Christmas Gift To Myself

[+DadONine]

Hey all,

 

I'm sitting here loving geocaching, but not necessarily loving my Magellan 315. I'm contemplating a Christmas gift to myself in the form of a new GPSr.

 

What ought it to be? For the moment, hypothetically consider money not to be an object. Heehee.

 

Oh, while we're at it, what accessories should the ultimate GPSr come with? Let's have some fun.

 

Merry Christmas,

DadONine

[+Imajika]

I use a Garmin 60cs with City Select 6 and I absolutely love it. It's great for caching and the autorouting is GREAT!

 

60cs: $400.00 (I bought mine the first week they released it, it may be cheaper now)

 

City Select 6: $115.00

[Neo_Geo]

"Money's no object"? "Let's have some fun"?

 

Merry Christmas!!!

 

THE ULTIMATE CACHING MACHINE

[+wickedsprint]

Get the 76C you won't regret it.

[robertlipe]

[ /me dons flame-retardant underoos. ]

 

Be skeptical of advice from anyone that's used only one GPSR or that's not spent a substantial time with it in a vareity of uses in a variety of environments. I'm always suprised at the posts that go "I just bough my WaldoMatic 2000 Monday and found four caches with it. It's the greatest thing on the market..."

 

What do you hate most about your current configuration? In my book, the answers to that will help this crowd guide you to a solution you'll be more happy with than "spend infinitte money". Spell it out here!

 

Depending on what you like, dislike, or totally love/hate, the recommendations could go either way.

 

For example, depending on your personal tradeoffs of "loses a lock if there's a tree visible on the horizon" vs "eats batteries because the backlight is always on with an annoying user interface", I would make different recommendations in what I consider to be the Titans of the caching universe right now.

 

(I hereby claim "shotgun" on the title of a forthcoming review called "Caching with the Titans", based on my experience with a few thousand finds with Magellans and a few hundred finds witth the Garmin/60CS, due shortly after the release of GPSBabel with Garmin/USB support.)

 

[ edit - downgraded first sentence to be slightly (bot only slightly) less snob-like ]

Edited August 26, 2004 by robertlipe

[+Fenix6372]

76CS, auto nav kit, external antenna, bike mount!!!

[+DadONine]

What do you hate most about your current configuration? In my book, the answers to that will help this crowd guide you to a solution you'll be more happy with than "spend infinitte money". Spell it out here!

 

I hate that I'm limited to 100 waypoints. I hate that I don't have any access to street maps. I hate that it's not in color. I hate that it doesn't fit ergonomically in my hand.

 

Pretty much in that order.

 

I'm sure I'll think of something else.

 

And for the sake of a fun discussion, yes "money is no object".

 

So far, so good.

 

DadONine

[Neo_Geo]

I hate that I'm limited to 100 waypoints.  I hate that I don't have any access to street maps.  I hate that it's not in color.  I hate that it doesn't fit ergonomically in my hand. 

 

Pretty much in that order.

 

I'm sure I'll think of something else.

 

And for the sake of a fun discussion, yes "money is no object".

 

So far, so good.

 

DadONine

Sounds like any one of the following would make you happy!

 

Legend® C

 

Vista® C

 

GPSMAP® 60C

 

I LOVE MY 60C!

Edited August 26, 2004 by Neo_Geo

[+Renegade Knight]

Go Garmin 60C or 60CS.

 

Or Wait for Magellan to match the Transflective screen and the rest of the specs and get that since you are familiar with how to use a Magellan.

 

The 76C/S while having better stats is bigger than you might like. The Vista and Legend are not up to snuff relative to the 60CS.

[robertlipe]

Go Garmin 60C or 60CS.

That's a tempting answer, but if he's used to the reception of his 315, I suspect he's going to be disappointed in a 60C. (Yes, I've hunted with both and on pure reception, I'd take a 315's five year old electonics over the firmware gadgetry of a 60C.)

Or Wait for Magellan to match the Transflective screen and the rest of the specs and get that since you are familiar with how to use a Magellan.

The UI of his 315 is going to be sufficiently different enough from from either the mapping Magellans or Garmins that it's not like he's going to pick up any unit and start touch typing on it. Well, unless he finds a Magellan 330 which came from the same injection mold and thus will "feel right" but still have a key layout and menu scheme that's alien to him. It's not like he has an investment in mapsource/mapsend to preserve, right?

The 76C/S while having better stats is bigger than you might like.  The Vista and Legend are not up to snuff relative to the 60CS.

 

In order of his objections.

 

The Modern Mapping Magellans (330, Meridan, SportTrak) will give you 200 waypoints without excues and 500 with excuses. The trendy Garmins (anything currently uphill of, uuh, summit or maybe legend) will give you 1000 with little compromise.

