whtmtnraven Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 Please help me. I am new to Geocaching and am ready to buy me first GPS unit. The one that I have found in my price range, with the basic features recommended on geocaching.com, is the Garmin eTrex Legend. Is this a good place for a greenhorn to start? I value any advice you all can give me. Thank you. Link to comment
+Team FUBAR Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 indeed. The Legend is a very good place to start. It was my first unit. I have since upgraded to the Garmin 60cs. The Legend will get you to all your caches with out any trouble, although some may disagree I thikn the patch style antennea is more than adequite for most situations. I thnk it's smart of you to not jump in and buy a top of the line unit like the 60cs. Not untill you really get into the sport and see if you really like it.. I've meet alot of poeple that were all gung hoe the first few weeks and then dropped the sport all together. I don't see how they could not get addicted but it does happen. Other things to think about while choosing your fist unit is do you polan on using it for more than geocaching? Will you use it in your car or to help plan trips. You may want to look into a autorouting GPSr if so. Also do you want to load alot of maps. The legend only hold 8mb worth of maps. Just some stuff to think about. The legend is a great first unit tho. You won't be disappointed. By the way welcome to the Sport/addiction. Cache you on the trail. Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 (edited) I agree, get the Legend. Upgrading really means getting auto-navigation and increased mapping. When you decide you really have to have that, keep the Legend as a back up. I bought the 76cs, but the funny thing is when was I geocaching today I carried my Legend on the trail. I guess I'm babying the new addition to the family. Nah, I locked the expensive one in the glovebox and used my tried and true Legend. Edited September 11, 2004 by Elf Danach Link to comment
+dckrsn Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 Hey fellow tadpole!I'm as green as you can get,but everything I've read (lots)led me to the E-trex legend.Some more seasoned cache veterans may have more to add,but if you decide to go ahead, the best price I found was Amazon.com $145 with free shipping.I thought the protective case was also a pretty good idea.I spent a week playing and learning to use the unit and found my first cache on my first time out.My hands were shaking as I pulled it out of the brush-I knew this was cool.Best of luck to ya,dckrsn. Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 (edited) Hey fellow tadpole!I'm as green as you can get,but everything I've read (lots)led me to the E-trex legend.Some more seasoned cache veterans may have more to add,but if you decide to go ahead, the best price I found was Amazon.com $145 with free shipping.I thought the protective case was also a pretty good idea.I spent a week playing and learning to use the unit and found my first cache on my first time out.My hands were shaking as I pulled it out of the brush-I knew this was cool.Best of luck to ya,dckrsn. Definately get a protective case. The etex one should be no more than $15. I just got a big scratch on my case's window that could have been on my GPS. I would have been pissed even if I had only spent 50 bucks on a GPS. Edited September 11, 2004 by Elf Danach Link to comment
+briansnat Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 The Legend is an excellent choice for a first unit. It has mapping and lots of great features and is a bargain these days. I've seen it for as low as $160 and some people here have seen it even lower.. It was my first GPS. Link to comment
+Ximat Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 My purchase was a Magellan SportTrak Map. Walmart had it for 149.99 and then Magellan has a 30 Mail in Rebate (currently). I couldn't find it that cheap anywhere else, and it comes with the data cable already!! Link to comment
+briansnat Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 (edited) My purchase was a Magellan SportTrak Map. Walmart had it for 149.99 and then Magellan has a 30 Mail in Rebate (currently). I couldn't find it that cheap anywhere else, and it comes with the data cable already!! The ST map is a nice enough unit, but the Legend has a few megs more memory and holds 500 more waypoints than the ST. Edited September 11, 2004 by briansnat Link to comment
+CompuCash Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 (edited) My purchase was a Magellan SportTrak Map. Walmart had it for 149.99 and then Magellan has a 30 Mail in Rebate (currently). I couldn't find it that cheap anywhere else, and it comes with the data cable already!! I have the same unit - love it - a friend has a Garmin - I have a hard time reading the small font in the small window on it. The Magellan has a Quadra Helix antenna that is good in the trees. you might want to do a search as this topic comes up often. Edited September 12, 2004 by CompuCash Link to comment
+PilotMan Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 I've had no trouble with my Magellan SporTrak. Good basic unit. Link to comment
+Imajika Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 My first GPS was a Legend. It helped me find 75+ caches just fine. I liked it and never had any trouble with it. Link to comment
+team walkingsticks Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 I dig the Legend as well. What I really like about it is the joystick thing. I think it is very convenient. My dad has the next one up (Vista maybe) and he doesn't have the joystick and I find that it is more difficult to get around in it. I happen to be left handed and the thing works sweet for a lefty! Link to comment
+Nero Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 i have to agree with others. the Legend is an excellent gos, i compared several and for the price and features i picked the Legend, i just recently (last few days) bought a Vista at a great price for the more map memory and electronic compass.. Link to comment
+papade Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 I am still using my first GPS. A Garmin Geko 101. I admit for a GPS, it has a long way to go to beat these slicker models. But it has helped me to learn the sport, and to not rely entirely on the GPS to find the cache. As I have brought others into the sport, I have explained to them the necessity of putting the GPS away and using common sense to find the cache. The other thing I like about my Geko, is when that inevitable day comes that I drop it in a river or lake. Or drop it and step on it. Or one of my kids pulls some kind of stunt on it. I won't feel bad about being out of $160 or more. It cost me $80.00. And right now that figures to be $0.55/cache. And a whole lot a fun. Link to comment
+briansnat Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 (edited) I dig the Legend as well. What I really like about it is the joystick thing. I think it is very convenient. My dad has the next one up (Vista maybe) and he doesn't have the joystick and I find that it is more difficult to get around in it. I happen to be left handed and the thing works sweet for a lefty! The Vista has a joystick. I own one. The eTrex Summit, which being a non mapping GPS, is a model down from the Legend doesn't have a joystick. Like the Vista, the Summit is silver, which might be the reason for confusion. I agree that the joystick is a convienent feature and makes the unit easy to use with one hand. Most units require 2 hands to operate. It is for some reason designed to be used in the left hand. I guess the idea was to free your right hand for other uses like carrying a hiking pole and grabbing your water bottle, but practically speaking, most righties use tend to use their right hand and when they do their thumb covers the screen. Edited September 12, 2004 by briansnat Link to comment
+trail hound Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 I bought a Garmin Legend and love it ...It is a sweet lil unit....Then my girl friend started going with me and she would always have the gps as we got close to the caches...So I decided to buy another gps. I was going to buy another Legend and then thought maybe A different one would be an adavantge. Different features and displays. I bought the Magellan SpotTrak Map. The legend locks on faster but the mag. stays fixed longer in tree cover. The mag has more nav screens but when the cache is close I go with the pointer/compass screen Both are great units but if I only could have one...It would be the Legend. p.s. You just missed the boat....Camping World was selling,Legends for $99.00 Good Luck Link to comment
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