I was thinking of purchasing one of these units, mostly so that I can navigate myself better from cache to cache. The only GPSr that I have right now is my trusty Garmin Venture (the yellow one) without the maps and I have a bad habit of driving by caches because I'm focused on finding the one that I have my mind set on finding.

I've looked at some of the specs of the Nuvis and I find them somewhat confusing. I'm thinking of the 700 series, but there's so many models I have a hard time deciding what's best.

Any hints?

well, not sure which model is best...but I always like the "free" ones...I think Key Bank has a promotion right now if you open an account...

I have had my TT since last November and I must say it does a fantastic job (most of the time) of getting me from cache to cache. Using a GSAK export, it loads all the caches you want into it. It works for me and that's what I know. Anyone wishing to see it can catch up with me at an upcoming event, and I'd be glad to show it off.

I have had my TT since last November and I must say it does a fantastic job (most of the time) of getting me from cache to cache. Using a GSAK export, it loads all the caches you want into it. It works for me and that's what I know. Anyone wishing to see it can catch up with me at an upcoming event, and I'd be glad to show it off.

Sheesh! Why didn't you post this message at this time YESTERDAY! LOL!

I'm agreeing with brad on this one, i've played with the nuvis, and I own a tomtom one. I love it. it's so much easier too use, very simple, and great maps. I use mine for caching all the time, just load a POI file and go. :D

Don't forget to check Sam's Club. I got a Nuvi there for $170 cheaper than Best Buy.

We have the Nuvi 255W and find it great for caching, or at least navigating to caches. In theory, you can put more than a quarter million caches in a POI file on a 2 GB card. I find it easy to search for nearby caches and to route to them.

So what makes the Tom Tom any better? are the maps that much better? Are the upgrades free? Having never used a TomTom I don't know but it seems they may be comparable unless I am missing something.

A quarter million caches on a 2 GB card. I think that'd be more than sufficient. :D

We have the Nuvi 255W and find it great for caching, or at least navigating to caches. In theory, you can put more than a quarter million caches in a POI file on a 2 GB card. I find it easy to search for nearby caches and to route to them.

....

I just purchased the Garmin 255W myself and find it easy to use and customize. I can run waypoints and points of interests together. (The waypoints are always on screen and the POI's alert when I get within a certain distance.) Once I started playing with the programming a little I found that I can transfer routes to the NUVI as "tracks". Little bit unorthodox but I can create routes in Mapsource then go "backwards" with it to the NUVI. The 255w doesn't "route" but it accepts the tracks. :) and that track is highlighted in purple.

Anyways, I'm not familiar with the TomTom but I do know that if you can wait a few days to get the GPSr you may want to check out discount computer dealers (http://www.tigerdirect.com)for refurbs and sell-outs. I paid $122.00 including delivery for my recent purchase.

Cache On!!

Don't forget to check Sam's Club. I got a Nuvi there for $170 cheaper than Best Buy.
Depending on what Nuvi model you want they range from $109 to $139. Look at newegg.com

well, not sure which model is best...but I always like the "free" ones...I think Key Bank has a promotion right now if you open an account...
the deal is running till mid sept. 3 direct deposits and one valid purchase using your debit card. i did it and got nuvi 205w and it works great. i also have a nuvi 200 and that works great. i know several people that use the nuvi and they all have different models and i have not heard any complaints. :)

As you all may know nothing works for me the right way the first time. I had to reformat my hard drive 3 times on a escalating frustration factor when first going paperless with the Nuvi.

I also have had a horrible time while out at the Mid West Geo Bash Mega event when my wifi card died. I found a Netbook Acer cheap and bought it , but could not for the life of me get GSAK to cooperate again. Finally got it working after a lot of help for friends. Just erased it and started over again. It worked.

Now I 'm relaying this to you to emphasize my point. The Nuvi was and is a Godsend to me. I would spend hours with maps and printing things out trying to find locations that I needed to be for work and caching. Then I would still be lost. The Nuvi fixed all that right out of the box as soon as I turned it on. Perfect.

After Weeks of screwing around with GSAK and the POI loader and not asking for help, I got the Paperless caching and all the caches in the State in there. All the info from the cache pages except the pictures. Again perfect. What a great device that turned out to be. Got the Nuvi for a present and it only cost $100. I have the 200.

