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Does anyone have a cheap unit for sale? If so, how much? I'm also watching ebay but I don't know what prices are good. Can someone tell me what a good price is on some of the more popular units? Are there any units to avoid? Is a "geocaching mode" necessary? What does that mode do that a unit without it can't? If you had to go back to when you bought your first unit, what would you have wanted to know or do different? I've been researching and reading the threads here and watching ebay to see what the brands/models go for and I still feel like I'm not sure what to buy. I keep hearing good things about the etrex, is that a good one? What kind of price range is good for that one? After I buy a GPS unit do I need to buy anything extra like software and stuff? What kind of maintenance costs are involved? Are you tired of reading all my questions yet? :lol::rolleyes: What accessories to I need? What items are luxury items and can wait until I have more $$?

Thanks in advance!

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Alrighty let's see where to start. First what do you what your gps to do, you can get a really cheap model ($50-$80) that does not have any map functions, or you can go about ($150-$200) and get a much more versatile mapping unit. For me it is definitely worth getting a mapping unit. The only thing you can really do with a lower class model is see where you are in relation to the waypoints you enter, and find geocaches. With mapping the applications are almost limitless, you can see where you actually are in relation to roads, cities, rivers, and anything else you may have on screen. If you need to find a geocache but don't know how to get there just find a road near the cache and follow it. When I got my first unit I was going to get a lower class unit, but my dad talked me into getting a gpsmap 76, now I am glad he did. There are very few gps's out their with geocaching mode, it is a useless amenity. The only thing you can do with it is post notes and hints on the gps about the geocache, I use paper. Etrexes are good beginner units but personally I don't like the little joystick thingy, I like rubber buttons like on the gpsmap 76. Extra software is just what it is called extra, I have a couple mapsource programs and I love them because I can download much more detailed maps into my gps and make backups of my gps just in case I accidently erase something, but they are also amenities. Basically their are no maitenance costs besides batteries and of course repair costs if you happen to buy magellan :rolleyes: Just kidding magellans are good units too and sometimes cheaper.

The only real accesory items I would wait for is the comp. software.

 

In the end it is mainly your opinion and what you want the gps to do. The first thing you should do before you buy anything is go to your local gps dealer, Dick's, Wal-mart, K-mart, and Circuit City. They should let you try different units and you can see which one you like and what it does, then when they ask you which one you're buying tell 'em none.

 

If you any other questions feel free to email me at any time

 

P.S. What grade are you in, I'm in 12th

 

Also you really need get some sleep and not be on forums at 2:00 in the morning

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Thank you! I'm leaning more towards the garmin each time I learn more about each. Everything I've done so far has been online. I know my next step is to get a feel of the units. I will probably buy a used one to begin with but I still want it to be decent.

Grade? I'm in college, been going for over 2 years, I want to be a nurse anesthetist. I guess you could say sophomore but I'm majoring in special ed too and almost finished with that.

Sleep? My father passed away almost 3 weeks ago. :rolleyes: I've finally found something to take my mind off of things. :lol:

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I'll be headed to college next year I'm going to Unity College in Maine for Environmental Biology, this college fits me like a T. They have geocacheing for scholarships where you find the geocache and can win a scholarship, and fishing if you catch a tagged fish you win a scholarship. They also let you keep 2 guns on campus too. I can't wait for the freedom and fun and learning.

 

Sorry 'bout your father, I can't even imagine.

 

Good luck with the gps search, if I see any good deals I'll let you know.

 

Clayton Kern

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Good luck with college!

Wow! Geocaching scholarships? where do I find out about that?

Thanks for keeping an eye out on deals! I'll post it when I get one. It may be a week or so, or maybe longer depending on the cost of the unit.

Anyone else have an opinion? I know everyones dying to tell me garmin is better or magellan is better! :rolleyes: I just want to find my first cache :lol:

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Cujo,

 

We have only been caching since November 2003 and have a Garmin GPSMAP76 which in my humble opinion is the best on the market. It is a little expensive but worth the money. You can download the coords into the unit via cable that is included and the maps are great! :rolleyes:

 

I borrowed the Garmin rino 110 from a friend (because we need a second GPS, two obsessed geocachers and one unit does not work :lol: ) I do not like the rino it does not have near as much fun features as the map76.

 

Good luck in your search! I have noticed that watching ebay is a little expensive. I've seen the map76 go for between :lol: 25 and 50 dollars :lol: more that we paid for ours. We picked it up at Wal-Mart. Not my favorite store, but you can't beat the prices.

 

Mrs Ellenbarger of the Ellenbarger Crew :lol:

 

P.S. We needed to send the map76 to Garmin in Kansas (we are in California :lol: ) because one of the tines broke on the back. They received it on a Tuesday and I had it in my hot hands on Friday afternoon of the same week. They have EXCELLENT customer service.

