Need Gpsr Advice

[+ChicagoCanineCrew]

Ok, hoping people can give me their ideas... I am just not sure what to do!

 

I am new at geocaching, wanted to try it for a long while but did not have a GPSr. Now I have an old/used Magellan GPS3000 which I got for Christmas. I attempted a couple caching trips with it and it is pretty obnoxious as it won't hold a lock a lot of the time or even GET a lock sometimes... I can either:

 

A) Hope the GPSr locks when I need it to and keep using it.

 

B ) Buy a "cheap" small GPSr ($100 or under)

 

C) Trade-in for a refurbished, working Magellan GPSr (Meridian Gold or Sportrak Pro) for about $150 -- with this option I'd be without a GPS for at least a couple weeks after I send in my old one...

 

What would you suggest of these three for a new geocacher? Is it worth the money to get the more expensive model if I am just starting out?

 

Thanks for any ideas

Edited January 8, 2005 by ChicagoCanineCrew

[+LthrWrk]

Check the Forums Garage Sale.. Lots of folks are upgrading and have very nice used ones for sale.

[+Renegade Knight]

C.

[+tirediron]

Check the Forums Garage Sale

For sure, start there, and if that fails, check out eBay. There are always lots to be had. My personal suggestion would be to look at the Garmin eTrex Legend. It's a basic mapping unit, which has probably found more 'caches than any other single unit. Good luck!

[briancm]

I think that the first thing you should do is go to an outdoors store and ask to see their units. Look them over, fiddle with them, find if there is a brand which "clicks" with you. That "clicks" part is actually quite important. Just use them a bit, punch the menus around, just see if you like it.

 

I bought the Garmin Geko 201 because I wanted a very basic unit with not a lot of frills. My previous unit was an old state-of-the-art Magellan, and I found out two things: I was usually better off with a map and compass (lack of lockup except on water or in the desert), and I didn't like the way Magellan organized their menus.

 

If you are outdoorsy at all or if you intend to use the GPS in your car, I recommend you be sure and buy one which has a computer interface. Then you can buy mapping software to use with it, and program routes and such. There are also shareware/freeware mapping solutions available too.

 

Anyways, go try out a bunch of them, see what you like, hazard a guess, and then be sure to go and have fun. Also, compasses are still really cheap, and orienteering applies to geocaching, too!

[+briansnat]

If you decide on B, check out the Garmin Gecko 101. I've seen it sold for as little as $49. It doesn't have a data port, so if you get serious about this sport it probably won't be suitable, but if you want to buy a cheap unit, it's a good one.

[+BilboB]

Check out the forums like somone said previously. You should be able to do much better there than on Ebay. You can contact the seller directly and make some direct arrangements instead of waiting for the auction to run its course.

[+j9cache & Mike(j9+M)]

If you get another, I'd go for new. Like they said, old yeller can be had for a song. If while you're waiting, you practice w/ the old, just think how good you'll be!

[+ZingerHead]

I have an eTrex Vista that I've been using for three years now. The thing seems to be virtually indestructible, although my dog recently gave it a shot. My point here is that a used GPSr can be a good deal - they're rugged.

 

As for features, I bought the Vista new because I wanted all the gizmos. In hindsight, gizmos are nice, but you rarely use them. So here is my short list of things I can not live without in a geocaching GPS:

1. Mapping. GOT to have street maps, because for me half the battle in finding a cache is finding my way there. Not a problem for the first 25 caches that are close to home (you know the way to all of them) but if you really get hooked you'll be driving 50 miles away into unfamiliar territory and wishing the GPS was showing you the way. This is the one feature that I suspect most new cachers will avoid as being "too much", but it adds a great deal of utility to the device, such as finding your way in unfamiliar locales while on vacation.

2. The ability to download waypoints from a computer program like EasyGPS (free software). This eliminates tedious and error-prone manual entry of coordinates - you can download them directly from geocaching.com to EasyGPS to your GPS electronically.

3. Up-to-date GPS receiver - 12 channel, recent electronics. I have WAAS and have tried it a few times. I'm not impressed. If the reception is good enough to pick up a WAAS bird, then the regular GPS will have you as close as you need to be to find the cache.

4. Must use standard batteries. There are some slick GPS units that use a custom internal battery, which is fine until it goes limp in the woods and you can't replace it. Since my flashlight and camera use AA batteries, my GPS does too. That way I always have spare batteries.

 

A list of stuff you really don't need:

Electronic Compass? A regular magnetic compass is cheap and will work even when the batteries die.

Altimeter? Have one, used it once on a mountain hike just to see if it worked, and never found a need for it since.

 

Hope this helps