Calling For Help......purchase Of A Gps

[+AmishHacker]

Ok,

After finding 100 caches I am getting a new GPS.

 

I am torn.......

 

Etrex Legend (Blue One)

 

or

 

Meridian Gold

 

I like the size of the legend and the maps. I like the more memory and upgrade ability of the Meridian. The maps seem less detailed with out having to spend more money and bigger.

 

HELP

 

EDIT: BTW my budget is $200 or less.

Edited March 29, 2004 by AmishHacker

[+2qwerqE]

Hi, AH,

thegreentara and I cache together. She uses a blue Legend, and I use a bottom of the line, no frills attached yellow Etrex. Often, her Legend will go utterly blind while my Etrex plugs right along just fine. Sometimes perhaps bigger, newer, fancier is not necessarily better. Perhaps all that extra data slows it down, or bogs it down. Based on the performance of her against mine, I'd have to say that the extra features are nice, especially when we are looking for nearby restrooms, or comparing topographic features to see if we're on the right side of a river, for example. But all that only works if the thing doesn't go blind as Stevie Wonder for no apparent reason.

 

Can't speak to the other brands tho; Garmin is all I;ve used personally.

[+tirediron]

I would have to vote for the Legend! The size and resolution of the display make it very nice to use. The memory is a bit limiting, particularily if you live/cache in/around a large US urban centre. I also like the ease with which the Legend can be used with one hand. I haven't used any Magellan products in the field, but in the store they definitley did not have as nice a "feel" in the hand. My $00.02 worth ($00.0035 US )

[+The Weasel]

Garmin is my vote. Been happy with all of their products

[+Bull Moose]

I can't speak for the Legend, but I have a MeriGold and have no complaints.

 

The new routing software really added some life to the Meridian line. I have a 512 Meg SD card and am able to have topo and routing maps of big chunks of the country with me at all times, which is useful for me.

 

The one thing holding me back to upgrading to a 60cs is the cap of 52 megs to upload maps into.

 

As for the "feel" of the Magellan: It fits well in my hand... but I have big hands.

Edited March 29, 2004 by Bull Moose

[SBPhishy]

Here's a strong vote for the Meridian Gold. I have used a eTrex Vista for a period of time, and like the Gold much better. Granted, it is quite a bit bigger, but it's well worth it.

 

The resolution is less, but the eTrex screen is so small, as well as the font, that one is not better than the other.

 

I think the Legend has 8 megs right? 8 megs can be VERY limiting. If it was a Vista with 24 or so, I would say you would be fine, but it's quite easy to fill up 8. In my gold right now, I have a 20 meg section of Direct Route (autorouting) of Los Angeles (very big city) and an 8 meg area of my city. I also have a Topo map loaded of my area, and I can switch between them on the fly, which is extremely helpful.

 

In my opinion, the Gold seems to get and hold a lock in more "less than ideal" conditions compared to the eTrex. I don't really want to start the whole "antenna" argument though. Remember, this is just my opinion.

 

The Legend can probably be used in one had easier (though I didn't like the fact that it felt like it was meant for the left hand), but the Meridian is really easy to use one handed when you get used to it.

Edited March 29, 2004 by SBPhishy

[+TEAM 360]

Don't limit yourself, or the expandability of your GPS unit....go for the Gold! You know you want that big screen, ability to upgrade the memory, and the easy-to-see buttons on the front! (Funny how Garmin FINALLY put them buttons on the front, with the 60C/CS models-hmmm, they look familiar!)

 

Proud MeriPlat owner here.

Edited March 30, 2004 by TEAM 360

[+wildearth2001]

I have a legend and used to have a Maggy 310, the legend is easir to use and has more features but the patch antenna doesnt get as good a signal as the quad helix, get whatever seems the best to you, or is the cheapest, you have to think about what you really want the most

[+JohnnyVegas]

Having used both, I would recomendthe Meridian gold, I have used all the etrex models, the Magellan has a much better antenna than the e-trex. I even called Garmin once when I was working for a Garmin dealer and their tec support even told me that the patch anttena has problems under tree cover.

Resoluton does not mean a lot on a small screen 90% of the time you will be using the compass style screen with the large arrow to follow.

