Okay, Going Gps Shopping..

[+Cap'n Dondo]

And I still don't know what I want. I've narrowed it down to these 2 models:

 

Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS

 

Garmin eTrek Vista.

 

The Magellan uses a card reader, which isn't that big a deal to me, plus is looks pretty cool.

 

The Garmin is small, connects to the computer. The accuracy is probably about the same. What I haven't figured out is which one of these 2 have the better maps to either download or buy?

 

I plan on using them for geocachings and just generally messing around with. I do alittle 4 wheeling in my Jeep and though it might be kind of chic looking to have a GPS mounted on the dash. (1953 M38-A1 Army Jeep) You know, old with new stuff.. :-)

 

Any opinions before I commit?

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

(btw, I read most of the posts in this forum on this subject. I still can't make up my mind though)

 

Dondo

[+Rubberhead]

My only thought is to reconsider your initial choices, save a little more money and get you a color unit with a USB interface.

 

Basically, the USB interface is about 50 times faster than the serial connection on the older units. It takes about 45 minutes to load 24 MB of memory in my Vista, but my GPSmap 60CS with a USB interface loads 56 MB in about 2 minutes.

 

Imagine that you decided to go on an adventure on the spur of the moment but you need to load new maps into a GPS. If you've got a USB unit, you'll be ready to go in the time it takes to find and put on your boot.

 

If you have a serial unit, you might was well go out and get a bite to eat while you wait for your GPS to load.

 

As far as color screens go, God gave you color vision for a reason - use it.

 

Just one man's opinion.

[+Rubberhead]

One more thing about USB: Almost every modern computer has a USB interface, but almost none come with a serial interface anymore. So you end up spending another $25 to $50 dollars for a serial card or a USB to serial interface.

 

You should figure the cost of the USB-serial interface into the cost of a serial unit when comparing prices with a USB unit.

[+Cap'n Dondo]

So, what for initial choices do you guys recommend?

 

Dang, I thought I was doing good.. :-)

 

Dondo

[+Xangxa]

I think you're doing fine. I am very happy with my Meridian Gold. I load waypoints onto the SD card with a card reader, so I'm getting USB speeds. I hardly ever use the serial cable, so the USB/Serial debate is moot to me.

 

For some people color is important, but I actually prefer the B&W screen, which is easier to read. I have a translfective color screen on my iPAQ, and it can be hard to read under bright light.

 

As to accuracy, this past weekend I was caching with a Garmin owner. There were times when he could not get a lock, and when his accuracy was less than my Gold. Once we were between two ridges, and I expected his to do better since I heard canyon-like environments are a helix antenna's weakness. But I held a signal while he could not lock onto any birds.

 

I can't compare the maps, but I find the Magellan maps good. I tried caching without the mapping software, but it's very handy to have all the roads and topo in one place. I really like the 3D feature on the PC. The PC interface is a bit klunky at times, but manageable.

[+briansnat]

So, what for initial choices do you guys recommend?

 

Dang, I thought I was doing good..  :-)

 

Dondo

You can get the Legend C for about the same price as the Vista (after rebate) if you shop around. Legend C has improved sensitivity, is a touch smaller, does autorouting, has a color screen and a USB connection. The only advantage the Vista has is 1,000 waypoints vs. 500 in the Legend C, oh and a magnetic compass (which is nice to have but not an absolute must).

 

As far as the Vista vs. the Meri Gold, I'd take the Vista. I like its compact size and much better user interface and the Vista has a magnetic compass and barometric altimeter. The Meri Gold has neither. I carry the Vista everywhere. It fits easily in my pocket and I even use it to mark my car in the shopping mall. If I had to cart around a unit the size of a Meridian it would never leave my house unless I really needed it (which is basically the case).

 

Also, the Vista holds 1,000 waypoints to the Meri's 500. I know that you can put additonal waypoints on SD cards, but then you have to remember to take them along and worry about keeping track of the little buggers. As far as reception, I've used my eTrex under heavy tree cover for several years and it performs well. I've used it alongside my Meri Gold and there are times the Meri has better reception and times the Vista does.

Edited May 26, 2005 by briansnat

[+Rubberhead]

For some people color is important, but I actually prefer the B&W screen, which is easier to read. I have a translfective color screen on my iPAQ, and it can be hard to read under bright light.

I, too, have an iPAQ that gets washed out in bright light. However, the screens on the Garmin GPSmap color units is a different technology. They are best in bright sunlight with no backlight needed. It is hard to describe how brilliant the colors are in bright natural or bright artificial light and in low light with the backlight turn on. The only time I have trouble with the display is when I'm wearing polarized sunglasses. Of course, this affects LDC screens too.

[Hoary]

Look at iFinder H2O:

 

http://www.lowrance.com/Outdoor/Products/ifinderh2o.asp

 

As I mentioned here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=99150

 

my iFinder H2O Plus (package includes iFinder H2O, MapCreate Topo software, 32 Mb memory card and LEI card reader) was $253 including shipping. Page Computers has very good price on the same set:

 

http://newsite.pagecomputers.com/store/pro...uct%5Fid=633544

 

It gives you better screen resolution compare to Meridian.