 

Maps are a complicated topic. Depending on whether the primary use is in a car on on a trail, I could go either way on this one.

 

Color. Garmin has more models in Colour than Magellan right now. SummitC, VistaC, 60C, 76C, and Quest vs. Platinum Colour and SporTrakcolor are about your choices for color handhelds. (You're free to argue that iQueue and Quest aren't handhelds.)

 

The ergo thing is very subjective. What one users bulky hands will be thanked for by ones failing eyes will be cursed by the nimble at having to carry a few extra ounces. My best advice here is much like that of leather boots: go to the store and try them on. And then don't buy mail order once you've tried them on in the store.

 

 

I see that "Caching with the Titans" review can't come soon enough...

[Neo_Geo]

The trendy Garmins (anything currently uphill of, uuh, summit or maybe legend)  will give you 1000 with little compromise.

The Legend® C & Vista® C only have 500 waypoints

 

eTrex Legend C features:

 

GPS accuracy: 15 meters or less in normal GPS mode, 3 meters or less when WAAS-enabled

Built-in GPS patch antenna

Internal memory: 24 megabyte internal memory for loading MapSource detail including BlueChart marine and topographic cartography

Unit dimensions: 2.2"W x 4.2"H x 1.2"D

Display: 1.3"W x 1.7"H (2.0" diagonally), 256-color, high-resolution, reflective TFT (176 x 220 pixels) with backlighting

Weight: 5.6 ounces with batteries (not included)

Battery life: up to 36 hours using two AA alkaline batteries (typical use)

Basemap: includes a built-in basemap with automatic routing capabilities

MapSource compatibility: Compatible with most MapSource products. See the product compatibility table (top, right) for a list of products that Garmin recommends with this software.

Waterproof: IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 mins.)

Waypoints and routes: 500 user waypoints with name and graphic symbol; 50 reversible routes

Track log: 10,000 trackpoints, TracBack® technology and 20 saved tracks

Audible alarms: Proximity waypoint, anchor drag, and off-course alarms; built-in alarm clock

Other features: Selectable audio tones and color schemes; stopwatch; hunting/fishing calendar; sun/moon calculations; trip computer

Edited August 26, 2004 by Neo_Geo

[robertlipe]

The trendy Garmins (anything currently uphill of, uuh, summit or maybe legend)  will give you 1000 with little compromise.

The Legend® C & Vista® C only have 500 waypoints

I humbly stand corrected. Thanx. Now I are smarter.

 

Still it's more than the 100 he now has and the 200 "no excuses" that the best from Magellan has...

[+Renegade Knight]

...

That's a tempting answer, but if he's used to the reception of his 315, I suspect he's going to be disappointed in a 60C. (Yes, I've hunted with both and on pure reception, I'd take a 315's five year old electonics over the firmware gadgetry of a 60C.)...

While I don't doubt your results with a Magellan vs. Garmin I have not been able to duplicate them.

 

Reception in order of best to worst on GPS's I've seen and used.

 

60CS, GPSV, Sport Track Pro. All have good antaneas. I haven't used the 315 to have a comparison.

 

For maps, when it comes to topo neither has an advantage. For Routing I have only heard rumors that Magellans direct route has issues. While I can't fault Garmins, City Select. It works.

 

Your caching with Titans review actually sounds like something that could be used in the real world. You could even make it realistic and have it be like Siskel and Ebert.

[+NightPilot]

All that money and the Legend C only has 500 waypoints? The basic Legend, with firmware update, handles 1,000. I'm perfectly happy with my Legend. It's small, light, easy to carry, holds far more waypoints than I need, and gets adequate reception, and much better with an external antenna. It will take some maps, although only 8MB, but I don't care. I use Mapopolis on my Palm for mapping, connected to the Legend, and I have lots of room on my SD card for maps. I have no particular use for color on my GPS - color takes more power, and is harder to read in sunlight, at least on the devices I've tried. I've never taken a 60CS outside, because there is absolutely no way I'm going to spend that much money on a GPS. YMMV. A lot.

[Neo_Geo]

The trendy Garmins (anything currently uphill of, uuh, summit or maybe legend)  will give you 1000 with little compromise.

The Legend® C & Vista® C only have 500 waypoints

I humbly stand corrected. Thanx. Now I are smarter.

 

Still it's more than the 100 he now has and the 200 "no excuses" that the best from Magellan has...

My intention was not to correct you, but to correct the fact. I was also under the impression that it had 1,000 WPs, and I'm sure many others were too.

 

The idea that the old B&W version has twice as many as the color version... Well, that just ain't right!

[+Gonzo-YT]

I have no particular use for color on my GPS - color takes more power, and is harder to read in sunlight, at least on the devices I've tried.