[+Stem]

The Legend can probably be used in one had easier (though I didn't like the fact that it felt like it was meant for the left hand),

 

That was my favorite part of my etrex. I'm a lefty, and felt that finally we leftys had something designed with us in mind!

[+AmishHacker]

Anyone know if it cost a lot to get detailed maps for it? How are the maps that come with it?

 

Thanks for everyones help.

[+wildearth2001]

Anyone know if it cost a lot to get detailed maps for it? How are the maps that come with it?

 

Thanks for everyones help.

come with what, and which maps

 

each kind of map, and for each different area, costs about $100 for either brand, but you have to buy several of those (i think)

[+AmishHacker]

Well I will not purchase a map program for a long time....Taking enough money to get the GPS......The maps it comes with is what I am wondering about.....will they be enought for me.

[Nick_T]

I didn't like the stock map on my Legend, not enough detail, so I got the Roads and Rec. disc and loaded it up and now I'm more than happy. I believe that it doesn't really matter which one you buy that your going to want more detailed maps than the stock unit gives. Might as well figure on buying the discs at time of purchase if ya want detail. Might want to keep an eye at www.gpsworldsupply.com , sometimes they offer units with a disc as a unit for a very good price.

 

Nick T

[+briansnat]

I like the Legend for its compact size and ease of use. I didn't find the 8 megs limiting at all. I was able to load Mapsource topo for most of my state (NJ) and parts of PA, NY and VT. If you travel a lot, or live in Montana, or Texas it may become an issue.

 

I've used it under heavy tree cover and there were very few reception problems. Hunting alongside Maggie owner (Sportrak), sometimes my Legend had better reception and sometimes the Maggie did, but there was no clear advantage to either.

 

I've played around with the Meridians and Sportraks and they are just way too big. My eTrex fits in my front pocket and I take it everywhere, even to mark the location of my car in the mall lot. If I had a Meridian, it would probably stay home most of the time, unless I was going geocaching. I think the cheif advantage of the Magellans is the expandable memory, but that only is really important if you travel a lot. I now have a Vista and the 24 megs is more than I can use.

Edited March 30, 2004 by briansnat

[Nick_T]

To give ya an idea on the memory size differences between the Legend and the Vista, these are the counties in GA, AL, and FL that I have loaded in mine. These used just about all of the 8 megs of memory.........

 

Barbour County-Alabama, Henry County-Alabama, Lee County-Georgia

Terrell County-Georgia, Pike County/Upson County-Georgia, Schley County-Georgia, Taylor County-Georgia, Upson County-Georgia, Brooks County-Georgia, Nassau County-Florida, Atkinson County-Georgia, Baker County-Georgia, Baldwin County-Georgia, Ben Hill County-Georgia, Berrien County-Georgia, Bibb County-Georgia, Bleckley County-Georgia, Bryan County-Georgia, Butts County-Georgia, Calhoun County-Georgia, Camden County-Georgia, Chatham County-Georgia, Chattahoochee County-Georgia, Clay County-Georgia, Clinch County-Georgia, Coffee County-Georgia, Colquitt County-Georgia, Cook County-Georgia, Coweta County-Georgia, Crawford County-Georgia

Crisp County-Georgia, Decatur County-Georgia, Dodge County-Georgia

Dooly County-Georgia, Dougherty County-Georgia, Early County-Georgia, Echols County-Georgia, Emanuel County-Georgia, Evans County-Georgia, Fayette County-Georgia, Glascock County-Georgia, Glynn County-Georgia, Grady County-Georgia, Greene County-Georgia, Hancock County-Georgia, Harris County-Georgia, Heard County-Georgia, Henry County-Georgia, Houston County-Georgia, Irwin County-Georgia, Jasper County-Georgia, Jeff Davis County-Georgia, Jefferson County-Georgia, Johnson County-Georgia, Jones County-Georgia, Lamar County-Georgia, Lanier County-Georgia, Laurens County-Georgia, Liberty County-Georgia, Lowndes County-Georgia, Macon County-Georgia, Marion County-Georgia, McIntosh County-Georgia

