Page 1 of 1

Help required with regards to purchasing a GPS.

Posted: 10 March 14 2:12 pm
by the2ofoz
Hi all,
I would first like to introduce myself to the group, me and my partner have both taken up geocaching as a hobby and it seems to be lots of fun and very enjoyable. So much so i decided to purchase a new gps system, the etrex 20 by Garmin. I have to say was not a big fan of this gps, due to maps not having any streets in my area even thou i live in a built up area. Even waze car gps on my phone has more information than this unit and that was free. I dont know if that was me cause i only had it few days its now going back to the shop as they sold me a second hand unit as brand new. So my question to you lovely people is for a novice who wants to spend around $250 and wants good maps on the gps and the ability to upload the local caches what do people suggest. I heard magallen has a poor gps and only works with geocaching.com. Any hints or tips or suggestions is much appreciated.

Regards

Brian
The 2 of oz

Re: Help required with regards to purchasing a GPS.

Posted: 10 March 14 9:41 pm
by geo_jas
I have the etrex 30 with openstreetmaps installed and they have heaps of detail everywhere I've been. You can download and instal them for free. I would recommend the etrex.

Re: Help required with regards to purchasing a GPS.

Posted: 11 March 14 11:15 am
by Tuena
I own a Magellan & poor is not a word I would use to describe its gps. Magellan declares what their High-Sensitivity GPS is. I find the Magellan very accurate. Geocaching Australia doesn't support Magellan's but you can get round that easily enough. My Magellan comes with the most glorious maps in 2D or 3D, with or with out contours, shaded relief or not - up to you. However cost a lot more than $250. My Nuvi needed replacing so purchased the Magellan which combines a hand-held & in-car navigator. The fact that I could record messages was a strong point as well. Touch wood - I haven't had any problems with it & my eneloop or Lithium batteries last & last.

As far as what GPSr to purchase, Garmins are the most popular (I've owned 2) so perhaps go down that track or just purchase the Groundspeak app for your smart phone - apparently that works quite well. The Geocaching Australia app is free but only works on Androids.

Re: Help required with regards to purchasing a GPS.

Posted: 11 March 14 1:15 pm
by caughtatwork
Tuena wrote:Geocaching Australia doesn't support Magellan's
It's true that we don't have a "send to" for the Magellan brand. However the GCA GPX v1.0.1 (Compatible) is fully functional on a Magellan GPS unit.

Re: Help required with regards to purchasing a GPS.

Posted: 12 March 14 9:41 am
by Lucy
The etrex is a great unit, but it only comes with a very basic world map. Comprehensive maps will cost extra, unless you use open source maps as has been previously suggested.