Garmin eTrex Legend GPS NavigatorThe Garmin eTrex Legend is highly regarded by adventure seekers and outdoor sportsmen because of its full features and versatility. Garmin eTrex Legend GPS ReceiverThere 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 the Legend falling about midrange. With Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) support, the eTrex Legend offers extremely accurate readings (rated to within 2 to 3 meters). A good-size 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 Pros
Cons
GARMIN eTrex Legend Hcx GPS ReceiverNeither thick foliage, nor deep canyons phase the rugged eTrex Legend HCx. Its high-sensitivity receiver holds a GPS signal in the toughest environments. Similar to the Legend Cx, this handheld navigator also has a bright color screen, microSD card slot and automatic routing for wherever adventure takes you. With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, eTrex Legend HCx locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The advantage is clear - whether you're in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on Legend HCx to help you find your way when you need it the most. Adding maps is easier than ever with Legend HCx's microSD card slot. Conveniently plug in optional preloaded microSD cards with MapSource data for your land and sea excursions. Just insert a MapSource card with detailed street maps, and Legend HCx provides turn-by-turn directions to your destination. The card slot is located inside the waterproof battery compartment, so you don't have to worry about getting it wet. Like the rest of the eTrex series, Legend HCx is lightweight and compact - the perfect size for all your travels. Garmin eTrex Legend CX Color Mapping Handheld GPSWith the Legend Cx, Garmin has updated a much-loved device with expandable memory on a microSD card so you can load optional map data for your hiking, hunting, and other outdoor excursions. Add to that a bright, full-color TFT display, automatic routing, and long, 36-hour battery life, and you've got a great companion for your next outdoor or boating adventure. You can use the Legend Cx's memory card slot with preprogrammed microSD cards from Garmin (sold separately) that provide topographic maps, city streets, and nautical charts. In fact, the unit is compatible with most Garmin MapSource products, including BlueChart, City Navigator, U.S. Topo 24K, and U.S. Topo and Recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot Spots. The unit comes preloaded with an Americas autoroute basemap that provides automatic routing capabilities, including highways, exits, and tide data. You can even get turn-by-turn directions when you're driving, and an integrated trip computer provides odometer, stopped time, moving average, overall average, total time, max speed, and more. As on all eTrex units, the primary controls are located on the side of the unit, so you can operate it with one hand. An innovative rocker switch on its face makes inputting data easy, and with it you can scroll through menus or pan the map page. Fast USB connectivity makes loading charts and maps quick and easy, while navigation instructions can be shared with repeaters, plotters, and autopilots using NMEA protocols through the dedicated serial port. Additionally, the case is water resistant to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (can be submerged in one meter of water for 30 minutes). Another key feature of the Legend Cx is the 10,000-point automatic track log; 20 saved tracks (500 points each) let you retrace your path in both directions. There's also a large-numbers option for easy viewing, as well as a dual-position display mode. Lastly, the unit includes built-in celestial tables for best times to fish and hunt, plus sun and moon calculations. If you like the features of the Legend Cx but require an electronic compass and a barometric altimeter, check out the Garmin eTrex Vista Cx. Garmin eTrex Legend C Color Handheld GPSGarmin's pocket-sized eTrex Legend C handheld GPS unit enhances Garmin's popular eTrex Legend with a color screen, automatic routing, and longer battery life, making it one of the smallest, least expensive waterproof products to combine a color TFT display with advanced GPS auto-routing abilities. You won't miss a thing when you take this lightweight, easy-to-use handheld out hiking, biking, boating, or geocaching. The unit offers a bright, transflective color TFT display for easy daylight viewing, automatic route generation, off-route recalculation, turn-by-turn directions with alert tones, and icon-driven menus for finding points of interest (when combined with Garmin's optional MapSource CDs). You'll get up to 36 hours of use on two AA batteries. The unit offers 24 MB of internal memory and its mini-USB port lets you download map data rapidly from Garmin's library of MapSource CDs (not included) with your PC. You'll enjoy outstanding accuracy of less than three meters (10 feet) when the device is enabled to receive enhanced GPS signals from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in the United States. Like on all eTrex units, the primary controls are located on the side of the unit, so you can operate it with one hand. An innovative rocker switch on its face makes inputting data easy, and with it you can scroll through menus or pan the map page. Other key features of the eTrex Legend C include:
The Legend C includes a built-in, permanent basemap, Americas Recreational, which cannot be altered. The Americas Recreational Routable Basemap v2 includes the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America, and covers an area from longitude 30 to 180 degrees west and latitude from 60 degrees south to 75 degrees north. It includes a high-level, worldwide map featuring borders and major cities. Standard map coverage includes oceans, rivers, lakes greater than 30 square miles, lakes greater than five square miles in the U.S. and southern Canada, lakes greater than 10 square miles in central and northern Canada, principal cities, some smaller cities and towns, major interstates, principal highways, political boundaries (state and international borders), major airports, and a database of Interstate exits for the Federal Interstate highway system. This last includes many establishments within about 0.25 mile of exits, including restaurants; diesel and gas stations; hotels, motels, and inns; overnight RV parking; dumps; campgrounds; truck stops; medical facilities; shopping and outlet malls; ATMs; and many more such attractions. Garmin eTrex Legend CX Hand-Held Personal GPS Navigation Unit Package includes a Mini Accessory Bag / TOPO MAPS
The Garmin eTrex Venture CX, like its brother the Garmin eTrex Legend CX, makes for a durable, versatile recreational GPS unit that is likely to become indispensible. Unlike its brother however, the Garmin eTrex Venture CX lacks the bells and whistles, like microSD card and USB connection that make the former a bit more expensive. The Garmin eTrex Venture CX comes ready to use right out of the box, and comes preloaded with America’s Recreational Routing Basemap. The Garmin eTrex Venture CX is set apart from other recreational GPS units by its impressively bright, full-color TFT display. Maps, atlases and other valuable information to be accessed—even at night. Experts like the Garmin eTrex Venture CX for its user-friendliness. While many will be attracted to upgraded models for their additional PC input, the Garmin eTrex Venture CX is ready to go and doesn’t come with the baggage and upkeep that a PC recreational GPS unit does. Users like the strength of the Garmin eTrex Venture CX. For those familiar with earlier recreational GPS units, standing around in open spaces awaiting a signal was practically a rule. Not so with the Garmin eTrex Venture CX. For those who want to skip the complexities of PC input and use, the Garmin eTrex Venture CX comes ready to use, and is priced to please. Garmin eTrex Legend HCx High-Senstivity Color Mapping Handheld GPSWith its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver, eTrex Legend HCx locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The advantage is clear whether youre in deep woods or just near tall buildings and trees, you can count on Legend HCx to help you find your way when you need it the most. Adding maps is easier than ever with Legend HCx's microSD card slot. Conveniently plug in optional preloaded microSD cards with MapSource data for your land and sea excursions. Just insert a MapSource card with detailed street maps, and Legend HCx provides turn-by-turn directions to your destination. The card slot is located inside the waterproof battery compartment, so you don't have to worry about getting it wet. Like the rest of the eTrex series, Legend HCx is lightweight and compact the perfect size for all your travels.
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