Usmaak Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 Hi, I've just decided to give this a try. I'm currently looking at any and all GPS units 200 bucks and under. The one I'm considering the most is the Garmin Etrex Legend. It's around 200 bucks with a rebate. Please let a newbie know what you all think. I don't want to get the wrong unit, and if there's a better one for that money, I want to get it. Thanks, Scott... Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 The Legend is a great unit. It was my first one. I eventually upgraded to the Vista because I wanted more memory, but I do miss the Legend's longer battery life. If you can get it for under $200, you got a pretty good deal. You'll eventually want to buy the Mapsource maps (I like the Topo). The base map that comes with the Legend (and most GPS's) is very rudimentary. It just shows major roads, cities and bodies of water. The Mapsouce maps go into far greater detail. "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" -Abraham Lincoln Quote Link to comment
Usmaak Posted May 5, 2003 Author Share Posted May 5, 2003 Thanks for the response. I'll admit, I'm a little intimidated by all the choices for this price range. It seems like there are a lot of units available for ~200 bucks. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 You're going to want mapping, so the Legend is a good choice. I believe its competetion from the Magellan side are the SportTrak Map and Meridian Gold. You'll hear Garmin users badmouth Magellan and vice-versa. In reality both brands have their strengths and weaknesses. I personally like the Legend because of its compact size. All things being equal, I like that it can fit easily in my pocket. It's also very easy to learn. "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" -Abraham Lincoln Quote Link to comment
+GeneralBracket Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 I have both a Legend and a Vista and I prefer the Legend. It's basically the same and it's prettier. Le-gend! Le-gend! Le-gend! WOOHOO! Quote Link to comment
Team Kender Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Hi Usmaak - I'm just getting started too. I have no brand loyalty as I don't have first hand experience with any of the brands. Just after reading through the rundown of different things I thought might be useful and factoring in a price I wanted to stay below ($130) I wound up getting the Magellan Meridian GPS. I don't have the greatest eyes in the world so the bigger screen will be a help, though I'll envy the overall small size of the etrex. If you've got $200 to put into it you might look into the Sportrak line. It seems to be the series Magellan thinks is best for geocaching. Look on ebay and you can find new, in the box gpsr for a pretty good deal. Or go to the website mentioned on the front page here as they will put a percentage of the buy towards geocaching.com. Oh yeah, and check in the GPS Units and Software thread as it will give you an indication of what people are using, what they like/dislike, known and new problems etc etc. Good luck! Team Kender - Willow and Dan exploring the Bay Area backroads! Quote Link to comment
Usmaak Posted May 6, 2003 Author Share Posted May 6, 2003 Thanks for all the information. As usual, I'm more confused than ever. They all look so good, and there are good points for every one of them. It's going to be a very tough call. It seems like for the money, the Magellan units have more memory, and are larger. For instance, the SportTrak Pro has 23 MB of memory, and the Legend has 8 MB, and they're essentially the same price. Quote Link to comment
+rayt333 Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 You can get a legend for $199 and get a $50 rebate along with free shipping bringing the total cost to $149. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000058BCQ/qid=1052269470/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-5590708-4248150?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846 Last week this was $189 plus $50 rebate. Quote Link to comment
Usmaak Posted May 6, 2003 Author Share Posted May 6, 2003 Argh!! I've been reading the forum suggested above, and now I'm even more confused. At this rate, it's going to take me a year to pick out a unit. Quote Link to comment
+GeneralBracket Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 This might help a little. I made it. http://members.cox.net/generalbracket/gpscomp.html Quote Link to comment
Usmaak Posted May 6, 2003 Author Share Posted May 6, 2003 That's a really nice site you have. It makes things a little clearer. It's too bad that there's not a clear cut list of pros and cons for each of the units. That's all up to user preference though, I suppose. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 Wow, $149 for a Legend! That's great. "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" -Abraham Lincoln Quote Link to comment
