best starter unit

[justlookin]

this looks like fun, friend turned me on,

but would like suggestions on what gps unit

to get started with a friend told me garmin

but i looked them up and i was overwelmed

by the selection and features thanks for help

[Jeremy]

Garmin or Magellan have great units. You'll find that this request results in a "that depends" response. How much money are you willing to spend and what do you want to use it for? Do you like bells and whistles or something that does the job?

 

Cheaper: eTrex (Yellow) and Meridian Gold (I prefer the Gold over the Yellow Etrex due to a better internal antenna)

 

More expensive: Garmin V (My absolute favorite) which has maps and does turn by turn directions.

 

And there are lots of good ones in between.

 

Jeremy

[teamwsmf]

I would suggest the little yellow eTrex. It has all the features you can hope to find in a unit that does not have internal maping.

 

It has served me very well in my geocaching. Its easy to learn and very very ergonomic. Using it in the field is a snap.

 

If you ever do want the map functions you can either sell your ole one and get one of the higher end flavors, or you can simply hook your eTrex up to a palm pilot:)-

 

I did just this last week. I picked up the cable for about 8 bucks on ebay and downloaded a bunch of software to the palm over the net. Bingo.

 

If you dont have a palm pilt you can find really good ones for this purpose on ebay for about 50 bucks. The Palm III is the bottom line for good use.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-tom

 

----------------------------

TeamWSMF@wsmf.org

[teamwsmf]

I would suggest the little yellow eTrex. It has all the features you can hope to find in a unit that does not have internal maping.

 

It has served me very well in my geocaching. Its easy to learn and very very ergonomic. Using it in the field is a snap.

 

If you ever do want the map functions you can either sell your ole one and get one of the higher end flavors, or you can simply hook your eTrex up to a palm pilot-

 

I did just this last week. I picked up the cable for about 8 bucks on ebay and downloaded a bunch of software to the palm over the net. Bingo.

 

If you dont have a palm pilt you can find really good ones for this purpose on ebay for about 50 bucks. The Palm III is the bottom line for good use.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-tom

 

----------------------------

TeamWSMF@wsmf.org

[phantom]

I have been using the Garmin GPS III, but I got a Garmin GPS eTrex for Christmas and I love it! It is simple, small, light, and not all that expensive. The eTrex is all I use now.

 

"Mmmmmmm,donuts" -- Homer Simpson

[phantom]

I have been using the Garmin GPS III, but I got a Garmin GPS eTrex for Christmas and I love it! It is simple, small, light, and not all that expensive. The eTrex is all I use now.

 

"Mmmmmmm,donuts" -- Homer Simpson

[Jeremy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tom Wardell:

I have been using the Garmin GPS III, but I got a Garmin GPS eTrex for Christmas and I love it! It is simple, small, light, and not all that expensive. The eTrex is all I use now.

---

 

It's pretty flat in Texas. If you have lots of heavy tree cover (Like Western Washington) you'll want a better antenna than the standard eTrex (though it will work. Just more difficult to keep a signal). But Phoenix was perfectly cool using the eTrex. I had the opportunity to find one there with the yellow eTrex and had perfect lock.

 

(As an aside: I loved the thermometer inside the ammo container that was hotter than all heck.)

 

Jeremy

[Jeremy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tom Wardell:

I have been using the Garmin GPS III, but I got a Garmin GPS eTrex for Christmas and I love it! It is simple, small, light, and not all that expensive. The eTrex is all I use now.

---

 

It's pretty flat in Texas. If you have lots of heavy tree cover (Like Western Washington) you'll want a better antenna than the standard eTrex (though it will work. Just more difficult to keep a signal). But Phoenix was perfectly cool using the eTrex. I had the opportunity to find one there with the yellow eTrex and had perfect lock.

 

(As an aside: I loved the thermometer inside the ammo container that was hotter than all heck.)

 

Jeremy

[justlookin]

i have about 250 bucks to spend max ijust worry

that if i buy something with more features i wont

know how to work it so i guess i need the best cheepest and simple to work with the most bang for my buck confused is a good word for me

[+Team Roman Geoskis]

For your price range, I would recommend a garmin etrex summit. You can pick them up for around $220. I like the summit for its ease of use and the fact that it has a built in electronic compass. You don't have to have the built in compass, but I find it's easier for me to use than switching from the gpsr to a manual compass. I know alot of folks who use the manual compass and swear by it. So like jeremy said , it comes down to personal prefs.

[+idahoflyer]

For around a $150 the Garmin GPS12 is a good starter unit it has a better antenna for use in areas with questionable reception.

[+Ranz]

Any way you go, if you want built in maps you are looking at the high end of you spending range. Unless you can find a good sale on a Magellan Map330. They have been as low as $110.00 lately due to the release of the Meridian line. If maps are not important then I would go with a Magellan 315. It has the Quadrifier antenna, which gives superior satellite locks to the patch antenna. They go for about $130.00 new.

 

Really, any of todays units are great. You almost can't go wrong. It is just a matter of how many bells and whistles you want.

 

Good luck and welcome aboard.

 

[peter]

If you only want it for geocaching, then the fairly inexpensive basic eTrex or Magellan 315 will do fine and leave you quite a bit of change from your $250.

OTOH, if you think you may also want to use the GPS capabilities for finding your way when traveling then get a unit that can accept maps.

 

You can get the Garmin eMap Deluxe with MetroGuide from www.tvnav.com for $215 which would IMO give you the best street maps for the US and best business location database available currently for GPS receivers. It won't be any better at geocaching than the cheaper units, but you'll find it to have many other applications as well.

