Gps Store In Vancouver?

[Xenoc]

Does anyone know of a good store, in the lower-mainland somewhere (close to granville island area, if possible) with decent prices, where I could go browse for a GPS?

 

Also, I'm curious about features I should look for. How is WAAS in the area? Are we close enough that it's usable? How important/useful is an electronic compass in the GPS?

[+Gorak]

If you're mainly concerned about price, London Drugs and Future Shop are hard to beat but don't expect a shred of expertise from the sales staff. Other retail outlets with slightly higher prices are Mountain Equipment Co-Op, Deakins, Walmart and Radio Shack. Of all of them only Deakins is likely to have any in-house expertise.

 

If you can be patient for a couple of days, my recommendation would be mail order from GPS Central. They are vastly cheaper than any retail store, excellent to deal with and really know their stuff. I've had stuff shipped overnight and still saved money compared to the retail stores.

[+Chillibusher]

I would second that opinion on GPScentral.ca

 

I bought my GPS from them and it came quickly and about $90 cheaper than a place like London Drugs. Because it is in Alberta, you don't have to pay the PST either.

[Xenoc]

Great, thanks. I've been looking at their site, and that's probably what I'll end up doing. Now I just have to decide which GPSr to buy

[+canadazuuk]

Without suggesting to you which brand to buy, I would suggest you pay careful attention to the antenna.

 

Get one with a quad helix type.

 

And maps are good.

[Xenoc]

I'm quite willing to listen to any suggestions as far as brand and features. I intend to primarly use the unit for geocaching, but I'll probably do a fair bit of "geeking out" with it, like hooking it up to a laptop in the car to mess with route directions and stuff, or trying to use it for recording road trips.

Some of the ones I've been considering (generally sub $400, but I don't mind going a bit over):

Garmin GPS V (Con: No compass)

Garmin GPSMap 76S (Con: compass viewing angle, and best reception angle are different)

Meridian Platinum (Pro: SD expandability)

SporTrak Map (Con: no external antenna, Pro: relatively inexpensive)

 

Auto-routing isn't all that important, as I understand that even without it, you can generally accomplish the same thing by using the software on a PC to generate the waypoints? I have a laptop, so if this is true, I'm fine without autorouting.

 

How important/useful is the electronic compass for geocaching?

[thorin]

Get CanadianTire to do a price match.

 

Thorin

[+Gorak]

Get CanadianTire to do a price match.

 

Thorin

Even if you get Canadian Tire or Future Shop to do a price match, you won't get anywhere near the same level of aftersales service and support as you would from GPS Central. In fact, I would pay more to be ensured good aftersales support should it ever be required.

 

BTW, when I was upgrading my old GPS, I went into the Future Shop to see if they would price match GPS Central on a Meridian Platinum. They would, but only for a "repack" (returned and repackaged) unit.

[Xenoc]

I think I'll probably order from GPS Central, but I really really want to see one of these, sorta get a "feel" for it before I buy anything.

I know I can go to FutureShop to check out the Meridian Platinum, but I haven't yet found anywhere relatively local (Burnaby, Richmond, North Van, etc) that carries the GPS V. I'm going to continue making phone calls, and hopefully find somewhere that has one in stock.

 

Any comments on the relative strenghts or weaknesses of the above two units? So far, here's the things I'm thinking about:

The Meridian may have better reception under tree cover.

The Meridian has the electronic compass.

The Meridian has SD card expandability.

The GPS V seems smaller.

The GPS V has autorouting.

The GPS V comes with better Canadian maps.

The GPS V comes with a car mount and 12v adapter.

[+Gorak]

The Meridian does autorouting provided you have purchased the autorouting maps. I believe with the GPS V you also have to purchase autorouting maps. The two units are similar in size. Prior to my current Meriplat, I did not have an electronic compass or SD memory. I can no longer be without those features.

[thorin]

Get CanadianTire to do a price match.

 

Thorin

Even if you get Canadian Tire or Future Shop to do a price match, you won't get anywhere near the same level of aftersales service and support as you would from GPS Central. In fact, I would pay more to be ensured good aftersales support should it ever be required.

 

BTW, when I was upgrading my old GPS, I went into the Future Shop to see if they would price match GPS Central on a Meridian Platinum. They would, but only for a "repack" (returned and repackaged) unit.

Hmmmm I kinda treat my GPS like anyother camping gear like a knife, tent, sleepingbag .... what after sale support would you ever need from the store where you purchase it?

 

Thorin

[+Gorak]

Hmmmm I kinda treat my GPS like anyother camping gear like a knife, tent, sleepingbag .... what after sale support would you ever need from the store where you purchase it?

I would suggest that a GPSr and/or routing software is just a tad more complex than a knife, tent or sleeping bag.

 

After sales support is always important when purchasing electronics. For example, if your new GPSr craps out after 3 months, most retail outlets (eg: Future Shop) will tell you to ship it to a designated service centre for warranty repair and you will be without for several weeks. Some retail outlets who have a good reputation for customer service (eg: MEC, GPS Central) will swap it out or give you a full refund.

 

Another example - if you have technical questions about your new GPSr and/or software, retailers like Future Shop, London Drugs, etc are NOT going to be able to give you any assistance short of referring you to the manufacturer's tech support line. Someone like GPS Central or Deakins are more likely to have knowledgable staff that can answer your questions.

 

Price should never be the sole determining factor when choosing a vendor.

[Xenoc]

Price should never be the sole determining factor when choosing a vendor.

