Need Opinions On Buying A Handheld Gps.

[Midnight Rider]

Hi folks,

 

Im going to be purchasing a handheld GPS unit and wanted to know what would be a good one to get for my intended use and price range. I plan to use it for recreation as well as field research for marking areas I want to return to.

 

My price range is about $200

 

I require the following features:

 

a map display (dont need color)

 

the ability to connect to my PC and transfer waypoints from the device to my software on a laptop (TerraClient and USA Photomaps).

 

I was looking at the Etrex Legend but its hard to tell what is capable of.

 

I would like some honest recommendations and opinions of some units that might work for me.

 

Thanks!

[+briansnat]

The Legend is a fine choice in that price range. It is compact, easy to use and has mapping and a PC connection (It comes with the cable). The base map it comes with isn't great. It only has major roads and bodies of water (this can be said of most GPS base maps), so you will probably want to get the mapping software eventually.

 

The Legend holds 1,000 waypoints, which is double most comercially available models. The clic stick is a nice feature and allows for one handed operation, though strangely, it's designed to be used in the left hand. I guess the idea is to keep your right hand free for other uses.

 

I've seen the Legend for under $150 these days, so it's a real bargain. I paid $250 for mine a few years ago. Actually, if you look around, you might be able to find the Vista for close to $200. I saw it for $218 on Amazon.com last week. The Vista will get you additional storage (24 meg vs. the Legend's 8) and a barometric altimeter and electronic compass.

 

The Legend has 8 megs of storage for maps. To give you an idea what this can hold, I was able to upload Topo maps of all of northern NJ, some of eastern PA, southern NY and southern VT to my Legend with room to spare. On a trip west I had Sacramento, San Francisco, the entire America River valley and beyond on my Legend.

 

Some people (mostly Magellan users) will tell you that the Legend's patch antenna has poor reception. Don't fall for that. While the quad helix antenna that Magellans and many Garmins use has marginally better reception than the eTrex's patch under most conditions, its not enough to make a difference. The eTrex line has probably found more geocaches than all other model of GPS's combined. And a lot of those caches were under heavy tree cover.

Edited October 19, 2004 by briansnat

[+LthrWrk]

Shoppe the forums Garage Sale. I am new and placed my limited budget in there.

 

I have a Meridian Gold. The young lady I have been caching with on occassion has an etrex...

 

Both have worked comparably as far as signal reception.

 

Not sure about "your" requirements for maps. My Caching friend is upgrading to a 60CS.. will be fun to make the comparisons tommorrow when we go out.

 

Her choices were based on what maps software she had in hand.

 

Consider looking for a package deal??

 

I am quite delighted with my gold and mapsend topo software. I do like the slightly larger screen the magellan has.

[+Renegade Knight]

Check out the current price on a Legend Color on Target.com. You won't get it today but you can't beat the bang for the buck.

[+briansnat]

Check out the current price on a Legend Color on Target.com.  You won't get it today but you can't beat the bang for the buck.

Last I looked that was gone.

 

My Caching friend is upgrading to a 60CS.. will be fun to make the comparisons tommorrow when we go out.

 

You're going to be jealous! I got one last week and it is one heck of a nice GPS!

Edited October 19, 2004 by briansnat

[+BlueDeuce]

The Legend is a fine choice in that price range.

Ditto.

 

I recently upgraded to another GPS, but for some reason my Legend is still able to find the cache. If I didn't like bells and whistles so much I might think I wasted my money.

[+Kai Team]

Offroute.com has the eTrex Vista for $219. I have it and love it. The extra memory, electronic compass and barometric altimeter are worth another $20.

 

But you will eventually want to buy the mapping software, as briansnat said, plus a car charger, windshield mount, holster, etc! For me, at least, this is one of those undertakings where you eventually double what you thought your initial investment would be (but you can do it over time, so it doesn't hurt as much).

[+Renegade Knight]

Check out the current price on a Legend Color on Target.com.  You won't get it today but you can't beat the bang for the buck.

Last I looked that was gone.

Looks like they fixed the description so that it's now the regular legend.

 

Thanks for pointing that out.

[+Riddlers]

I got my legend from the geocaching garage sale forum. Great guy, sent it fast and I saved a lot. Geocachers are so much nicer to deal with than ebayers.

[Midnight Rider]

Im sure glad to see all the positive replies. Keep em coming!

[+graldrich]

 

 

Some people (mostly Magellan users) will tell you that the Legend's patch antenna has poor reception. Don't fall for that. While the quad helix antenna that Magellans and many Garmins use has  marginally better reception than the eTrex's patch under most conditions, its not enough to make a difference.  The eTrex line has probably found more geocaches than all other model of GPS's combined. And a lot of those caches were under heavy tree cover.

