Garmin Etrex Legend GPS Receiver
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Etrex Legend GPS Receiver
Customer Review: Great Basic GPS for Historical & Genealogical Research
Summary: 5 Stars
Great Basic GPS for Historical & Genealogical Research
One of the strengths of GPS technology is the myriad uses of a hand held GPS device, ranging from hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, camping, and a host of other outdoor applications. Many hunters and fishermen also enjoy the many features of a good GPS device. I have even used my device to report nesting pairs of eagles and pollution sites.
While I also use my device for these other activities, I also use my GPS frequently in my historical and genealogical research. Selected examples include reporting (or finding) the precise location of a gravestone of interest in a very large cemetery; accurately reporting locations of gravestones or small family cemeteries that are located well off the road and in some cases completed overgrown with thick brush and coverage; using waypoint features to pin the boundaries of very early deeds or historic locations; doing field surveys of historic or family sites; translating historic locations back and forth between maps, aerial photographs, and actual boots-on-the-ground field surveys, and many similar applications. In one of my own applications, I have accurately reported the sites of over 79 grist mill locations dating from the late 1700s, and well as a number of very remote Civil War entrenchments. Many of these sites are now only accessible by kayak, canoe, or hiking in, and GPS makes finding theses sites a snap.
The Garmin eTrex Legend is a very affordable, nicely featured GPS unit for first-time users for not only a very wide range of traditional outdoor recreational activities, but all of the historical and genealogy applications I have listed.
* I liked the durable, compact, waterproof design; the easily understood menus and controls; and the fairly easy to read map displays. It feels great in my hand, and the battery life is very good.
* A major selling feature for me was 8mb of memory to hold plenty of waypoints, routes, tracks and such, as well as the ability to download a reasonable number of USGS topo maps or other mapping software. (Advanced users will need more storage)
* Users doing historical or genealogical research will want to download topo maps in order to achieve the full potential of this device.
* The unit comes with a handy lanyard and belt clip pouch, but I also bought a windshield mounting device, and also a mount for the handlebars on my mountain bike.
If you are a first time user without needing advanced features, this is a great GPS for not only your routine recreational use, but also for the historical and genealogical applications I listed above.
This was my GPS of choice for years and I highly recommend it to first time users. I moved up to a more advanced model with more technical features (60CSx), but I still carry my Garmin eTrex Legend in reserve and as a loaner for my field research partners.
CHT in Virginia
Customer Review: Nice entry-level unit
Summary: 4 Stars
I was given one of these units as a gift and I have been working with it for a couple of years now. I upgraded to a more capable and more expensive unit but I still use the eTrex Legend frequently. It is a fine entry-level GPS receiver (GPSr) for most applications.
First off, this is not a large and bulky unit but rather it fits nicely in the hand (or in a front pocket if desired). It is lightweight and the curves/shape do not make it uncomfortable to use.
In spite of being fairly small, the display is large enough to read clearly and the controls are fairly easy to use. There are a few buttons on the side of the unit as well as the "click stick" that facilitate navigating the menus and displays, but it is a good idea to read through the manual to get some idea of how these work. I took the unit out of the box and had no idea what to do or how to use it, but once I leafed through the manual it made good sense.
It takes some time to acquire the satellite fixes it needs to facilitate navigation. On average, it takes about 45 seconds to acquire a lock, which may or may not be acceptable to some people. For my purposes it is fine. That said, it does not take a lot to lose the fix - heavy canopy cover or even obstructing the reception by holding the unit with one's hand over the internal antenna can cause it to lose track, after which it cuts off to conserve battery power. So, this unit performs best under open sky or light cover, though I have had success even in very heavy cover.
The accuracy on this unit is quite good. I have seen it accurate to within 6 feet, which is excellent. It usually holds its accuracy fairly well, though sometimes it struggles when there is magnetic disturbance or heavy cover. It have difficulty in the car unless it is on the dashboard or near a window.