Agreed 100% At this point, I think I'm starting to lean towards a "meriplat", as I'm learning they're affectionatly named. I'm going to try to find one locally to take a look at. I always feel weird paying $400 or so for something I've never actually seen.

[+Gorak]

Xenoc, when I bought my Meriplat from GPS Central, the selling price was about $80 less than Future Shop after taking into account the shipping charges. If you need mapping software you might want to look at one their GPSr/Mapsend bundles. You're welcome to have a look at my Meriplat with the routing software already installed. PM me if you're interested and we can arrange to meet somewhere.

[+Dog Knows]

GPSCentral has a no questions asked 30 day return policy, assuming the GPSr is undamaged, and all the packaging etc is intact. I made use of this policy on three different units before I settled on my 60cs. This policy doesn't apply to software that has been opened.

 

The point is, you can actually have the product in your hand for several days and still not have to commit to it.

 

I highly recommend this store. They are far more personal than your average online retailer.

[thorin]

Hmmmm I kinda treat my GPS like anyother camping gear like a knife, tent, sleepingbag .... what after sale support would you ever need from the store where you purchase it?

I would suggest that a GPSr and/or routing software is just a tad more complex than a knife, tent or sleeping bag.

 

After sales support is always important when purchasing electronics. For example, if your new GPSr craps out after 3 months, most retail outlets (eg: Future Shop) will tell you to ship it to a designated service centre for warranty repair and you will be without for several weeks. Some retail outlets who have a good reputation for customer service (eg: MEC, GPS Central) will swap it out or give you a full refund.

True, but that sould only be an issue if you aren't near a major city.

Another example - if you have technical questions about your new GPSr and/or software, retailers like Future Shop, London Drugs, etc are NOT going to be able to give you any assistance short of referring you to the manufacturer's tech support line.  Someone like GPS Central or Deakins are more likely to have knowledgable staff that can answer your questions.

To each their own I guess. If it was a computer I'd tell him to buy the parts and build his own, my guess is you'd suggest Dell or another big name so that he has support. Guess it's a comfort thing.

Price should never be the sole determining factor when choosing a vendor.

That statement I can completely agree with. Price is important but reputation etc are also important. At the same time the specific product and manufacturer are even more important (buyer beware and all).

 

If you're someone who doesn't care about being able to ask technical questions of the store people then FutureShop and Walmart both price match and have more friendly return policies.

 

Enjoy your MeriPlat!

 

Thorin

Edited July 14, 2004 by thorin

[Xenoc]

Well, I took a look at Gorin's meriplat yesterday. Seems like a pretty nice GPS. I'm sure I'll enjoy mine.

Ordered one from GPS Central today, with all the goodies. Can't wait to go for my first cache hunt. There's a virtual less than half a K from my office, and a micro near where we go for lunch on Fridays. If it arrives tomorrow, as expected, I might give that a shot.

[+Gorak]

I know where you're coming from, Thorin and you make a lot of good points. Having spent over 20 years in the computer and network support business, I can appreciate that different people with different levels of expertise and service expectations will require different levels of support. If you can perform your own repairs and research your own technical issues, then having vendor support is less important than if you are not technically savvy.

 

What I would recommend to a computer buyer would be different than to a GPSr buyer since computer support these days is pretty easy to come by regardless of the computer manufacturer. BTW, I tend not to be a big fan of the so-called Tier 1 computers for desktop use - only for servers or mission-critical applications and then we're talking about a whole different class of computers altogether. Not to be a nit-picker, but GPSr's do not enjoy anywhere near the same universal usage as computers and, as such, technical expertise and local repair service is probably a lot harder to come by.

 

With Garmin and Magellan, I don't think living in a large city would offer much advantage when having to deal with warranty repairs since, as far as I understand it, they all have to go back to the manufacturer for repair regardless of where you drop it off. BTW, I've not been fortunate enough to enjoy Future Shop's "friendly return policy". In fact, my past experiences with FS has been the exact opposite. Granted, I've avoided buying anything of consequence from them for the past few years so maybe they've improved since they were taken over by BestBuy.

 

I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with your new toys, Xenoc. I enjoyed meeting with you yesterday and helping you with your decision. I look forward to seeing some of your log entries.

[thorin]

Not much more to say. I think we're on the same track here.....

 

Wow lots of civilized and helpful people around here. Thanks for keeping everything on topic and not getting bent out of shape just because someone doesn't agree with you guys (that happens too much around here).

 

Nice work everyone!

 

Cache Lots!

TTYL

Thorin

Edited July 16, 2004 by thorin

[ALNDAR]

check out walmart. we got the best price in kamloops there. we got the etrx for 181 including tax. it works good for us.

[tlg]

check out walmart. we got the best price in kamloops there. we got the etrx for 181 including tax. it works good for us.

Which eTrex would that be? I got my eTrex Legend for about $220 from GPScentral (inc. shipping). Sold my yellow etrex for $40.00.

[+Gorak]

London Drugs was selling the yellow eTrex for $129.

[memerlin]

Steveston Marine in Richmond sells gps's. They had enough tek knowledge answer my questions. I bought my legend there and it was within a few dollars of the gpscentral price and the shipping kind of canceled out the no PST in Alberta. I hear rumours that some people get assessed BC PST a few months after their purchase if they use their visa. Personaly I like to support local business and I hate trying to solve a problem over the phone or by mail. That's not to say I have never bought mail order but the savings must be large to get me to go that route. Just my 2 cents worth.