Gps Unit

[+Sulis]

I am looking into purchasing my first GPS unit. What are the pros and cons of a mapping unit vs. a non-mapping unit? I'm not highly technical so any advice you can give me would be great. I plan to use the unit for more than just geo-caching but also in my travels. Thanks so much

[+Deckyon]

To keep it simple. It you want to use it in your travels, get the mapping type.

 

Buy the best unit you can afford. I am not going to get into the Magellan/Garmin debate. I own a Magellan Meridian Platinum and I love it. Others own Garmin units and they love them. They are all good units. It comes to personal preference.

 

Hit the GPS Units and Software topics and you will find all the information you can absorbe about the different units.

[+Cherokeecacher]

To keep it simple.  It you want to use it in your travels, get the mapping type.

 

.......  I am not going to get into the Magellan/Garmin debate.  I own a Magellan Meridian Platinum and I love it.  Others own Garmin units and they love them.  They are all good units.  It comes to personal preference.

 

.......

Dito.

 

For traveling, I personaly enjoy being able to us the SD card expandable memory of the Magellan Meridian series. I am not saying they are better or worse than any other brand, I just personally like the freedom of the expandable memory, so this was the logical choice for me.

 

I do not have to waste time downloading new regions every time I go somewhere. I can download everything ahead of time to the SD card(s) on my PC at home, and using a reader/writer cuts this time from an hour or so to 10 – 15 minutes. When I need a different map/region, it only takes a minute, at most, to make the switch.

 

There is also a very active and knowledgeable user group for the Meridians in Yahoo Groups, and this is great for extra help.

 

Whichever brand and unit you purchase, you can also find a local geocacher to meet with and get a hands-on lesson.

 

You know what they say about opinions , this is just mine.

[+Natureboy44]

I would also recommend getting a mapping unit. I've used mine while touring in Europe and it greatly enhanced my cofidence/ability to explore areas I would not have visitied otherwise.

[Hopsahi Harry]

I enjoy the mapping feature of my E-trex Legend. It helps get me near the cache ("Which street do I want to turn down? Oh, that one will work!"). But, once I get really close, say, 100 or 50 feet, the mapping is pretty useless, and I have to follow the bearing, distance, and "the Force" to actually find (or not ) the cache.

 

Maps are fun. Do it if you can afford it.

[+Smitherington]

To me the only way to go are maps. Both my GPSrs have mapping capability. I use it where ever I go. I have used the maps in England, Kenya, Tanzania, and the US. I must get maps for Canada too. Yes, get mapping capability.

[+Nurse Dave]

I agree with the maps. I just moved 2 months ago and so I don't know the area well. The maps are a great help to caching and even finding my way back home the first few days. Plus they are just fun to play with on trips. If you are talking about travels in one state than any mapping GPS should be fine. If you're talk farther, I'd get a Magellan with a memory card to hold more maps.

[+briansnat]

If you can afford the extra bucks, get a mapping unit. My Vista has shown me the way around strange cities, provided the best route to the cache and even guided me around traffic jams.

 

To put it simply, in a non mapping unit, you tell the unit where you want to go and an arrow points you in the right direction. In a mapping uint, its like having a paper map in front of you, with your precise location shown on the map, the direction you are travelling, the place you are headed and all streets, rivers, ravines and everything else between you and your destination...right on your GPS screen.

Edited February 27, 2004 by briansnat

[+Chance Encounter]

Our first GPSr was a non-mapping eTrex Yellow. It served us well once we reached the cache site, but on out of town hunts down unfamiliar streets that often proves to be the real challenge.

 

So we upgraded to the mapping eTrex Legend (we now have three). What a difference. I'd say it has doubled our daily cache count when we go on out of town raiding missions. And it's also great for finding local restaurants and gas stations. If I had to scrape together my last penny and collect aluminum cans to make up the difference, I'd go with mapping over non-mapping any day of the week.

[+Logscaler and Red]

The best advice seems to have already been given but I will chime in here also.

 

Get the mapping unit even if your staying in your local area. This game will show you places in your backyard - so to speak - that you did not even dream existed. The maps will come in very handy.

 

After all, you just might get hooked on reading a cache page and have to get out of town to hunt it.

 

logscaler.

[+SBPhishy]

Not to make this any more confusing, but within mapping units (which i would also reccomend) there are "mapping" units, and then there are units which also allow "autorouting". Autorouting not only gives you all the maps of the streets, but if you plug in your destination, it will give you turn-by-turn directions to your location. The Magellan Meridian will support this if you have the Direct Software, and there are Garmin units too that will support it, I think with the City Select software.

[+Warriorrider]

The Magellan Meridian will support this if you have the Direct Software, and there are Garmin units too that will support it, I think with the City Select software.

Just to clarify ... the basic meridian will not support DirectRoute, but the rest of the Meridian line will. And some SporTrak models too.

 

I would say to get a mapping unit too. Then you won't need to upgrade in the near future like you will probably want to if you get a non-mapping unit.

[+SBPhishy]

Just to clarify ... the basic meridian will not support DirectRoute, but the rest of the Meridian line will. And some SporTrak models too.

 

I almost wrote that in, but I got lazy. Thanks!

 

The Meridian Gold is the lowest Meridian that will support it.

 

Also, they say the SporTrak Map will not support it, but it does. I have one and Direct Route works just fine with it, although you are limited to a somewhat small area, because of the limited meg. storage in the unit.

[+Brian - Team A.I.]

I <insert arbitrarily sequenced number here> the motion for a mapping unit. My early caching days involved GPS units that didn't have mapping. While I still found most of the caches I went for, mapping has made some of the more rural caches much easier to find. It's great when you find old Jeep trails on maps that take you right where you need to go, that you wouldn't have otherwise known about. Some of them can be so obscure that without a map reference you woudln't realize it was there.

[+Imajika]

Yes! Yes! Get a GPS with mapping capability! I use a Legend and the mapping comes in VERY handy. Not only for caching, but also for when you get lost. I got lost when I was in CA last week...my Legend successfully got me out of the middle of San Francisco and back on the highway.

[+Warriorrider]

...my Legend successfully got me out of the middle of San Francisco and back on the highway.

...and believe me, that's saying a lot

Edited February 27, 2004 by Warriorrider

[+Sulis]

Thanks so much everyone. Based on your comments I ordered a Legend yesterday. Can't wait to get it and go caching.