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Reviews For: Garmin eTrex Legend

Category: GPS receivers for APRS

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Review Summary For : Garmin eTrex Legend
Reviews: 9MSRP: 182.13
Description:
With the eTrex Legend, Garmin has loaded a full basemap of North and South America into one small unit. The Legend is also designed to provide precise GPS positioning using correction data obtained from the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). This product will provide position accuracy to less than three meters when receiving WAAS corrections.

The basemap contains lakes, rivers, cities, interstates, national and state highways, railroads and coastlines. The eTrex Legend is also equipped with additional memory totaling eight megabytes. The added memory allows the eTrex Legend to accept downloaded map data from Garmin's entire line of MapSourceĀ® CD-ROMs
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexLegend/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0093.9
NT9M Rating: 2008-06-15
Update to review Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I recently discovered Garmin's firmware updater. I had trouble running it on my Dell with XP, kept giving me a stop error. So I downloaded it to an older Windows ME machine and then had no trouble running the firmware update. I don't know if it was something in the new firmware, or if erasing the unit took out something that I had boogered up, but the unit is definitely performing better. It's acquiring a lock faster and I'm not having so many problems with the display. Worth the effort.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by NT9M on 2006-12-21

I've had mine for two years now, connecting it to a Tiny Track II plus mobile rig and also TH-D7A(G) for APRS use. Most of the time it does what it needs to do. I agree with the previous reviewer who said if it fails to acquire after so long it quits trying. Most of the time that's not a problem, but I live in a rural area, not the urban jungle. My only issue has been washout on the LCD, especially when the Jeep gets hot inside. It seems to bounce back, but can be a nuisance. I'm sure there are better GPS units out there, but if you are looking for a low-cost solution this will do it.
WL7KV Rating: 2007-02-15
So-so Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have mixed feelings regarding this unit.
Brand new it works great. I love the pre-loaded map database. Other things are great, too like setting way points, or plotting a route, etc.
The biggest problem is the joystck. It becomes intermittent, and eventually dies.
Garmin charges $100 to fix the unit. Amazingly, that is how much a new one costs.
Next unit will be something without a joystick.
KF6IIU Rating: 2006-12-20
Fatal flaw for APRS Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a fine GPS for handheld tracking use but it has a fatal flaw for APRS use. If the unit loses lock for more than a few minutes (three or four approximately) it will not automatically reacquire. Uses about 100 to 110 ma depending on whether WAAS is acquired. Battery life is 8 to 12 hr with NiMhs. The display is quite small, so it's not the best for automotive use; it will still work if stood on end and can see half the sky through the windsheld. But you will have to poke the unit to make it reacquire every once in a while if you are in urban canyons or some other difficult reception area,

Other than that it's a good GPS if you need one for "standalone" use. Price is very reasonable considering it comes with a cable. If I was looking for a unit that I wanted to use exclusively for APRS, though, I would go for one of the newer pucks with the Sirf chipset that would continuously track, draw less current, and run off my tracker's power.
KM5TC Rating: 2006-09-29
Neat handheld gps Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Wal Mart(local) wanted $154.95 new, obtained mine
from e-bay, including shp just a bit over $100.00.

It's amazing what garmin has been able to put into this unit. For a entry level gps at a small
cost, I think it is very good.

73's
AE5AI Rating: 2006-07-08
Great APRS unit! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got the data cable and wired it up. Hooked it to my Kenwood TH-D7 and after finding satellite positions it locked in on radio. Tracked very good comparing it with GPS V. Great Buy.
N5EIL Rating: 2005-04-24
powerful Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
For what this little thing does it is quite amazing. I have had nothing but fun with mine.

73
N5EIL, Neil
KB9KHF Rating: 2005-01-18
Very good for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this on closeout for $145. I had been looking for a replacement for a Garmin 38. Very nice mapping feature for a very low price. I actually took it out of its packaging, popped in a cheapo set of batteries, and had it tracking my route from the store. Took about 30 minutes to learn the features.

Was very impressed with the ease of operation. Was also impressed with the patch antenna performance over the previous generations of GPS units.
NO9E Rating: 2004-10-11
Good when it works Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am on the second Legend; the first one was stolen.

It works well most of the time. The built-in maps are very useful. However, sometimes it takes 5 min to lock. Sometimes it resets by itself. Also, some contacts in the joystick are erratic. Quality problem?

73 de NO9E

KC9AXZ Rating: 2004-10-09
Love it Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I sold my first GPS unit to buy this one. My previous unit was a basic eTrex (yellow). I also wrote a review for that unit.

The Leged is a nice unit for the person who wants the mapping ability on a budget. The Legend is the basic mapping unit. The Legend has a preloaded basemap, and 8mb to upload your own maps from the MapSource line of products. I've found that 8mb is enough room for the amount of maps I need to load. If you think you need to cover your whole state with street level maps, you'll want the Vista. I've used this unit for many Geocaching hunts (www.geocaching.com) with great success. The unit is accurite, sturdy and good on batteries. Soon I hope to connect this unit to a TT3 and my FT8800R for a APRS tracker unit.

Jon KC9AXZ
www.kc9axz.com