Garmin eTrex Legend 8 MB GPS with PC Cable

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Title : Garmin eTrex Legend 8 MB GPS with PC Cable
Author : Garmin
Release Date : 20010126
Binding : Electronics
Regular Price : $214.99
Amazon.com Price : $Sale (100 %)
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Editorial Reviews :
There are now enough handheld global positioning system (GPS) receivers on the market that you can be choosy when it comes to price, features, and design. Garmin--a leading manufacturer of car, boat, and personal GPS receivers--has a complete line of eTrex handheld receivers, with our Legend falling about midrange.
With WAAS support, the Legend offers extremely accurate readings (rated to within two to three meters). (For more on WAAS, see the Frequently Asked Questions section.) A good-sized screen--288 x 160 pixels--makes it easy to see location details, and the Legend redraws maps quickly when zooming in or out of a position.

Its 8 MB of memory means there is also plenty of room for waypoints, routes, and saved tracks. The Legend will hold up to 500 waypoints, complete with a name and graphical symbol, 20 routes with 50 waypoints each, and it contains slots for 10 saved tracks. You can also download maps from Garmin's MapSource CD-ROMs (thorough but expensive accessories for the GPS receiver) to see street-level or topographic detail (depending on the CD-ROM title).

But one of the most striking attributes of the Legend is its comfortable and efficient design. While it rests easily in the palm of either hand, it's most suited for the left hand, where its handy click-stick can be manipulated with the thumb. The click-stick works like the pencil-eraser nubbin on laptop PCs and is handy for moving through screen icons and menus. It also works as a button when pressed down.

The Legend is coated with a waterproof, rubberized plastic shell that grips nicely. Weighing in at only 5.3 ounces, it fits into a pocket or clips onto a belt loop, going almost unnoticed.

The internal trip computer of the Legend provided a range of data about our hikes and drives, including current speed, average speed, trip distance, and time traveled (both moving and stopped). For those interested in checking out their foot pace and distance traveled, it's a handy GPS to have in hand.

Our only major beef with the Legend is that the receiver sometimes seemed to grow weak. Even when it wasn't in WAAS mode (which can be tough to maintain a signal in), it dropped the signal from time to time. We even lost the signal once while walking along the streets of San Francisco--it seems that the medium-size buildings were enough to interfere with the reception.

But this only happened on a few occasions. Most of the time the well-designed Legend was able to keep us in touch with up to 12 GPS satellites for a strong-enough read to maintain a tight handle on our location. --J. Curtis

Buyer Reviews :
I have never owned a GPS unit before. I gave this one to myself for Christmas. I also bought the cigarette lighter DC cable (a huge plus for long car trips) and the case (not absolutely necessary, but handy).

As a neophyte to this whole business, I have nothing against which to compare the Garmin eTrex Legend. I chose it because there was a [$$$] rebate on it at the time, otherwise I was going to get the eTrex Venture. I am glad for the upgrade as this unit has 8MB of memory for map uploading.

I am still discovering things about the unit, and its sophistication and flexibility astound me. I think that these units are as useful and will become as common as cell phones, either in automobiles or on one's person. I recently had to go to Florida (I am from California) and it saved me half-a-dozen times from making wrong turns and creating a lot of frustration and lost time. Florida is flat and I am completely lost there as I do not know East from West nor North from South. I think that there is no directional instinct present in the higher primates. Or I am simply deficient in that area. Either way, the Etrex Legend was the most useful item I had with me (I had no cell phone).

This unit is WAAS enabled which means it can be accurate down to a three meter circle. I learned how to mark a route from the place I was staying to my mother's house. Once I had that route in place, there was no way I could go wrong. On the navigation screen the large course pointer would actually 'break' and point when I came to a turn I was supposed to make. If you use the 'Track' feature, the unit automatically creates Waypoints along a sort of breadcrumb trail. You can reverse the track and go in the opposite direction.

My only complaint is that you must use only Garmin Mapsource maps and each time you upload a new map the old one is automatically erased (don't be alarmed, however, because the basemap that comes installed with the unit is NEVER erased. Only the user-uploaded maps are erased during the procedure). Nonetheless, given the memory in the unit it would be nice if you could upload several different maps at a time and not lose the previously uploaded data. And the Mapsource maps leave something to be desired in their detail. For instance most of the street names in my hometown are not on the Mapsource map even though the streets themselves are there. But this is a minor quibble because in the end what you are really doing is going from one latitude/longitude position to another, and you can put in the names of streets in the form of Waypoints if you so choose.

Considering the [$$$] rebate I got from Garmin for this unit this thing is a steal. Anywhere around [$$$] is a pretty fair price for something so useful and so much fun.

(by Ned Wynn)

Features/Technical Specs :
* Global positioning system (GPS) receiver with built-in Americas basemap
* 8 MB of internal memory for map and data storage; PC cable included
* Accuracy to less than 3 meters with WAAS correction data
* Rocker switch on front panel for quick and accurate map panning
* Compatible with optional Garmin MapSource software for downloading maps and waypoint data

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