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Yellow E-Trex?


Bob&TheGang

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Is the yellow E-Trex a good unit for Geocaching?

 

I have a rain check from Target and can get one for $88 (which regularly sells for $118). I done some reseach and $88 is a very good price.

 

I know the Yell E-Trex does not have a lot of bells and whistles (e.g., no mapping ability, no compass).

 

But will it get get me to caches? In reading the various forums, my biggest concern is about accuracy of the Yellow E-Trex.

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If you don't need the bells-and-whistles, it's a great unit!

 

I own the same unit and have never had a problem with mine. I have found 315 caches with it!

 

Eighty-eight dollars is a great price! I paid around $100.00 for mine, on sale.

 

RandMan

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I'd say GO FOR IT!

You can have that sucker in your hot, grubby little hands in minutes. Personally, I didn't want to wait a few weeks to get more money so I could upgrade to a bunch of stuff I didn't really understand. I'll probably meet someone with the Excelsior Ultra-Poop Triple Platinum Model someday, who will show me what it can do "See, it emits a sub-audible whine that repels insects while attracting the opposite sex, it tells you how close you are to the catch, and that you're damned sexy, to boot..." Then, I'll say "Oooh! I need to upgrade to one of those!

 

At which point, I can either keep my eTrex as a backup, or sell it to someone for more than half of what I paid for it.

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Its a fine unit for geocaching, but the data cable is a $30 add on and the data cable is an important

feature. You will need one.

 

Amazon.com has the Legend for $149 after the $50 mfr's rebate. So think about this. $128 for a bare bones unit, or shell out an extra $21 for a full featured, mapping unit that comes with the data cable as standard. A no brainer to me.

 

"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry

 

[This message was edited by BrianSnat on July 05, 2003 at 05:01 PM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by BrianSnat:

Its a fine unit for geocaching, but the data cable is a $30 add on and the data cable is an important

feature. You _will_ need one.

 

[This message was edited by BrianSnat on July 05, 2003 at 05:01 PM.]


 

Why will I need one?

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quote:
Originally posted by katybird:

Why will I need one?


With a cable you can load hundreds of waypoints at once, instead of doing them one at a time by hand. You can get a cable for the etrex(btw- I have the etrex) on ebay for about 15-20bucks, but if you don't cache that much you may not care to be able to load en mass. If you do get into caching, and I hope you do, you'll probly want the cable, if not a whole new unit with mapping & such(that seems to be the trend).

 

waypoint_link.gif22008_1700.gif37_gp_logo88x31.jpg

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quote:
Originally posted by welch:

quote:
Originally posted by katybird:

Why will I need one?


With a cable you can load hundreds of waypoints at once, instead of doing them one at a time by hand. You can get a cable for the etrex(btw- I have the etrex) on ebay for about 15-20bucks, but if you don't cache that much you may not care to be able to load en mass. If you do get into caching, and I hope you do, you'll probly want the cable, if not a whole new unit with mapping & such(that seems to be the trend).

 


 

I agree. Also, a PC cable allows one to _send_

information to the computer as well as receiving

it, so that you can keep a record of your

tracks and routes. If coordinate accuracy is

the deciding factor, the eTrex is just as good

as practically any other unit, but odds are

that you _will_ want to communicate with the

computer.

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Check out eBay if you're looking for a cable. I don't remember if I searched on the Garmin cable number or if it was "Garmin eTrex Cable".

 

Either way, I found several aftermarket cables that were significantly less than the Garmin brand cable. I think I paid around fifteen bucks for mine and that included shipping.

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quote:
Why will I need one?

 

For all the reasons mentioned above and to upgrade your units software, or fix problems with it.

 

Also, it's a good idea to back up the info on your GPS and you need the cable to do this.

 

"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry

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For what it's worth here is my input:

 

1) $88 is a great price for the Yellow E-Trex. I purchased my from Amazon for $99. I have scoured the net for better prices and have not been able to find any lower prices for new units. Occassionally I have seen them available for around $88 used.

 

2) I also own a Geko 101 - also a great little unit. My wife prefers the Geko since it is easier to use for one handed programming.

