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I have $400. What to get?


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I'm new to Geocaching and I have $400 to spend on a GPSr. I think I've got it narrowed down to two packages.

 

1. Magellan Sportrak Pro GPSr, mapsend US TOPO, Windshield gooseneck suction cup mounting bracket, and a carrying case - $353.

 

2. Meridian Platinum GPS, 32MB datacard, Mapsend TOPO - $400

 

This is from The GPS Store and the prices above do not include the $75 in rebates.

 

What is the biggest differences between the two units and which do you feel is the best package deal?

 

I'm leaning towards package #1, because I think the 23MB of memory would be enough for me. Plus, I can get more extras with that package. I guess my biggest question would be, what would I be missing by getting the Sportrak and not the Platinum?

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quote:
Originally posted by mmpoole:

Hi, you can ge the Magellan Sportrak Pro GPS with Mapsend US street and destination, carrying case, and a few other things at Costco.com for $275 (so $200 after mail-in rebates). Here is the link if you're interested:

http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=79&subid=82&hierid=3401&prdid=10028442&log=

 

Thanks, but I think I would prefer to have the TOPO. I've found the #1 package at gpsonsale.com for $336.

 

quote:
Originally posted by mmpoole:

Also, from what I've found out, the biggest difference between the sportrak and the platinum is that the platinum is memory expandable, has a real 3 axis compass and a barometer.


 

I think I can live with the 23mb of memory in the Sportrak.

 

Those of you with a Platinum, how often do you find yourself using the electronic compass and barometer?

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I have the Plat. I have never used the barometer, but I can tell you that when I am getting close to the cache, I ALWAYS switch over to the compass screen. It allows you to line up the cache precisely. The compass is worth the money. Rock solid readings without that spinning effect you can get from "averaging". To address the memory issue, I thought I was going to buy TOPO and all that for the Plat, and a humongo memory card, but I never did. The 16 MB map that is already built into the Plat is enough for me.

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quote:
Originally posted by Buccaneer55:

quote:
Originally posted by Renegade Knight:

Garmin GPS V.


 

Thanks, but I'm not looking for a Garmin.

 

[This message was edited by Buccaneer55 on May 09, 2003 at 06:28 AM.]


 

I use the Magellan meridian, I already have a sunnto watch with a compass and barometer so I could not see buying a Platinum. As far as memory the Sprt trak map pro should be just fine. I bought the Meridian because I wanted a larger model and expandable memory.

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Both are lovely units. The ST is a little lighter and smaller and accordingly, has a smaller screen.

 

A compass in the unit is tempting but honestly, the aggrivation of recalibration on each battery change and the added cost encourages me to carry a low-tech magnetic compass. (I can lose a bucket of Silva's for the price premium of a Plat or a Vista.) But I know others that can't stand to carry an extra piece of equipment and don't mind the recal. I cached for about a year using only the "northfinder" that's in the Magellans and I guess I did OK with that.

 

The other major difference between the two is the SD flash expandability. You can fit a good chunk even with topo data in 23Mb but it's worth mentioning that uploading it serially is a pain. You're probably looking at a half hour to upload all 23MB. If you plan to load in your home area and maybe shuttle new maps in and out when you travel a few times a year, it's probably not a big deal. If you travel enough that you'd benefit from either the infinite capacity of removable chips (you can carry multiple chips if the 128's just won't hold you over) then I'd chose the plat.

 

You sound like you've studied the Magellans pretty well, but if you haven't had one, it's worth mentioning that map images are built out of 1-4 regions and you can't replace the regions individually. So don't think you can have 16MB around your area and just flip in 6MB for the destination of your travels; you'll have to upload all 22MB in that example if you want them all in your unit at the same time. Welcome back to the half-hour club.

 

Remember, if you want SD and a good basemap but not a compass, there's Merigold, too...

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Thanks, Robert. I've done some more research and decided to go with the Platinum. I got a Platinum, TOPO, 32mb SD, and an SD reader/writer for $390. So, $315 after the rebates.

 

I see you are a member of the MTGC. I live in Murfreesboro and just signed up over at the MTGC forum. Hope to see you around.

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When I was looking (about a month ago) It was between the Platinum and the GPS V.

 

I went with the autorouteing. If that hadn't been a criteria I would have probably bought the platinum. A friend has one and its feature set is really good and with the topo maps (with street names) it would have been great.

 

I love my GPS V though and it does what no other gps does for the price (and my needs).

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quote:
Originally posted by Renegade Knight:

 

I'm sorry, do you want your money back for that bit of good advice?


 

No, but I was looking for replies that had to do with the two packages I spoke of in the body of the original message.

 

I have no problem with you recommending the Garmin GPS V, but maybe you should have given some reasons why instead of just posting the name of a GPSr. Your post was neither helpful nor intuitive, which seems to be the case with most of your posts that I've read.

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quote:
Originally posted by Buccaneer55:

I have no problem with you recommending the Garmin GPS V, but maybe you should have given some reasons why instead of just posting the name of a GPSr. Your post was neither helpful nor intuitive, which seems to be the case with most of your posts that I've read.


 

Guilty as charged. Your topic however is "I have $400. What to get?" To which I gave an exact answer. Which you could have looked up and compaired to other GPS's that interested you. Not knowing the magellan line I couln't comment on diferences and the like and left that to people who had the better information.

