Someone Suggest a decent inexpensive GPS for a Newbie

[landerhi]

Someone suggested I look at the geocache website as I had never heard of such a thing. Now I seem to be quite fired up about the whole bit, however, I don't own a GPS system. I would greatly appreciate it if someone would suggest a system for me on a lower budget. Alright thanks all I hope to be hunting soon.

Cheers

Landerhi

[+jollybgood]

with a basic yellow etrex. It's affordable and works very well for geocaching. It's a good starter unit.

 

If you discover you love geocaching and later want to upgrade the etrex makes a great back up unit or a loaner you can give to a friend when you take him out to hunt with you.

 

They are easy to unload since there's a good demand for used etrexes.

 

Just my opinion. I started with the yellow etrex and have fond memories of using it. I sometimes wish I hadn't sold it when I upgraded to my GPSV. I take a lot of newbies out with me cache hunting.

 

Jolly R. Blackburn

http://kenzerco.com

[dave and jaime]

i can say all the above thing about my mag 315. if you can try to borrow a couple of different units from different manufactures to see the 'feel'. otherwise if you want a basic unit i would think that they are about equal.

[GRANDMASTER CACHE]

Hi!!

 

Agreed about the yellow eTrex. Using the info from this site, you can have a blast. I was going to get that one, and got "talked into" the necessity for base-maps and detail maps, etc. etc. I only wanted the unit for geocaching, and the yellow one would have been fine. We went with the Legend, because it had the $50 rebate and I had some software for it already. I'd say, plan on the eTrex, and then see if you can afford to take advantage of the rebates. I'm assuming the Magellan unit works real good for geocaching, too, and there was just some scuttle about those being had for $99. If I'd have known sooner I would have picked one up (live near Fry's) so my wife could "dial in" as well. Whatever you do, don't "put off" getting a unit, because the hunt is fabulous! Also, if you do a lot of road-trips and travel, you might want to really consider sacrificing a bit to get something with base maps. Spend a night online seeing the different features and figure out if you can get away with the minimum. ENJOY!!

 

Grandmaster Cache

[+Renegade Knight]

I've heard you want the Etrex Venture. One notch above the yellow and comes with the computer cable which you will come to love. If you can get the yellow and the cable for less than a venture go for it. The additional features on the venture are ones most geocaches don't end up using.

 

Wherever you go there you are.

[Clown Knife]

The Magellan Meridian Green is the way to go for a starter unit in my opinion. It can be had for as little as $99.00; and it is expandable with a SD card slot. You can upload detailed maps! Up to 128Mb. No need to upgrade....do it right the first time!

[+Cymbaline]

Hi Highlander,

 

I'm a newbie myself, and just bought my unit friday, 12/13/02, with a buddy of mine (he bought one as well, as he's soon going out-of-country). We looked at the Mag's and Garmin's, weighed the features and functions, what had a PC interface and what didn't. We *had* set a budget of about $120 for each of us..

 

After some online research during the prior week, we settled on the Garmin RINO 110. Picked it up at REI for $170. Originally, we were gonna get the the basic yellow Garmin $99-119 unit, but we liked the fact that the 110 had 1MB of memory, could hold 500 waypoints AND was PC compatible. Couldn't justify the $250 for the 120, and felt that the extra $50 would be well-spent, given that this unit has RFS capabilities to boot. Also took a look at the eTrex Venture (I think - the green one) for the same price, but kept coming back to the RINO 110.

 

Most of the Magellean units we looked at were outside our price range except for the entry units we could find, and those lacked some of the features/requirements we were looking for. Note: This is *not* a dig at Mag, just an observation for somebody who only got started in this at a time when I was looking for certain things.

 

Bottom line: What's your budget? If it's $100, I'd say get the Garmin yellow entry. If it's higher, well... I REALLY liked the Garmin RINO 120 and GPS V a LOT. Couldn't go there though, not for just starting. Paid a bit more than I was originally budgeting, but I'm very satisfied with the results so far with the RINO 110.

 

Dunno if this helps, just an newbie observer who has plans to nail 6 caches tomorrow.. er..today.. in 3 different/drive-to areas.

 

-Cym

[+tmcgowan]

I never leave the house without my Garmin Vista and StreetPilot ColorMap. Total out of pocket cost $1,400. Fun - PRICELESS!

[swdecato]

Magellan GPS 315 can be had on EBAY for less than $100. This was my first unit. I then went out and spent $500 for a Garmin GPS 5. I found that the Magellan did everything I needed.

 

Only weakness I should point out is that without an external antenna, navigating with handhelds in the car is a hit an miss thing unless you lay it on the dash next to the windshield.

 

So... you may want to consider a cheap unit that has an external antenna connection.

 

steve

[luxem]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ValCor:

The Magellan Meridian Green is the way to go for a starter unit in my opinion. It can be had for as little as $99.00; and it is expandable with a SD card slot. You can upload detailed maps! Up to 128Mb. No need to upgrade....do it right the first time!

---

 

I have to agree with this. My Dad purchased an eTrex yellow last year, and I just got the Merdian green (GPS), and there is no comparison. The Meridian is has a lot more functionality for only a little more $$$.

[+jollybgood]

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then you obviously should just get a GPSV.

 

Jolly R. Blackburn

http://kenzerco.com