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Which Gps Is Best For Newby?

whtmtnraven

By whtmtnraven
in How do I...?

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whtmtnraven

whtmtnraven

Posted
Posted

:anibad: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. :D

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Team FUBAR

+Team FUBAR

Posted
Posted

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.

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BlueDeuce

+BlueDeuce

Posted
Posted (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 by Elf Danach
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dckrsn

+dckrsn

Posted
Posted

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.

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BlueDeuce

+BlueDeuce

Posted
Posted (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 by Elf Danach
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briansnat

+briansnat

Posted
Posted (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 by briansnat
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CompuCash

+CompuCash

Posted
Posted (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 by CompuCash
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papade

+papade

Posted
Posted

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.

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briansnat

+briansnat

Posted
Posted (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 by briansnat
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trail hound

+trail hound

Posted
Posted

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

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