Garmin eTrex Legend GPS Receiver

Garmin eTrex Legend

By dixonliw  May 13, 2004 | 24 out of 27 found this Garmin eTrex Legend review helpful

Pros: Smallest mapping capable GPS

Cons: Complicated navigation menus

I'm not a first-time GPS user, and had a hard time looking for reviews that I wanted to read about on the practicality of this unit.I've used Magellan Blazer12, Garmin GPS12 & eTrex before, and needed to know what this GPS can do for me. The ...GPS 12 is my all time favourite GPS unit despite it's larger size and limited functionality as compared to newer generation basic GPSes. I hated using the basic eTrex because of it's menu navigational & data entry methods, but I like the small-form factor. I shall not discuss on the Magellan as it is out of topic.After ruling out the possibility of buying the Vista for built-in compass & barometer, and the Geko series for the small-form factor. I eventually chose the Legend for a compromise of size, funcationality, and of course, the price. Here, I shall contribute to those who are interested in getting this unit.Usage wise, the Legend is feature-packed in a tiny case. It handles like the basic eTrex. You can get rough with it, hang it around your neck, dump it into your bag or drop it into your pocket, and it doesn't accidently turns the GPS on or off against your wishes. For menu navigation within the GPS operating system, the Legend contains more complicated menus, and more sub-menus. I had found that the basic eTrex is already quite cumbersome for data entry, but the Legend requires lots more keypress combinations before you're able to modify your waypoint data while out on the move. If armed with my good-old GPS12, i could easily set/program/project my waypoints in a few seconds, and kept on moving along. With the Legend, it took me 2mins of fiddling to get moving again, even after sever practise at home. As for viewing navigation data while on the move, the Legend scores big for me because it is very similar to the GPS12. One can read and program whichever navigational info you'd want in one full page. This is unlike the basic eTrex where you can only scroll through the data screen. Comparing it to the basic eTrex again, I always had the tendency to press the 'FIND' button for confirmation of my data entry in the Legend. This is because the 'FIND' button was the position of 'Enter' button of the basic eTrex. In the Legend, you'd still have to scroll all the way to the 'OK' field in the menu to confirm your data entry.Other than these operational tiny-nit-picks that I have, I must admit that the eTrex Legend is a very good compromise for my needs. Size was a main factor for selecting my 4th GPS unit, mapping capability wasn't important for me, but I thought that I should try it out despite all the rage about how good they are. That left me with 4 Garmins to select: Vista, Legend, Geko 201 or Geko 301.I don't need electronic compass as I always carry my trusty analog Suunto with me, and my Casio wrist watch does have an altimeter in it. So that rules out the Geko 301 and the Vista. Selecting between the two leftover contenders was even easier:- Legend vs. Geko 201. Dimension wise, the Geko201 isn't significantly smaller, but the LCD is really too small for a quick glance. I was also worried that the Geko 201 might have similar problems that I hated in the basic eTrex. And since I wanted to try out mapping functions, I chose the Legend.Been extremely happy with it so far, I just have a comment for Garmin:- The manuals still treat GPS users like an idiot! No further advanced info was available to how to use the mapping functions, and how to data-managed the uploaded maps within the GPS.DixonSingapore Read more Less