+Gaddiel Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 We got our Legend from Amazon.com, as well. After rebate, it came to $149. We're very happy with it so far! (although now we're looking for a car mount, a cigarette lighter adapter, a case, etc., etc., etc......) Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 Get the legend. 1000 waypoints, Mapping, easy to use. Or get some of the other kludge out there and wish you got the legend. ===================== Wherever you go there you are. Quote Link to comment
Usmaak Posted May 8, 2003 Author Share Posted May 8, 2003 Ok, from all my reading here, I've come to some conclusions... Garmin... Smaller screen, better resolutionLimited memoryNot as good at handling tree cover Magellan Removable memoryBigger screen, not as good resolution.Better at handling tree cover.Due to "averaging", has a tendency to be off Mmmm, what to do, what to do... Quote Link to comment
Maine Mountainman Posted May 8, 2003 Share Posted May 8, 2003 I wouldn't say that they're off that much. I have a Magellan 315,it averages,and I like it. It's simple,inexpensive,and accurate. I've only got 30 finds so far,but most of the time I'm within 20 to 30 feet,or closer. I think the auto averaging works real well when you hide a cache. Saves you a lot of time. Just my opinion. Maine MountainMan Quote Link to comment
+EScout Posted May 8, 2003 Share Posted May 8, 2003 Legend and Meridian I have both and here are some features to consider on both. Legend: Very small form (size), best for using one-handed. Very good screen resolution Easy, logical firmware Accurate, quick acting while mobile. Good tracking utility. Better retrieval of waypoints Good waypoint icons. Meridian: Best used in a car/boat with vertical mounting, and one-finger pushing buttons. Unit floats; large screen (but lower resolution.) 2-levels of backlighting and buttons light up. Very versitile mapping with SD memory cards--can load street, topo and marine maps and quickly switch between them. Much more memory. Nice features: Alarms; name of cache is loaded from .loc files in comment area; displays a second coord/datum; projects in one-hundredths of a degree. Antenna/sensitivity appears better under trees. Quote Link to comment
aggregate Posted May 8, 2003 Share Posted May 8, 2003 Just got a magellan SporTrack Map, seems easy to use and accurate, but would like to be able to use more characters for the waypoint names. Quote Link to comment
selias Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 FYI - If you don't want to wait for shipping and are willing to part with $17 extra, I just saw the Legend at Target (or is it Tar-jay?) for $217 before the rebate. It may be worth it just in case you decide to return it if it doesn't fit your needs. I'm going today to pick one up and finally get started with this whole caching thing... Good luck! -- Scott Quote Link to comment
Usmaak Posted May 9, 2003 Author Share Posted May 9, 2003 Unfortunately, not the Tarjay here. Here, it's still 249.95. I did find it at Galeons for ~230.00, which is a good enough deal for me. So, I'm now the proud, and slightly confused owner of a new Garmin Legend GPS unit. My wife's gonna kill me when I give her this news. Quote Link to comment
selias Posted May 9, 2003 Share Posted May 9, 2003 Hey Usmaak - Sorry to hear there was not a deal at your neighborhood Target... But at least you got your hands on one... I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing with mine, but since I bought it this morning I took it everywhere with me today and, man, do I follow a crazy path around town!! Thinking of going tomorrow to get the MapSource CDs since without them, I spend a lot of time in a giant highway-less void... Good luck and have fun! I know I will! -- Scott Quote Link to comment
Usmaak Posted May 9, 2003 Author Share Posted May 9, 2003 Scott, let me ask you a question about your GPS unit. On mine, the zoom out button is difficult to push. It's like the button behind the rubber is further into the unit than it should be, so it's not as easy to push in as the zoom in button. Do you notice this with your Legend? Also, when I push the buttons, I can feel the "insides" of it move around a little. Does yours do this? Quote Link to comment
selias Posted May 10, 2003 Share Posted May 10, 2003 Hmm - now I think I'm over analyzing this as I sit here pushing buttons... I can't say that either button feels different from the other... Strange... Quote Link to comment
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