Why are you trying to push an inferior product with NO expanblable memory???I guess misery loves company!I have a Legend and a Magellan Meridian!On a recent trip to your area I brought my wifes Legend with me so that a friend of mine could use it while we were out geocaching in New England.By the end of the first day my friend was not happy with the Legend and was trying to pull my Meridian out of my hands so that he could find a cache!The legend does ok here in Arizona but honestly was almost useless in New England under tree cover!!With over 1400 finds one might think I know what I'm talking about!

Edited October 20, 2004 by graldrich

[+briansnat]

 

 

Some people (mostly Magellan users) will tell you that the Legend's patch antenna has poor reception. Don't fall for that. While the quad helix antenna that Magellans and many Garmins use has  marginally better reception than the eTrex's patch under most conditions, its not enough to make a difference.  The eTrex line has probably found more geocaches than all other model of GPS's combined. And a lot of those caches were under heavy tree cover.

Why are you trying to push an inferior product with NO expanblable memory???I guess misery loves company!I have a Legend and a Magellan Meridian!On a recent trip to your area I brought my wifes Legend with me so that a friend of mine could use it while we were out geocaching in New England.By the end of the first day my friend was not happy with the Legend and was trying to pull my Meridian out of my hands so that he could find a cache!The legend does ok here in Arizona but honestly was almost useless in New England under tree cover!!

Sounds like a defective unit to me. I regularly used my Legend and now use my Vista under heavy tree cover without a problem. At any gathering of northeast geocachers, you will see that easily half, to 3/4 of the people there are toting some form of eTrex. And we have pretty heavy tree cover here.

 

As far as expandable memory, it's a luxury that I've yet to have a need for in 3+ years of geocaching. Would it be nice if my Garmin had it? Sure, I never heard anyone say they want less memory. But it's not something I ever wished I had. My Vista holds enough maps to coverr every place I geocache and anyplace I might geocache. I'd have to drive 4-5 hours to run out of map.

 

With over 1400 finds one might think I know what I'm talking about!

 

Two of the most prolific geocachers in this area (with a combined 5,000 some finds between them) are both using eTrex's under our heavy northeast leaf canopy, aparently without a problem.

Edited October 20, 2004 by briansnat

[Bobthearch]

My complaint with the eTrex lineup is the ~tiny~ numbers on the location readout. Sure the screen is smaller than other units, but Garmin wastes most of the screen displaying a graphic picture of satellite locations, while the "where am I" numbers are crammed onto a a tiny portion at the screen bottom. My boss required reading glasses to see the numbers on his Legend. On the plus side, I like the picture-driven menus and the thumb-stick. The Vista is the only eTrex (I think...) that has a real compass that works even when you're standing still or turning in place. Also, on the eTrexes, the buttons are scattered all over the unit, they're not labeled, and they're 'squishy' - makes it difficult to tell when you've pressed a button, especially with gloves. As far as accuracy, the only time I've noticed a difference is under dense tree cover, particularly in canyons or valleys.

 

My choice, the Garmin GGSMAP76S. Built-in compass, large screen, plenty of memory, durable, and good tactile feedback in the buttons. you can even set the unit to 'Beep' whenever a button is pressed - great for wearing gloves. Also has an alarm when you're getting close to your target. You can upload the Garmin MapSource products to the GPS (the Legend is the lowest eTrex with that feature).

 

My second choice was the Magellan Meridian Platinum. There's no good reason why the Garmin is better than the Magellan. My own reason, everyone else at work had Garmin and I wanted to be compatible.

 

Hope you found something in this helpful.

 

Happy shopping,

Bob

[+JohnnyVegas]

While in radio shack yesterday I saw the Magellan Sport trak map on clearance for $169.99, And I think magellan now has a $30.00 rebate on there web site for this unit. At a price of $139.99 after the rebate this is a great price for a GPS that will support a map display. I have had one of these for about 6 months and it works just fine for geocaching.

[Pto]

The legend does ok here in Arizona but honestly was almost useless in New England under tree cover!!With over 1400 finds one might think I know what I'm talking about!

 

Sorry, I must disagree...... My etrex works just fine under most any tree cover-

In Minnesota, NW wisconsin, there are alot of trees..... And much tree cover.

 

My complaint with the eTrex lineup is the ~tiny~ numbers on the location readout.

 

I dont play with my settings much, but I believe "Big numbers" is an option in the menu. You can change your display to use larger numbers.

 

I agree with briansnat, The expandable memory would be nice- but I have never come close to using all of mine, and cant really see a time when I would.

 

Whatever you choose, just be sure to pick up the jumbo pack of AA's .

You'll need them!!

 

Good luck, hope this was somewhat helpful

[+AuntieWeasel]

The Legend has a huge fan club 'round these parts. I'm a happy Legend owner, myself, though it's the only GPS I've had experience with so I can't say as I can offer a comparison.

 

I do sometimes lose signal in tree cover, but I gather most will. Making sure its antenna is clear (like, not in my pocket) usually prevails.

