Which Gps Do I Keep?

[Karren]

My husband bought me two GPS units for Christmas for me to make a choice to get us started. We live in a mountainous state (no long stretches of flat land anywhere near). Which is the best to keep? eTrex Legend or Magellan SporTrakMap? The SporTrakMap comes with MapSend Topo for the United States CD-Rom and has 2 MB built-in database of highways, parks, cities "and more" plus 6 MB of additional memory for "detailed map downloads". Doesn't say how many channels or that it's WAAS like the eTrex Legend says. eTrex has 8 MB memory and meets "IEC 529 IPX submersible standard". Seems to be geared to hunting and fishing, which we have no interest in. Magellan was more expensive, but I think if I bought a map CD-Rom for the eTrex they'd be comparable.

[+Semper Questio]

I have the ST Topo and the MapSend Topo software and have been very happy with both. My GPSr has always provided reliable service and was easy to learn. My brother has the same device and is happy with his as well. Just as an aside, we live in completely different geograsphical areas (NW Wash State and Central Texas) and have cached in each others' stomping grounds.

 

The ST Map and Topo both have 12 channels and support WAAS. I know my Topo is weather resistant and is submersion tolernat, but I don't know to what depth. I believe the Map model is also but I am ot certan.

 

For more info, I suggest you look at the product description at the Magellan web site at

 

https://www.magellangps.com/en/products/pro...t.asp?PRODID=98

[+Team Dougherty]

Keep them Both. I have two. It is nice to have an extra when you take someone new geocaching. I do not know if you have children. I have one and when we bring a friend it is nice to have an extra GPS for the friend so they both have something to look at.

 

Paul

[+hammerjane]

I've used both of those units. Both worked well and got me to the cache. However, the SporTrak worked better under heavy tree cover and on cloudy days. The Legend lost satellite reception very easily.

[+drag-racer]

Tell him to take them both back and get you a Garmin 76CS, 60CS...or a QUEST.

[+Mopar]

I've used both too. They both have their pros and cons.

The Sportrak will probably work better under heavy tree cover then the Legend.

The Sportrak has a design flaw that causes them to get stress cracks in the case (unless this has been fixed recently?).

The Legend has a design flaw where the wiring to the display gets loose and it develops lines on the display.

The user interface is more intuitive for most people on the Legend then it is on the Sportrak.

There are other differences, and quirks, but you get the idea. Despite the "flaws" I mentioned, both are decent units for caching, and both companies seem willing to fix the GPS if you get one of the problem ones. (Garmin seems a little better in the service dept, but that's just my observation).

Try them both out if possible, see which one you like better.

[+Sputnik 57]

Channels, WAAS and submersibility are all non-issues. The 8MB of map memory vs. 6MB may be an issue. My bet is that in your area, you are going to want to load topo maps. One third more memory may be important in terms of the area you can load at one time.

 

Probably most important is which unit feels best to you. Which one seems easier to operate and carry around. Which one has better screen resolution outside. They are both great GPSr, and you can't go wrong with either one. Go with your gut.

[+Semper Questio]

Not to start yet another thread on teh stress cracks, but my brother and I have had our STs for over a year and subjected them to a good bit of abuse and no cracks have developed.

 

The memory issue is a good point and you'll just have to think of your own situation. I don't travel out of my home area much and my ST holds detail maps for a good chunk of Central Texas (including topo and all POI's). If you travel much and want to keep several area details available, then you may indeed want more memory or, better yet if you REALLY travel and cache a lot, a unit with memory cards so you can load detail maps and waypoints for different areas on different cards and just swap them out as needed.

[+Cow Spots]

I've had the Sportrak Map for well over a year, and it's holding up just fine. I even had a minor issue which required warranty service, and Magellan fixed it free of charge, and sent it back with a Car Mount as a freebie.

 

The 4 MB of maps in the Sportrak Map allows a reasonably good coverage, but it won't hold the entire state of Arizona where I live, so if I cache a long distance away from home I have to change the maps before I go. It holds 500 waypoints, which is plenty for me.

 

It would be nice to have the Magellan Platinum with the SD card for more maps, but I couldn't justify the additional expense.

[+Mopar]

Not to start yet another thread on teh stress cracks, but my brother and I have had our STs for over a year and subjected them to a good bit of abuse and no cracks have developed.

