Garmen etrex GPS units?

[KYBOY]

Ive read a lot of reviews about these little gps units..They are suppose to be a pretty good unit for the price..I think my wife is wanting to try her hand at geocaching..I want to start with a smaller unit until I see if she likes it or not..Anyone used one of these units?

[quackrstackr]

I bought one back in the fall but haven't used it for anything but hunting.

It works as advertised for that. It's perfect for long hikes back to an unmarked deer stand or coming right back to a downed animal that is a long way from the atv.

The one mark that I have against them is that the topo maps are as much or more than the unit itself. I would love to have them but I'm not paying what they are asking.

[Zeb]

I have an older Etrex Vista and it works well. The vista has an electronic compass built in, some Garmin models don't. I've used it for geocaching, hunting and fishing and have no complaints- but agree with quackr. The map upgrades are too expensive

[JeepComanche]

I would have thought it at least came with a basemap, but apparently not. I know lots of folks that have gotten started using that unit and still use them. I have a 60CSX with all the bells and whistles. I can tell you this much go Garmin and save your self some aggravation. Once you get the hang of geocaching, Geocaching.com is set up to directly support Garmin products and can save some steps as far as loading caches into the unit. Check out that site for a lot of good info. And I'll be glad to answer questions, via PM's. Just be prepared for her to become addicted and the next step is new units, paperless, it goes on and on like everything else. Great times with the family however. We have a club down this way and we have some good times, with activities most every month.


Topo maps can be had for 89.99 on the net. You might find a good deal a step up, unitwise, with a Topo package. Get her started, she'll love it.

[quackrstackr]

They come with a base map but it is virtually useless. There is nothing on it but numbered highways and major features like cities, lake outlines and rivers. Zero detail.

I got the color unit for a hair over $100 so having to purchase $90 worth of maps is a joke. I got a Garmin Nuvi for vehicle navigation that comes with every mapped road in the US for $97.

They know what they are doing.

[Hornblaster]

geocaching is great, when i started out I used a lowrance and loved it.

[RutNBuck]

the blue extrex legend is an ideal starter gps i have one myself it severs many purposes and has just about anythng you/she will need... if u have any questions Pm and i will try to help i used mine today it shows you the roads,waterways and can be upgraded took me like a week to figure out most of the features..

i also have the nuvi 200 for the car and even though its more expensive the legend has some good features that even my higher tech one doesnt offer..