+texastracker Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Hello all...I'm very new to this so bear with me. Went on my first cache hunt last weekend with a friend. I think you got me hooked! I need some sound advice (as a beginner) on a good reliable gps unit to buy. I would like to keep it close to $100.00 and wasn't really wanting something used. Can anyone help? Thanks. Quote Link to comment
lomd Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Much as I dislike it, I must tell you that it is not worth considering anything else than Garmin and Magellan units. At about US$ 100, the Garmin choices are the new Gekos (101 and 201) and the basic (yellow) Etrex. I am less familiar with Magellan units, but I know that the Magellan 315 is a good choice. Please reserve a few minutes to decide on whether you want a computer cable or not. IMHO it is the single most important accessory for a GPS, and a few units (most notably the Magellan 310, which I believe to be discontinued, and the new Geko 101) do not accept one. It is also worth mentioning that the Etrex (the basic model, anyway) is about to be discontinued, as is (I think) the Magellan 315. If you are considering reselling your first GPS, this may be a factor. Best, Luis. Quote Link to comment
+Centex Trekker Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 The Magellan 315 IS discontinued and is replaced by the SporTrak series. The basic model costs $149 at my local sporting goods store. I'm sure you could beat that somewhere on the web. I have the SporTrak Map; it seems to be pretty good in the woods. Quote Link to comment
+DeerChaser & Company Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Do yourself a favor and take a look at the Magellan Meridian GPS at outpost. For $119 you get a lot more for the money (mapping). You can add all the memory you want. Both Garmin and Magellan are good units. Rino 110 MeriGreen 128 Quote Link to comment
psyopwak Posted April 26, 2003 Share Posted April 26, 2003 I have purchased the basic etrex yellow. I have found as a basic unit, you really cannot go wrong. I paid=Price $110.00, I think you can get a little cheaper. #1 It is light for geo-treking or just carrying in your pocket. #2 It does not do alot but get you there. So it does not use alot of batteries. #3 Can be used as a back-up later, in the event you would like to get a more powerful unit. #4 Now comes in CAMO. #5 Very easy unit to learn I have used a PLGR in the military, and I am surprised how well and how cheap this technology can be utilized by all. ETREX beats the PLGR for usability and it is accurate enough. And what does the military pay for thier units? $1,000 or maybe $2,000. Once SA was lifted, all the civilian units are very accurate to within 50 feet. my two cents worth, psyopwak Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted April 28, 2003 Share Posted April 28, 2003 For cheap make sure you get a computer cable with it. If it doesn't come with one price it with the cable added. A slightly higher end untit might be cheaper than the cheaper untit with cable. ===================== Wherever you go there you are. Quote Link to comment
+Cachealot Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 quote:Originally posted by DeerChaser & Poni:Do yourself a favor and take a look at the Magellan Meridian GPS at http://www.outpost.com. For $119 you get a lot more for the money (mapping). You can add all the memory you want. Both Garmin and Magellan are good units. I'll second the above and add that it is WAAS enabled and includes a PC cable. I couldn't find it on outpost the last time I looked, however. If you have a Fry's Electronics in your area, keep an eye on their sales. They run this one at US$99 now and then. Quote Link to comment
+Desert_Warrior Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight:For cheap make sure you get a computer cable with it. If it doesn't come with one price it with the cable added. A slightly higher end untit might be cheaper than the cheaper untit with cable. ===================== Wherever you go there you are. I will second this suggestion. I highly recommend the Venture. It has all the advantages of the Yellow E-Trex, but adds longer waypoint names, longer track names, double the legs per track, a better display, is WAAS enabled, has some minimal mapping, and comes with the PC cable. I think it is the best bang for the $$$. Mike. Desert_Warrior (aka KD9KC). El Paso, Texas. Citizens of this land may own guns. Not to threaten their neighbors, but to ensure themselves of liberty and freedom. They are not assault weapons anymore... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WEAPONS! Quote Link to comment
lomd Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 quote:I highly recommend the Venture. It has all the advantages of the Yellow E-Trex Except for two - it does not have such a easy-to-spot color, nor does it match the battery consumption of the basic Etrex. Not that these are necessarily significant drawbacks, mind you. But they do exist. Quote Link to comment
+Desert_Warrior Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 quote:Originally posted by olavodantas: quote:I highly recommend the Venture. It has all the advantages of the Yellow E-Trex Except for two - it does not have such a easy-to-spot color, nor does it match the battery consumption of the basic Etrex. Not that these are necessarily significant drawbacks, mind you. But they do exist. You are 1/2 correct. The color. As for battery consumption, they both are 140 ma as measured on a NIST tracable fluke at work. As you said, whats in a color??? Mike. Desert_Warrior (aka KD9KC). El Paso, Texas. Citizens of this land may own guns. Not to threaten their neighbors, but to ensure themselves of liberty and freedom. They are not assault weapons anymore... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WEAPONS! Quote Link to comment
