It's time to get a new GPS since my Garmin eTrex Legend has started to play up. It can't get satelite connection unless I hold it flat in my hand, so can't put it in a pocket, and at the slightest knock it switches off which is very very annoying. Six years year have passed since I got that one and it has seen a lot of use so I'm not going to compain.
What has the market come up with in the mean time?
I want a unit that is not bulky or heavy, has great battery life and the simple features the Legend has.
Any suggestions?

Since you are familiar with Garmin, I would get the Etrex Legend H. Make sure you get the H which stands for hi sensitivty receiver. It locks on satallites very quickly and stays locked on under tree canopy and in canyons. The retailers are dumping their inventory of older Legends without the hi sensitivity receiver so be careful.

I use a Garmin 60CSx. Mine works in harsh environments, under the jungle canopy, in tropical rainstorms and even in Mexico! It also has a compass which, whilst on drains the batteries faster, can easily be turned on/off.
Mine works inside a car.
Cheers, Chris

Hi,

My Garmin Etrex Vista layed down in its 9th season ... day before yesterday.

Best deal on a pretty good GPS I could find is:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas...e95&_requestid=89789

Is a Garmin Etrex Legend HCx bundle for $200.

I would also recommend the GPSMap 60.

You sound like your Garmin has a repair issue. But by the same token, six yr old GPS has been outpaced by new technology. Garmin seems to lead the industry. Visit their site and shop, take notes. Technical items and retailers clearing out previous inventory can be an issue with electronics.

I have an old Legend I used for years and now use a 60CSx.

Try putting a paper shim in the battery compartment. Mine had similar issues and some folded paper fixed it even for dirtbike use.

The nice thing about the GPS Map 60 is the model with the capability to use a data card.

I use mine on my motorcycle with Streets & Maps North America for turn by turn directions.

Then I insert a Topo map for my trekking through the north woods chasing grouse or the western prairies stalking pronghorn.

Weatherproof in pouring rain on the motorcycle with no issues ever. Never had any battery problems which required shimming the batteries.

Highly recommended. Especially if you already know the operation of Garmin units.

Good luck

Garmin Oregon series
So much better than my old legend

I also use and recommend the Garmin 60CSx. If I had to do it over again I would get the one that has the walkie-talkie built into it, which can also track your partner if he has the same unit. About as good as it gets. A bit more cost but worth it.

I, too, recommend one of the Garmin 60's. My wife and I opted for the 60 Cx rather than the 60 CSx because we didn't want to pay the extra few dollars for an electronic compass and a barometric altimeter.

But our requirements are probably different from most: we're members of our county's search and rescue team, and the compass simply isn't accurate enough for what we require (93 degrees has to be 93 degrees, and what is good enough for an electrical engineer isn't good enough for our kind of navigation). Also, the barometric altimeter is accurate to something like 70 feet, which is about 2 contour lines up and down on a 7.5 min map. That isn't good enough, either.

What we like about the 60 series is this: great antenna which works well under dense canopy (I can lock up 6 satellites or more from within my house), and we can add an active external one to it if we want (if you can't lock onto satellites, your GPS isn't worth its weight); it uses 2 AA batteries, and you can get at least 8 hours out of them while tracking and with WAAS enabled (much better than AAA batteries or rechargeables); they are weather-proof (you can submerge them for something like 30 minutes in 3 meters of water, and they will work — or so they claim); and you can add 7.5 min topo maps to them with a micro HDSC card (the maps are not a substitute for a good paper map, but still awfully nice, and a 4GB card is only $12); it has a good manual and you can customize the screens. I also love the little plastic holder that comes with them . . . I can clip it to a strap on my chest-pack or backpack and it's always easily available.

I like this unit so well that we're going to buy a bunch of them for our SAR unit, and it is the one that the SAR units of at least two adjacent counties use.

Just FWIW.

Has anybody used the Colorado 400t?

The 400t has very dim lighting and doesn't pick up as well as the 60csx. I've had 'em both
Don

Gone to the Rinos so I also have a radio.

I, too, have had very good luck with the Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSx.

Have bought 4 GPS from GPSCity and am really pleased with their prices and representation.

www.gpscity.com

Good luck,
Jerry

I have the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx. It has High Sensitivity, a compass and extendable memory to load maps. It works well under heavy canopy and has been reliable for 2 seasons. I can recommend it.

Spartan

Lowrance GPS are hard to beat.

Steve

I love my 60cx. It gets me home every time

I'm liking my DeLorme PN-40 Always had Garmins, but it was time for a change to what I think is a better unit.

has anyone used the Orgeon 550? thoughts?

I also have had the Garmin map 60 csx for about a year now. I recently added the 24K east coast TOPO data card for it and used it the other day for the first time with outstanding results. Good system.

quote:

Originally posted by Maxx:
has anyone used the Orgeon 550? thoughts?

For that matter, has anyone used other touch-screen models?

I don't like to put too much trust in battery-powered stuff but thought I might try a Garmin Dakota 10, because of the price and simplicity of the touchscreen. Trouble is some forum reports say the maps that can be imported cost $100 each, and accuse Garmin of 'nickle and diming' with them.

So, I thought I might stretch to the Dakota 20 but reports I've seen so far suggest they could have more reliability problems than usual. Could they have got the bugs out by now?

Any other thoughts on these models?

quote:

Originally posted by Maxx:
has anyone used the Oregon 550? thoughts?

I have the Garmin Oregon 450t -- which is the same unit w/o a camera. "t" means it's preloaded w/ a 24K Topo of the US. (I have a camera in every other device I own.)

