Garmin eTrex Legend® Cx Handheld GPS Receiver

Pros: Small, sturdy and very usable.
Cons: Tiny memory card. Unlock code: tiny piece of paper. Calculated routes sometimes border on bizarre.

Ok, so I got this one for Christmas from the in-laws. I usually research my little tinkertoys religiously, but while I had ogled GPS devices before, I had never looked into them seriously before because of cost. So here are my thoughts. First off, it ...

Pros: Compact, good battery life, good display.
Cons: No voice directions; joystick handling requires precision. Included data card is small.

I originally was looking for a GPS tool to aid in trail hiking, but the eTrex offered both trail and driving (turn by turn) capabilities. So now, I can consolidate the two into one gadget. Value: As a hiker's tool, it's a good value. As a driver's ...

Pros: usb interface, software ideas are good, memory chip easily accessible
Cons: horrible product communication to public. horrible QC of products (mostly software probably).

Things must have changed since 2006 (when the reviews above were written). Maybe Garmin had a round of layoffs or has new management, or is just has too many top priorities to continue making quality GPS units. Anyway, here's my experience: I bought ...

Pros: Price, Size, Color display, Removable memory card
Cons: Need to use expensive Garmin mapping software, Cumbersome to use for trip routing

Company Overview Garmin is one of the top three GPS satellite systems for public use. Garmin is the company that revolutionized the consumer GPS market by introducing the first consumer units in the early 1990's and continues to be the market leader. ...

Pros: Screen looks nice. Auto-color scheme change is cool.
Cons: Joystick tricky, some unnecessary features.

I recently became hooked on geo-caching, and really wanted a mapping feature. Turn-by-turn directions was a huge bonus and now I'm glad I have that feature because I can use it for navigating in my car. I had never used a GPS in a car before so to test ...

Pros: Easy setup, AA battery powered, standard USB connector, easy menu navigation, bright screen.
Cons: Totally inaccurate at any distance. Unit actually increases distance as you stand still.

OK, I have been a faithful Magellan handheld user for a couple of years. My last Explorist 500 recently died so I picked up the Legend CX. I'd never used Garmin before, but I figured I'd see what they were all about. What a mistake. Setup is reasonably quick. Just insert 2 AA batteries (not included) and turn it on and let it initialize. I won't bore you with mundane details. I'm an avid geocacher and decided to test it out today. I never got within 40 feet of any cache. This is inexcusable. I thought maybe I had a bad unit, but went to the geocaching forums and see that there are many inherent problems with this unit. It is going back tomorrow and I will be getting another Magellan.

Pros: Color! Ease of use!
Cons: Only thing I think is it comes with a small SD card (64mb)

I received this GPS unit as a Christmas gift, and had to try it out yesterday. It is very easy to use and understand the functions and how to move around the different screens. It picks up satellites quickly and they are reliable (as I found the geocache quickly and I was within 7 feet accuracy).

It has a tons of useful functions available, like mapping, trip odometer, games when you are just standing around, and a calculator (for those tricky puzzle caches). Easy to read screen, and easy to change brightness and/or contrast to your preference.

Haven’t had a chance to use all the functions available, but it is an easy unit to learn, and to use so far in my experience.