Cheap GPSr's

[Lt. Sniper]

is that deer dead?

Yeah, its dead

[ving]

hi!
er... since i am brand new to the whole gps/geocache thing i cant really add much, but I got the magellan gps companion on ebay for a little over $100 AU but you have to have a palm M5XX to go with it. seems to work ok

Until you drop it, smash it against a rock, or put tree branch through the screen

EcoDave

I'll have to just not drop it then hey

[EcoTeam]

hi!
er... since i am brand new to the whole gps/geocache thing i cant really add much, but I got the magellan gps companion on ebay for a little over $100 AU but you have to have a palm M5XX to go with it. seems to work ok

Until you drop it, smash it against a rock, or put tree branch through the screen

EcoDave

I'll have to just not drop it then hey

You'll eventually do it when you are scrambling over rocks, climbing down gullies etc
Of course you can be *VERY* careful, but then you ain't caching with the utmost of gung-ho efficiency which is required to nab those virgin caches

Give me a GPS you can beat the crap out of any day!

EcoDave

[Chookies]

Anaconda in Bayswater, Vic. are offering the Yellow E-trex units for $189, & have truck loads of them (when I went in last week). The only problem is, according to the salesman, you cannot enter waypoints into them and then go looking for that waypoint (eg caching).

The only way to place waypoints into the unit, is to actually be at that location in order to "mark" the spot, hence creating a waypoint (eg fishing). He tells me that it is more for returning to a particular spot, or for backtracking / breadcrumbs. Once again we are apparently not able to enter waypoints from home.

Good luck

[dcr]

Anaconda in Bayswater, Vic. are offering the Yellow E-trex units for $189, & have truck loads of them (when I went in last week). The only problem is, according to the salesman, you cannot enter waypoints into them and then go looking for that waypoint (eg caching).

The salesman was being inventive, and only halfway there
After you mark your waypoint, you can then edit the location to be your cache (of course you can always get the data cable and upload them as well)

I purchased one of the Anaconda Etrex units last weekend, and it has so far found 5 caches. It is much better than the Magellan GPS2000 (but I have been told that the average house brick is better than the 2K!). It is not as good as the Etrex Venture .... but it will be a lot cheaper to replace if I damage it than Tracy's work Etrex Venture

cheers Darren

[Aushiker]

The salesman was being inventive, and only halfway there After you mark your waypoint, you can then edit the location to be your cache (of course you can always get the data cable and upload them as well))

<p>
We are talking about a normal Garmin Extrex are we not, or this a dumbed down verision? If it is a normal Gramin Extrex you can put in waypoints in advance. The process is explained on page 14 of the manual. The model I am referring to is shown at http://www.garmin.com/products/etrex/
<p>
Golden rule: Be an informed shopper ....
<p>
Andrew

[Bronze]

I think it was Philostein who bought a SupaCheap Auto GPS and ended up taking it back. Hey, I could be wrong but I do remember someone I know telling me they bought a SupaCheap model and the screen was so crap and it was such a soft case that they passed it in before it broke.

The sales man is right but what he didn't tell you is that, yes you can put in a waypoint using the mark function but then edit that waypoint to goto a predesiginated location, such as caching. Like most salespersons - they only understand whats on the box and not really how it works. Of course it would be too much to let the staff take one home for the weekend to see how it really works.

Yes - the deer is dead. I have gone back to that page three times 20 minutes apart and either it is grazing in a good spot or it's been shot cause I haven't see it move from the screen once.

Bronze.

[EcoTeam]

Anaconda in Bayswater, Vic. are offering the Yellow E-trex units for $189, & have truck loads of them (when I went in last week). The only problem is, according to the salesman, you cannot enter waypoints into them and then go looking for that waypoint (eg caching).

The only way to place waypoints into the unit, is to actually be at that location in order to "mark" the spot, hence creating a waypoint (eg fishing). He tells me that it is more for returning to a particular spot, or for backtracking / breadcrumbs. Once again we are apparently not able to enter waypoints from home.

Good luck

Tens of thousands of Geocachers will tell you otherwise.
There is no eTrex model (yellow or otherwise) that does not allow you to manually edit the waypoint, the salesman is wrong as others have pointed out.
This is how caching used to be done before GPX files and waypoint software came along. We had to manually enter every single cache co-ord into the GPS by hand. It wasn't until CacheMonkey came along that we had a simple means to upload the data via cable.

I know some who don't even do this in the field any more for multi-caches, they use their PDA

EcoDave

[swampgecko]

This is how caching used to be done before GPX files and waypoint software came along. We had to manually enter every single cache co-ord into the GPS by hand. It wasn't until CacheMonkey came along that we had a simple means to upload the data via cable.

I know some who don't even do this in the field any more for multi-caches, they use their PDA

EcoDave

What are you trying to say, Dave??

[Webguy]

That poor deer. I'm all sad now.

[Papa Bear_Left]

This is how caching used to be done before GPX files and waypoint software came along. We had to manually enter every single cache co-ord into the GPS by hand. It wasn't until CacheMonkey came along that we had a simple means to upload the data via cable.

Dave, you are a)just a young'un and b)a forward-thinking electronic engineer; you don't qualify for "In my day..." nostalgia!

[EcoTeam]

This is how caching used to be done before GPX files and waypoint software came along. We had to manually enter every single cache co-ord into the GPS by hand. It wasn't until CacheMonkey came along that we had a simple means to upload the data via cable.

Dave, you are a)just a young'un and b)a forward-thinking electronic engineer; you don't qualify for "In my day..." nostalgia!

When I was a boy...

EcoDave

[Chookies]

Thanks for the "Accurate" info re the Etrex. I see there isn't much point talking to the "GPS expert" of that store. I will pass on the info to my friend, & in the mean time continue enjoying our Garmin map60c.

[ving]

You'll eventually do it when you are scrambling over rocks, climbing down gullies etc
Of course you can be *VERY* careful, but then you ain't caching with the utmost of gung-ho efficiency which is required to nab those virgin caches

Give me a GPS you can beat the crap out of any day!

EcoDave

so unless you are accident prone you arent a geocacher? :p
just kidding.

I just aint that gung-ho yet... doesnt mean i wont be, and by that time i'll prolly move on to another hobby :p

[Mind Socket]

My eTrex fell 30cm from a couch onto the wooden leg of said couch and the screen cracked. The rubber edging is also coming off, so they are certainly not indestructible. They're reasonly scratch resistant and droppable as long as the impact isn't focussed on a single point in the middle of the screen.

- Rog