Other mapping units I'd consider are the eTrex Legend, Magellan Meridian (either green or gold), and Magellan 330.

[justlookin]

well thanks for all the input i think ill try

abasic unit and when i master that ill

just save the money for an advanced model and

give the etrex to the kids

[DorkyDog]

My vote for best starter unit is the Garmin eTrex Venture. It can be had for $149.00 from www.advancedgps.com (no sales tax plus free shipping). Some people would say the Yellow eTrex is a good starter unit as it can be had for around $99-$119. Here is why I think the eTrex Venture is a better choice. The Yellow eTrex does not come with a PC cable, any internal memory, no built in city database, no upload capabilities and the screen resolution isn't as nice as the Venture. If you were to buy a PC cable it would put the price of the Yellow eTrex nearly at that of the eTrex Venture, so why not just buy the Venture and be done with it. The Venture comes with a PC cable, 1MB of Memory, Built in WorldWide City Database, plus can use Points of Interest CD, and it has a better screen resolution (trust me the increased resolution is nice). There are more expensive mapping units available, but in my opinion the added feature of mapped highways or inferior topos isn't worth the extra cost for a beginner. The most helpful (extremely helpful) thing for me outside of the GPS itself in finding caches has been printed detailed TOPO maps.

[irvingdog]

I'm 100% behind mapping GPS if you can afford it, and often, that feature pays for itself quickly! I equate it to short attentionspan GPSing, and it allows you to keep messing around with it while traveling and such. It's just more fun. And when you keep it around, most learn a bit about navigation, and start to play games with it........

 

[+QUAD EXPLORER]

For the $250 I'd buy the Garmin Legend, Mapping, simple and no need to update within a few months after you get familiar with it. After one of your buddys buys a mapping unit and you have a basic one you'll want to kick yourself in the rear. Just my .02 worth.

 

Quad (Garmin V)

[+QUAD EXPLORER]

For the $250 I'd buy the Garmin Legend, Mapping, simple and no need to update within a few months after you get familiar with it. After one of your buddys buys a mapping unit and you have a basic one you'll want to kick yourself in the rear. Just my .02 worth.

 

Quad (Garmin V)

[+Renegade Knight]

My 2 Cents, get one with a cable, you will want that. Other than that, you will learn what you want after you learn what you can do. Go cheap, get a cable, upgrade later when you have more money, or keep what you got cause it works.

[+phantom4099]

You may want to check out the magelland meridian (exspecialy the green or gold). If you go for the green you will get the computer cable with it, and a database of some towns and major roads. After you get fimilar with it you can pick up a SD card and mapsend software to upload maps. With this set up you will still have some money left over and not have to worry about upgrading later to a mapping unit (trust me you will eventually want a mapping unit).

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[+GOT GPS?]

I agree with phantom4099 that the best beginner GPS is the Magellan Meridian Green(lowest priced one), and that GPS is greatly expandable, as you get more into using GPS units for other things. You can buy SD memory cards at many stores, and if you bought 2 or 3 SD memory cards, you can have different map sets on each one, for a long road trip.

 

Magellan Meridian

2MB database with interstate highways, state highways, major roads, parks, waterways, airports, cities and more.

Includes: PC Data Cable; User guide.

It is $219 at http://www.gps4fun.com/mag_meridian.html

 

[+LarsThorwald]

I went for the Vista after very little research, and it's worked just right for me.

 

One should never begin a journey by heading in the wrong direction...

[Atilla the Pun]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ranz:

Any way you go, if you want built in maps you are looking at the high end of you spending range. Unless you can find a good sale on a Magellan Map330. They have been as low as $110.00 lately due to the release of the Meridian line.

---

 

I have been looking for one of these and I always see them at $250, which is rediculous. At that price I'll buy a Meridian instead. Where can I find a Map 330, or 330M for $110?

Thanks,

 

AtP

[DorkyDog]

I'm sticking with my previous post that the Garmin Venture is the best choice GPS for a beginner. One thing I forgot to mention is it's size. It fits in the palm of your hand! In my opinion the lowest priced Magellan Meridian Unit (super ugly green & brown) comes in a close 2nd. The extras it has that the Venture doesn't are: bigger screen, mapping capabilities & memory cards. It isn't as small as the Venture, and doesn't have a lanier or attachment for one. Oh yeah, it costs more too!

[kar2n101]

I cant speak for the Meridian but I can say that the Garmin etrex Venure is an excellent choice.

 

Cheaply priced ($150 new), powerful, and is nice and small. It can be easily used by right/left handers alike. Fits perfect in the palm of your hand!

 

This unit is perfect for geocaching and almost any other outdoor expeditions you could throw at it!!

 

Comes with a PC cable too, so it can be upgraded as Garmin issues new software.

 

With any choice you make, you are sure to have lots of fun with it. Good Luck & Have Fun!!

 

Carlo, from Team Shibby

 

N 40°52.501

W074°07.503

[+Team Shibby]

Kar has the Etrex venture, but I am getting the GPS Companion for Handspring from Magellan.

 

Anyone have any experience with this product?

 

TEAM SHIBBY!!!!

 

Krs & Kar

[Team PL]

I don't think my Magellan Meridian in green and brown is ugly! Just woodsy and functional. I haven't used the Garmins so can't compare the units. I can say I love the ability to easily upload detail maps to my gps, enjoy using it to look up addresses, and don't feel I'd get nearly as much functionality from a non-mapping gps. This unit is supremely flexible. My cost: gps $200 (with cable); MapSend Topo $69; 64 MB SD memory card $59. Money well spent.