MnGCA

RJ · Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2003 8:28 pm Post subject: Which GPS unit should I buy?

Okay, so my Garmin Etrex Legend just broke Mad

(the little cursor mousey thing on the front doesn't move when told to) so I am getting a full rebate from Best Buy cause I bought the replacement warranty. So, my question to everyone out there is which one should I buy with my in-store credit. Naturally, I feel like stepping up a notch and getting a more expensive one but I would like to get other opinions on which units have worked out best for them. My final selection will be limited to what Best Buy offers and I probably won't spend more than $350 bucks. I know of cachers who go out with $80 units and seem to have no problems at all. Thanks for any input. Smile

rickrich · Geocacher Joined: 06 Jul 2003 Posts: 673

I'm sure you have different requirements than we do, since we use a dedicated car GPS and laptop for maps and the cache descriptions, then go into the woods with a dumb handheld. We always ask my friend "robertlipe" (1754 finds, author of GpsBabel software) which unit to get, then ignore his advice Smile

I'm pretty sure that Robert prefers Magellan over Garmin in general, and hates laptops. I'll forward your request to him and see if he has any advice that you can ignore as well.. In the meantime, here is his response to my quite specific recent requirements...

drat19 · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2003 7:11 am Post subject: More $, but worth it IMHO

I swear by my Garmin GPS V. Big value-add over the eTrex series (I also own an eTrex Vista as a backup unit) is turn-by-turn routing. You can download street-level detail (software included) of the area to which you're traveling, and then you're good to go with the directions. As y'all know, I travel all over the country for my job - there's NO WAY I could have bagged as many caches after work each evening the way I did the 2 weeks I was there in the Twin Cities without this feature to save me the time of working it out via maps and/or dead reckoning with the GPS arrow.

Another bonus is a feature it has called "average location", where when you choose this feature it will continually "ping" the sats and average the readings for you. The more pings, the better the average. When I place a cache, I usually will let it ping 200-300 times, and unless it's a weird sat day (happens from time to time), my coords for my hidden caches are pretty much always spot on.

I dunno if Best Buy offers this unit, though; you may have to go on-line to find the best deal (I recommend TVNAV.COM...best prices and great service).

FWIW...
-Dave R. in Biloxi, MS, the Twin Cities' favorite guest cacher Wink

towlebooth · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:42 am Post subject:

I upgraded from the eTrex Legend to the Garmain Map76s and love it. Lots of memory and a larger screen. Also a good car mount is availible (more handy than I thought) as well as some other bells and whistles that can be fun. I have also noticed that it is a bit more accurate and finds satalites a lot faster than the Legend did.

Irvingdog might speak to this thread as well. He's quite knowedgeable on this subject.

Marsha and Silent Bob · Past MnGCA President Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 6261

CB-GPSERS

http://www.mngca.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179

rickrich · Geocacher Joined: 06 Jul 2003 Posts: 673

As promised, here is my friend Robert Lipe's opinion (just back from trashing the caches in St. Loius).

RJ · Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2003 3:12 pm Post subject:

I just got my BestBuy voucher for my broken Legend Very Happy

back so I'm on my way today to get the Garmin V Deluxe. Thanks everyone for their input. Hopefully I'll like it as much as everyone else has that owns it. Oh yeah, anyone interested in buying/trading for a leather case for my old Etrex Legend? It's just sitting here. Thanks again

RJ · Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2003 1:27 pm Post subject:

Just an update on my Garmin V. I love it! The autorouting and the accuracy are so much better than the Legend. I have fond memories with the Legend though and would still be using it if not for the clik-stick breaking.

One thing though, I had to buy a new computer to be able to load the mapping software onto the Garmin V. My old dinosaur Pentium 1 didn't have enough memory. Oh well, we needed a new one anyway!

hardware · Geocacher Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 157

this thread was the most helpful in my quest for info. (i think this is the first time i've ever searched the tech talk forum.)

i have a chance to upgrade my no frills garmin Etrex. i have the generic yellow one. it works fine for my purposes, usually, although i'm told the coordinate reading it gave me for my most recent hide of 'moving 123' was 100 feet off.

the biggest benefit i can determine in purchasing a Magellan SporTrak Map GPSr is that it has the built-in maps.

i had no intention of upgrading, but i'm able to buy one, brand new, for $75. the going rate at your retail behemoths is about $200, and the going rate on ebay is about $150. (obviously it can vary quite a bit.)

so, given that i don't travel with a laptop computer, internet-accessible mobile phone, or any other frill, are there any other benefits i'll receive from spending $75 i don't need to? (i'm assuming the re-sale value of my yellow garmin banana is so low that it's not worth unloading.)

am i likely to experience an accuracy improvement in my readings?

SirPoonga · Posted: Mon May 17, 2004 2:15 pm Post subject:

Cool you made a decision. I'd like a GPS V sometime, that autoroutin is really cool.

My broke GPS III+ sold for $51, bought a used eTrex Yellow for $44. I should get that tomorrow. I wish my GPS III+ was in better shape, I loved that. Maps are nice around the cities. But for geocaching here in cnetral WI the etrex should do.

BTW, if you want to make your own cables for your V it is really easy. www.pfranc.com. Luckily the GPS series can take a wide range of voltage through the external port, like 10-30V. You can make power and data cables easily. The V comes with data though right, because it comes witht he software.

I will be selling my external GPS antenna that I put a BNC connetor on (what the GPS series uses). Since my III+ started getting the antenna probs when I got it I haven;t had a chance to try it out Sad