Henweigh Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hi Fellow Cachers!! We are newbies looking to buy our first GPSr. We found this listing for a current bid of $35: Garmin Model 45 GPS handheld receiver is in like new condition. It comes with these features: protective carrying pouch, 250 waypoints with 10 reversible routes, built-in simulator and user prompts, provides heading, track, desired track, and VMG, sunrise/sunset, ETE, ETA, and other calculations, backlit LCD display, tracks and uses up to 8 satellites for accurate positioning. NMEA 180, 182, 183 interfacing. Also includes a video to teach you how all owners manuals and reference guides to operate it. $30 value and optional mounting bracket and cigatette lighter adapter. . Is it worth the purchase or should we spend more and keep looking? Thanks for your help, SummerK & Henweigh Quote Link to comment
+New England n00b Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hello, and welcome to the healthy addiction! I am not personally familiar with the unit in question. I have a Garmin eTrex Legend which I love. In the forum section GPS Units and Software there are many more experienced cachers who could advise you on the unit. For starters, though, determine what it is you want to use the unit for, your budget for the unit and then shop around. I use my Legend for hiking as well, not just caching. it has the ability to upload maps into it. I have done this recently and have found it very useful. The unit you are looking at might not do that. If you are ONLY caching, the unit may be perfect for your needs... Again, I am not familiar with that one. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 (edited) Spend more and keep looking. That unit is so out of date that Garmin doesn't even list it on its "discontinued products page". I did find a review for it dated from 1996 and they were pretty impressed with it back then. But buying that would be kind of like someone looking for a PC today and getting a good deal on a 486. If price is an issue, I'm sure you can find a basic eTrex, or Gecko 101 (or better yet, a 201) for not much more. And if you can spend the extra $$$, take NEnoob's advice and go for a Legend. Edited April 27, 2004 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted April 27, 2004 Share Posted April 27, 2004 Keep looking. You will find 500 waypoints isn't enough. That unit may only have two decimals in the Latitude and Longitude in which case your accuracy can be off by 60' or so before you factor in the normal position error. Quote Link to comment
+graldrich Posted April 29, 2004 Share Posted April 29, 2004 Get a magellan meridian gold,most bang for the buck,easier to use than any Garmin and you can add memory! Quote Link to comment
+robert Posted April 29, 2004 Share Posted April 29, 2004 all is good advice, except for the "easier to use than any garmin" comment, which is purely subjective. like briansnat suggested, if money is a concern, hold out for a used geko or yellow etrex. the 45 you reference will not get you as close as you may need to be to find a cache, based on the amount of data you can enter in as coordinates. RK says 60', which is quite a bit for finding a cache. it's fine for finding your car in a field, or getting back to the dock in your boat, but not for finding a tupperware container in the woods. Quote Link to comment
+graldrich Posted April 29, 2004 Share Posted April 29, 2004 What i'm telling him is the truth.I've used all the current Garmins.Magellan is easier to use!Just ask anyone that has used both! Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted April 29, 2004 Share Posted April 29, 2004 What i'm telling him is the truth.I've used all the current Garmins.Magellan is easier to use!Just ask anyone that has used both! Vice Versa. I've used both. Garmin is easier. Easier means it works more like I think a GPS should work like. That is a subjective opinion. Quote Link to comment
thorin Posted April 29, 2004 Share Posted April 29, 2004 What i'm telling him is the truth.I've used all the current Garmins.Magellan is easier to use!Just ask anyone that has used both! Vice Versa. I've used both. Garmin is easier. Easier means it works more like I think a GPS should work like. That is a subjective opinion. Either way it's not like any of the units requie a "rocket surgeon" to figure out. Thorin Rocket scientist/brain surgeon....... Quote Link to comment
apogee Posted April 29, 2004 Share Posted April 29, 2004 Either way it's not like any of the units requie a "rocket surgeon" to figure out. Thorin Rocket scientist/brain surgeon....... I took my Legend [first GPSr] out of the box and twenty minutes later had my first geocache in hand. I do find it intuitive to use and rarely need to refer to the manual. On the other hand, keep in mind that the average consumer seems to have trouble programming a VCR... Quote Link to comment
+SBPhishy Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 graldrich: I have a Meridian Gold, and it's my first choice if GPS units right now. I think it's very easy to use, more than an eTrex Vista, but from what I have seen, the vast majority of people tend to think Garmins are more intuitive and easier to use. Quote Link to comment
+graldrich Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Try and enter a waypoint manually,much easier with a magellan!My wife has a Garmin Vista! Quote Link to comment
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