Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Discussion about software such as GSAK, OziExplorer etc, as well as all things hardware, GPSrs, laptops, PDAs, paperless caching, cables etc
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Agent Basil
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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by Agent Basil » 18 January 11 5:53 pm

Well, I am going to retire the Magellan Triton 1500 and have ordered an Garmin Oregon 450. Why ?

The Triton takes forever to load its initial and subsequent menus, it is impossible to read the screen in daylight and the touch screen is intermitent in whether it detects your touch.

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Agent Basil
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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by Agent Basil » 23 January 11 6:01 pm

and after a few solid days use.......

I am very happy with my decision. Still learning some menu "long cuts" - The Magellan certainly has a better interface with PC via Vantage Point software and managing what is actually on the device but in the field, the Oregon is streets ahead, including battery life

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by Cameron Corner » 04 December 12 1:02 am

We had a Garmin 450. Loved it ... easy to use and great that we could download caches directly to it. =;

However, during our last holiday. The Garmin which was in my handbag on the front floor of the car broke. My husband had to stop fairly quickly to not hit a roam dog crossing the street. He wasn't going very fast so it was just a little quick but my bag fell over and the garmin fell out on to the floor and the screen broke. Surprised much?!?! Very disappointed. Had a lot of caches that we had found on our holidays and we haven't been able to cache since. :(

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by GoeMuppets » 21 January 14 4:10 pm

We have been using my iPhone till last week, and will continue to use it BUT last week I purchased my first GPS, it is the Magellan eXplorist GC - why this one ? a) it was $50 at a large national electrical retailer (colours are Black & Yellow) I suggest getting in quick before they sell out, b) it looks to be a rugged unit that can take a bit of abuse from me and the kids, c) who wants to spend big $$$ on their first unit, d) its a fairly basic unit (simple to use would be the best words) that does what I want it to and thats get me to a geo cache. Thats the up side - on the down side a) my iPhone takes pictures and up loads straight to my geo caching account, b) I have to pre-load caches into the device -which is not an issue really it just means I can't do a spot of random caching with it, c) maps are not real flash and it only shows major roads for my area, d) small screen which can be a bit hard to read.
The basic Garmin is $100 and the basic Magellan is about $130, one has a colour screen the other doesn't and both will do the same job - get you to GZ what more do you want.
I suggest doing the foot work before spending your $, youtube reviews are helpful, talk to people who are selling them and see if they know the product i.e. the guys working in the "local" Out Doors type shops are more likely be using these things ! people working in "chain stores" most likely only read the brochures, talk to people who use GPS like other cachers, contact the company just to see if and how they respond to you (its been a week since I sent 2 email quires to the manufacturer of my unit and I am still waiting for a reply)
I spoke to 2 people who use GPS for enviromental scientific research (one uses a $10,000 marine navigational GPS and his $100 unit is just as accurate) and essentially they both said the same thing - the quality of the maps are the thing you pay for, decide what you need and take it from there.
In closing I am happy with the eXplorist GC it gives me everything I need to GC (remember I paid $50 for it) if I upgrade I will be looking at a $500+ unit most probably a Garmin

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by gmj3191 » 28 January 14 11:43 am

Don't forget that Open Street Mapping is available free for Garmin units.
These maps are as good as anything you can buy as far a street mapping for geocaching goes.
Country areas have good coverage as well, and you can add to it yourself if you want to see details in your area included (unusual to find things not there however in most places).
Even paths in parks are included.
http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by Taz » 05 March 14 3:55 pm

GeoMuppets, if you do an update to the latest software for the Explorist GC they have fixed the map problem with roads, it now shows them all.
It's definately tough, I dropped mine while out on my bike over the weekend and managed to run it over. It's fine, so gotta love that, I am with you, excellent starter GPS.


GoeMuppets wrote:We have been using my iPhone till last week, and will continue to use it BUT last week I purchased my first GPS, it is the Magellan eXplorist GC - why this one ? a) it was $50 at a large national electrical retailer (colours are Black & Yellow) I suggest getting in quick before they sell out, b) it looks to be a rugged unit that can take a bit of abuse from me and the kids, c) who wants to spend big $$$ on their first unit, d) its a fairly basic unit (simple to use would be the best words) that does what I want it to and thats get me to a geo cache. Thats the up side - on the down side a) my iPhone takes pictures and up loads straight to my geo caching account, b) I have to pre-load caches into the device -which is not an issue really it just means I can't do a spot of random caching with it, c) maps are not real flash and it only shows major roads for my area, d) small screen which can be a bit hard to read.
The basic Garmin is $100 and the basic Magellan is about $130, one has a colour screen the other doesn't and both will do the same job - get you to GZ what more do you want.
I suggest doing the foot work before spending your $, youtube reviews are helpful, talk to people who are selling them and see if they know the product i.e. the guys working in the "local" Out Doors type shops are more likely be using these things ! people working in "chain stores" most likely only read the brochures, talk to people who use GPS like other cachers, contact the company just to see if and how they respond to you (its been a week since I sent 2 email quires to the manufacturer of my unit and I am still waiting for a reply)
I spoke to 2 people who use GPS for enviromental scientific research (one uses a $10,000 marine navigational GPS and his $100 unit is just as accurate) and essentially they both said the same thing - the quality of the maps are the thing you pay for, decide what you need and take it from there.
In closing I am happy with the eXplorist GC it gives me everything I need to GC (remember I paid $50 for it) if I upgrade I will be looking at a $500+ unit most probably a Garmin

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by AussieGuy007 » 16 June 14 7:48 pm

I'm new to geocaching and I've downloaded the official intro app for my iPhone 4 which is great! And I've got the current version because I only joined on the 9th of June 2014.