Edited May 26, 2005 by Hoary

[+The Seven G's]

Yup, don't forget to reconsider the Lowrance iFinder Pro series!

Assuming you want ultimate bang for your buck. I spent $170-ish on mine. Don't have any mapping software yet--haven't needed it yet.

 

Having said that. For all the caching we've done (only 25 so far) with a few different models, it doesn't matter what you get. Get something already and start having fun!

 

And if you're really just dinking around. look at the Lowrance's new Go2 model. Crap, you can't beat $80. I enter all my caches by hand anyway. It's kind of a nuisance to download them-especially when it's so easy to enter them in manually from my paper print outs from the web.

-G2

Edited May 27, 2005 by The Seven G's

[+DaveA]

And I still don't know what I want.  I've narrowed it down to these 2 models:

 

Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS

 

Garmin eTrek Vista.

In all seriousness I wouldn't get either of those if buying today. Both are great units, don't think I am bashing either, but these days you should look for a USB interface and a color screen.

 

Today both these features are optional, tomorow they will be standard and they are both nice to have.

 

The real choice in terms of today's units comes down to the Magellan Explorist 500/600 and the Garmin 60C/CS. Lowrance seems to be making a comeback in the GPS market which I welcome, but I know nothing about them so I won't comment.

 

Brian mentioned the Meridians as being larger and I agree they are larger units, but believe it or not I much prefer them to any of today's smaller units. I just got a buddy into caching and he is using my old Magellan 315 while shopping for a newer unit. He is trying to decide between the Meridian Color and the smaller units from Garmin and Magellan. To him, the Meridian size is a better fit as it is for my hands. Then again we both prefer the original xbox controller to the s controllers now standard.

 

Forget about the electronic compass/altimeter they are cool, but useless in most cases. Nice to have but rarely if ever needed.

 

Trying to decide between the Garmin 60 and the Explorist is hard. The lack of SD card on the Garmins is a serious drawback for many and the better user interface on the Garmins as well as use of AA batteries is a huge plus for the Garmins.

 

Whatever you decide please spend the extra dollars to get something current versus yesterday's tech that you will want to upgrade before very long.

 

Autorouting is also a huge plus, I wouldn't buy a unit today that couldn't do it.

[reidster]

And I still don't know what I want.  I've narrowed it down to these 2 models:

Magellan Meridian Gold Handheld GPS

Garmin eTrek Vista.

In all seriousness I wouldn't get either of those if buying today. Both are great units, don't think I am bashing either, but these days you should look for a USB interface and a color screen.

Today both these features are optional, tomorow they will be standard and they are both nice to have.

The real choice in terms of today's units comes down to the Magellan Explorist 500/600 and the Garmin 60C/CS. Lowrance seems to be making a comeback in the GPS market which I welcome, but I know nothing about them so I won't comment.

Forget about the electronic compass/altimeter they are cool, but useless in most cases. Nice to have but rarely if ever needed.

Trying to decide between the Garmin 60 and the Explorist is hard. The lack of SD card on the Garmins is a serious drawback for many and the better user interface on the Garmins as well as use of AA batteries is a huge plus for the Garmins.

Whatever you decide please spend the extra dollars to get something current versus yesterday's tech that you will want to upgrade before very long.

Autorouting is also a huge plus, I wouldn't buy a unit today that couldn't do it.

I pretty much agree with everything Dave mentioned. I don't have an auto-routing unit, so I can't comment.

However the the two you did mentioned, although quite adequate and reliable, are yesterday's technology. Something newer that is in the same price range is the Lowrance H2O, if you don't need auto-routing. It's feature are nearly as good as the two Dave mentioned for a lot less money. It's large high resolution display is 16-level grayscale, instead of color. It has interchangable SD memory, which you can place into a reader to get the USB speed. It also uses rechargable AA's instead of proprietary batteries. Lastly, it's topo mapping software is the best of the three.

[+Cap'n Dondo]

reidster et.al -- Thanks for all the advice! The Lowrance H20 has peaked my interest a little. Autorouting is cool, but I have got by for 30 years with out it. This will mainly just be to geocache and impress my geeky friends. :-) Also, to make people wonder why I spent money on something like this. I'm sorry, I can't help it. I like gadgets.. :-)

 

Where does everyone suggest shopping online for GPS's? Any sites that you all recommend more then others?

 

Dondo

[+briansnat]

reidster et.al -- Thanks for all the advice! The Lowrance H20 has peaked my interest a little. Autorouting is cool, but I have got by for 30 years with out it. This will mainly just be to geocache and impress my geeky friends. :-) Also, to make people wonder why I spent money on something like this. I'm sorry, I can't help it. I like gadgets.. :-)

 

Where does everyone suggest shopping online for GPS's? Any sites that you all recommend more then others?

 

Dondo

I'm evaluating an H20 right now for Todays Cacher Magazine. It is a very nice unit. The interface isn't nearly as friendly as Garmin's, or even Magellan's, but I really like their topo mapping program. It's kind of like if Garmin were to combine Topo and Metroguide, or Magellan combined their Topo with Streets and Destinations, but with better graphics.