Now a lot of people may not be aware of how the new werigo caching works. I attended two seminars on this great new caching experience and participated in one of the adventures. It takes specific equipment to run one of the werigo caches, but here is the good part, the new Nuvi 700's will run them.

The instructors at the Mega event explained some of the bugs in the werigo system and how to stay away from the bugs and how the handhelds react and the bugs with the Colorado and others. The good part is the Nuvi's ran so smooth with no glitches at all.

So, if you are looking for a new device I would suggest looking into the bigger Nuvi's, because as soon as I get the right equipment there will be a bunch of werigo's coming to your area. A bunch.

At this point they did not have the Tom Tom's working with the werigo. The instructors had been having troubles with them crashing with the programs.

Our Nuvi 750 is the only GPSr we own and it works really well for us. We use it in automobile/3D map mode to get to the cache location and then use it in pedestrian/north up map mode to find the cache. It works pretty well for us... the only reason we would consider needing an additional unit would be so I don't need to deal with Ben going off in random directions because he trusts his geosense more than my ability to follow the coords :) lol

Features we love:
1. We keep all Maine caches loaded and have the Tour Guide turned on so it bings at us as we approach caches.
2. The Routes feature lets us choose 25 points and have the Nuvi optimally re-order the route - either by faster route or shorter distance.

My only complaints would be:
1. The internal battery means when the battery drains we're done caching. We could not finish the Sears Island caches because our battery drained when we were at the halfway mark.
2. Switching back and forth between modes is a pain, but it is not necessary for all caches so the nuisance is fairly minor.

......
My only complaints would be:
1. The internal battery means when the battery drains we're done caching. We could not finish the Sears Island caches because our battery drained when we were at the halfway mark........

I've been spoiled w/the self-contained rechargeable aspect of my Garmin 530 hcx. I can run it for a consistent 24hrs. of caching on one charge. On the other hand...my PN-40 is rechargeable and Eats Charges!!!! So you have to plug it in while in transit to the next cache.

I have a Nuvi 765T that I like for navigating to caches. Its mount contains the power cord, so it's easy to mount/dismount quickly, and charge while driving between caches. This is also helpful because you should Never leave a GPS in direct sunlight!!!!! It's not good for the screen and prematurely kills the life of the internal battery. Also doesn't hurt to get it out of sight of all the sticky fingers out there. ;)

I used to own a Colorado and Hated switching out batteries all the time. So I bought a small sling bag and small automobile battery boost pack that has an accessory jack. That allowed me to cache all day w/out connecting/disconnecting any cords. You could do the same to power a Nuvi.

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I have a Nuvi 765T that I like for navigating to caches. Its mount contains the power cord, so it's easy to mount/dismount quickly, and charge while driving between caches. This is also helpful because you should Never leave a GPS in direct sunlight!!!!! It's not good for the screen and prematurely kills the life of the internal battery. Also doesn't hurt to get it out of sight of all the sticky fingers out there. ;)

I used to own a Colorado and Hated switching out batteries all the time. So I bought a small sling bag and small automobile battery boost pack that has an accessory jack. That allowed me to cache all day w/out connecting/disconnecting any cords. You could do the same to power a Nuvi.

The 750's mount also has a power cord attached, so it charges while we drive. Sears Island became an issue because we were out all day and couldn't charge between caches. It was a 5 mile walk round trip to get all of the caches we planned, but the battery died after 2 caches/3 miles. In hindsight I probably should've turned it off between caches but I wanted to use the Garmin's trip memory to keep track of how many miles we walked. I've since purchased a pedometer, so next time I'll be better about turning it off between caches.

I'll have to look in to a battery boost pack before planning our next daylong hike!

I opened a Key Bank account on the hope that you really do get the Nuvi 1200 series like it says. I'd like to think that this will be the unit I get but I'll take whatever it is if it's free. If I get some POS instead, I'll sell it and leave the account stagnant until it reaches the 180 day mark to close it.

Pawn shops have tons of GPS units right now!!

Pawn shops have tons of GPS units right now!!

Never think of that. Thanks.

I check the local pawn shop every once in a while. It's kind of hit or miss, and I haven't hit anything yet. As for Key Bank, nothing personal, but I'll stick with my credit union. Big banks are too impersonal.