+fairplay Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 I personally tried a garmin etrex (yellow) and the SUMMIT and... both are ok but... after some time I got fed up with the small display! So I got a Garmin GPS 12 with a bigger display so that I was able to read more informations at once. Be sure that your future device will have a PAN function, which allows you to scroll the track you already made. (etrex yellow and summit didn't have that !) Today I own a Garmin GPS 76Map S, great device since it has a built in compass and digital maps. But... digital maps are quite useless when you have traditional (paper)maps, and modern devices have a smaller battery life (in worst case mine only lasts 10 hours !!!!) And to end, I just like to explain why I only bought Garmin devices : Since I live in Luxembourg, and we have a special topographic-map system (splendid idea) , Garmin was the only one who developed a formula that you could program in your GPS to make it work with these maps. hello Quote Link to comment
+smithdw Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 Other useful accessories are a power cable to plug it into the lighter in your car and a couple of sets of rechargable batteries (if it takes AA size) and a battery charger. I also like having a dash mount so the thing doesn't end up rattling all over the place. As you can tell, a lot of the caches around here are out in the woods and I like to do a lot of 4-wheeling. Quote Link to comment
+SeventhSon Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 I notice some of the Garmin units measure in feet. My old Magellan Colortrak only measures in miles. Do the new Magellans measure in feet? SeventhSon == If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you. == Quote Link to comment
+EScout Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 Magellan Meridian This unit is on sale this week at Fry's stores for $99.99. It is a full featured GPSr that has mapping capability, and comes with a computer cable. No other GPSr at this price comes close to the features and value you will get with the Meridian. Quote Link to comment
+devilsbox Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 I am new to geocaching and would like to ask a followup question. Do any of the units us USB to hook up to the computer or do they all make use of a serial cable? Larry Warrn Quote Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 The Meridian series will measure in feet up to 500 feet, then it breaks into tenths of a mile. Magellan just came out with an adapter that will hook to your serial cable and then go to the USB port. My understanding is you have to load the drivers on the accompanying CD to make this configuration work. Cheers! TL Quote Link to comment
weirdmark@hotmail.com Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 I JUST ORDERED A MAGELLAN MERIDIAN GPS 980598-01 FOR $136.96 WHICH INCLUDED SHIPPING... THERE IS ALSO A $50.00 REBATE SO THE ACTUAL COST TO ME WILL BE $86.50 WEB SITE IS WWW.SHOPHARMONY.COM GOOD LUCK Quote Link to comment
dhrusis Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 The rebate doesnt apply to regular Magellan Meridian GPS units, from what I could tell. Quote Link to comment
+EScout Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 Rebate There is a $50 rebate on the Meridian GPS (base model) if you also buy a Magellan mapping program. You will also need a SD card and reader. Still a great bargain. Quote Link to comment
+Cachealot Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 I can't remember exactly where I found it, but if you need a copy of the form for the $50 rebate I put one here: rebate The form says Meridian GPS which I understand to be the base model. I bought my Merigreen from Fry's Electronics for US$99. I ordered mapsend topo through amazon and I plan on mailing in the rebate just as soon as I receive it. Quote Link to comment
+Georat Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 quote:Originally posted by devilsbox:I am new to geocaching and would like to ask a followup question. Do any of the units us USB to hook up to the computer or do they all make use of a serial cable? Larry Warrn I have a Meridian Gold GPS and have had success in using "Larry's USB to Serial Adaptor" Cable to connect my GPS to my laptop. The only tweek I had to make after installation of the driver was to change the default Comm Port assignment. You can read about it at http://pfranc.com/usb/usb.shtml. Quote Link to comment
bit64 Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 The Garman eTrax Legend. <----- is 225.00. But right now you can get a 50 dollar gift certificate on it. This puts it in the "under two hundred dollar" range. I just bought mine a few days ago. That same day in the morning, I bought a Garmin Geko 201 (about 140 dollars.) it has some nice features but no map. I decided about an hour later that I might as well spend the extra 40 dollars and get the map functionality. I am so glad I did. This little GPS is great! My best friend has the Magellan Meridian Platinum (I think thats what it is called) and it cost over 300 dollars. Mine seems to do everything that his does, and is more portable. Hope this helps. Also, I noticed people complain about the display on the eTrex being smaller than the Meridian. It is, but the resolution is soooo much higher that it actually displays more information. (This is from my own side by side comparison of the map details zoomed out on each unit by .8 miles). Quote Link to comment
bit64 Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 Oops. [This message was edited by bit64 on May 01, 2003 at 08:53 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+dwiener Posted May 1, 2003 Share Posted May 1, 2003 quote:Originally posted by devilsbox:I am new to geocaching and would like to ask a followup question. Do any of the units us USB to hook up to the computer or do they all make use of a serial cable? Larry Warrn My Garmin vista came with a serial cable. I'm able to use it with a usb to serial adapter. DENNIS Quote Link to comment
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