» Garmin eTrex Legend HCx Personal Navigator >> car gps systems, car navigation systems - Shop Compare and Reviews Store, Buy Cheap Best Prices on sale, review, price

Personal Navigator
I have had my eTrex for three months and use it mostly for geocaching. The unit works very well even with lots of foliage overhead. Battery life is reasonable, about 25 hours, and I use the usb cable connected to my laptop when getting ready for an outing and this powers the unit when attached. It does take a while to learn to use the unit. Like most products these days, the user manual leaves a lot to be desired. I needed to call Garmin twice to try to figure out why my unit was doing some strange things only to find out that I had not set the parameters for what I wanted the unit to do. Garmin customer service was exceptional. Now if they just had a better user manual they could eliminate a lot of calls to customer service! I would recommend getting a 12 volt power cord if you are going to use the unit in your vehicle just to save battery life. I ordered the handlebar mount to use on my motorcycle - will not work on my bike - my fault - something to check BEFORE you order! Play with it when you get it and open all the icons so you can program the unit for what you want it to do. I gave it 4 stars because the user manual is marginal. Also, you only get basic maps and not a lot of detail. You need to purchase additional maps like City Navigator to get detailed roads and this also helps the unit get you to where you want to go. The unit itself is probably a five star. I would buy again and would recommend to my friends. By the way - get at least a 2 GB micro card so you have lots of memory. I think Garmin has a down-loadable upgrade so you can use a 4 GB card - seems like overkill to me.

Perfect for beginners.
This GPSr is a great device for those wanting to start geocaching as a hobby. The hallmarks of this device are its ease of use and reliability.

The Right GPS for my needs!
I took a lot of time making my decision which Garmin to buy for my hiking and boat ventures. I have owned Garmin GPS's for over 15 years. I talked to friends who purchased GPS's in the last couple of years. I read all the reviews I could find. The Garmin eTrex Legend HCx Personal Navigator meets my needs best. I just spend 8 days in the Colorado Rockies' hiking and rafting the Arkansas River. I came home and back loaded my trip to my computer, this was an important part for me, I like to see where I have been, as well as know where I am. I found it easy to use, easy to setup, each to save my track logs and waypoints. The price was also important. One thing to always remember when you buy any GPS you will need to add other items to make it complete for your personal needs: TOPO Map software, extra MicroSD cards, 12 Volt Car Power Cable and Carrying Case.

Great Equipment
My husband and I purchased this for our son to go geocaching. We also purchased the kit to mount it on his bicycle, as he likes to take road trips. He was the last person in his group of geocachers to get a GPS unit and they all love his so much, they always use his. Our friends love it so much, they have decided they are going to replace their Lowrance model with this model. It is very easy to use and very accurate. It gets you within just a few feet of the cache. It seems fairly easy on batteries as well. I highly recommend this.

Joystick button issue!
I've used an eTrex H for years and decided it was time to upgrade to a newer model that would allow for uploading topo maps. I didn't need all the bells and whistles of the eTrex Vista HCx so it finally came down to the eTrex Legend HCx or the GPS 60CSx. The 60CSx was just a little to bulky for my needs and also doesn't allow for easy one handed operation like the eTrex models. So I settled on the eTrex Legend HCx and ordered one from Amazon to get the best price.

The GPS arrived from Amazon - so far so good. After reading the instruction manual and uploading some detailed topo maps for the Catskill Mountains I was looking forward to trying it out in the hills.

After using it in the hills I can report that the little joystick like button located on the front of the unit is a real PITA. If like me you slip your GPS into your pocket while hiking along before pulling it out every so often you will find that the joystick button gets knocked and has probably saved a waypoint that you didn't expect.

In summary the unit works great technically.....just in practice unless you plan to hold it in your hand ALL the time then expect to have some fun if the joystick button gets knocked about while you hike.

p.s. Notice to Garmin. Please recess it or allow user to disable the joystick button.