 

As far as buying, I find that Amazon.com often has the best, or close to the best prices. Offroute.com also seems to have good prices. The odd thing about GPS units is that the prices vary a lot. You'll see a Legend going for $130 for weeks, then all of a sudden $149 is the best price you can find. I bought my 60CS for $360 and weeks later the cheapest price I could find was $390. Sometimes its as high as $410.

 

Check Froogle.com and sort by lowest price and it will give you an idea.

[+GOT GPS?]

There are advantages of a GPS with SD-memory care capability, that you can keep the number of waypoints down, to avoid clutter and long waypoint lists in the GPS. You can save a few waypoint files on the SD-Memory card, and load in at least 75 waypoints at a time into the GPS's memory, like having one waypoint file for Virtuals, one for Multicaches, one for Traditional caches, one waypoint file for FAVORITE Places, and then one waypoint file for friends & Family.

 

I do not like to clutter up a GPS's memory to the point of a map that is a mess, and it takes a long time to scroll through all the waypoints.

 

So I would probably chose a Meridian Gold over that of an eTrex GPS.

 

Johnyvegas likes to breakup all the waypoints into several files on the memory card.

[+Team DEMP]

So I would probably chose a Meridian Gold over that of an eTrex GPS.

 

Johnyvegas likes to breakup all the waypoints into several files on the memory card.

I thought that was because the Meridian forces you to scroll through a list to find a waypoint. You can't get there any other way, so if you have 500 on the unit at once and wanted the one that was 300, you'd have to scroll through 299 to get to it.

 

Maybe I misunderstood, but I think it's the lack of a rather useful feature that necessitates this.

 

As for Garmin vs Magellan vs Lowrance vs xxxx, it's like anything else, if people are happy with their unit, they'll recommend the unit/company. You need to find the unit that meets your needs. We can point out the difference but for many of us, we've used one unit or one manufacturers unit so it's hard to compare real life vs specs/features we're just aware of.

 

For me, I've been a Garmin user for a couple years and really like the units. My brother brought a Magellan and I felt the interface was less intuitive then mine, but I was used to mine. Also, there's the "boomerang" effect everyone describes with the Magellans but I'd imagine that's something that someone that uses it frequently can adjust to in their use.

 

So pick whichever one you want as next month (as always happens), the price will be less and new models with more features will be out and you'll kick yourself for not waiting one more month

[+briansnat]

I do not like to clutter up a GPS's memory to the point of a map that is a mess, and it takes a long time to scroll through all the waypoints.

 

With Garmin and Lowrance units you don't have to scroll through hundreds of waypoints. You can access them directly by keying the name. When I got my hands on a Meri Gold, I spent quite a while trying to figure out how to select a specific waypoint. I thought I had to be missing something. When I was finally told I couldn't, my reaction was "Gee, that's pretty stupid."

 

There are advantages of a GPS with SD-memory care capability, that you can keep the number of waypoints down, to avoid clutter and long waypoint lists in the GPS. You can save a few waypoint files on the SD-Memory card, and load in at least 75 waypoints at a time into the GPS's memory, like having one waypoint file for Virtuals, one for Multicaches, one for Traditional caches, one waypoint file for FAVORITE Places, and then one waypoint file for friends & Family.

 

Though expandable memory is nice to have, there is also he issue of handling multiple cards. You have to keep track of them and know what is on which card and above all, have the right one with you when you go geocaching. With me this is already an issue, because I went out with the Lowrance only to find the right MMC card was still home in the card reader . To me there is something to be said for picking up my GPS and knowing that what I want will be on it. For those who are more organized and less forgetful than I am, this probably isn't an issue.

 

For me, I've been a Garmin user for a couple years and really like the units. My brother brought a Magellan and I felt the interface was less intuitive then mine, but I was used to mine.

 

I don't think its just a matter of being used to Garmin. When I first received my 60CS, I had it 90 percent figured out in a couple of hours without the manual. Some might say this is because I already had an eTrex, but the 60 series and eTrex interfaces are very different. I would go through the 60CS's menus and when I'd discover something, my reaction was "'Wow, neat!". When I got my hands a few weeks ago on a Meri Gold, I started playing with it without the manual. It took me longer to figure out things and when I did my reaction was often more like "Hmmm, that's a dumb way to do it" (its even worse with the Lowrance).

 

Also, there's the "boomerang" effect everyone describes with the Magellans but I'd imagine that's something that someone that uses it frequently can adjust to in their use.

 

I've read about this for years and I experienced it for the first time recently.

Edited May 28, 2005 by briansnat

[+Cap'n Dondo]

Hmm. You know, it really sounds, as someone mentioned, that I should just pick one and go with it. The fact of the matter is, any one of them will work for what I want to do. If I find something I don't particulary like about the unit, I can always "trade-up". Thanks for all the advice and help everyone. I do appriciate it. I'll poke around the sporting good stores and puruse around the web a little more before I decide on a model however.

 

Dondo