I use this unit almost exclusively for geocaching, and it has proven to be excellent for that purpose most of the time. It can hold up to 1,000 points and it has functions for managing waypoints. That said, my family and I connected it to the computer on a trip one time and used it to navigate from Virginia to Indiana, and it did a nice job of keeping up with the roads. Also, the batteries lasted from Washington DC to Indianapolis, under continuous use, about 12 hours.
The base map within is fine for *general* navigation but it is not very helpful for pinpointing. It will get you down the interstate and to major roads, but that's about it. Still, for a unit in its price range, that's reasonable. There's 8 MB of memory in the unit so more detailed maps can be loaded.
This unit has been dropped, stepped on, knocked off desks, sat on and otherwise abused, and it continues to work.
There are more powerful GPSrs that have more functionality, have a better display or have better reception in areas where this unit fails. Those units cost more. This is an entry level unit and it does quite well in that role.
Customer Review: The Best Way To Go For GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
The Etrex Line is by far the best handheld GPS for the money and size. There is a model that fits every user's needs and budget. Unless you need a magnetic compass and barometric altimeter, the Etrex Legend is probobly the best option. In addition to excellent waypoint and track management functions, the Legend features full mapping functions. The Unit includes a fairly detailed basemap of North America, but for more detailed mapping, data can be downloaded from a MapSource CD-ROM. These discs are availible in many flavors, from Waterway Details, to Topographical, to MetroGuide, which features address and business locating functions (Like Handheld Mapquest.com!)Downloading is easy, and thanks to the unit's high resolution LCD display, maps are suprisingly readable. The waterways disc features a complete database of aids to navigation, cataloging every bouy, daymark, and light in US waters.
As far as GPS functions, the unit preforms beutifully, maintaining a good position fix under moderate tree cover, and inside of a car. Heavy foliage can create a problem, but the unit performs better than most handheld GPS do in this situation. WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) increases accuracy to within 9 feet in good reception areas! Although this is at the expense of battery life. To save power, leave WAAS turned off and you will still get accuracy within 20 feet.
Because the unit uses 2 AA batteries instead of four, life is reduced; expect to change batteries at least every 14 hours, with the unit on continuously. Still, this is less often than my old garmin GPS 45, and that used four batts.
The user interface is very friendly, intuitive, and powerful. This is a great achivment, usually powerful interfaces are not user-freindly and vice versa. It bears quite a similarity to Operating Systems such as Windows and Macintosh, so if you know how to use the computer you are reading this with, you should be right at home. Besides the buttons for Page, Power/Light, Find, Zoom In/Out, there is a "Click Stick" as a pointing device. It works like a joystick or the trackpoint on a laptop to control the cursor on the screen. Pusing it in is like a mouse-click. One strage note on this: it is placed on the left side of the unit. This means that operating in with your'e right thumb blocks the screen. Many people think this is a mistake, making one handed operation with the right hand near impossible, but it makes goos sense to me: operate the GPS in your left hand, while steering the boat with your left. It is not that hard to learn to use the GPS with your left hand (if youre righty), so you can have your right hand free for other things.
In All, The Etrex Legend GPS is your best Buy in a handheld mapping GPS. If your'e looking for more features, check out the more expensive Etrex Vista and Garmin Gpsmap 76, or the very expensive handheld cartographic units, but if you just want a very good, inexpensive, handheld mapping GPS, The Legend is the best around.
Customer Review: eTrex Legend: Good Value for Those with Common Sense
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Legend from Amazon in August 2003 after a lot of research. It was and still is the best value in a small GPS. I also bought the Topo CD's several months later. I took the Legend everywhere, and used it almost daily.
The unit recently had intermittent failures, it is out of warranty and it is being retired. I had no issues with reception, acquisition time, reading the display, battery life or using it left handed. The Topo software could use an update but it makes the Legend much more useful. I bought a bike mount, definitely get one of those if you cycle.