 

3) I suggest you not start out with the cable. I suggest you wait and start by entering your logs by hand and when you find that you want/need a cable then get it then. I think it is important to become proficient at hand entering before you go the cable route. I have found my first 40 or so with an E-Trex unit. I have manually entered all of them. I am about ready to get a cable but I have done fine without one for a year.

 

I say start out with the bare minimum - get to a place where you say to yourself - "Hey, I would really like to be able to..." it is at this point that you should consider adding that thing. I find that this helps me appreciate it all the more.

 

Again, just some thoughts. Enjoy the sport.

 

=========

"The Road goes ever on and on, out form the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can!"

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icon_smile.gifI use a yellow e-trex when I cache. Its dose have a compass on it and it really has a lot of other features in that I don't use. The only thing you really need the cable for is updates to the e-trex. Right now there aren't any so don't worry about the cable unless your Planning on seaching for 20 or more caches at a time, Like some cachers then, yes invest in a cable now. Otherwise wait tell you really need one. I will tell you this much I have only lost singnal a couple times this summer. Do mainly to trees and rocks. Accuracy is general pretty good with it. I've been anywhere from 2ft. to 80ft. off on the caches average is about 30 ft. I think it depends on the unit, The cachers uses to get their cords. So I would say to go for it.

I've found about 300 caches with the one that I have. Good Luck and Safe Caching.

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I went to Target too.....it is a great price...they didn't have any more so I went next door to Dicks Sporting goods because they will match prices. I told them what I wanted and they said they will only match the price if the other store has it in stock (well if the other store had it in stock I wouldn't be here, Duh !!!)

 

Told them another store on the other side of town had them so they gave it to me for the $88 price. Mad me kind of mad.

 

Great little unit. Read the manual several times to be sure you get it. And be sure to make a waypoint of where you park.

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My wife & I were talking about this earlier today, we still havent decided when/if we upgrade from the Geko 201 we'll give the unit to a relative that needs a life, or leave it in a cache somewhere with cables.

 

Etrex cable $12.00 Ebay including shipping & handling, serial to USB to link to the laptop 32.00$ Radio shack.

 

BTW the first time we loaded coordinates most of them came in sort of garbled. I dumped out the memory, lowered the connection speed in the COM 4 details in windows from 4600 to 900, and now the little guy has every active cache in NC in it (as of 30Jun03).

 

We got 27 finds in 3 weeks. I think that's okay.

 

They say this universe is bound to blow,

I say we crank up the Calypso Control!

~Jimmy Buffett

 

~Someday I Will~

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I wouldn't worry about the cable. Just cache with a friend and make them input all the coords. It will give them something to do while you drive.

 

That's what I do. I drive while my girlfriend inputs all the coords.

 

Signature? I don't need no stinkin signature!!!!

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Yes, buy the yellow! I'm also pretty new and will gladly help you answer any questions I can. Before you buy extra gadgets for it just start out with your basics. I finally found the time to go out with mine and to all the caches I went to (four) it led me to within ten to fifteen feet. Needless to say I was very impressed. I will be more than happy to e-mail you if you need any help getting it to do the basic hunt and find stuff. I'm not pretending to be a expert on using it-mine's also a "yellow"-but I've know how to put in the coords and basically use the screens. So, if you need a little help with the basics, let me know! Give-n-Takes.

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Go ahead and buy it. If the geo-bug really sinks its teeth into you, you'll want to upgrade after a while to get the mapping features. Why? Not so much to find caches, but rather to find the way TO the caches. This gets more important after you find all the local hides and have to travel farther and farther afield for new caches.

But to test the waters, the yellow is an excellent choice. Not too complicated, but with all the basic features you need. There are cachers out there with over 1000 finds who use nothing but the yellow etrex, so you will be in good company. Besides, if/when you upgrade you'll have a backup GPS, or you can loan it to your friends to get them into the game.

And as far as quality goes, I believe every etrex offers the same basic GPS receiver capability - the more expensive models add features and capabilities, but the basic *you are here* functionality is common across the model line.

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Buy the yellow. You probably will want the cable eventually. You can buy it anytime on eBay.