 

So to give you better information which still won't help you.

 

The GPS V is the best hand held GPS on the market right now. Maybe that will change and maybe Magellan will be the one to change it. Until then it's still it's the king. Why? maybe the autorouting, maybe the mapping, maybe the ability to handle an external antenea, maybe a combination of all of the above.

 

Will you go wrong with a magellan? No.

Would you go wrong with a 100.00 GPS? No.

Why? Because they will all get you geocaching and serve the minimum functions of a modern GPS. But if that was really intuitive I wouldn't have to explain it to you.

 

Why am I hammering on the intuitive? Because I could not use it to figure out what the heck your topic has to do with your post and you take the time to heckle me about it.

 

Certainly I'm guilty of what you accuse me of. So far as I can tell, you seem to have a full dose of the same at 5 posts.

 

When you post in the forums you open your self up to all the advice, humor, and the bad that everyone else gets. I don't recall slamming you, but I did point out in a roundabout non intuitive way that to nit pick advice isn't kosher. After all you asked, and didn't pay a dime for it. My normal rates are over 100.00 an hour for advice. For that though I draw it up real nice and give you calcualations to back it up.

 

After this nice refreshing rant, guess what? I still gave you good advice and it's still free.

 

P.S. Night Stalker uses the exact setup that you have listed for the Sport Trac Pro and it works very well. The suction cup mount is a bit goofy but it's mobile and goes from car to car with relative ease. At the time he got his GPS it was the best bang for the buck bar none. You neglected to mention if you wanted the best you could get for about 400 or the best bang for the buck. Those are entirely different criteria and not at all intuitive to your post.

 

=====================

Wherever you go there you are.

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A couple of other things I recalled while I was grabbing lunch. (Worthless non intuitive information) The STP is a magellan. Magellans in general tend to have you overshoot your waypoint. Over time magellan owners learn to compenate for this. Garmin owners can zero in quicker. There is a reason Magellan does this but I don't know it.

 

Also the Sport Trac Pro tends to have a large font for the waypoint. What this means is that waypoints take up a lot of screen (dadgum this lunch is good) real estate. In turn this means that if like some geocachers you load all the caches you are interested in you can drown out the GPS screen with waypoints and render your map page pretty much worthless. I do not know if you can set the waypoint fot size to smaller. What I did know is that on my GPs this is not a problem so I keep every cache I've not found within about 250 miles on the GPS whereas the STP user only puts in what he's planning on finding on that geocaching expiditino. The real estate problem is something I've seen on the Sport Track Pro, but I do not know if it extends to all Magellan products or not.

 

Ok now you can get in the last word. I'm done.

 

=====================

Wherever you go there you are.

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quote:
Your topic however is "I have $400. What to get?" To which I gave an exact answer.

 

While his subject could have been better, he asked a very specific question in the body of his post. It's kind of customary to actually read the body of the message and not stop at the subject if you're going to proceed to "answer" the post.

 

quote:
Not knowing the magellan line I couln't comment on diferences and the like and left that to people who had the better information.

 

Which made your answer only slightly more relevant than "Use the $400 for a bag of magic beans". His question was on the differences in two specific models that you admit you don't know.

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quote:
Originally posted by Renegade Knight:

 

Guilty as charged. Your topic however is "I have $400. What to get?" To which I gave an exact answer.


 

You're right that is my topic. But, since I explained the two packages I was looking at in the body of the post, I thought the discussion would be about those two. I was trying to be thoughtful by replying to your original post and letting you know that I was not in the market for a Garmin but thanks anyway. I didn't intend any offense, but I guess you took offense and posted the "want your money back" comment which in turn offended me. Sounds like a big misunderstanding or an episode of Three's Company.

 

quote:

Why am I hammering on the intuitive? Because I could not use it to figure out what the heck your topic has to do with your post and you take the time to heckle me about it.


 

Intuitive - possessing or given to intuition or insight. That's the third definition for the word over on Webster.com

 

I was implying that your post "Garmin GPS V" gave no insight into why that particular GPSr was better.

 

quote:
I don't recall slamming you, but I did point out in a roundabout non intuitive way that to nit pick advice isn't kosher.

 

I wasn't nit picking your advice, at least I thought that I wasn't. Like I said I meant no offense, at that point, but I really wish you would have stated your opinion on why the GPS V was the best choice. I might have added the V into the running, but it's too late now.

 

quote:
You neglected to mention if you wanted the best you could get for about 400 or the best bang for the buck. Those are entirely different criteria and not at all intuitive to your post.

 

You're right again, I didn't mention that. I guess I thought that by mentioning the two packages that I did, users of this forum would be able to figure out that I wanted to discuss those two packages only. Sorry for the misjudgment.

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I have both Garmin eTrex Vista and Magellan SporTrack Pro (from Costco). My preference is Vista for compass, better screen resolution and much better track logging. I like Vista's user interface more, I seem to get more things done in less clicks. Vista's joystick control is also cool, although SporTrack buttons are very well designed and help a lot.

 

My two sons will fight for the Vista when we go geocaching. Both units seem to have same sensitivity and accuracy when you just look at coordinates.

 

Software that comes with them (MapSend streets and MapSource topo) turned out to be not very useful for me; I just use QuakeMap - http://www.quakemap.com - for all my geocaching needs.

 

Happy trails!

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