Garmin eTrex Waterproof Hiking GPS Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I recently bought an E-Trex primarily because of the low cost of the unit. I am very satisfied with my purchase.I am surprised how rugged it feels and it appears to have a little more knock-ability than some other handheldGPS units I have used. I would have preferred a GPS with cross track errorcapability because I am also a recreational pilot, however the latestsoftware revision (1.07) does show your position relative to the track linebetween two current waypoints on the map screen and this can be used tocorrect cross track error.
I imagined the lack of buttons would haveproved to be frustrating however this is not the case as the menus arelogical and concise.Alphanumeric entry is via drop down menus, which letyou quickly select numbers and letters for waypoint entry.Up to 500waypoint entries are available and names are limited to combinations of upto six letters/numbers and there are many icons to choose from.You canquickly mark your present position as a waypoint by holding down one of thebuttons for a second. It has all the usual nav formats and measurements canbe displayed in Nautical (knots included), Statute (yards not included) andMetric.
I have used it bushwalking through fairly dense scrub and treecanopy and it did tend to track satellites well.There were a few shortoccasions where it lost signal in particularly dense cover (to be expectedwith a relatively small internal antenna) however it recovered within aboutten seconds in lighter cover.I would not recommend relying on the GPScompass feature in dense cover because it did have trouble maintainingheading information updates in low satellite coverage areas.I am notdisappointed with its performance in dense bush, and as anyone familiarwith units with small antennas will know, it is just something you livewith.I was using a magnetic compass in particularly dense areas where Iexperienced poor coverage and it is good navigation practice to use amagnetic compass and map in conjunction with your GPS anyway. In light andopen cover I routinely get 8 metre accuracy and sometimes as good as 5metre accuracy.If I turn it on outside near my last fix it usually gets alock in about 10 seconds.
It maintains accuracy on the passenger seat ofthe car and is even better up on the dash.It gives a good presentation ofspeed, heading, time and distance to go on one big clear screen and thebacklighting is very good.It has a nice rubbery casing and this makes itideal to wedge it in an upright position between the dash mat and thewindscreen while I am driving along.
I decided the genuine Garmin dataupload cable was too expensive and made my own lead from a cannibalisedmobile phone charger.Uploading the latest free Garmin software revision(mine was shipped with v1.05) was a snap and I was very impressed with howeasy it was to update.The new software has some nifty features worthgetting.I have used some shareware utilities such as "GARtrip" and"GPSutility" to upload waypoints from scanned paper maps and streetdirectories, and you can edit, upload and download waypoint info and trackinfo.It is obviously faster to modify waypoint info from your computerkeyboard and then upload the new waypoints in seconds. It has anon-volatile memory so flat batteries don't present any risk of losing yourstored data.
Any disappointments?Only a couple of minor ones.It isvery hard to tell if the backlight is on in sunlight, and because ittoggles on and off by momentarily pressing the power button, you canaccidentally bump it on and be wasting batteries.You can't scroll the maparound; you can only zoom in and out.This makes it difficult to reviewyour recorded trail in any detail, and you need to zoom out and losedefinition to see much of your trail.It gets cluttered with waypoint infowhen you zoom out trying to see your whole trail although you can turn thewaypoint display off.
In summary, it is a compact gem of a GPS with a bigscreen and for the price I believe it represents excellent value.Makeyourself a data lead or buy one from Garmin because the sharewarecomputer-based utilities are cool.Two thumbs up.

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Product Description:
All the power of a 12 parallel channel GPS receiver in a palm-sized package / Waterproof / Stores up to 500 waypoints All five buttons are placed on the sides, for simple, one-handed operation that doesn't obstruct your view of the display Bright yellow case makes it easy to locate in the boat or backpack And the eTrex is waterproof, so a splash or dunk is not a watery grave for the eTrex The high-performance, GPS receiver runs 18 hours on two AA batteries Even under canopy forest conditons, the eTrex maintains a tight satellite lock Stores up to 500 waypoints with graphic icons Exclusive TracBack feature provides a reverse course home