So I have been thinking of buying a gps but not sure which to get? I can't afford much probably $50 to maybe $300 price range and saw a couple of models at Dick Smiths which was the Magellan 110 and the Magellan 510 I think? The 110 was around $118 and the 510 was around $214 I think but don't know much about them and if they are any good for a low budget gps?

Also how do you make a waypoint using an iPhone 4 please? Or do I need to buy a gps instead? That's probably my main reason for buying one so I can make a waypoint so I can hide my first cache soon and according to the website on geocaching.com you need to set an waypoint and other stuff to get the cache listed.

Thanks!

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by Tyreless » 16 June 14 10:06 pm

Hi and welcome.

To add a waypoint on the app, see http://support.groundspeak.com/index.ph ... age&id=416.

It's a personal thing re GPSr vs iphone. I bought a Magellan Explorist GC a year ago for $150 and used it for a month or two. I prefer to use my iphone 4s with the geosphere app and a Magellan Toughcase that I picked up for $100, but that's just me.

The geosphere app is fantastic for me because it elegantly handles both groundspeak caches and gca caches. The iphone is great because of things like live updates in the field and no need to connect to a computer. The toughcase is handy because it protects the iphone and gives me a longer battery life (although it's a bit chunky).

What I have learnt is that your tools only get you so far and that experience finding caches is equally important, ie: developing your own cache-sense for where a cache is likely to be hidden. Using that cache-sense is a big part of what makes geocaching fun.

Cheers and happy caching,

Geoff aka Tyreless

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by Bundyrumandcoke » 23 June 15 9:18 pm

And now, I am looking for a new GPS unit. But some background info first.

Years ago, I started caching with a Garmin GPS60. After a while, I went to a GPS 60CSx. This is great for up close caching- more to come.

I never got maps for the 60, and went out later and bought a Garmin Nuvi 500. This was a great unit at the time. It did almost everything I wanted. It is waterproof, so using it on my motorbike was not an issue. Because the 60 is also waterproof, I could also use it on the motorbike. I could bulk download PQs using GSAK to both, and it took care of paperless caching with the Nuvi having a specific geocaching function, giving me hints, the last 5 logs, cache descriptions, ect. So, using a combination of both, (the Nuvi for street "which road to take to get to the cache" navigation, and the 60 for that final few metres zeroing in on GZ) this is the way we have cached for the last 7 years or so.

But these days, the Nuvi is starting to give me a few issues, the most annoying is the touch screen sometimes doesn't want to respond, or it wont respond to the location its touched. So, its time for a new navigation GPS unit.

Recently I bought my daughter a new Garmin navigation unit, and was impressed with the size, and functionality of it. I tried downloading a PQ to it, but they only come up as a POI, with no real information so it doesn't suit my needs.

So, here is my question.

I want a new touchscreen Garmin navigation unit, that is- waterproof, will accept downloaded PQs and bring them up as Geocaches, with all the information for paperless caching, not POIs. Anyone have any recommendations for a new unit? And no, I don't intend upgrading to a GPS62 or 64. I will stick with the 60CSx.

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by auzzy_mate » 03 July 16 9:46 am

I normally use my iPhone 6 Plus for my adventures but I have just been given the choice between two older GPS devices that I can have from work (for free).

I have primarily been caching in urban areas (Sydney / Wollongong / Canberra) where I can use my smart-phone (with their power issues) without too much trouble, but I have just started cache-ing with my teenage kids and figure they need something simple to give them to use to find caches (does not need to log or see images really, just upload a GPX / LOC / etc and off they go).

I have a choice between a Garmin Foretrex 401 and a Magellan eXplorist GC.

Thoughts?

Ben
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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by Tuena » 03 July 16 11:47 am

I just had a look at the specs for a 401 & it's not geocache friendly. It is aimed at hikers, skiers, campers and military personnel. The Magellan is geocache friendly.

Here is the GC manual from the Magellan site: http://support.magellangps.com/support/ ... 0,18,24,62

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Re: Newbie thread: Which GPS brand to buy - Garmin or Magellan?

Post by GEOGERS » 12 July 16 8:47 am

Hi everyone, I have decided to get into geocaching as part of my retirement from teaching Geography for many years. I am in the market for a gps but as I start researching the web, they all seem to blend into each other making it hard to decide. I'm not really worried about cost and would rather a unit that we will see me through for many years as my geocaching develops. I am leaning towards a Garmin GPSMAP 64st and am wondering if anyone give me advice on a good unit for the Australian market. Cheers

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