I have been looking around for a good quality GPS. I thought some one out there might have some good advise on witch ones are quality. I am looking to spend around $250. It will be used mostly in the North West so lots of tree cover.

I have 3 garmins, the oregon that I got on sale, the astro 350 I use to track my doggies, and a vista. They all have the new high sensitivity recievers. The astro is based upon the 62SX.

The oregon is touch screen, which is nice for putting in notes but can be a pain sometimes. The vista has a nice long battery life but does not have paperless geocaching like the other two, that's kinda fun. I have subscribed the oregon to the garmin service where you can put sat images on your gps. I downloaded some but truth be told, they aren't very usefull. I prefer the free topo maps I get from gpsfilesdepot.com.

I don't live in a mountainous area so I can't give an opinion on that aspect. I always have a compass and whatever passes as a map as well. There are no landmarks where I am either so maps are of limited use. I frequently use the compass though, the electronic compass's on gps's need frequent calibration. It's possible for them to be off and you not know it. It's easy to do, it just makes sense to have a compass.

If you look around something is bound to go on sale in the next few months, I would hold out for one of the upper end models. Now that the 62 is out you might be able to get a 60 on sale.

Once you get it don't be like those people that never learn how to use one. Practice around the block and use the different features. It's seems like a lot at first but the garmen interface is very intuitive once you get used to it.

the geocaching forum has a gear folder, here's a link:

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=11

here is a link to the gps folder on gpsfilesdepot. You'll need to become familier with this site so you can get free topo maps.

http://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php/board,4.0.html

I like my Earthmate GPS but I am not so sure you will find them in that price range.. There is a lot of tree cover up here as well and I have been pretty happy with what my GPS does for me.. As with any GPS make sure you purchase some rechargable batteries for it as well.. This will save you $$ in the long run.. I would check e-bay and see what might be on there. You may end up finding a pretty good deal on a decent GPS..

I like my Garmine GPSmap 60CSx Bought it for hunting but I use it for hunting as well as driving. A little more than you want to spend but does it all.

Garmine GPSmap 60CSx

+1

Same one I have - excellent !


http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-GPSMAP-.../dp/B000CSOXTO