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This all looks like fun, but now the hardest question for a newbie!

Dejapooh

By Dejapooh
in How do I...?

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Dejapooh

Dejapooh

Posted
Posted

Hi all.

 

I've been thinking of getting a GPS for a while. I stumbled on this page, and my wife and I are jazzed up about finding some Caches. Now the hardest question. With a budget of $250 or so, what GPS should we get? I can use either a mac or Windows '98 machine (I am not sure I have a serial port). I would love to be able to use it to find addresses while driving as well as for geocaching. I travel outside the US, so international maps would be nice (especially if you DL from the internet for free). I would like to be able to use a cigarette lighter for power and to recharge the batteries (do any of them do this)? Does such an animal exist? Can I get everything I want if I break my budget? Can I get everything I want for $40? This is my first stop in the grand search.

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Number 6

+Number 6

Posted
Posted

I'm real happy with my standard Yellow eTrex. For more money it would be good to have an external antenna. With $250, I would get the eTrex, car power / serial cable, and appropriate mounts (bike and/or car).

 

Mapping capabilities might be fun, but I don't know what they would add to my geocaching fun.

 

Flames will make me smile and give me a way to get these marshmellows toasted.

 

Be Seeing You!

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majicman

+majicman

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by Dejapooh:

Oh yeah, would it be inappropriate for me to copy this into another forum?

 

No Dejapooh,

 

I was just trying to be funny.

 

You might try using the "search" feature in the forum (at the top) and type in "GPS and Buy" and I'll bet you will find more previous threads than you can shake a stick at!

 

--majicman

 

(Always trade UP in both quantity and quality and Geocaches will be both self-sustaining and self-improving!)

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johnnyb5

johnnyb5

Posted
Posted

the big question (magellan vs. garmin) I personally have the magellan meridian gold. you can get it online for about $240 or so. Also got the mapsend software and a 16 mg card. all told about $300 (I did get lucky, ordered a 8mg card and they sent the 16 by mistake. I have been very happy with it. It does everything you described in your post. But get some feedback from garmin owners as well. I dont know much about them. there is also a many websites that compare GPSr's

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benjamin921

+benjamin921

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by Dejapooh:

I've been thinking of getting a GPS for a while. I stumbled on this page, and my wife and I are jazzed up about finding some Caches.

 

Welcome and enjoy

 

quote:
Now the hardest question. With a budget of $250 or so, what GPS should we get?

 

Check out the Garmin eTrex Legend

 

quote:
I would like to be able to use a cigarette lighter for power and to recharge the batteries (do any of them do this)? Does such an animal exist?

 

Don't think so

 

quote:
Can I get everything I want if I break my budget?

 

Yes--Garmin GPS V comes to mind

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johnnyb5

johnnyb5

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by Dejapooh:

Does it recharge batteries from teh car lighter?

 

They do sell an adapter for the car lighter, but as far as recharging batteries. Guess that depends on if your gonna use rechargable or not and if they come with a lighter adapter

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Seay me

+Seay me

Posted
Posted

We bought the entry lever eTres (the yellow one) and are very happy with it so far. We've decided that we're going to upgrade to one with mapping capabilities in the future, it'd come in handy on the way out of town trips. The only problem we've seen so far that with a lot of tree cover we do tend to lose reception with the internal antenna.

 

Over all I'd definately recommend it for a beginner.

 

Chip and Nik

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Lazyboy & Mitey Mite

+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite

Posted
Posted

Go to a store and play with them. I started out with the Magellan line and love it. I used a 315 for my first 100 finds and really can't fault it at all. It sells at discount stores for about 130 bucks and has a great antenna. Lots of cable and accessories available for it.

 

Now I have the Magellan Meridian Platium and paid less that 300 bucks for it. It has all the bells and whistles. Came with a data cable.

 

Since I started with magellan the garmin line looks weird and complicated to me. But if I had started with garmin I'm sure I'd feel the same way about the magellan.

 

You don't need top of the line stuff. Lots of cachers with huge numbers have entry level equipment.

 

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

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Ukulele Andy

+Ukulele Andy

Posted
Posted

I have an etrex (the yellow one) and I love it. For me the greatest features are it's size and ease of use but mainly it's the small size. There are a lot of urban caches near me so the smaller sized GPS unit makes my hunting more inconspicuous. A GPS with a fat external antennae would make it hard to blend in with my urban surroundings. I purchased a belt clip accessory which hides most of the yellow and makes it look like a cell phone.

However, everyone has thier own tastes so I would suggest going to your local dealer to find out firsthand which unit will work best for you.

 

Good Luck

 

Ukulele Andy icon_razz.gif

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Ukulele Andy

+Ukulele Andy

Posted
Posted

I have an etrex (the yellow one) and I love it. For me the greatest features are it's size and ease of use but mainly it's the small size. There are a lot of urban caches near me so the smaller sized GPS unit makes my hunting more inconspicuous. A GPS with a fat external antennae would make it hard to blend in with my urban surroundings. I purchased a belt clip accessory which hides most of the yellow and makes it look like a cell phone.

However, everyone has thier own tastes so I would suggest going to your local dealer to find out firsthand which unit will work best for you.

 

Good Luck

 

Ukulele Andy icon_razz.gif

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Dejapooh

Dejapooh

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well, thanks a bunch everyone. It seems my Brother in Law is planning on getting a GPS V for himself. I figure that since it does almost everything I want (except rechrge its own batteries), it would probably be best for me to get the same thing. We can share info, maps, hints and stuff. Seems like a nice one too. A bit beyond my budget... Just have to sell more Olympic pins. See you on the trails... If you have any more comments, please feel free to post them here. I am interested to see what you all think of my decision.

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Salvelinus

+Salvelinus

Posted
Posted

For about the same cost as as the yellow etrex you can buy a Lowrance Globalmap 100. IMO it gets better reception and has decent built in mapping. It is also almost twice the size, if that matters to you.

 

I have the Lowrance and a Garmin legend ($265). The Garmin rarly gets used. It just dosen't get good reception under canopy which is where I do 95% of my caching.

 

Welcome and Good Luck!

 

Smoochnme

 

goldfish.gif

"When your learning to take, the path at your pace... every road is worth your while"

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