dc 30 or 40?

[cliffhanger]

I'm sure this has been beat to death but...I'm finally gonna bite the bullet and get my first gps tracker. Should I get the 320 bundle with dc 40's or the 320 and get dc 30's? Is the 320 that much better than the 220? Cause I can get the 220 for about $270 new.
thanks

[magnuml]

I just got a garmin a couple months ago and got a 220 with a DC 20 collar. LOVE IT. Now i have added 3 DC 40 collars and a long range antenna for the 20 and LOVE IT even more. I know from the people i hunt with that the 220 and 320 are not worth the difference in money. " Just what they said"  As far as the DC 30 collars go i have asked a lot of people because on E-bay they sell for more than a New DC 40 used. I have seen DC 30 collars as high as 277 dollars. What i found out is the people wanting them usually have longer range dogs ( Hound hunter this paticular person) and claim they get better range than the 40. A few told me they did not notice a difference and liked the 40's better. ( shorter range hunters ) reading reviews online they say the 40 is better and the chrging on the 30's can be unreliable.. A design flaw because of dirt.? So i don't know.. Great thing about them, you can use any collar with either one.. I do know that i will be calibrating my compass everytime i start a new hunt. Makes a difference on the communication between the collar and the hand held some how.  Maybe someone else on here can help you that who has more experience than i do. I do know go to E-Bay and buy a Topo map card insted of doing it yourself, They are 18 bucks with free shipping. Saves a lot of headache.. I got better deals on long range antennas and cases also for my handheld.. I am a Garmin rookie ( Used it twice) and for this Middle age hunter i don't see how it could get any better short of getting the dogs to drag the hog back to the truck and load it up after catching it..lol. Some Awesome deals on E-bay and some sellers will give you a store receipt so you can register them for their garmin warrantees. Garmin with not warrantee any product without a store receipt and has a clause about auctions. Good luck and enjoy.

[easttexasoutlaw33]

If your worried about the money  then go with the 220. I prefer the 320 because of the added features and things you can do with it. I prefer the dc 30 even though i have 6 40's. I get 25% better range with my 30 with the standard antenna then i get with the 40s with tuff skins. Either setup will serve you well its all opinion. The 40's though are much easier to charge and keep the ports clean

[cliffhanger]

what are the biggest feature differences?

[hansonw]

I prefer 30s over 40s but I have a 220 and my buddy has a 320 when we go hunting he has my dogs on his and I have his on mine. I don't even look at my 220 unless we split up. The 320 with google earth is hard to beat. Bc you know exactly where them dogs are. 220 works great but to me google on one is worth the extra money. I use my iPhone with google earth if needed but a lot easier in one device.

[cliffhanger]

what benefit does google earth have over topo map, I'm completely in the dark about em, do you upload topos to the unit or an sd card?

[NLAhoghounds]

Ive got a dc 30 & a 40 both with long range antennas and in the woods the dc 30 works better...has much longer range...but the design of the charger is PISS POOR, u have to clean the contacts and wiggle it around and if where the charger slides onto the coller gets messed up ive had to tape it down...but the dc40s charger is all good IMO so whatever road u decide to go down there are going to be ups and down. And i have the the 220 and it works fine for me

[hansonw]

The benefit is that You can see everything. Like new roads or paths. New fields, hardwoods, cutovers and sloughs. Example we went tonight and ran into a group of pigs. We caught two right there. Well two dogs relayed on two different pigs. I looked on my 220 and new about where they were. But then looked on the 320 and one was in the middle of an old air strip 1.7 miles away and the other was in a 60 acre duck hole. I put the garmins up and went and caught both pigs. It's not that it tracks any better it's just easier with a satellite image. Also it has to update it more on te handheld because it is showing my fields plowed and a new lane we just pushed when google earth on my phone and computer is an older image where this one is with in the last week.

[jeskyn]

We have a man that works on the collars around here and he said when you update a 20 or 30 you essentially have a 40 then.

[bob]

I have a 220 and a 320 , 6 dc30s and one dc40 , I upgraded all the antennas on the collars to tuff skins and havent had any problems , when I was using the 220 and the dc 30s [ 3yr old unit ] I was loosing my dogs a lot , my buddy had a 320 and would pick my dogs up sometimes 20 minutes before I did on my 220 , that got irratating so I got the 320 and new long range antennas and its been doing fine , my buddy has a 220 and dc 30s and its been loosing his dogs a lot here lately and hes talking about upgrading to the 320 ,

[Black Smith]

I use DC 40's my buddy uses 30's and there is not much difference in them we both have the tuff skin anttena from buzzard roost and hand held anttena's we have no problem with any of them!!!! and we both have 220's