No, not every sportrak will get cracks, but there are enough of them that have to make it a consideration.

a 3 page thread

another 4 page thread

one more for good luck

 

Just to make things even, here are three threads about the Legend display problem.

one

two

three

[+cudlecub]

I'm having a similar dilema. I bought a used gps to see if I would enjoy geocaching before laying out a lot of money for a new one. Now that I'm hooked, I'm trying to decide between units from each of the manufacturers. I e-mailed for info from each of them I was considering with questions that weren't answered on their products page(s). I had a response from Garmin within 12 hours. Magellan sent me a form response that the question would be forwarded to the appropriate department and someone would answer me soon. It's been over a month and I've given up on a reply from them. Product support is very important to me and I look at this as an indicator of what I might expect should I need assistance.

Edited January 5, 2005 by cudlecub

[+briansnat]

Both have WAAS.

Both are waterproof.

Both are 12 channel receivers.

 

The Legend wins on extra memory, ease of use, one handed operation, compact size and 1,000 waypoints vs. the Sportrak's 500. The Legend is also about 30-40 bucks cheaper if you're comparing unit to unit.

 

However, since the Sportrak came with the Topo software, that makes it a better bargain, as you'll have to buy that for the Legend. The Sportrak will give you slightly better reception under heavy tree cover. The Legend's patch antenna will have a slight edge inside ravines, gullys and around cliffs and tall buildings. The difference in reception is so minor that it really shouldn't be a consideration if you prefer the features of one over the other.

 

The Legend isn't exactly "geared more towards hunting and fishing" but does have some additional features some hunters and fisherman might find useful.

 

This may, or may not be a consideration, but Garmin is an American company, while Magellan is foreign (French I believe) and finally, the eTrex line has probably found more geocaches than all other models of GPS combined.

Edited January 5, 2005 by briansnat

[+horsegeeks]

Tell him to take them both back and get you a Garmin 76CS, 60CS...or a QUEST.         

This is a great solution.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have a sport trak map as well as two other Magellan GPSr. What no one seams to do is mention software issues of Magellan and Garmin, One thing that the Magellan software will do that the Garmin will not do is display street names on the topo maps, So if you are on a budget you can skip buying Map Send Streets and destinatiions. Garmin topo software does not include street names.

Also the Magelan Sport Trak map will display a terrain projection while using their topo software. This is a feature that Garmin does not offer.

 

Another thing to keep in mind when you purchase a GPS is the operation of the GPS. With Magellan, If you decide to upgrade to another Magellan down the road, all the Magellans work the same way as far as the button layout (There are slight diferances in the sport track color) So once you learn the Sport track you can pick up any Magellan GPS and know how it works. Also, You can see the buttons on the Magellan when you look at it.

 

I have also used the Garmin legend as well as other Garmin products and it will work just fine for geocaching.

 

It is always a good idea to look beyond just the GPS.

[+Renegade Knight]

BrianSnat's summer is pretty much spot on.

 

The legend has a better screen over the Sport Track Map, but of the two I'd have to give the edge to the ST Map for your area.

 

Edit: Mopar's post is also spot on.

Edited January 5, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[+JohnnyVegas]

I forgot to add that you might check the Magellan web sight for the rebate

 

ST Rebate

Edited January 5, 2005 by JohnnyVegas

[briancm]

Karen, you need to think about how you and your husband will be using your GPS units. Every modern GPS is just fine for geocaching.

 

I have a Geko 201. Very minimal, no mapping, no color.

 

I use maps, real paper maps, and I have not yet seen a GPS-contained map which compares to a 1:24,000 map in my hands. I have DeLorme Topo 5.0, and its not up to snuf when compared to a real map. I was just reading on the DeLorme forums that the digital maps resolve down to 200-300 feet, so what they contain are approximations. They are excellent for populated areas, but not quite so good for the boonies, or even some "new" neighborhood subdivisions.

 

The maps in GPS units don't contain the detail of DeLorme Topo, which contains less than a USGS map. Therefore, for me, mapping doesn't mean much.

 

The Geko has a computer interface, which is quite common. I use the Geko with Topo, and I'm satisfied with the combination. I do a lot of bicycling, and the bike trails aren't in Topo anyways. Thus, transfering the tracks back to Topo and adding the trails is very nice.

 

Use both, work with both, and then you'll probably keep both.

 

Oh, yeah, there's also free mapping software, too. I don't remember who makes it, but it uses the maps from TopoZone.com, so you'll need to be connected when you use it.

