GPS info

[Tealsmith]

I'm looking to purchase some GPS units for my middle school classroom. I want
something inexpensive and simple to use. My plan is to let the kids take them around
our campus to explore, do treasure hunts, etc. to help them learn lat. and long.
Can anyone recomend a unit?

[Tealsmith]

I'm looking to purchase some GPS units for my middle school classroom. I want
something inexpensive and simple to use. My plan is to let the kids take them around
our campus to explore, do treasure hunts, etc. to help them learn lat. and long.
Can anyone recomend a unit?

[Tealsmith]

I'm looking to purchase some GPS units for my middle school classroom. I want
something inexpensive and simple to use. My plan is to let the kids take them around
our campus to explore, do treasure hunts, etc. to help them learn lat. and long.
Can anyone recomend a unit?

[John Bell]

It's hard to go wrong with the Garmin Etrex. The basic model is about $100. I've got the model one up from the basic yellow one, the Venture. It's very easy to use with a simple and intuitive interface.

[John Bell]

It's hard to go wrong with the Garmin Etrex. The basic model is about $100. I've got the model one up from the basic yellow one, the Venture. It's very easy to use with a simple and intuitive interface.

[John Bell]

It's hard to go wrong with the Garmin Etrex. The basic model is about $100. I've got the model one up from the basic yellow one, the Venture. It's very easy to use with a simple and intuitive interface.

[Tealsmith]

That's the one I've been considering. I just wanted to hear from someone who has experience with it. Thanks John.

[Tealsmith]

That's the one I've been considering. I just wanted to hear from someone who has experience with it. Thanks John.

[Tealsmith]

That's the one I've been considering. I just wanted to hear from someone who has experience with it. Thanks John.

[Alan D. Hyde]

Tealsmith, the West Marine on 82nd Street, in Castleton just East of Castleton Square, on the North side of the Street, occasionally has them for under $100.

Their phone is (317) 841-0826.

And, no, I don't own any West stock... :D

Alan

[ 11-24-2003, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Alan D. Hyde ]

[Alan D. Hyde]

Tealsmith, the West Marine on 82nd Street, in Castleton just East of Castleton Square, on the North side of the Street, occasionally has them for under $100.

Their phone is (317) 841-0826.

And, no, I don't own any West stock... :D

Alan

[ 11-24-2003, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Alan D. Hyde ]

[Alan D. Hyde]

Tealsmith, the West Marine on 82nd Street, in Castleton just East of Castleton Square, on the North side of the Street, occasionally has them for under $100.

Their phone is (317) 841-0826.

And, no, I don't own any West stock... :D

Alan

[ 11-24-2003, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Alan D. Hyde ]

[Norm Bernstein]

I bought a Magellan SportTrak Map about 6 months ago, for $200... works great, and is easy to use. Based on some comments on epinions.com, I got the general impression that the Garmin handhelds had poor signal acquisition performance... but I never tried them myself to confirm that.

Still, at half the price, and if they're just for educational purposes, the Garmin cheapies might be fine.

[Norm Bernstein]

I bought a Magellan SportTrak Map about 6 months ago, for $200... works great, and is easy to use. Based on some comments on epinions.com, I got the general impression that the Garmin handhelds had poor signal acquisition performance... but I never tried them myself to confirm that.

Still, at half the price, and if they're just for educational purposes, the Garmin cheapies might be fine.

[Norm Bernstein]

I bought a Magellan SportTrak Map about 6 months ago, for $200... works great, and is easy to use. Based on some comments on epinions.com, I got the general impression that the Garmin handhelds had poor signal acquisition performance... but I never tried them myself to confirm that.

Still, at half the price, and if they're just for educational purposes, the Garmin cheapies might be fine.

[John Bell]

Ya, the cognescenti decry the Garmin's use of a patch antenna instead of the more selective and expensive quadrafillar antenna <sp?> of the Magellan and higher end Garmins.

I'd read the same stuff and bought the Etrex anyway. It does have some limitations, true. However, the few limitations aren't so bad that they render the unit unuseable.

The Etrex occaisionally has trouble keeping a good lock under heavy tree cover. Not that it's that big a deal in using it: you just stop and wait for it to catch up if you need that much accuracy. And to tell the truth, the only time you need to be that close is in locating geocaches. And once you've found a few of them, you quickly realize the GPS only gets you to within a 50-100' circle (if you are lucky!) and you still have to LOOK for the darn things to find them.

The antenna technolgy used in more expensive GPS models is slightly better under heavy tree cover, but it's not perfect either.

All this a way of saying it doesn't really matter. It's kind of like computers: A 1 GHz PC is theoretically faster than a 500 MHz model, but most of the time you'd be hard pressed to see the difference.

The Magellan SportTrak would be a good choice as well, about $170 MSRP.

[John Bell]

Ya, the cognescenti decry the Garmin's use of a patch antenna instead of the more selective and expensive quadrafillar antenna <sp?> of the Magellan and higher end Garmins.

I'd read the same stuff and bought the Etrex anyway. It does have some limitations, true. However, the few limitations aren't so bad that they render the unit unuseable.

The Etrex occaisionally has trouble keeping a good lock under heavy tree cover. Not that it's that big a deal in using it: you just stop and wait for it to catch up if you need that much accuracy. And to tell the truth, the only time you need to be that close is in locating geocaches. And once you've found a few of them, you quickly realize the GPS only gets you to within a 50-100' circle (if you are lucky!) and you still have to LOOK for the darn things to find them.

The antenna technolgy used in more expensive GPS models is slightly better under heavy tree cover, but it's not perfect either.

All this a way of saying it doesn't really matter. It's kind of like computers: A 1 GHz PC is theoretically faster than a 500 MHz model, but most of the time you'd be hard pressed to see the difference.

The Magellan SportTrak would be a good choice as well, about $170 MSRP.

[John Bell]

Ya, the cognescenti decry the Garmin's use of a patch antenna instead of the more selective and expensive quadrafillar antenna <sp?> of the Magellan and higher end Garmins.

I'd read the same stuff and bought the Etrex anyway. It does have some limitations, true. However, the few limitations aren't so bad that they render the unit unuseable.

The Etrex occaisionally has trouble keeping a good lock under heavy tree cover. Not that it's that big a deal in using it: you just stop and wait for it to catch up if you need that much accuracy. And to tell the truth, the only time you need to be that close is in locating geocaches. And once you've found a few of them, you quickly realize the GPS only gets you to within a 50-100' circle (if you are lucky!) and you still have to LOOK for the darn things to find them.

The antenna technolgy used in more expensive GPS models is slightly better under heavy tree cover, but it's not perfect either.

All this a way of saying it doesn't really matter. It's kind of like computers: A 1 GHz PC is theoretically faster than a 500 MHz model, but most of the time you'd be hard pressed to see the difference.

The Magellan SportTrak would be a good choice as well, about $170 MSRP.