Had previous experience with a E-trex and bought the III+ for flying mainly. Down here in Paraguay I fly small single engine planes and the III+ is great for that pourpose, cheaper than the Pilot and for flying cross country (where you don´t need the jeppessen database) is great, accurate and versatible. A keeper and can use it while backroading in my 4X4. I don´t recomend it thoug for hikking, better off with the e-trex design. For overall user is graet, now if you´re a pilot flying a IFR buy the Pilot, hikkers, buy something else

Customer Service

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E Trex

The GPS III+ is a great generalist gps - maybe the best. I use mine for hiking, sailing, flying, and to provide gps data for a laptop mapping program when I am driving. The III + has another life as the III+ Pilot, which is why there is a table for fuel burn calculations, and the page with the road that shows you which way to turn to get back on course - it's really a course deviation indicator. Unfortunately, none of the etrex models have those aviation features and are more limited for my purposes. My batteries seem to last longer than others have indicated, even with the backlight on. My only complaint is that the memory is limited, although even in a place like the Washington Metro area, I can load several counties and D.C. I also have a Vista and my son has a Legend, but I will keep the old III+ for as long as it works, because it is so versatile.

Customer Service

I dropped mine off some rocks and into the water, after which it would not lock onto satellites. I sent it to Garmin for repair during the last month of the warranty. They repaired it free, replaced the case, the keyboard, the insides, the antennae,(at least that is what the repair order said - maybe they just sent a new one.) and included fresh batteries. Was I impressed or what.

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Garmin GPS 12, Garmin Summit, Garmin Vista, Garmin Legend

The III+ is sort of half fish, half fowl. I got mine because I wanted a dual purpose car & outdoors GPS, but it didn't work out. Too big and expensive for backpacking use, it doesn't have the memory capacity to compete with modern car receivers. I can vouch for the comment that the power button comes on while inside the pack, and it's too bulky to go on your belt. It's due to be replaced by Garmin's GPS V this year which has a lot more memory. Unless you can find a unit on major sale, you'd probably better off with a dedicated car GPS and a small inexpensive backpacker model.

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None

The GPS III+ is a terrific all around product. Mapping capabilities make it enormously useful in a car or on a motorcycle and small size make it equally valuable in the backcountry.

The user configurable pages are tremendous - you can even use the GPS as a voltmeter in your car or on your bike. Battery timer is useful and even turns off when the GPS is operated on external power. A well designed, well executed product.

Customer Service

I've had outstanding service from Garmin each and every time I've needed their help.

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Garmin GPS II+

Bought my Garmin GPSIII+ more than a year ago and have fallen in love with it. I have taken it all over the world and it has kept me on course through all type of weather and terrain always. I have used it in my car, mountain bike, boating, and while hiking with very minor problems (vibration from the bike required some thread-lock on the antenna screw). A tough little unit. My only complaints is the need for more RAM (only 1.4 Megs) for the uploadable maps.

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gps12x, gpsII, gpsII+

I purchased this particular unit because of the versatility that it offers. I can use the III+ on my mountain bike, off-road dirt bike as well as on the dash of my car or just as a handheld. You can store upto 20 routes, with upto 30 waypoints in each route in the memory as well as 500 waypoints. There is a PC cable included with the unit so you can download software upgrades online and download detailed street or topographical maps off of the Mapsource CDs. I have been very pleased with my unit, it is lightweight and easy to use. While you do have to learn how to get to all the different screens only using a few buttons, it wouldn't be a handheld unit if Garmin added a button for each unique screen. I my opinion, it is a very good buy.

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None

Purchased at EMS on sale for 299. First tried EMap unit, piece of junk would not track satellites at all. The three plus is amazing however tracks even in the woods and with the new military precision is accurate to twenty feet. Great feature to download maps off your computer to unit, can download road or topo maps with trails. One draw back is the memory is limited and not expandable. also maps not included and expensive, unit has built in highway maps only. Can get about 25 square miles of info, enough for most trips. great trak back feature so you cannot get lost.
overall excellent unit, water resistant, light and compact.

Agree with the previous posts. This is a vehicle GPS, not a backpacker's tool. When out of the car, I get only about 9.5 hours of life per 4 AA batteries. Garmin says the low battery life is due to the higher power requirements of the hi-res screen and mapping displays.

Customer Service

Friendly and helpful if you have questions

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Garmin eTrex Summit

At almost 3/4 of a pound, this receiver is designed for vehicle travelers, not for backpackers. For hiking it is entirely too heavy and sensitive to dust and moisture. The map features are useless to anyone traveling in desolate areas or hiking trails. An eTrex will give you everything you need to hike cross-country with half the weight and at a much lower price. Better dust & moisture protection as well, and the eTrex only uses 2 AA batts.

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Garmin eTrex
Magellan 315

The GPS3+ is great- Been one of the best high tech toys I've bought in a long time. This thing tops out on the way cool wow factor scale.
The map download and display feature is great. I've used the GPS3+ on Mountaineering trips, Off-roarding and on business travel, domestic and to the Far East.
I feel this is one of the best GPS units available today which has a good balance of complete mapping features, way point and route memories, etc. While being small enough to pack along as a hand held unit and just big enough to be useful on the car dashboard.
I have had no problem with battery life. One set of four AA batteries last allot longer then I expected.

I have only two complaints on this model.
First, the display back light will chew up the batteries in minutes, thus I don't use the back light unless I'm plugged into a 12 volts external supply.
Second and most important, the 1.4M map memory is WAY to small. I can only load half of a metroploitan area into the GPS3+ at a time, making it not very handy If I don't know the exact map areas I need. This is often the case when on business travel to new areas.

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Magellan