The e-trex is an excellent choice for a gps. Mine lasted through 2 years of pretty regular use (tons of hiking and getting dropped, sea kayaking and getting wet, getting dragged against walls climbing, that sort of thing) without a problem. Then one night before a climb up Grays Peak in March it simply wouldn't turn on. $60 repair at Garmin, very straightforward. A better option would be to buy it at REI the first time since they guarantee 100% satisfaction on all purchases. Anyway, I found it very useful when used in conjunction with a compass. For example: beginning a hike up to the top of Campbell Peak, we parked our car a ways below treeline, and I marked the spot in the e-trex. Once we were at the summit I turned it on, and e-trex gave me our bearing relative to the car, and I turned it off again and used the compass to follow that bearing through a few miles of forest w/o trail to a point about 10 feet east of our car. To do this it was necessary to turn on the gps 4 or 5 times, each for about 30 seconds during the course of an 8 hour day. Little tricks like this will allow you to get literally years of life out of the same pair of batteries on your e-trex unless you wind up having to navigate through a whiteout - something for which the gps would be invaluable. Before I actually sent the unit to be repaired at Garmin I replaced it immediately with a Garmin Geko at REI to be used for some trips right away. The Geko has many faults (exposed power button so it turns itself on in your pack, lack of certain UTM grid systems - a discovery I made in Canada while trying to find my exact position on a map - and a case which isn't water proof, a discovery which I made after the same trip in canada when I took it out of the pack after being rained on for a few days) which make its lighter weight and cheaper cost not worth it. I traded the Geko for a new e-trex, and the one I sent to Garmin should be back in a week or two, so I will soon have two functional e-trex units, one with a lifetime warranty from REI. I think this is a pretty surefire navigation system for mountaineering, especially in environments where whiteouts at altitude or in bad weather are a possibility. I highly reccomend the e-trex, and would say that getting a GPS book from the library and learning how to use it well, and then buying a backup GPS for big trips is a very practical means of navigation pretty much anywhere in the world (much more efficient than carrying hundreds of wands for example). Anyway, I hope this information helps somebody make a decision about buying a GPS.

Customer Service

Good, but their flat repair rate ($59) is a little steep. It would be nice if the unit had a warranty that lasted longer than a year. I give it 5 stars because I believe that a GPS is an essential tool, and because I believe that the e-trex is the most practical GPS on the market for outdoor navigation, even though mine broke.

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Garmin Geko

I have had this gps for almost four years and put it to the test a countless amount of times. I have used it in the desert, on boats, in the redwoods, canyons, and even in NYC to find our way back to our parking space. It has been dropped, stepped on, submerged in water, scraped on every side while climbing and still looks almost new and keeps accuracy as close as 9ft. Recently several friends and I got drunk and thought it would be a good idea to hike up and around several of the tall buttes in Monument Valley. We got lost and it turn pitch black dark and the wind was not only viciously stong but cold as well. There was no trail and no lights indicating where our tent was. The good thing about the e-trex is that not only can you return the same way, but in places like the desert you can set it up so that it will draw b-line back to where you started. My friends were a bit nervous when I suggested that we follow the b-line that the GPS had drawn out for us instead of going back the same way. Neverless, I had used the GPS before to get me out of worse situations than this and I trusted it completely. Not only did we not have to hike back up and down tall rocky hills but we got back to camp in less than half the time. I can't begin to tell you the number of features this thing has. Don't think about it just buy it.

Customer Service

The way this thing is built I doubt I will ever need it.

This has got to be the best value ever! I don't understand why anyone would need anymore. It gives you tons of stats, you can download and upload routes and waypoints just like the more expensive models. yeah, the interface is not as sophisticated but it tells ya where you are and where you need to go. "That'll do pig, that'll do,"

he i bought the garmin etrex for a compleet different idea .. i race model boats , ofshore style deepvees and catamaran .. the etrex is waterproof and works perfect to messure speed inside the hull of the boat .. great think is .. i can also see how long i run the boat , how many miles i run it and what the topspeed was .. passing u at the pond with 54 mph is impressive for a 43 inch boat .! oohh i use it for skiing too .. topspeed downhill at 68 mph . tears in my eyes .. and for all those guys who dont believe it messure altitude , it does .. and it does a great job.. on top of the mountains its mosly 1 ore 2 ffet of , but thats it .. its quite accurate ! best think to messure .. i will take it with me next snow holiday !

