GPSr Recommendations

WGA Member Joined: 2011-02-06 Posts: 3

Our GPSr (eTrex Vista HCx) died today on the way to a cache. Sad

Fortunately my phone has GPS on it so we were still able to make the find and keep our streak alive.

I have heard that the Garmin 60CSx is most commonly used by geocachers. Does anyone have any recommendations for purchasing a new unit?

WGA Member Joined: 2007-06-03 Posts: 100

First you want paperless and the 60csx is not. The new 62 Garmin is and is a nice unit. I am a big fan of Delorme, but have had almost all of the Garmins that have come out in the last few years. IMO I do not like the Oregons, I do like the Dakota and the 62. For me it has always been Delorme and the same for my Wife.
Delorme comes with everything you need. Maps and paperless caching.

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:07 pm

The Yinnies wrote:

IMO I do not like the Oregons, I do like the Dakota and the 62.

I'm curious as to why you like the Dakota but not the Oregon. They're essentially the same model but the Oregon is bigger. Is it because the Dakota is easier to hold in your hand?

I've used both the Garmin Oregon and the Garmin Dakota 20 (not the Dakota 10, which IMO is missing some very essential features), and prefer the Dakota because it somewhat smaller. Both have EXCELLENT reception, even under tree cover. In theory I think the Oregon is potentially better because the internal antennae on a larger unit is, well, larger. I've found no difference.

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:24 pm

I'm considering upgrading, too, and have pretty much narrowed it down to the Oregon 550 or the GPSMap 62S. Just can't decide between the two.

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 6:01 am

Iv'e used the 60csx and didn't care for it cause its not paperless. and I didn't ike the button functions i guess you could say or the navigational ease of it. I got the 550 and love it, Paperless, holds a ton of caches, yu can do whereigo's with it very easy to use. and small unlike the 62 and if yo have the garmin recharge batteries it will float if dropped in the water.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-06-03 Posts: 100

The dakota was a little better in the sun. It was small and I liked that. I am just not a touch screen person. I love the buttons and that ia why if I did buy another Garmin it would be the 62s. I still think the Delormes are a better deal and IMO a better unit.
Thanks

WGA Member Joined: 2011-02-06 Posts: 3

We are not fond on taking a touch screen through the woods and our recent experience with Garmin has left a bad taste. Thanks for everyone's suggestions, we went with the DeLorme PN-60. We are looking forward to some paperless geocaching!

Joined: 2009-06-05 Posts: 2124 Location: Menominee, MI

I know I'm a bit late here. But I figured I'd give my two cents here.

My GPS is a Garmin Venture HC.

While it is only a basic GPS, I still love it. It's small enough in my hands and looks like a cell phone that it's great for urban caching. Heh, from a distance I look like I'm texting when I'm actually caching.

I use my Garmin Nuvi and my Ipod for the paperless aspect. I read the cache description on either device and off I go.

I know many of you want to be able to load more than the standard 500 waypoints in a GPS..but I'm more than happy with that. I have my laptop with me when I go geocaching and I have more than 5000 caches in my local database on GSAK with the potential to load thousands more via PQ's when I hit a new area. For the most part, 500 waypoints is more than adequate because I usually don't hit any more than 20-30 in a day. Only twice have I done more than 40 in one day. I always reload the GPS with new caches whenever I go on a trip unless I'm hitting the same area more than once within a week.

To sum it up, everyone has their own preferences in what they want with a GPS. Some want all the bells and whistles while others, like me, are happy with the basic functions. Some prefer Delorme over Garmin and vice versa. Some want more than the standard 500 waypoints in a GPS which I think is a bit of overkill sometimes..

Glad you found the type of GPS you wanted, Lenzes. Let us know how it works out for you.

Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:36 pm

Todd300 wrote:

I use my Garmin Nuvi and my Ipod for the paperless aspect. I read the cache description on either device and off I go.

Wow, I didn't know Garmin Nuvis did paperless geocaching. Do all Nuvis do that, and which model do you have?

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 5:16 am

http://geocaching.totaltechworld.com/index.html

Here you go hack

WGA Member Joined: 2007-06-03 Posts: 100

The Lenzes
If you have any questions or need any help feel free to contact and I should be able to help you.
Thanks

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:01 pm

hack1of2 wrote:

Todd300 wrote:

I use my Garmin Nuvi and my Ipod for the paperless aspect. I read the cache description on either device and off I go.

Wow, I didn't know Garmin Nuvis did paperless geocaching. Do all Nuvis do that, and which model do you have?

The only Nuvi model that does paperless is the 550. I got one for Christmas and have had some small issues with it. 1. It doesn't have a strap or lanyard and no place to attach one. 2. You can't edit your field log once you are done with it. The Nuvi will overwrite the first log. 3. I've had a few times where I could not get it to go from driving mode to walking mode. I changed the settings to walking but it was still trying to get me to go back on the road to get to the cache. After I changed the Display setting for off road it then put me on a straight line to the cache. Other times just changing the system mode from driving to walking was enough to get the straight line to the cache.

I'm still working on getting the proximity warnings to sound when I'm near a cache.

The 550 has been great so far on the roads.

WGA Member Joined: 2008-09-10 Posts: 231

We have Garmin Oregons (450 & 550) that we use for caching but we use a Nuvi 760 in the geomobile. We load our caches in it as custom point of interests and we have the cache name pop up when ever we are within a set distance of a cache (we have it set at 3500 ft). From there we can read all of the cache info including past logs, travel bugs. The only info we don't get is the attributes. Having this all available when we get close to a cache is really helpful in deciding if we want to stop for it or not.

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:36 pm

Thank you everyone. I was just considering posting a request for recommendations but here is one already started for me! Smile

I have been caching on my phone but need to get a real GPSr. I think I have been at this long enough to know that I am hooked and this isn't just a phase so it would be a good investment. Thanks for the recommendations, I hope to make a decision soon on a unit so this helps.