Newer Than Newbies

[luvslyfe]

My fiance' and I just bought a Westfalia and think that a fun way to plan our weekend trips would be to jump feet first into the world of geocaching. Can anyone offer guidance into the best portable GPS that won't be so costly that we can't afford to use it once we purchase it? We can't wait to get started!

 

Terri of the Zanoni Clan

[+Renegade Knight]

Best and $ are directly related.

 

For entry level GPSs look at the Garmin Gecko 201, the eTrex yellow, the eTrex Legend. In Magellan the Sport Track and Sport Track Map. There may be another Magellan that should be on the list but I don't know the line up as well as Garmins. Avoid Cobra unless you pick it up for about 20 bucks.

 

Avoid the Gecko 101, and the Explorist 100, 200, and 300 (which moves you out of entry level in the explorist line) The reason being they do not connect to your computer for uploading waypoints. One mistake keying in a waypoint and you will see the value of this cable.

[+Miragee]

Renegade Knight beat me to it, but this is what I was writing, while he was posting.

 

-----------------------------

 

You can get a Gamin eTrex Legend on Amazon for around $135.00.

 

Depending on whether you know the area or not, you might want to get the Mapsource maps which you can load into the Legend (and your laptop).

 

You might also want to invest in an inexpensive Palm (or Pocket PC) if you don't already have one.

 

I use Cachemate on my Palm, GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) on my computer, and never have to print out cache pages.

 

Oh . . . and you also want to become a Premium Member of the GC.com site for a meager $3.00 per month so you can download big groups of .gpx files through Pocket Queries.

 

It's a lot, I know, but step-by-step you'll probably end up doing all this eventuyally . . .

 

EDIT: to add even more words and fix smilie . . .

Edited April 29, 2005 by idiosyncratic

[+JohnnyVegas]

I had more to type

 

Not knowing what type of features you are looking for and what your budget is it will be ard to make a recomendation, but I will give it a try.

 

#1) The Magellan meridian gold will do auto routing with Magellans Map send direct route software, or you can load Magellans Map Send Topo 3D for topography, or the older versio of map send topo if you can find it.

The Meridian gold will sell for about $200.00 and the software can add around $100.00 to the price. The Meridian also requires the use of and SD card for loading maps onto. But this feature gives you the option to increase the size of the GPS memory.

 

#2) The Magellan eXplorist 500 which has all the features of the Meridian but with an improved system for storing files in the GPS itself and it also adds a color screen. The eXplorist is also a lot smaller than the Meridian gold and also uses an SD card for the gps memory. The explorist sells for about $320.00

 

#3) Form Garmon there is the GPS Map 60 with 24MB of built in memory $251.00

this unit will also do auto routing with the proper garmein software and you can also load topo maps with Garmins topo software

 

#4) From Garmin Map 60C with 56MB of built in mamory $352.00 which is the color version. this unit will also do auto routing with the proper garmein software and you can also load topo maps with Garmins topo software

 

In the budget dept.

#5) there is the Sport track map from Magellan for about $170. Which has 6MB of memory for loading maps

 

#6) The Garmin etreks legend which sells for about $140.00 with 8MB of memory for loading maps

 

There are lots of choices as you can see

Edited April 29, 2005 by JohnnyVegas

[+briansnat]

Since you'll be hitting the road, it would be nice to have a GPS that does auto routing. Some excellent units for this purpose are the Garmin Map 60C(S), Garmin Map 76C(S), Garmin Map 60, Magellan Meridian Platnium, Magellan eXplorist 500 & 600, Garmin Legend C, Garmin Vista C and Garmin GPS V.

 

Most of these will set you back about $350, plus another hundred or so for the software. The GPS V can be had for around $250 and the software is included in the price. The V is a nice enough unit, but is an older model and not quite up to the performance of the newer Garmins (60, 76C, Vista C and Legend C).

[+Oo-v-oO]

I just picked up a Legend C online for less than $210 after Garmin's $50 rebate and $15 first-time buyer discount on buy dot com. No affiliation with that retailer, just relating that you can get them for a lot less than list if you do a little looking.

 

I'm very pleased with it.

[+TeamDS]

I have a pocket pc setup , but thats not entry level and costs $$$$.

 

Im looking at a magellan Explorist 400 model which will be availble next month (may) for a little under $250.

Its mono screen (clolr screen 500 model is $100 more !) but has an sdcard slot, geocaching mode, backlite screen, lion rechargable battery, cable for pc connection and downloading maps and waypoints. etc...

same as explorist 500 cept for mono screen.

[+IVxIV]

Hi luvslyfe welcome to the hobby/obsession

 

If you're just getting started and are looking to test out the GPSr waters, Tiger GPS sells the Lowrance iFinder GO for just $68.99 it's an excellent unit, every bit as accurate as any other consumer grade GPSr regardless of price, and is an amazing value considering it includes a fairly decent basemap of roads etc within it's 32mb internam memory.

 

It doesn't connect to PC so you would have to key in coordinates yourself. However this really isn't a difficult task to do, it takes about a whole minute and lord help you if you're "incapable" of keying in 2 sets of numbers without a typo save your money and buy a decent reliable starter unit for minimal $'s until you decide perhaps later you really like the sport and you can upgrade later if you want. Or not,, the iFinder GO should keep you satisfied for quite a while

[+sbell111]

Get a V.

 

The price is right and, even though it is a model that has been around for a few years, it has very good performance. The map software is also included, so you will not have to drop another hundred dollars on that. The unit only has two limiting factors, in my opinion.

 

First, it is a little slower than the others. It still works great, but it takes a couple of seconds to boot up and to initially calculate a route.

 

Second, It has less available mapping memory than the others. That being said, its base maps are really good. You will find all interstates and most secondary streets. The memeory is still big enough to fit many detailed maps, the others are just bigger.

 

Its also not color, but to me that's not a big deal.