Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Simple, accurate and cheap ... saved [me] first time out!
Just like two out of every five "guys" on the planet, owning a GPS (really cool compass)was a must..."I can't live with-out one". I picked up the "e-trex" vanilla flavored, hiking, biking and trail version. My intent was to use it in my truck, a little added nav equipment for map reading (make long trips less boring). The basic e-trex lacks the memory for *real travel* logistics(car excursions). A three hour trip ate 98% of it's memory and 70+% of it's battery life. I must add however, my expectations were minimal, given it's price. It calculates your speed better then your speedometer, frightening!!! Make no mistake, you are being tracked!!! As far as bearing, speed, travel time, the basics, this little toy is a treat. It saved [me] when I became lost in the middle of Farmington, CA. not long ago. The sun was down, the ground flat and I... backwards. I remebered the e-trex after about two hours of endless rights and lefts (almost ended up in Yosemite!!!), fired that bad-boy up and was on Highway 99 in 20 minutes, headed home. Paid for itself that night. I highly recommend the basic e-trex as a very basic navigational aide. It does everything it's designed to and does it well. It's also a great "starter" for learning about GPS systems. *Note: This thing tracked my rate of speed to the .5 of a mile and was right on target, if you register one with a serial number, use your best friends name!!! Happy trecking...
Dave
Rating: - Etrex The most bang for your buck!
The Etrex is an excellent GPS for the money, it is easy to use and works very well. If the one you puchase does not have the latest software go on line with Garmin and download the 2.14 software package for "Etrex" while your there download or print out the new instruction book, It is extensive and you will soon be an expert navigator and amaze your friends. The model 12 is also good with some desireable features the Etrex does not have. You will need the latest software for it too. Happy Navigating! Steve.
Rating:  - My first GPS
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 $50 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 descoving 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 $50 rebate I got from Garmin for this unit this thing is a steal. Anywhere around $200 is a pretty fair price for something so useful and so much fun.
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