 

The Vista C color screen is nothing short of amazing, at least to me. Somehow, it is actually better to read in the sunlight. I use the backlight less than 5% of the time -- basically when I am indoors or it is the evening. Don't forget the screen resolution is significantly higher than the regular Vista/Legend models -- in fact, slightly higher than the 60C/CS even.

 

I can't read my Palm Tungsten T-2 at ALL in the sun. Granted, it wasn't designed for that.

 

Garmin claims 20 hours of battery on the Vista C. I haven't really kept track, but I'm sure that I get more than that. My estimate would be in the 30 hour range somewhere.

 

Regards,

Anthony

[+wickedsprint]

Be leary of people that strictly use their GPS for ONLY geocaching as well.

 

You pretty much can't go wrong with just about anything from garmin, especially the 60 and the 76 series, the screens are awesome in sunlight.

 

While I have not found any caches with the 76, I have used it out in the woods and in the truck a bunch and it works fine...I'm sure it won't care if it is looking for a cache or marking a trail.

 

My 60 was nice as well, I never had it lose a lock in the woods.

Edited August 26, 2004 by wickedsprint

[+trippy1976]

Sounds like any one of the following would make you happy!

 

Legend® C

 

Vista® C

 

GPSMAP® 60C

 

I LOVE MY 60C!

I concur and can say that after having owned a Venture, Legend, 60CS and having used or handled many an other unit - the 60CS is my favorite so far. Haven't used the 76C but it's woth looking at for the extra memory.

[+DadONine]

What's the difference between the Legend and the Legend C? There seems to be a pretty hefty price difference. I know, I know, I said money is no object! So sue me.

 

Does the "C" stand for "color"? Or am I just dense?

 

DadONine

[Neo_Geo]

Legend C is color, has 24MB of mapping memory, does autorouting (turn-by-turn directions), USB connection, and other subtle similarities to the 60C/S and 76C/S GPSrs.

 

The Legend is "black & white", 8MB, no autorouting, serial (RS-232) connection.

 

The additional price of the "C" is well worth it! But if you're considering going with the Legend C, then also consider the 60C simply for the additional map memory. There never seems to be enough memory!

Edited August 26, 2004 by Neo_Geo

[+Searching_ut]

My current setup, preference is to have at least two units, one specializing in vehicle navigation, one for handheld hiking/caching use.

 

Units I’ve owned, or currently own:

 

Magellan 2000

Basic Etrex

Emap

Etrex legend

GIII+

Sportrak map

Globalsat BC307

Vista C

 

Out of those units, my preference by far is the Vista C. As for the Reasons:

 

Size and shape is great for long trail hours, easy to use one handed on/off trail, fantastic battery life. The unit has track recording detail and accuracy which the current crop of Magellan units come far from matching, which makes it very valuable for peak bagging, or working through heavy forested marshy deadfall areas where you want to very accurately find your way back out exactly the way you got in.

 

All the whistles and bells of the 60 series without the bulk, only difference being less memory, which isn’t a problem for a hiking unit. The antenna orientation makes the electronic compass slightly more useable than the 60 because of this.

 

TOPO map software available for the unit is quite good, with 1:100,000 scale USGS maps available for the entirety of the USA, 1:24,000 scale available for many areas. In contrast, the Magellan DEM TOPO map product is roughly comparable to a 1:200,000 scale USGS product, making it marginal at best for actual backcountry navigation.

 

Good satellite reception balance. Noticeably improved reception when compared to the earlier eTrex line. (quite similar to the B/W garmin units such as the GIII+ or older 76 series). From my side by side experience slightly less sensitive than the sportrak in flat forests, but doesn’t suffer the position lag and track accuracy problem, or significant position errors in the mountains and canyons.

 

Extremely rugged

 

In the end however, the all seem to work pretty good, you just need to learn the unit and use it in the way that works best for that units quirks.

[+NightPilot]

There is no single best solution for everyone. Horses for courses, etc. For me, I don't need mapping, because I do that on my Palm, and get autorouting, voice directions, auto *rerouting*, and all that for under $100, and I have maps for the entire US on my SD card. All I want from my GPS is reliable NMEA data for Mapopolis, and decent performance while caching. I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars for color, when I don't need it anyway. For me, my Legend is overkill, because I have never used the mapping features, other than the standard basemap, which is enough for my uses.

 

If you have the money, buy whatever floats your boat. For me, it's being able to do more with less, which means a capable Palm and a basic GPS. YMMV.

[GreatCanadian]

The Magellan 315 can store 500 user waypoints...not 100.

[+GOT GPS?]

The 76C is a good model, that would be more rugged than an eTrex, and a little more rugged than the 60C. The 76 series are also good for boating, and the 76C/CS got 115 megs memory.