blindjoe Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 (edited) Im sure this has been done to death, but I am looking for a new GPS. I had a Garmin Geko 201, which my friend promptly lost after 3 weeks. So he payed for the gps, and now I want a new one. The geko was ok, but I am hoping to get a few more features. The map part of Legend is cool, but the SporTrak has it as well. I liked the backlight on the geko, and assume all Gps's have that? The Geko sucked when there was a little bit of tree cover, does either of these do better? One thing I didn't like was the "have to be moving" compass. It would be nicer if i could spin around and the compass pick that up. Also something I can tie a rope to so the new one doesn't get lost I am looking in a price range of under $300 cdn. I know I am not going to get the most radical GPS for that price, but I would like to get the best one I can. Edit: I would have bought another 201, but the MEC in Vancouver is out of stock. Does anyone else sell gps's besides futureshop, Cantire, and radioshack? Edited April 28, 2004 by blindjoe Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Between the legand and the Sport trak map, I would buy the sport track map. It has a better antenna but a little less memory but more than enough for geoching. You can get a Sport Track map at Costco now for $199.99 with the Topo Map software is included, you also get a $50.00 rebate. I like the Magellan topo software, it includes all the street names on the map Garmn does not, It will also display a terrain profile, soething else the Garmin will not do. With the Garmin Legend and the Sport trak you must be moving for the compass to work. The Magellan also has the instruction built into the GPS so if you want to look up how to do something in the field you can wothout having to carry the instruction book with you. Quote Link to comment
blindjoe Posted April 28, 2004 Author Share Posted April 28, 2004 Cool. I will go check out Costco. Quote Link to comment
+New England n00b Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Having said that, I enjoy my smaller, lighter Garmin. Never used a Magellan, so I won't comment on their quality... Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Having said that, I enjoy my smaller, lighter Garmin. Never used a Magellan, so I won't comment on their quality... Legand 5.3 oz. Sport track 6.1 I guess the beter antenna weighs a little more I had a chance to ask Garmin about the Patch antenna in the e-trex line vs. the Quadrifilar that all the other garmins use and that Magellan uses in thier products, Garmin tech supports words "The patch antenna does not work as well under tree cover" At the time I was the buyer for a Garmin and Megellan dealer, before I retired. I have used both the e-trex and and Sport trak side by side, the Sport track is the way to go. Quote Link to comment
+harleycache Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 My vote is the Legend. Or one step up if you want the electronic compass, but why? Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 If you were in the habbit of loading that 201 up with waypoints and then going caching you may find the Magellan has screen clutter with the waypoint number being oversized compaired to a Garmin's higher res screen. The Sport track does have a better antanea with the quad for use under tree cover. If you want a compass you need to upgrade a bit from the sport track and Legend. But that may put you out of your price range. Quote Link to comment
+Wrong Way Ron Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 If you want a compass go with the Vista I have one and it works great. I have had no problems with mine, In tree cover it works great. Im sure you heard about the stress crack problem with the sport track units if that doesn't bother you then I would get one for the price however if the unit has stress cracks I wouldn't think it would be water proof any longer. I don't think it matters what you use for geocaching to tell you the truth as long as the unit will take you to your caches. Any way good luck with your choice in units. Quote Link to comment
Neo_Geo Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 You can get a Sport Track map at Costco now for $199.99 with the Topo Map software is included, you also get a $50.00 rebate. Just TRY to get a Magellan rebate CLICK HERE Quote Link to comment
+gbod Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 One thing I didn't like was the "have to be moving" compass. It would be nicer if i could spin around and the compass pick that up. I have a Legend. I introduced a friend of mine, who has the Vista, to geocaching. He had a much more difficult time navigating towards the cache than I did because his electonic compass kept turning on and off as we started and stopped. He eventually turned the electronic compass off and had a much easier time. That said, I wouldn't worry about a compass. I would spend the money for more memory, not a compass. Quote Link to comment
Vlad Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 Hardware-wise it doesn't make much of a difference - both Garmin and Magellan make great products. The software (maps) is where the big difference exists - Garmin has much more extensive, detailed and newer maps available for Canada than does Magellan - if you go to a dealer that has maps loaded for both Garmin and Magellan you will see the difference in no time flat. Topo has just been announced from Garmin for Canada - no word yet on Magellan. FYI there is a rebate starting on May 1 for $30US for both the Legend and the Vista... Quote Link to comment