 

As far as uploading coords goes, I have been caching for a while now and I just uploaded for the first time on Saturday. I loved having the ability to slurp hundreds of caches into my 3+, but you don't NEED that ability to play the game.

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quote:
Originally posted by sbell111:

Iv'e got to get an Excelsior Ultra-Poop Triple Platinum!


 

Do they still make that model? I did a Google search, and it came up with nothing.

 

_________________________________________________________

If trees could scream, would we still cut them down?

Well, maybe if they screamed all the time, for no reason.

Click here for my Geocaching pictures and Here (newest)

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Get the eTrex. Other units may have more bells and whistles, but this one does the basic job just as well.

 

When/if you really get hooked on caching, you'll probably want the cable. Nudging that little button a hundred times to input coordinates will make your fingers sore. But I strongly suggest buying the cable that includes a car power adapter. That way, you can use the GPS in the car without sucking battery power. It'll pay for itself, eventually. No, the yellow doesn't have street maps, but it's still a useful navigational tool in the car. Moreso than you would think.

 

There are arguments for buying a slightly more advanced unit that comes bundled with a data cable, but I'm so enamored of the power cable that I'd say you're just as well off skipping that and buying the cable later so you can get the dual model (on amazon, a plain etrex data cable is $29, a car power adapter cable is $30, and the combo cable is $39. We got ours for less than that -- sometimes it goes on sale cheaply).

 

If you're rich, of course, get a fancy GPS with maps. Maps never hurt anybody, and I'm sure they're useful -- we just get on fine without them, only occasionally saying, "Wouldn't it be neat if the GPS could do that?".

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I use the yellow and find it's adequate. I'm going to upgrade to a vista soon just for the mapping features. If you are serious about geocaching or gpsr's in general, you might want to think about a different unit. Get as much bang for your buck so you don't have to upgrade later like I do! If all you want it for is geocaching, the yellow is fine! By the way, everybody is right! Get a cable once you learn how to play with your new toy! Have fun! icon_smile.gif

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Yellow. I wouldn't say you *need* the cable, but I recently got one and love having it. I got my cable from a third party for closer to $15 (can't remember the website offhand, sorry). Entering coords by hand gets old fast. I've had my yellow for over a year and the only software change in that time didn't affect user operation.

 

I've only cached out of my home area a couple of times, and I would have really liked mapping features those times. Otherwise, I've been completely happy. My experience in fact has been that caches hidden with yellows can be found faster with yellows (errors in the yellow are pretty repeatable).

 

Flat_MiGeo_B88.gif

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

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I've played around with the yellow e-trex, and I found the inability to pan in the map page was a significant drawback. I would go for the Legend, as it includes the data cable AND has a mind-boggling 10,000 tracklog capacity.

 

In addition to downloading waypoints, the cable is useful for backing up your data, and for saving previous trackslogs. You can upload the tracklogs back into the GPSr later, so you can follow a path where you've previously been. Poor man's mapping, but if used in conjuction with scanned paper topo maps is a cheap and cheerful solution for hikers amd mountain bikers.

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Hello everyone! First post but thought I would pitch my $0.02 into the ring.

 

While I will whole-heartedly agree that your plain yellow Etrex will get you to any cache you want to find, I've got to agree with Mr. Snat. The legend has mapping, a better display, more waypoints, more tracklog points, 20 times as many routes, and it comes with a cable.

 

The bad news here is it looks like the $50 rebate offer was only for Summits, Legends, and Vista's purchased 4/6/2003 - 6/6/2003 so I don't know if a new one can be found for that great price any longer. icon_frown.gif

 

In any case, I love mapping and having a PC and no data cable, in my humble opinion, would be a crime.

 

Moving along...

 

For a home cooked (and well done I might add) alternative to cables for your Garmin GPS, give the following web site a look:

 

http://pfranc.com

 

I'm using one of their power cables in the car and on the ATV. Works like a charm plus the coiled cable is a nice twist. *duck*

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quote:
Originally posted by antonym:

For a home cooked (and well done I might add) alternative to cables for your Garmin GPS, give the following web site a look:

 

http://pfranc.com

Ah, thanks. That's where mine's from, too. Top notch.