What a great tool. I mostly use this hunting, and it has gotten me out of the thickest swamps well after dark without ever losing its course. I'm thouroughly impressed with the performance and ease of use of this gps...all for around $100, it can't be beat.

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Used the same GPS owned by a friend, decided I had to have one of my own.

etrex is fantastic, does all i want of it. great for marking a crag. link with lap top or PC and autoroute or mapsource & entter another world of map reading. cables are expensive but not if you contact www.lynks.co.uk they really are the tops when it comes to cables. ask Norma, she is very helpful. very good quality too.

Customer Service

garmin are quick to reply to anything you ask of them.

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compus & map :-)

Bike mounted GPS is quite reliable and is quite good at getting reception through foliage coverage compared with others. I believe the GPS results better than my previous generation Magellan. Acquistion is fairly fast at about 2 minutes. Can be used inside of a car for navigation. I use with Steet Atlas 6.0 on computer via connecting cable. I can download way points for use with navigation enroute to my destination. On bicycle trips it tells me later what route I went on and if I got separated from the pack - how I made the wrong turn. Allows me to go Geocaching with ease and accuracy - need a compass to be more precise with navigation. Built in Magnetic variation built in so that compass readings can be used. You can update the software by connecting to the Garmin Website via the connecting cable. Manual was helpful in describing operation. Recommend download of easy-gps software from geocaching website that allows you to edit waypoints on personal computer. The following linkage provides access to useful gps application data giving new ideas for the use of this fine proudct. www.ngs.noaa.gov/PC_PROD/pc_prod.shtml For it''''''''s price there is a no better gps value

Customer Service

Bought Cable and bicycle mount from Garmin website. Updated software easily. Their website provides good reviews for their products.

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obsolete magellan - plain junk compared to the Etrek. Would not want to give it to anyone but my worst enemies.

I may be listed as a backpacker, but I bought this for speedometer use while kitesurfing. Works well; 33mph, yaaa!!!

Customer Service

great software updates at the Garmin Website. Egads that cable is expensive; get one at ebay.

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On the positive side the eTrex is easy to use, waterproof, small, and extremely light. On the negative side most functions were for me, much lees useful that they first appeared. The map showing a “breadcrumb-trail” is useless, as to screen resolution is miles too low for this type of application. Similarly useless to me is the page giving satellite information. The ability to links waypoint together to form a route is fairly useful, but defining waypoints is tedious, think of all the button you have to push to set up a simple route with just 7 waypoints, it takes about 15min. I know the eTrex can be linked to a computer for easier waypoint definition, however that requires a cable and software and it not practical for field use. Also I don’t like the idea of burning batteries all the time just to keep track of the route when on a walk. I always use a map and a compass, and wanted a GPS to help me find my position at night, in poor visibility or when lost. I keep the GPS turned off until I need to find my position, tun it on for about 1 min, enough to get an accurate position, plot a course using my map and compass, turn off the eTrex and away I go using following the compass bearing. Used this way the eTrex is excellent. The altimeter is also useful, but nearly every other function is too much bother to use or I don’t trust the measurement (for example what exactly does the so-called odometer measure? I suspect it not what many people imagine). Oh, and the eTrex failed completely after its first set of batteries, I am seriously thinks of returning it an getting a Hillesbourg tent instead. Still it is a safety measure and for the one function I really wanted, that is to know my exact position, it is hard to beat.

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This is the ETrex SUMMIT. I like this unit a lot. I have used it on all of my hikes since purchasing it. It does suffer from losing a signal when covered, so I hang it from my strap. I like the altimeter - can be used both with atmospheric and GPS setting (atmospheric is more accurate). It stores 20 routes and 500 waypoints. I have plotted all of the NH 4k summits - great for picking out the location of distant peaks. Also great for finding a trailhead when driving up!!!When combining this with a TOPO or Delorme mapping program the combination is tough to beat. Have not ever regretted this purchase. I also get about 10 hours with the NiMH 1600 batteries on GPS SAVE mode, and carry an extra set (2 AA - same as my headlamp). Highly recommend this unit over the ETrex basic: altimeter, barometer, 20 vs 1 route.

Customer Service

None needed

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Various Magellan