Wanting to purchase a new GPS.

[+Abelwoman]

I am in the market to purchase a new GPS and am willing to spend the money for a good one.

For a long time, I have used my Etrex or my smart phone, but I am now looking for something that is more user friendly and has more features.

 

I am looking more at Garmins as I want to be able to do the "Chirp" caches.

 

I want:

1) First and foremost, user friendly (easy to upload caches, log that I found it, mark or project waypoints, ect)

2) I don't mind buttons, but, is touch screen the way to go?

3) Good signaling capabilities

4) Water/weatherproof

5) No too heavy to wear around my neck

6) Paperless

 

I don't necessarily need a camera, a light ect, but if it came with one, I wouldn't complain.

 

Any pushes in the right direction would be great. If you have one you love, please let me know. I just really want to know what people are using and which would be the best for me.

[+Atlas Cached]

Based on your stated requirements, I think a Garmin Oregon 6x0 series would work well for you. They are a couple years old now, which means the firmware is mature and they have fewer bugs than the newer GPSr units. Relatively small and lightweight, yet fully featured and functional. More info on them can be found here. Good luck, and happy caching!

[+on4bam]

I am in the market to purchase a new GPS and am willing to spend the money for a good one.

For a long time, I have used my Etrex or my smart phone, but I am now looking for something that is more user friendly and has more features.

 

I am looking more at Garmins as I want to be able to do the "Chirp" caches.

 

I want:

1) First and foremost, user friendly (easy to upload caches, log that I found it, mark or project waypoints, ect)

2) I don't mind buttons, but, is touch screen the way to go?

3) Good signaling capabilities

4) Water/weatherproof

5) No too heavy to wear around my neck

6) Paperless

 

I don't necessarily need a camera, a light ect, but if it came with one, I wouldn't complain.

 

Any pushes in the right direction would be great. If you have one you love, please let me know. I just really want to know what people are using and which would be the best for me.

 

I'm happy with my Oregon 600. Does everything on your list.

Don't know if it's best for you as you might have other priorities than I have.

 

I use free OSM/OCM maps and load caches as GGZ files and additional WPs as POI (avoids cluttering the WP list) via GSAK. An extra macro lets me put images on the GPS too. This gets me to 99% paperless just carrying a booklet for notes.

[+Abelwoman]

Thank you everyone for your input. This is great!

[+Naviprode]

Thank you everyone for your input. This is great!

Indeed - the Oregon 600 gives you the biggest bang for the bucks!