Meriwether County-Georgia, Miller County-Georgia, Mitchell County-Georgia, Monroe County-Georgia, Montgomery County-Georgia, Morgan County-Georgia, Muscogee County-Georgia, Peach County-Georgia, Pulaski County-Georgia, Putnam County-Georgia, Quitman County-Georgia, Randolph County-Georgia, Seminole County-Georgia, Spalding County-Georgia, Stewart County-Georgia, Sumter County-Georgia, Talbot County-Georgia, Tattnall County-Georgia, Telfair County-Georgia, Thomas County-Georgia, Tift County-Georgia, Toombs County-Georgia, Treutlen County-Georgia, Troup County-Georgia, Turner County-Georgia, Twiggs County-Georgia, Washington County-Georgia

Webster County-Georgia, Wheeler County-Georgia, Wilcox County-Georgia, Wilkinson County-Georgia, Worth County-Georgia

 

With the added memory of the Vista I think I could load the whole state of GA with the FL and AL counties I need and still have some room to spair. That is the only capability that would make me upgrade to the Vista from my Legend. These are all off the Roads and Rec. disc, the Topo or Metro Guide might eat up more memory per county.

 

Nick T

[Keystone]

Moving topic to the GPS Units and Software Forum.

[+Paul_Aris]

I have an etrex legend and love it. I wanted a GPS that I could just throw in my pocket. I love the mapping feature. I have the U.S. Mapsource Topo maps and it shows great detail of all the seasonal roads and trials. I also think Garmins have a nicer user interface.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Anyone know if it cost a lot to get detailed maps for it? How are the maps that come with it?

 

Thanks for everyones help.

The map CDs are about $100.00 each for Topography or Streets. One differance in Magellan and Garmin Software, the Magellan Topo software includes all the street names and Garim topo software will display the streets but not the names of the streets. For this reason I use my Magellan Topo software more than the street version. One thing to keep in mind regarding maps, both Garmin and Magellan are going to have errors in them, at least in my area they both do. ANother feature I like about the Magellan software is that you can get a profile of the terrain in fron of you with the Magellan.

When I am looking for several caches in a day, I print out a paper map that will have all the caches diplayed, this is a much easier system. THe GPS screens are just not large enough all the time, if you zoom in to get more detail you lose almost all of the map, if you zoom out to see more map, you lose the detail.

[BeatonNo1]

One thing that is most inportant is signal strenght, and magellan's quadrifler/quadrahelix (i forget which) works alot beter. I rarely lose signal.

 

As for software, the garmin software has better topo detail, where magellan's is more rounded out. However magellan has alot better street coverage.

 

I have a Magellan SportTrak which I bought at Sams. It came with the GPS computer cable, mapsend topo, and cloth case and belt clip. after the 100 dollar rebate it was under 200.

Edited April 2, 2004 by BeatonNo1

[+embra]

While I agree that the detail maps would greatly enhance the value of either model, if you are going to go with a basemap only for a while you should consider that the Gold basemap is 16MB (Although I think it may actually only be 14MB, not sure) and the Legend...well, I don't know, but if it only has 8MB altogether you can expect it will have less information. On my Meridian the map has cities and major roads, and that's about it. There's enough information to get a frame of reference when you're zoomed out, but you will have a lot of blank space when zoomed in.

 

Another consideration if money is a concern when accessorizing the Meridian: you will need an SD card to be able to use detail maps. However, you can always add that stuff on when you've got more to spend.

 

Consider getting a base level Meridian, too. I'd favor the Gold if at all possible...especially if you're going to be relying on the base map for a spell. But the Green/Yellows can save you some money while providing much of the functionality.

 

Also consider getting a used unit.

 

You can get more information about the Meridian in the FAQs here. Check out "Base maps - what's the deal?" for description and pictures of screen displays.

Edited April 2, 2004 by embra

[schon]

I like the size of the legend and the maps. I like the more memory and upgrade ability of the Meridian. The maps seem less detailed with out having to spend more money and bigger.

 

EDIT: BTW my budget is $200 or less.

I realize that this isn't one of your choices, but have you considered a Lowrance iFinder?

 

It has the best of both worlds (maps, memory, and upgradability), and it fits your budget.