UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For current recommendations, please refer to our auto GPS buyers guide.
The Garmin Quest
12 reviewers gave the Quest
Garmin Quest
November 29, 2005 By Leave a Comment
Garmin StreetPilot i2
November 27, 2005 By 3 Comments
UPDATE: Most of the several generations old StreetPilot series, including this model, has been discontinued. For a more current recommendation, check out our Auto GPS buyers guide or go straight to our Garmin nuvi comparison chart.
While the monochrome screen of the Garmin StreetPilot i2
Amazon has this to say in their Garmin StreetPilot i2 review
Garmin eTrex Vista C Review
November 27, 2005 By 1 Comment
UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For more current recommendations, please refer to our handheld GPS buyers guide or our Garmin handheld GPS comparison chart.
The Garmin eTrex Vista C
At Amazon, the unit has garnered an average 4 star rating (out of 5) from dozens of customers in their Vista C reviews
GPS Buyers Guide
November 24, 2005 By Leave a Comment
NEW: Check out our updated Automotive GPS Buyers Guide and Handheld GPS Buyers Guide.
Choosing a GPS to purchase can be a challenge, especially if it’s your first (yes, people do upgrade). So here for your reading pleasure is our new GPS buyers guide. Let’s get a couple of things out of the way immediately:
Garmin, Magellan or Lowrance
At the risk of alienating fans of a couple of brands, I’m going to stick my neck out and say…Garmin is generally considered to be the best brand going, at least in the handheld market. They have intuitive menus and a reputation for strong customer service. Magellan is in the middle with a quality product, and a strong share of the automotive market. Lowrance can be a great choice for those on a budget, and they certainly have their proponents. Those are very broad strokes, so please don’t flame me, but it is a question I am often asked. And apparently a lot of people agree…at the time I’m writing this Garmin has a lock on the Top 10 GPS
Basic, Mapping or Autorouting
A basic GPS is just that. It will guide you to a waypoint, along a route and record a track. A good example is the Garmin eTrex Venture. (By the way, just so you know what you are clicking on, the remaining links on this post go to my reviews unless they say (Amazon) beside them. You can guess where those go, and yes, if you make a purchase through them, you help pay my hosting bills. End of disclaimer.) These basic units will only show the most rudimentary map — primarily your waypoints and tracks.
The next step up is a mapping unit like the Garmin eTrex Legend. This receiver has enough memory to accommodate topo maps or city maps, but it will not provide turn-by-turn highway directions.
For that, you’ll need to step up to a unit like the Magellan RoadMate 760 or the Garmin GPSMap 60CS. With these receivers you can enter an address (or select a restaurant or…) and have it guide you there, turn-by-turn. These units are often referred to as autorouting receivers, short for automatic routing.
What Do You Want To Do With Your GPS?
Garmin eTrex Legend Review
November 24, 2005 By Leave a Comment
UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For more current recommendations, please refer to our handheld GPS buyers guide or our Garmin handheld GPS comparison chart.
The Garmin eTrex Legend is an entry level mapping receiver. A good choice for the outdoor enthusiast, the Legend can accommodate products like MapSource USA TOPO for backcountry maps and MetroGuide to show points of interest on the road, but it will not provide turn-by-turn automatic routing. You’ll need to step up to the Legend C for that.
If numbers are any reflection of its popularity, that can be seen by the fact that well over 100 people have reviewed it at Amazon, where they gave an average 4 out of 5 star review to the eTrex Legend.
Compare prices on the Garmin eTrex Legend
Here’s what other people are saying about the Legend:
- One of my favorite sites, GPSinformation.net, has this review of the eTrex Legend, Vista and Venture.
- At OutdoorReview.com, 16 people gave a 4.19 out of 5 rating in their Garmin eTrex Legend review.
- Over at CNet, 15 people gave an 8.2 out of a possible 10 rating in their Garmin eTrex Legend review.
- A video review of the Garmin Legend.
Here are some additional resources that may prove useful:
- For a detailed look, check out this PDF version of the eTrex Legend manual.
- Want to see how the Legend stacks up against other handhelds? Use this handy Garmin GPS comparison tool.
- And here is a link to a very active etrex message forum on Yahoo.
Compare prices on the Garmin eTrex Legend at these merchants:
- Check the current Garmin eTrex Legend price at Amazon.com.
