Help Me Buy A Gps For My Dad

[+ebengreene]

Hi All,

 

I have a Garmin 60c - love it. My father enjoyed geocaching with me recently, and I'd like to buy him a GPSr for Christmas. Thing is, I don't know if he's going to be as fanatical about it as me, so it's not worth it to start him off with a $350 60c like mine.

 

So what less expensive unit would you recommend? One of the Vistas, maybe? One guiding factor may be ease of use - he's smart but not necessarily a gadget geek. He doesn't have internet - I think I'll print and mail geocaches in his area to him after I give him his unit.

 

Sorry if this is a rehash of old posts.

 

Regards,

Ben

[+BlueDeuce]

Help me buy a GPS - I thought you were going to ask for money!

 

I say the Garmin Legend would be the best. Good price, works great, easy to use.

 

The Etrex (yellow) or Geko would be my second and third choice.

Edited December 15, 2004 by BlueDeuce

[+roadway57]

Another vote for the Legend. It is easy to enter waypoints via the click-stick if he doesn't want to get on line to download them.

 

Which ever GPSr you get, get a mapping one. they are more versatile.

 

Roadway57

[peter]

If you don't already have CitySelect maps for your 60c, then you might want to give him a GPS V. The mapping and auto-routing would make it more useful for him outside of geocaching and you could use the free second unlock code for your 60c.

[+ebengreene]

Thanks for the quick replies - this community is a great resource.

 

To the GPS V reply, I do have CitySelect...I don't suppose you can get a unit like that without software can you? I really like the idea of that unit. I think he would appreciate the slightly larger buttons and screen.

 

I think the first replies suggested the Legend 8mb, not the newer Legend 24mb C which is almost as expensive as my 60c. Will my CitySelect maps have any functionality on the 8mb Legend? If I choose not to include autorouting info in the transfer of maps to the unit, will I stretch the 8mb space enough to make it useful?

 

Regards,

Ben

[peter]

Yes, your City Select maps will work fine in a Legend if you get the free second unlock code from Garmin's website. 8 MB is somewhat limiting but should be sufficient unless he's in an extended urban area like LA. I find 8MB to be adequate around the SF Bay area.

So given that you have CS with the second unlock available I'd go along with the other recommendations for the regular Legend.

[+Sue and Bernie]

I concur on the memory bit, you do need the 24 mb in order to load the bigger lumps of map (and routing) data from the high-end Garmin software.

 

I have a SP3 with City Navigator 6 and have used the second unlock for my Vista C. It takes a usable area of map and the USB loading maps makes quick map changes a viable option - unlike the old serial connection.

[+ebengreene]

Well, that settles it - Legend 8mb it is. Thanks for the advice, evverybody.

 

Peter, it sounds like you use a Legend with CS maps. That true? Just for my curiousity, I was hoping you could say a little more about the combo - the Legend doesn't have routing, so are the POIs useful? If you search for an address (which I assume you can do?) do you have to figure out yourself how to get there?

 

I know 8mb sounds like so little in the world of 20 gazillabyte sd cards, but I've found that I really use only a small portion, probably less than 8mb, of the limited memory on my 60c. But it was still nice to hear you say 8mb suits you fine in San Francisco. My father lives in rural east Tennessee, so I'm hoping he can download a couple hundred miles of maps.

 

One more question - rural East Tennessee has lots of trees. I know the debate has raged on and on about patch vs quad antennas in the trees. Your 2 cents about the Legend?

 

Regards,

Ben

[+ebengreene]

Sue and Bernie,

 

I was typing my last post while you replied.

 

I was wondering: are you suggesting the 24mb vista or saying that the 8mb Legend is adequate?

 

I was also wondering from anyone about the ability to expand CS map coverage by leaving out auto-routing data in the transfer of maps to the unit. Since after all this data has no function in the Legend, right?

 

Thanks,

Ben

[+VisionQuest220]

Whatever unit you decide to buy, do a search for it on eBay. I regularly find great prices on what are considered "used" units but often times only because they've been taken out of the box and turned on and off once or twice. I see eTrex Legends and Ventures selling for between $100 - $150 and they often include carrying cases, lanyards, DC charging cables and computer interface cables.

 

If you're not in a hurry, you're likely to find a great bargain.

[peter]

Peter, it sounds like you use a Legend with CS maps. That true? Just for my curiousity, I was hoping you could say a little more about the combo - the Legend doesn't have routing, so are the POIs useful?

Actually I use an eMap with MetroGuide maps, but the level of detail and memory requirements are the same as City Select with the auto-routing turned off. The eMap is pretty similar to the Legend but does allow for memory expansion. But I frequently use mine with just an 8MB memory card and find that to be adequate most of the time.

 

I find the POIs and address lookup features to be very useful. It won't do auto-routing, but it does show the place on the map and the pointer arrow indicates the direction. In most cases it's pretty straightforward to just pick major streets that head in about the right direction.

 

You should be able to get a good idea of the map area that can be covered in 8 MB in your father's region using your City Select. Selecting the option to not send the auto-routing data saves about a third of the memory required.

 

BTW, my experience with both patch and quad antennas in tree covered areas has indicated that there's not much difference. I have come across a few particular samples of eTrex receivers that performed poorly but most that I've seen do fine.

 

My feeling is that most (all?) of the supposed problem with the eTrex antennas is due to people not holding them properly (especially shielding the antenna with their own bodies) and some cases of poor quality control (hopefully Garmin has fixed that).

[+MedicP1]

I use a MAG315 so I don't know about the Garmin line but I would suggest whatever unit you get him make sure it uses the same pin out connetion as yours so that you can download caches/waypoints for him on your computer.

 

Also maybe start him out with a full (less80 or so) waypoints from around him to save his fingers on all that entering.

[+ebengreene]

That really settles it - I'm going to order the eTrex Legend.

 

Thanks Peter for your help. I typically don't expect such thorough and helpful replies to my questions. (Not on other boards at least - all my questions at Groundspeak have been taken up thoughtfully.)

 

And I'll tell my Dad to hold the unit flat, and we'll just keep our fingers crossed in the woods. I assume to keep from blocking with your body your just extend your arm a little...?

 

As far as the routing - to be honest he knows East Tennessee well and he doesn't really need turn-by-turn. Frankly, there just aren't that many roads!

 

MedicP1:

 

I don't know what a pin out connection is, but he does have a computer with serial ports, just no internet. So he should be able to put some stuff on himself from the computer. I may even set him up with GSAK and send him CDs with files for local geocaches rather than mailing paper printouts. If I can get that to work and if his interest holds enough to fool with even more software.

 

Regards,

Ben