 

Good luck!!

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$200 is more than I can spend right now. I'm really looking for $100 or less. I figure I can get a used one for that and it will be nicer than a cheap new one.

 

Edit: Can anyone give me a list of the most common units and what a price range is for the used ones? I think ebay will be my best bet. I just don't know a good deal when I see one...yet. Thanks!

Edited by cujo0123
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same line there are several different e-trex models in the line-up. the legend is up near the upper end but their price is coming down.if you're doing just caching and not mapping at all and for your price range i would say to look at the e-trex yellow. it doesn't have all the bells and whistles and it can't connect to the computer to load waypoints but it will let you find caches and it fits your budget. they're selling new for under $100 just about anywhere you go. i saw them in one of the ads in the sunday paper this morning for $99.99.

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ok, so I can buy a cable for the etrex yellow? Sounds like thats the one I want then. What other versions of eTrex are out there? What features would I be losing out on and are they necessary? I think having the ability to connect to the computer would simplify things for me since I'm so new to this.

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You should go to the Garmin website, you can do a side by side comparison there. From the basic yellow I think the next step is the Venture, then the Summit then the Legend and then the Vista. With each step up you get more bells and whistles, of course at a higher price. I look at it this way, I have the mapping capability with my Legend and my Vista and I use them but my buddy who has the Etrex yellow doesn't have maps and he doesn't miss them because he still finds the caches.

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Good luck in your search! I have noticed that watching ebay is a little expensive. I've seen the map76 go for between :P 25 and 50 dollars :o more that we paid for ours.

Umm .. was this a typo? I see these for over $200.

 

I also am in the market for a cheap, durable GPS. My pocket pc + gps reciever is too costly to take hiking and the software sucks on getting me to the cache.

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ok, I feel a little better now. I checked out the garmin website again since I know more now about what I want. I'm now looking for a Garmin eTrex. If I can get the right deal I want a legend or venture, if not the yellow is fine. Anyone selling one? I'm also going to be watching ebay. I will probably buy one in the next week or so.

 

Two more questions...does anyone have a reason NOT to purchase one of these? Anything else I should know about the eTrex line?

 

Thanks so much for the help!

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Hey, cujo!! :P

 

I got an eTrex yellow for $70 on eBay the other night. I would imagine that as the weather gets nicer in the northern parts, the demand for these will increase, so the prices probably will be a little higher, too (on eBay).

Edited by Pipanella
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Good luck in your search! I have noticed that watching ebay is a little expensive. I've seen the map76 go for between  :o 25 and 50 dollars :P  more that we paid for ours.

Umm .. was this a typo? I see these for over $200.

 

I also am in the market for a cheap, durable GPS. My pocket pc + gps reciever is too costly to take hiking and the software sucks on getting me to the cache.

What they were saying ( I think) is that they have seen them go on ebay for 25-50 more than what they paid for theirs.

 

This is quite common, sometimes you get a good deal on ebay. Other times its cheaper to go down to wally world and pick it up.

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cujo the only problem i have had with my legend was the click stick quit going to the right. i contacted garmin and they had me send it in for repair. their customer service was great i got my gps back and it was like brand new. they even replaced my display screen(it had some scratches on it) i didn't say anything about the scratches and they fixed it anyway. i hope this helps you out.

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I have found 200 caches using nothing but the cheapest model I can find in the stores. They have them at Target, Walmart, Best Buy, KMart, etc. The yellow Etrex. Sure it would be NICE to have the maps, it would have ben NICE if the cable was included. BUT for $98.00 you can't go wrong. It has all of the necessary features and I know several people that have them and are perfectly happy with them! and through Gillson you can get accessories for these units for dirt cheap. Here is the link:

 

Gillson

 

You can get a cable that will both plug the GPS into your PC and / or plug it into your cigarette lighter while you are driving to save batteries for $13.20.

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We've had the yellow etrex since christmas and are already looking to upgrade. finding caches under heavy tree cover is sometimes very difficult. getting a 30-40 foot accuracy is not how i want to be hunting.

I suppose location can make a big difference. Even when there are trees around here there is someplace outside the tree cover to set your GPS and get a good "pointer" towards the cache., But if you are in the thick of the jungle then you are going to have problems regardles of the GPS.

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We've had the yellow etrex since christmas and are already looking to upgrade. finding caches under heavy tree cover is sometimes very difficult. getting a 30-40 foot accuracy is not how i want to be hunting.

The GPS price is going to go up exponentially but the accuracy is only going to go up fractionaly.

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I'm coming up on 200 finds with the etrex yellow. I really like it. I'm getting ready to upgrade only because I plan on doing more with my gear. All said, it's a good starter unit. Check out www.gpscity.com. They've got good prices on new equipment. I think they have free shipping as well.

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