 

Flat_MiGeo_B88.gif

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

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quote:
Originally posted by mrkablooey:

maybe wait a week or two to see if Garmin follows with price drops to make up for expired rebates. it's a typical retail "trick" so hold off a bit if you haven't bought already!

 

~robert


You see, now, this is exactly the crux of this thread:

 

There are those who can wait a couple of weeks before buying their gpsr and those who can not. I could not. I wanted to go hunting RIGHT AWAY. I was able to read these forums enough to find out what everyone thinks of the yellow etrex, and I sent away for it within hours of discovering this site.

 

It really all comes down to temperment. I've seen people on this thread argue for and against going ahead and getting the yellow etrex. Both sides are right - it just depends on how you see things. Are you a person who loves gadgets? Do you think you'll eventually have more money? Can you stand to wait several weeks before going hunting? Do you like to have every modern convenience. Do you plan to travel far afield and search in unfamiliar places? That's all that matters.

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I purchased the Yellow E-trex at Wal MArt yesterday. They were going for $119 but a few of them that had the bar code on the bottom instead of the side were priced $89. I took the bottom bar coded one :-)

Found 1 cache so far with it. I will definately buy a compass for the next time I go out though, the compass is not accurate as it does not point north unless you are moving.

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Well, the price is definately right... I asked someone on here about a USED one they were selling and they tried to get me to give them $100 for it. Umm... NO... Someone want to tell me why someone would try to get someone to pay more than retail for a USED electronic unit of any sort???????

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We have just bought an etrex as Mrs Cuthbert wanted to get involved with the navigation and wanted something that points and says 'how far'. If it wasn't for the accuracy of the unit compared to the quad-helix, then we would ditch my iPAQ. The deal now is, I drive to the nearest park-place and she now finds the cache site. For the price, they are great units although adding waypoints is time consuming for a lot of them. It is a nice feature of the etrex that you can go to 'Waypoints' and say 'What's nearest' ??? You can then get a realtime display of the nearest to the furthest. Fantastic for when you finish a cache and want that 'one more' fix on the way home !

 

The one question is..... why are they more expensive over here..... s'not fair ! icon_rolleyes.gif (Paid GBP130 including cable)

 

Andy and Dawn

(Where did all this wine come from ?)

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quote:
Originally posted by yawarakai:

I will definately buy a compass for the next time I go out though, the compass is not accurate as it does not point north unless you are moving.


That's not a compass. That arrow tells you which direction it is to the waypoint you've chosen to "Go To". And since the etrex doesn't have a compass, it can only know which way you're facing if you're moving. Many higher end units do have a compass.

 

At any rate, a compass is *always* a good idea, however awesome your GPS is. Never leave yourself completely at the mercy of electronics. Also, even if you aren't moving, the arrow on the etrex will tell you what direction your destination is, even if it's not actually pointing to it (if the cache is due east of you, the arrow will be on the E). Then you can use your compass to figure out which way to go.

 

Flat_MiGeo_B88.gif

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

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quote:
Originally posted by The Cuthberts:

If you have no waypoint set, doesn't the 'compass' default to 'magnetic north' ? I know that the one on the map screen always seems to point to North (as long as you keep moving). I don't have the manual to hand as I am being naughty and browsing at work !


Well, as long as you're naughtily browsing, here's the manual in PDF (right-click and Save works better for me than bringing it up directly in the browser. It's pretty big).

 

The manual doesn't say anything about pointing north as the default, but it's possible. If it does, though, it would still only work when moving. It doesn't have an internal compass to tell it where magnetic north is (see page 12 of the manual).

 

Edit: Just looked again. The manual says:

quote:
When you're moving with no particular destination in mind, the Pointer Page shows you your moving direction and speed...The direction arrow, destination symbol and bearing information only appear on the Pointer Page when you have started a GOTO, a route or a TracBack.

So the "compass ring" on the page will rotate with you as you move but there won't be an arrow, according to this.

 

Flat_MiGeo_B88.gif

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

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