceless Quote Link to comment
Spryfry Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 I have an SP3 for about a year now, and love it. It keeps surpassing my expectations every time its used. I use it in multiple vehicles, but have never used it outside the car, as it is a little too heavy. Just my two-cents. I'm out! ------------------------------------ Meridian Platinum ...... Priceless Quote Link to comment
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