[+horsegeeks]

Tell him to take them both back and get you a Garmin 76CS, 60CS...or a QUEST.         

This is a great solution.

Actually, I agreed with drag-racer in jest but also in all seriousness. We bought our 60C for one thing, the auto routing. Having used our Legend successfully for months Ms horsegeeks had to have her nose in maps all of the time. With the auto-routing of the newer Garmins (I'm not familiar with the Magellans) and City-Select, we can all enjoy the ride to the caches. It's sure nice to know where you are going even if you haven't been there before. It does have its few problems like taking us into subdivisions occasionally but it almost always works great. We utilize an antenna which allows us to put it down somewhere and it doesn't loose the signal. The antenna in the woods is far superior to our Legend, which we did keep for a spare. The 60C and I have taken many tumbles and been swimming together (inadvertantly)twice and nothing major has happened to it. Make your choice though as all will work well in geocaching. Happy caching.

[+tirediron]

Allow me to join on the side of the "comfortably on the fence" camp. I'm a cofirmed Garmin owner, and used a Legend for a long time and loved it! I don't think that the featureset of either is different enough to choose based on that. Take them out, play with them, and decide which one you like better...

[+Semper Questio]

OK, Karren. What's it gonna be?!?

[uber_bike_geek]

I ::cough::my dad::cough:: have a basic yellow eTrex... It works fine in most conditions, thick tree cover being the exception... As briancm said, no built-in computer maps can compare to the feel of a real paper topo map... I've got a copy of Topo GPS USA (and the NH State quads to go with it) by Wildflower Productions, which lets you print out USGS topo maps from your computer... I've also got a few other mapping programs (Delorme's TopoUSA 3.0, Topografix's ExpertGPS (demo)- I like it, but haven't used it long enough to come to an official consensus, and a couple others that I can't think of off the top of my head)

 

Personally, given the choice, I'd go for the Magellan, mostly because it has a quad-helix antenna instead of Garmin eTrex's patch antenna

 

OK... I've said my share, I'll shut up now!

 

Happy Caching

Jeff

[+JohnnyVegas]

Regarding Magellan Map Send Direct Route, I use this in my Maridian gold, it works fine, I have gotten to the point to were a great deal of my geocaching is done away from home in areas I am not familiar with. After a day of finding several caches I do not always know the best way to get home. To solve this problem, I have my home coordinates and Julies home coordinates stored in a seperate file in my SD card, I just delete the waypoint that I have loaded and load my home file and select mine or Julies coordinates and thats it.

 

The Sport track Map will not support direct route but the sport trak map pro will.

[+briansnat]

Garmin topo software does not include street names.

 

That is untrue. Mapsource topo does have many street names. I know because I use it all the time. Many minor side streets aren't named, but most major ones are.

Edited January 5, 2005 by briansnat

[4x4van]

Garmin topo software does not include street names.

 

That is untrue. Mapsource topo does have many street names. I know because I use it all the time. Many minor side streets aren't named, but most major ones are.

Briansnat is correct in that the Garmin Topo software does include some street names, however, the Magellan Topo software includes all street names, even minor ones.

 

The only other thing that hasn't been mentioned is Magellan's "Northfinder" feature, which Garmins do not have. This feature always shows a sun and/or moon icon on the navigation (psuedo-compass) screen. When standing still, a GPS (except higher end models) does not know which way you are facing and so the compass rose may not be oriented correctly. With all Magellan models, simply line up the sun/moon icon with the sun/moon in the sky, and your compass rose is now oriented correctly. I carry a good compass with me, but honestly have never once needed to use it because of the Northfinder feature.

 

6MB of memory will hold a pretty decent chuck of real estate, and the difference between 6MB and 8MB isn't enough to really make a huge difference IMO.

 

The best advice given here has been to use both for a bit, and decide for yourself which is more comfortable to you. They are both good units, very similar in features/capabilities, and both companies are very good to deal with when it comes to service.

Edited January 6, 2005 by 4x4van

[+Dave1976]

I agree with Drag- Racer. If you can afford the higher end Garmin 60c or 60cs That maybe your better Choice. I had a garmin etrax and didn't like it a went and talked to my local map store people and they suggested this one. While it's alot of money to shell out you won't be dissapointed. I love the external antenna. I haven't lost reception yet.