Re: Garmin Etrex Legend

Hello to everyone in the group. I was wondering if someone may be able
to give me some advice. I know very little about GPS's but was
considering buying a Garmin Etrex Legend for a duel role of both hiking
and for navigation in larger cities.
From what I have read about the Legend it would be fine for hiking but
I'm not sure how easy it would be to use for navigating through cities?
I realise that one of the street map GPS's would be far better in the
car but I would really like a duel role GPS. Would I be able to get by
with unit? Is it easy and quick to read while in traffic. Thanks for
any advice. Cheers, Joe.

Joe
I have been a Legend owner for several years and my usage is very similar to
yours. It was bought mainly for hiking but I do also use it occasionally
for in-car navigation.

In honesty, it's not ideally suited to the latter. It's probably better if
you have a passenger who can navigate because it could be dangerous to
attempt to operate any of the controls while driving as they're not really
designed for it. In the UK you would also find yourself falling foul of the
law if you try to operate any hand held device whilst driving.

If travelling on my own I try to choose a suitable zoom level before setting
off, then wedge the device between the dash and windscreen and not touch it
again until I arrive. The only problem then is the small screen. I find it
difficult to make out the details from the driver's seat.

In-car GPS units are likely to have a full street map of the relevant region
built into them (which country are you posting from?) whereas you will have
to obtain (or make) any street-level maps you need for the Legend. The
built in map only has coarse details of major trunk routes and cities.

For hiking, my only slight criticism of the Legend is its sensitivity could
be better. You can lose lock under dense tree cover or in deep ravines or
urban canyons. I understand that the 60 and 76 series are a bit better in
this respect but they are also more expensive and I'm not sure how much more
sensitive (anyone got any comparisons, scientific or otherwise?). Having
said that, the Legend isn't _bad_, it's just not the best. If it's a
problem, you can always buy a reradiating antenna.

Reading that back I think I've painted a blacker picture of the Legend than
it deserves. I'm merely being hyper-critical in an attempt to point out the
possible pitfalls. I've been a satisfied user for some years and if my
Legend died I think I'd probably buy another.

Keith







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