|
 - Very solid productI haven't added the topographical maps yet, but thus far we've been very happy with this handheld GPS for geocaching. Rating: - excellent geo caching deviceI have used my etrex HC for Geo caching only. It is accurate,I like the built in features for geo caching; such as ...the built in menu for it...it keeps track of my finds...next nearsest cache...a map of the caches from my location.... the ability to downlad waypoints for caches from my computer!!( no errors for me) It beeps when I am close to a cache... It is good under tree cover , with little bounce. The battery life is good. I was able to get this from Amazon for a little over 100 dollars new! I also have a Garmin Tom Tom for vehicle navigation which also is programable to my computer for locating POI (my caches) and use it to get me to the site. Rating:  - Geocaching made funWe bought this unit after using a friends Magellan over a weekend for some geocaching. I really liked her unit, but it was pricier than I was able to do. The other thing was that the [...] website supported the garmin units, for ease of downloading caches. I was able to get a really great deal on this one, and paid less than $[...] for it. It works wonderfully in the field. It has gotten us within 5 feet of our cache. We've had no trouble at all with the signal, even in pretty good tree cover. The compass page is great, showing you your direction, as well as counting down how far you are in miles, then feet. If you've got several caches from one area downloaded, once you find one and hit the found on the screen, it automatically pulls up the next closest cache to send you on your way again. It is great! The only downfall is that it does not take the notes that are on the geocaching site. (the only reason it got 4 stars instead of 5) So basically you need to print out the page if you want the info (sometimes it is VERY helpful to have that info) but with that being the only downfall, plus the price I paid for it, it is an awesome unit. It is very rugged, my kids have all taken turns with it. Worth the money! Rating: - OK. Alarms, please?Just got the Venture HC (Canada 210). Nice unit, acquires satellites quickly, as indicated by the H (high sensitivity). Great screen, as indicated by the C. BUT: according to numerous vendors' websites and the Garmin manual itself, this model is supposed to have a proximity alarm feature. Now what it _does_ have is more properly called a "destination alarm": it will alert you when you have reached a specified waypoint, POI, or exit. But a true "proximity alarm" should go off whenever you approach any of a number of points. In the proximity waypoints screen I can add only 10 alarms and even a single alarm set for a specific waypoint doesn't seem to go off UNLESS you click on Go To first. So in conclusion: 1. Nice little machine, great screen, inexpensive; 2. No proximity alarm feature, as far as I can tell; 3. Don't base your purchasing decisions on the Garmin manuals -- check around first (although I did this and _still_ ended up w/o the feature that I bought the thing for). Rating: - Great Geocaching unit!This has served me very well. Im glad I got this model instead of the one below it the extra features are worth the price difference. Finds me in no time usually before the unit finishes loading.
|
