Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Simple, accurate and cheap ... saved [me] first time out!
Just like two out of every five "guys" on the planet, owning a GPS (really cool compass)was a must..."I can't live with-out one". I picked up the "e-trex" vanilla flavored, hiking, biking and trail version. My intent was to use it in my truck, a little added nav equipment for map reading (make long trips less boring). The basic e-trex lacks the memory for *real travel* logistics(car excursions). A three hour trip ate 98% of it's memory and 70+% of it's battery life. I must add however, my expectations were minimal, given it's price. It calculates your speed better then your speedometer, frightening!!! Make no mistake, you are being tracked!!! As far as bearing, speed, travel time, the basics, this little toy is a treat. It saved [me] when I became lost in the middle of Farmington, CA. not long ago. The sun was down, the ground flat and I... backwards. I remebered the e-trex after about two hours of endless rights and lefts (almost ended up in Yosemite!!!), fired that bad-boy up and was on Highway 99 in 20 minutes, headed home. Paid for itself that night. I highly recommend the basic e-trex as a very basic navigational aide. It does everything it's designed to and does it well. It's also a great "starter" for learning about GPS systems. *Note: This thing tracked my rate of speed to the .5 of a mile and was right on target, if you register one with a serial number, use your best friends name!!! Happy trecking...
Dave
Rating: - A MUST FOR SOLDIERS
The eTrex is AWESOME!!! I just got out of the Army, and have used the eTrex for the last 3 years. I used to condemn GPSs because soldiers weren't learning necessary map/compass skills, and the Army's AN/PSN-11 was so UN-user friendly, it basically takes a doctorate in rocket science to operate effectively! I am an expert navigator with a map & compass and very competent with the AN/PSN-11, but neither is as effective or as easy as the eTrex'my wife even used my GPS and loved it. I bought it before going to the Mojave desert (NTC) to train. I found it to be 100 times easier to use than the Army's bulky GPS and even more accurate! The AN/PSN-11 costs [a lot], is too big for your pocket, difficult to use, and requires a huge battery you can't buy off the shelf'the eTrex..., fits in your pocket, a child could operate it, and only takes 2 AA batteries. I have used it to navigate the desert, I have used it to navigate in urban areas, and even used it to set up land navigation courses to train soldiers on both map/compass skills as well as using GPS receivers. I may have gotten out of the Army, but my eTrex is still serving'my soldiers begged me to let them take it to Iraq. I am now purchasing a Garmin Legend, and when my 'Joes' bring my eTrex back, I'll have one for each car!!! THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR SOLDIERS'I just wish the Army would draft it and retire the AN/PSN-11!!!!
Rating:  - New to GPS? You won't be disappointed starting with eTrex
The sheer number of reviews here of the eTrex gives a very good idea of its huge popularity, and this is well deserved.The great debate in these reviews seems to be sensitivity of the unit to usable satellite signals in forest conditions. Well, while it won't compete with an amplified remote antenna mounted atop your backpack frame (which you can't connect to the eTrex, by the way), I can say that I've found its performance under moderate to heavy tree cover to be never less than what one is entitled to expect. I haven't been in rainforest yet with the eTrex, but it has never run out of signal while sitting on the passenger seat of my car, and it will usually keep going even when located in the door pocket. The most constructive comment I can throw in about sensitivity is that, from what I have both experienced and read, the eTrex has very good capabilities 'as-designed'. If you're an informed 'electronics fan' then you'll recognise that the occasional dud will turn up in even the best product line. Buy the eTrex with confidence. If you should strike a deaf one -- a very rare specimen, I think -- get it exchanged before you gripe about it to the world! The eTrex makes particularly good sense if you're in a region not covered by Garmin's MapSource digital maps, such as down here in Australia. Bearing in mind that NONE of Garmin's GPS receivers (and I'm talking about the 'mapping' units such as the eMap, GPS 12MAP and GPSIII+) allows you to upload you own scanned maps, or anybody else's for that matter, you're far better off starting with a no-nonsense, highly accurate GPS receiver that is also extremely rugged and pocketable -- the eTrex to a tee. Then put the rest of your money into some good, third party, mapping software. And if you want mobile mapping buy a PDA or a secondhand notebook PC. Now you will have the best of both worlds. Like most modern hand-held units, the eTrex generates its own map of your movements as a visual tracklog or 'breadcrumb trail'. But while you can manually or automatically zoom this screen, you can't scroll the display -- limiting the usefulness of the larger scale views. This has come about essentially because, unlike the larger units, the eTrex lacks a rocker key and doesn't have enough buttons to readily control scrolling. But this is a minor niggle that becomes insignificant when you use it in conjunction with a PC. For retracing your steps ('Trackback' mode), or for following any of the 10 pre-recorded tracks you can store in the unit, you will see all the detail you will ever need, and that is in fact the main function of the map screen. A second minor annoyance is that the eTrex is not designed to operate efficiently with NiCd or NiMH cells. GPS receivers in general have quite a healthy appetite for batteries, and the eTrex shuts down well before cells of this type (1.2v nominal cell voltage) are exhausted. You can use them, but you'd better be carrying a good supply! The larger Garmin units (which use four AA cells instead of two) can be switched to use and correctly monitor these cells. Not so with the eTrex. My only significant gripe (and the reason for just a four-star rating) is the staggeringly high cost of accessory cables -- about one third the price of the eTrex itself in the case of a combined data/external power cable! These can bring the effective cost of the unit much closer than you think to some of Garmin's more up-market units which tend to be supplied bundled with a data cable. Look on the Web for third party plugs and cables -- having a PC link increases the utility of the eTrex (or any GPS for that matter) enormously. Other than that, it's a gem!
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