[geotrouvetout]

I have a 7 or 8 years Magellan 2000 that takes 15 to 20 minutes to lock the position at cold if ever it gets a signal … Tired of this antique, I recently purchased a Meridian Gold with the DirectRoute software. Not because I had a Magellan before but after several weeks or research, I found this one to be the best for the price and my needs. I like the large screen for the maps and driving and it floats (I kayak too). Garmins are certainly very good as well (I was first leaning to the E-trex serie) but this one exceeds my expectations from far . The precision and signals are excellent, even inside my house and car. I would not recommend the Platinum however. It is the same but with a compass, and to my point of view an electronic compass is useless since the Gold (or the regular Meridian) will show you the north even when you don’t move. The electronic compass eats up the batteries a lot and there is nothing better than a good regular (Silva) compass to triangulate your position. I paid $165 (without accessories and software) plus shipping at www.compuplus.com, you should stay in budget with this one. Plus, the experience I have with Thales Navigation customer service is excellent, and it has expandable memory (unlimited on SD cards – I use a 256MB), which is a big advantage.

Edited October 21, 2004 by douguil

[Emerald232]

I ended up getting a Magellan Sportrek Color for about $220 on a website out of New York City. I believe that was a good deal. It's a great GPS. There is an issue with GPS antennas that you want to research. Some types are better then others. This Magellan get's a lock pretty darn fast and in fairly thick forests. Not all can do that. Make sure you look into this antenna business before you purchase.

 

I am nothing but happy with my purchase! It's a great GPS ... much better then many I have seen and many that my friends have. I also purchase the Magellan topo map software to load into my GPS ... it's not that great. The topo maps are not all that accurate. It does have street maps/addresses, which is nice when i am driving around an unfamilure area. I also ended up getting Maptech Terrain Navigator topo map software that does 3D movable maps and it is fantastic. You can see exactly what the terrain is going to look like where you are going and it allows you to plan where to place a Geocache. It's very useful and the easiest to use 3D displaying map software I have found. I did a lot of research on this.

[+Kai Team]

There is an issue with GPS antennas that you want to research. Some types are better then others... Make sure you look into this antenna business before you purchase.

If you really research the antenna issue, as I did recently, you'll discover that the purported superiority of any particular configuration is largely a myth. There are pros and cons of each antenna configuration, but neither is superior overall.

 

See, for example: GPS Information (I read a more extensive analysis recently that came to the same conclusion, but can't find it right now).

 

The myth is perpetuated by the rivalry between (some) Garminites and Maggies, since the two companies (Garmin and Magellan) chose to use different antenna configurations on their respective units. I wouldn't let the antenna configuration drive my decision about which GPSr to buy - there's little practical difference, despite what people may tell you.

 

Edit: One thing that might make a difference to you is that with a patch antenna (Garmin), you hold the unit horizontally for the best reception. With a quad helix antenna (Magellan), you hold the unit vertically for the best reception. Depends on which way you find it easier to view the screen.

 

For a comprehensive comparison chart of handheld GPSr units features, see:Offroute's Comparion Chart (scroll to the right to see the Magellans).

Edited October 22, 2004 by Kai Team

[+briansnat]

The myth is perpetuated by the rivalry between (some) Garminites and Maggies, since the two companies (Garmin and Magellan) chose to use different antenna configurations on their respective units. I wouldn't let the antenna configuration drive my decision about which GPSr to buy - there's little practical difference, despite what people may tell you.

 

Actually only the Garmin eTrex and Gecko lines use patch antennas. The other Garmin models, GPS V, 60 series, Map 76 series, etc... all use the quad helix antenna.

 

From practical experience, having owned 2 eTrex's and a Gecko with the patch antenna and now a 60CS with a quad helix, and having geocached alongside people using GPS V's, 76's and Maggie Meridians and SporTraks, all with the quad helix, I've noticed little difference. There were times that the units with the patch actually outperformed units with the quad helix antennas. Under most conditions however it seemed that the quad helix held a very slight advantage, but not enough to make it a deal breaker when buying a GPS.

 

So look for models with the features and price you want and never mind the antenna. They are both good.

[+Alan2]

No matter what unit you eventually wind up with, your will swear loyalty to it until your dying day. It will be in your allegiance after your mother and dog. And no amount of persausion from any other cacher will convince you otherwise.

[+Renegade Knight]

...There are pros and cons of each antenna configuration, but neither is superior overall....

My observation based on experience with the eTrex Vista, GPS V and Magellan Sport Track pro is this.

 

The quad helix has a small (but noticable) advantage under tree cover.

 

The patch has a small but noticable advantage near vertical surfaces. (Cliff's buildings etc.)

 

I'm now convinced the GPS sensativity and firmware has more impact than anything else.

[+seeker22]

Found my first 300 with the little yellow etrex. Caching is not rocket science, but its a little more interesting with my 60cs. Compass, color and auto-routing are the bees-knees, but expensive. Play the game with what you can afford. All GPSr's will get you to the cache. That is the ultimate goal after all.