We are going to look at a range of GPS units from the cheap to the expensive. From the simple to the ultra high tech. I won't bother rating them but I will give you their features and specs in an easy to understand way and list the most important feature, Their Price!
Before we look at the units themselves lets talk about where to buy. Their are basically three choices.
1. Retail
- Carry currently on sale GPS.
- Prices are highest with the occasional sale.
- New in box.
- Usually have accessories available.
2. Wholesalers/Discount Retailers
- Carry currently on sale and previously on sale GPS.
- Prices range from low to high with sales being more frequent.
- New in box units as well as refurbished and discontinued stock.
- Usually have some accessories available.
3. Private Sale/Used
- Can find anything from the ancient to the shiny new.
- Prices are usually lowest but beware.
- Usually opened and used with signs of ware, occasionally a new in box.
- Most often if there are accessories they will be sold with the unit as a package or there won't be any at all.
So that about sums it up. I think that all three are valid options and it is just a decision on whether you want to buy new or used. I will say that you should never buy retail without checking for lower prices. One of my favorite stores is www.gpscity.ca and they carry a huge variety of models at the lowest retail prices. They unfortunately don't carry any Delorme models.
Okay let's get started! Prices are Canadian dollar unless otherwise stated. And I will link to the official site. Price listed will be the cheapest I can find.
#1 - Geomate - Geomate Jr. - $69.99 (USD at Geocaching.com Shop)
The Geomate Jr. is a well built GPS. It is designed as a family friendly Geocaching specific GPS. It is preloaded with 250,000 geocache locations. It runs on 2x AAA batteries and will get 12+ hours of runtime. This gps would be great to get the kids involved or for a demo for a friend. It has almost no features. You turn it on and it points you to the nearest geocache. When you find it you just hit the next button and it will point you to the next closest. Easy peasy but no maps not setting waypoints and no bells or whistles.
#2 - Garmin - eTrex Venture HC - $119 (USD at Bass Pro Shop)
The eTrex HC is a very robust unit for its price range. It is a mapping handheld that comes preloaded with a basemap of North America. It is geocaching enabled so you are able to upload geocache files to the onboard memory. It runs on 2x AA batteries which I prefer. It has a high sensitivity chipset and is WAAS enabled. (WAAS allows for a better signal) This would make a great starter unit. It's one big downside is that it has very little onboard memory and no sd memory card slot. So you won't be able to store 1000s of geocaches on here but you will be able to load enough to keep you busy for a day or two.
#3 - Garmin - GPSMAP 60csx - $240 (CDN at GPS City)
The 60csx was, and to some still is, the best outdoor GPS. It has unbeatable reception and is an all round great unit. This gps and the ones that follow now have built in electronic compasses and altimeters. It has no onboard memory but uses a micro sd card that comes with the gps. And if you want more memory you can just buy a new and larger micro sd card. It does not have Paperless Geocaching built in but if you are a tech savvy person their are ways to get the info onto the gps. It is a rugged well built gps that will last a long time and get the job done and done well. The only thing it lacks is the ability to go paperless. It is going discontinued so the price is coming down.
#4 - Delorme - PN-40 - $250 (USD at Delorme)
I'll just get this out of the way the PN-40 is the GPS I chose. You can buy one used for half of it's retail value. It has all of the features you could ever want from a geocaching gps. It has the absolute best reception of any gps I have ever seen. Even indoors I get 2 meter accuracy and I get my signal a lot sooner than most other gps units. The only down side is the screen size is quite a bit smaller than its rivals at Garmin. PN-40s are none for lasting forever and that was also a great factor. They also have the best maps available but unlike Garmin they don't have the ability to add custom made (homemade) maps. All around I found it to be the best bang for the buck. I am however dreaming of upgrading. However if you have $200 or less this is the best unit out there.
#5 - Garmin - Dakota 20 - $270 (CDN at GPS City)
The Dakota 20 is our first Paperless Geocaching gps. This means you can have all of the cache info from the website on your gps. This is hands down the best feature for geocaching. Sometimes your gps gets you to ground zero and you just can't find the cache. Having past logs and the Cache Owners hint can make a lot help. This is also our first touch screen gps. It has a lot of standard features and has a nice sized screen. It is still waterproof and rugged. It also features a 3-axis compass that will point correctly regardless of how you are holding your gps. Another neat feature is that all Garmin touchscreen gps have the ability to share waypoints and data wirelessly to one another. So if you are caching with someone with another Garmin touchscreen you can send them the cache info if they don't have it loaded. An all round great unit at a great price.
#6 - Garmin - Oregon 450 - $340 (CDN at GPS City)
The Oregon 450 is the Dakotas big sister. It has a larger, higher resolution screen. It has a better chipset for even better accuracy. It also has 850 mb of onboard memory and the a micro sd card slot. It has all the features of the Dakota, paperless caching, 3 axis compass, etc but it is faster and a little more user friendly as the larger screen allows for larger touch icons. Like the dakota it can share data wirelessly with other compatible units. This unit is also a wherigo compatible unit. Basically wherigo is a gps based game that works on its own and with wherigo specific geocaches. For more info go here!
#7 - Garmin - GPSMAP 62s - $400 (CDN at GPS City)
The 62s is replacement for the 60csx. It has all the features any handheld gps could ever want. It has a top of the line chipset and antenna for unbelievable reception. It has the same size screen as the Dakota 20 but has buttons instead of a touch screen. It has paperless caching, 3 axis compass, the lot. It also has 1.7 gb of memory and a micro sd slot. But with all of that onboard memory you can have all the geocaches for your province loaded and tons of memory to spare. It has an extremely easy to learn menu system. This is a great all round gps and was my first choice if I hadn't have had a budget. This unit does not have wherigo.
#8 - Garmin - Oregon 550 - $530 (CDN at GPS City)
What can I say, yet another Garmin touch screen. This is the exact same as the Oregon 450 with one big difference. It has a digital camera built in. It is a 3.2 megapixel camera that can geotag photos. What that means is that it will add gps coordinates to the photos data. With this you can upload the photo to google maps or google earth. It will embed the coordinates of where the photo was taken right into the photo file. I can see how in 20 or 30 years when you are looking back at your life and photos that it would be neat to know exactly where the photo was taken. This GPS will also work in reverse. If you have a geotagged photo that you or anyone else has taken, this gps can take you to the location where it was taken. A friend could email you a geotagged photo from a hidden fishing hole and then you could use your gps to get there. Like all Garmin touch screens this will share data wirelessly.
#9 - Garmin - Montana 650 - $$$ (Coming Soon)
Why another touch screen you ask? Well, Garmin is trying to conquer two worlds with this soon to be released monster. It will be a fully functioning hand held and automotive gps all in one. It has a fancy new high def 4" screen unlike the previous models 3" screen. It will work upright like in the photo or in landscape mode when turned on it's side. It has a whopping 3 gb of storage available for upgraded maps and geocache info. If you need the latest and the greatest you may want to check into this guy. Oh yeah they still have the camera but now it is 5mp instead of the 3.2 like the previous model.
Well, that was a long one. I only hope this helps you in your search for the perfect gps. My final thought is that if you know a lot of people, family and friends, that geocache the data exchange feature of the Garmin touchscreen models sure would be a great feature. Good luck in you search and remember that almost all of these can be had at a fraction of the cost if you buy used.