It's bombproof. Rugged, durable, waterproof.

It's quasi touch-screen. Most of the input is touch screen (no buttons). But the zoom screen functions require tapping an icon. The screen orients to the direction you're facing/moving.

Battery life is less than optimal. Day hike w/ the unit tracking the route sux up a set of lithium AA which run about $7. I bought some rechargeable batteries at CostCo.

It comes loaded w/ 100K Topo of the USA. I have a 24K Topo of the NW -- which is what I use. It's more detailed. 24K Topo was $120.

You can "subscribe" to a "Birds Eye View" service, but I find I can navigate using Google Earth, and then move the waypoints into the Garmin. Birds Eye provides photo montage over the map schema. Useful, but not necessary. You get unlimited access for a year. Then Garmin wants more of your $$$.

The Topo maps are USGS and somewhat dated. The roads they show in my neighborhood are old, abandoned and no longer present logging roads. There's a lake or two (man made) in the area which does not appear on the Garmin USGS Topo maps. A corner of the spit at the mouth of the river here is missing on the Topo (ocean spit and the ocean is not mapped). But it's missing too on the USGS survey map. So that's not Garmin's fault, rather it's USGS.

These shortcomings could get you in trouble in an unfamiliar area where you might be planning access or connections on roads which are no longer present.

Lots of features -- even heart rate monitor and pedal cadence options for fitness. (Both require accessory devices.)

Tide stations (No tide data!), moon phases, fishing predictions, elevation tracking, MOB, calculator, It will calculate the area of a paced off location. 24 K Topo offers oblique views. The GPS will locate "points of interest" for you -- lodging, restaurants, parks, viewpoints.

Small screen can be tedious to navigate, and the learning curve is steep. It's NOT intuitive! I carry my manual with me.

UBS connection to computer -- And I'm still learning how to move data from the computer to the GPS.

I expect it's able to do what needs to be done. Not the easiest device to interface.

MSRP is $499.99 -- The cost of a decent laptop these days. But then it's serious hardware.

Good answer, Rothke; unfortunately the Oregons don't fit my budget, at least. I might see if I can find a cheap Map60 CsX. One member had one for sale then went offline - but it got me looking at them. Lots of people liked the ones they got from Cabelas.

Cheers
- Paul

Rothke,
Maybe I can get a deal on an Oregon (550) that I can afford - but reading your review again makes me wonder if I want one. You say it is not easy to use and has a small screen, as though you may have seen others better in these regards.

Can you suggest a reliable GPS that's still available, is easy to use and gives good battery life? A big screen, complex functions and even maps are less important.

Thanks
- Paul

Search Garmin.com for options. Screen size is a trade-off between compact and use. Zoom in/out function is the means to navigating on a small screen. The Oregon 450t has an "oblique" function which tilts the terrain/map from bird's eye view to more of a perspective out to the horizon. That's a useful feature.




Battery life is about 7 hrs. I've discovered that most of the time I just turn the thing off -- check my location when I need. I really don't care if I track my route, miles, speed, distance. Although rechargeable batteries are a good option! $25 for a Sanyo set at CostCo -- 8 AA and 4 AAA batteries. I pack all 8 batteries in a nylon sheath case when I'm out on the trail. (I like to track distance/avg. speed on hikes.)

There's a heap of functions on this device that I rarely use. Sunrise/sunset are useful. It has the temperature feature, barometric pressure/altimeter. But I really don't need calendar, clock, area calc. functions. Some others . . .

I had an earlier Garmin -- circa 1995 -- before they had maps. Spring for the map function! The "grey screen" is only useful if you're loading a lot of waypoints to keep track of your location. The map software pinpoints your location and provides a contour of your terrain. No need to "make a track" with waypoints in order to refer to your relative location.

I can't imagine spending an extra $100 for a camera feature. My cell has a camera, my iPod . . .

I thought about some of the GPS applications for iPhone, phones generally. They're OK if you're on a highway. They suck in the woods.

Yeah, $500 with the map software. That's as much as I paid for my laptop. But it's an amazing device out in the woods . . . I don't think it's over priced. (I think it does more than I need.)

If Garmin -- or any other GPS mfg. -- were smart, they'd build a unit with rechargeable batteries, like a cell phone.

A number of our Search and Rescue people have the Oregon, and they all love them to death. But the Oregons are pricy.

As a alternative, you might want to consider Garmin's 60Csx, which (at the time of this post) is available on Amazon.com for $219.

That's a heck of a good price for an excellent unit.

If you get one, you might consider installing a 1:24000 topo of your area on it. If so, I'd recommend purchasing a 4GB micro HDSC chip (~$15) and Garmin's MapSource Topo map disc for your region (~$90).

This unit has an excellent antenna, is waterproof to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards, and has lots of bells and whistles.

Just FWIW

Thanks guys.
As it was getting close to my NZ trip, I conferred with my hunt partner and jumped into the market just before you posted your replies.

My 'guide' has a Dakota 20 but didn't see us trading info with it, so I got the Dakota 10. Since I always carry a plastic compass and doubt I'd use a barometer too much, I hope it will do the trick.

At $235 it was the cheapest Garmin I could see with colour-map capability. The Aust-NZ topo cost another $199 and $40 for the shop to install the South Island bit of it (I'm old and the kids would begrudge me the time the dealer said it would take to do).

It seems to work OK locally - I'll check out the NZ bit when I get over there.

Cheers
- Paul