The new color units have a USB connection, the Legend uses a serial cable. Not a big deal, but not all laptops have serial ports so consider that before you buy. (A USB-serial converter is available for a rather steep $50, almost half the cost of the Legend!) Data transfer isn't fast but you have to be chronically impatient to care about that.
The first intermittent failure on my unit was the joystick, it would not switch in the left direction, among other things, I could not select routes. That was annoying. The second was a pattern of thin lines across the display, the third was a hard failure, a black display on boot up. The black display rendered the Legend completely useless during a 4 day trip in the Adirondacks, fortunately not on the trail. I almost tossed it but when we got home it began functioning again...another intermittent problem.
Don't ever rely on one of these things for navigation in the wilderness, the product quality is inadequate. You will be foolishly testing the Aerospace Corollary of Murphy's Law (whatever can go wrong, will...and at the worst possible time) by depending on it for essential navigation. Carry a compass and map or be prepared to get lost and die after the Legend fails.
My advice to those considering purchase is to go for it, but keep your receipt because there's a good chance it will break and need warranty service. After the warranty, it's an expendable. Forget about factory repairs, those are $90.
I'm replacing the Legend with a Vista, I really don't expect better quality but I do like the bigger memory and the altitude profile display will be fun to play with. The most practical decision would have been to get another Legend but that's rather boring. The Magellans are getting better but they don't have the screen resolution and ergonomics of the Garmins.
The Etrex color units are quite nice but way too expensive. When the Vista is broken and out of warranty maybe the price will drop and color will be my replacement. Or perhaps another manufacturer will develop a higher quality GPS with the features, size and display of the Garmin.
Overall, I'd recommend the Legend. It's a good value, provided you have the common sense to understand and manage its limitations.
Customer Review: Much better than expected
Summary: 5 Stars
Initially I was looking around for a inexpensive GPS receiver to act as a telemetry unit for my R/C vehicles. At first I was seriously considering the basic "Yellow" eTrex, but after looking over the features and the cost differential, I thought that the Legend was a better choice. Thing is, with the additional features, there comes the additional uses :-)The reason I chose the Garmin unit was due both the size (about the size of a cell phone or a pack of cigarettes) and weight (5 oz), which is perfect for my needs.
Performance wise, this unit has exceeded my expectations by a considerable margin. Before my purchase, I was reading some of the other reviews, and it seemed that many of the other purchasers were suggesting that the unit works best on clear days in open areas. While that level of performance was what I basically was after, just for laughs I decided to see how well it could do under less than ideal circumstances. One day I took it out while it was a combination of fog and light rain, and it still tracked OK. There was some hint of signal degradation, but nothing significant. Next, I took it under a tree canopy during the same afternoon. That actually did cause a noticable drop in reception... accuracy went from my units average of 25 feet to 65 feet, but it did still track. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised! Accuracy on a clear day is usually within 25 feet, although I have had it drop to 15 feet on especially nice days.
Durability is not an issue. As noted above, I had it out in a light rain; no problems. Likewise, I had it mounted to the rear spoiler of one of my nitro powered buggies while running it around in a local park, and it didn't even phase it.
Screen is small, but the images are crisp and personally I can live without the color. While I could see how the size could be an issue for some, I found it to be acceptable. Perhaps Garmin or someone else could create a screen magnification tool like that used with the Nintendo Game Boys? I think that would resolve the issues that older users or people with less than good vision might have with this unit.
The other area that I was pleasantly surprised with was overall ease of use. The unit itself is pretty intuative for the most part. Most of the manual is devoted to pre-plotting navigation courses, and correspondingly this is where the lump of issues is probably going to be for the end-user. Still, I didn't have any problems in this area. Actual interface to my PC was painless. Plug in the interface cord to the COM port, hook in the GPS reciever, and that's it. Actual download times from the PC to the GPS unit is a bit slow side, taking about 30 minutes or so to load an 8 Mb regional map into the unit.
Overall, I have been quite happy with this GPS, and would not hesitate to recommend it.