blindjoe Posted April 29, 2004 Author Share Posted April 29, 2004 Hardware-wise it doesn't make much of a difference - both Garmin and Magellan make great products. The software (maps) is where the big difference exists - Garmin has much more extensive, detailed and newer maps available for Canada than does Magellan - if you go to a dealer that has maps loaded for both Garmin and Magellan you will see the difference in no time flat. Topo has just been announced from Garmin for Canada - no word yet on Magellan. FYI there is a rebate starting on May 1 for $30US for both the Legend and the Vista... dadgum, so hard to choose. I guess I will wait until May to decide, so I can get the rebate if I choose the Garmin. I hope the Canadian tires will price match MEC, as I am moving back onto the Island on Friday. Quote Link to comment
Boromir Posted April 29, 2004 Share Posted April 29, 2004 dadgum, so hard to choose. I guess I will wait until May to decide, so I can get the rebate if I choose the Garmin. I hope the Canadian tires will price match MEC, as I am moving back onto the Island on Friday. Brick and mortar stores are nice (CT and MEC get a fair share of my money) but online shops (www.gpscentral.ca for example) may give you a better deal, even with shipping. Since you are looking at mapping GPSr units I assume you will want the enhanced map software. One nice things about Magellan is that they seem more inclined to offer some good deals on packages with the GPSr and map software. If you budget allows, and you don't mind a larger GPSr, the Magellan Meridian Gold Special Edition Canada (MeriGold, 16MB SD, MapSend Canada CD) is a great value at about $360 (IMHO). A Legend ($240) and map software (MetroGuide $130 or Topo $160) is a bit more. The MeriGold will do routing, with DirectRoute software (for another $180). The MeriGold also has expandable memory with standard memory cards (also used in some cameras/PDAs). I don't think the Legend or SportTrak have the routing feature or expandable memory. If you want Canada topo maps you will have to go Garmin as Magellan has no such product as of yet (about $160). I had an eTrex Yellow, and it worked well for me. Last summer I moved up to the MeriGold to get the mapping features. Been happy with it so far. Hopefully some of that rambling was helpful. Quote Link to comment
Vlad Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 some further comments... next to no detail water-wise in mapsend streets and destinations - it's not an apples to apples comparison to try to match up this product with garmin's metroguide canada v4. memory-wise s&d takes about 60mb total - metroguide v4 is closer to 300mb of detail. all you have to do is look at some lakes in canada to compare - the difference is astounding. directroute is not an ideal canadian autorouting product as it doesn't have street-level detail for all towns and cities in canada - only the largest (with some exceptions). metroguide on the other hand can autoroute on suitable garmin units and includes autorouting detail for all towns and cities in canada. Quote Link to comment
Boromir Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 some further comments... next to no detail water-wise in mapsend streets and destinations - it's not an apples to apples comparison to try to match up this product with garmin's metroguide canada v4. memory-wise s&d takes about 60mb total - metroguide v4 is closer to 300mb of detail. all you have to do is look at some lakes in canada to compare - the difference is astounding. directroute is not an ideal canadian autorouting product as it doesn't have street-level detail for all towns and cities in canada - only the largest (with some exceptions). metroguide on the other hand can autoroute on suitable garmin units and includes autorouting detail for all towns and cities in canada. I didn't realize how much detail the Garmin MetroGuide had. I just looked at the MetroGuide Canada v4 on the Garmin website map viewer. All I can say is WOW. The small town I live in went from a spot where a few roads meet to street level detail and many POIs since the old Garmin Canada maps (whatever it was called). The new topo map seems to have the same street detail as the MetroGuide (at least around here), without the POIs and routing of course. With these updated maps Garmin is certainly in the lead. For my uses I think I would get the topo before the MetroGuide, routing is not important to me (as long as I can see the roads), and POIs would only rarely be useful to me. Topo on the other hand is nice for geocaching and any other walks in and around valleys and ravines, and doesn't require a high end GPSr for full functionality. I just wish Garmin would use SD cards for memory like the Magellans, especially with the more detailed (bigger) maps. Hmm, better start saving my pennies for that 76cs, Topo and MetroGuide. Of course that is a lot of pennies, probably about 92500 or so. Yikes. Quote Link to comment
+bcaloia Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 Legend! I have used other systems, and I have yet to come across one that truly surpasses my Garmin Legend. The maps are good, the accuracy is good, the memory is good. The price is good. DrBC Quote Link to comment
+JeepCachr Posted April 30, 2004 Share Posted April 30, 2004 (edited) FYI there is a rebate starting on May 1 for $30US for both the Legend and the Vista... http://westmarine.com has listed the Garmin rebate for at least 3 weeks now. I emailed Garmin about it last week and they said if I purchased before May 1 they would still honor it. edit: I just realized tomorrow is May 1, so its probably not a big deal anymore. Edited April 30, 2004 by JeepCachr Quote Link to comment
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