[GPS] Help me pick one.

F

Finski

Came, Shat, & Conquered++
Veteran X
I don't know that much about current GPS civilian technology, but I'd like to pick up a handheld GPS that I can use to try geocaching and more importantly, get me around towns with directions and shit. I don't really care for a buttload of bells and whistles. I'd also like it to cost around $200. (LOL?)

Does this item exist? Any recommended reading on the shopping for a good GPS?
 
NAV gps and a geocaching gps are 2 differnt beasts...

the eTrex is a good starter for geocaching.. but its going to be useless in your car for naving around.. I have a garmin and love it... I'd borrow someone elses or go geocaching with someone who has done it before before you make the investment
 
Ire said:
NAV gps and a geocaching gps are 2 differnt beasts...

the eTrex is a good starter for geocaching.. but its going to be useless in your car for naving around.. I have a garmin and love it... I'd borrow someone elses or go geocaching with someone who has done it before before you make the investment
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K, thanks for the tips guys. I guess if I had to pick between the two, I'd rather have a GPS for navigating in the car.

I did a bit of reading and an a bit over-whelmed by the sheer number of units available. :shock:
 
I'm a Magellan fan, but you have to be a genius to get their software working, and a detective to find it at the "store".

I just bought an Explorist 500LE, which was bundled with Topo 3D. It also has a nice geocache manager, is SD card compatible ( <-- do not buy a handheld that isn't). It is also capable of turn by turn directions ( With maps created in Magellan DirectRoute). It is color, but only 16. The difference between the Explorist500 and 500LE is the LE ships with a AAA battery clip, the other with a rechargeable battery pack. (rechargable pack available for $20 right now)

One of its finest points is a DOS like file structure for storing maps, caches, and such

It is widely available in the $200 dollar range.
 
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I have a garmin etrex legend cx that I like alot. I use it for geocaching. I have topographic maps for Canada that I use for caching but when I tried to gett he US maps I couldn't get a copy that worked. Might be something to look into.

I use mine a bit for road travel and it's always been alright. As far as caching goes make sure you have a regular compass as well and a cheap old palm pilot for saving the cache pages to is handy as well as the gps doesn't hold alot of extra stuff like logs if you need hints and such.
 
I got the Garmin StreetPilot i3 GPS Navigation System for the car, worked great going from NorCal to Wash state and back, haven't geocashed tho.
 
I love my explorist 200. Grandfather bought it for me after he taught me about geocaching about 4 years ago. Easy controls, much easier than the etrex.

Look into the explorist series if you want a good handheld gps.
 
K, just so I'm clear on this, do some models require you to pay subscription fees? I noticed the Magellan Nico's talking about says a subscription is not required, which leads me to believe that other models DO require it. Fuck that noise. Also, am I to understand that you have to upload maps and such to the GPS? Or does it have a basic database and you can add to that to provide greater detail?

I think the more I know about the basic workings will help me choose a unit.
 
Its a bit more than you want to spend but i got a Garmin Nuvi 350 and LOVE it. (~$500)

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it kicks ass around town, has all the US pre loaded with space on it to put MP3's and an audiobook player(also has a SD card slot). It can even run on the internal battery if you want to take it out of the car for geocaching, but i wouldent go camping with it
 
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