Garmin Etrex Legend GPS Receiver by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $197.87 You Save: $2.12 (1%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $72.99 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin Etrex Legend GPS Receiver
Digital camera Review: Best portable GPS out there
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had an E-Trex Legend for over two years. I think it is fantastic device. I use the Garmin USA topographic maps. That 8MB memory can store a lot of maps. I only use lithium batteries and the unit will run in the tracking mode for well over 15 hours. I also download to DeLorme maps on my computer. I have used the GPS in Europe twice. Although I do not have European maps, the tracks are still displayed on Garmin's mapsource software. The only downside is that the small aerial makes the unit lose signal in the mountains sometimes. I also have the Garmin mount for my mountain bike and it is great to watch speed, elevation, distance travelled and direction on one display.Digital camera Review: Better than I expected
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this GPS to take it with me on my of road motorcycle, the recepcion its great even though I'm carrying in my fanny pack with other tools. I also like the way you can personalize each page.Digital camera Review: Better than expected
Summary: 5 Stars
Bottom line: I love this gadget. Even though I had downloaded and skimmed through the documentation before buying it, I was surprised at how well it worked and at all the optional features it had. First, about the basic GPS features: It works great, locks onto satellites quickly and shows your position in a matter of seconds. The amount of map detail was surprising?"It doesn??t just have the main Interstate highways, but also all the major surface streets. And that??s not just for the USA, but Canada, Mexico and obscure towns in South America too. And although it??s not advertised, the built-in map has country outlines and major cities for Europe, Asia and Africa as well.
About the only disappointment I had in this department was that although the map had a lot of detail for the streets around my part of Atlanta, the Chattahoochee River was completely missing. However, the map does show the Mississippi flowing through St. Louis, so at least some rivers are present.
I found the usability to be excellent. With just five buttons and a joystick, it??s very easy to find your way around all the features and drill down into the various menus and options. The joystick is a brilliant idea, and I found I could work the main functions while holding the unit in my left hand and jogging.
My major overall disappointment was with the software integration on my laptop. As noted elsewhere on Amazon.com, DeLorme??s Street Atlas software has an abominable user interface, so I hoped this GPS device would work well with Microsoft??s Streets & Trips 2003. Alas, that was not the case. The only thing Streets and Trips shows is a little car icon on the map showing your position, and that??s not even real time?"it only updates every 15 seconds. That may not sound like a long time, but when you??re trying to make a decision at a confusing intersection, it can matter. Streets & Trips doesn??t even show ??bread crumbs,? the trail on the map of where the GPS devices knows it??s been.
Although DeLorme??s Street Atlas is almost unusable due to the bizarre user interface, its integration with GPS devices is much better. The GPS updates the map position in real time, so you can actually see yourself moving down the highway, instead of having the jerky jumps that Microsoft Streets & Trips displays. Also, Delorme will talk to you and tell you when to turn to keep on your route, and it accepts voice input commands as well. So I keep a current version of each software package on my laptop, using Microsoft Streets & Trips for its ease of use in basic mapping and routing functions, and Street Atlas for GPS purposes while in the car.
So in summary, the eTrex Legend generally functions very well, is easy to use, and provides a lot of capability for the price.
Digital camera Review: Beware - this unit may need a software upgrade
Summary: 1 Stars
Aside from the relatively poor sensitivity of this unit (it really needs a clear view of the sky to be reliable), I found that the screen on my unit occasionally went blank when reception was poor and WAAS was turned on. The screen would stay frozen and the only way to unfreeze it was to pull the batteries out and restart the unit. I was told by Garmin tech support that I needed a software upgrade, even though my unit was less than a year old. Unfortunately the cable supplied with the unit didn't mate with my 2 yr. old Toshiba laptop, so now I'm supposed to go out and buy an adapter. Garmin refused to take the unit back and update the software at their factory. I don't have much confidence that the software upgrade will fix the problem, so I don't think I'm going to try it. I'll probably just have to run it with WAAS disabled, which is a major disappointment.Digital camera Review: Big value in a small package
Summary: 4 Stars
The eTrex has performed flawlessly for us. Especially useful for geocaching, the ability to upload detailed topology has helped greatly. The layout of the buttons and mini-joystick make using the eTrex easy. Zooming in to 20 feet is a great help, and the large on-screen navigation compass makes it easy to find the target.