- Find the low price on an eTrex Legend at GPS Now.com, where shipping is free on orders over $99 (and the upgrade to overnight
shipping is dirt cheap!). Order by 5 p.m. Central Time for same day
shipment. - Check the deals on Garmin GPS receivers at REI.com, where satisfaction is guaranteed and members get 10% back on eligible purchases.
- Get the Garmin eTrex Legend for an amazing price at eBay.
The official Garmin eTrex Legend web page.
Recommended accessories:
- Garmin TOPO U.S. 2008
- Eneloop rechargeable batteries
- invisibleSHIELD screen protector
- SanDisk 2 GB MicroSD card
Other reviews:
Garmin StreetPilot 2720 Review
November 21, 2005 By Leave a Comment
UPDATE: Most of the several generations old StreetPilot series, including this model, has been discontinued. For a more current recommendation, check out our Auto GPS buyers guide or go straight to our Garmin nuvi comparison chart.
To call this GPS award winning is no overstatement. The Garmin StreetPilot 2720
The StreetPilot 2720 updates the older StreetPilot 2620, adding an improved, higher resolution screen and optional FM traffic services (see below). It also adds text-to-speech functionality, so it can call out upcoming street names and points of interest (POIs). Step up to the StreetPilot 2730 and you get XM radio compatibility, including weather and XM NavTraffic options.
There are dozens of reader reviews of the StreetPilot 2720
Garmin US TOPO 24K Review
November 20, 2005 By 5 Comments
UPDATE: This product has been discontinued. Read my review of Garmin’s new nationwide Topo US 24K maps.
One of the frustrating things about backcountry use of GPS is having to live with "as the crow flies" routing. That’s not so bad when you’re off-trail, but on trail, I’d prefer my GPS tell me that its five trail miles to the destination rather than three "as the crow flies" miles. The crow can fly, but I can’t.
On one of my last outings, I had a chance to try out Garmin’s US TOPO 24K
Clearly, this enhanced level of detail is desirable, but having routable trails excites me just as much. I couldn’t trick my GPS into capturing a screen shot of a route, 
but the image to the right comes from the MapSource desktop. You can see that the software routed along the highway and a trail, but that it had to do "line of sight" routing where one trail was not on the map. It was really nice to know just how far I had to go to the next junction.
The formal name of this product is US TOPO 24K – National Parks, and you can purchase it for the eastern, central or western U.S. But as I discovered on this trip, it covers more than just national parks. The images shown here were not captured in national parks, but in the San Bernardino National Forest.
Garmin eTrex Venture Review
November 19, 2005 By Leave a Comment
UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For more current recommendations, please refer to our handheld GPS buyers guide or our Garmin handheld GPS comparison chart.
The Garmin eTrex Venture
28 reviewers gave the eTrex Venture
Here’s what others are saying:
GPS Reception in Canyons
November 13, 2005 By Leave a Comment
I just returned from vacation, during which time I tested a Garmin GPSMap 60CS
The test was conducted in Sheep Canyon (picture at right), in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Sheep Canyon is not a tight slot canyon, but it is a canyon nonetheless. I must have had good satellite coverage, because I never lost the signal lock the entire day.
To see visual evidence of the difference between reception in the two units, check out the tracks on the aerial photo to the left. The Garmin track is in red, the Magellan in blue. I have one caveat here…It appears that the Garmin collected much more detail, but the Magellan is my wife’s GPSr, and I’m not as familiar with it. Once I saw this image, I checked and discovered that the Magellan was not set to acquire as detailed of a tracklog as possible. Apart from that, the most interesting thing I see is that both units recorded at least one stray track point, far away from our position. On the basis of this, I’d rate their performance as comparable.
This canyon wasn’t tight enough to reduce reception much, but the topography did contribute to the stray track points. You can visit my other website to see the entire tracklog and geocoded photos, and this page on GPS Tracklog provides more information on geocoding photos with TopoFusion. Finally, stay tuned; over the next week or so I’ll have some more posts related to our GPS vacation.
Garmin StreetPilot c330 Review
November 10, 2005 By 4 Comments
UPDATE: Most of the several generations old StreetPilot series, including this model, has been discontinued. For a more current recommendation, check out our Auto GPS buyers guide or go straight to our Garmin nuvi comparison chart.
The Garmin StreetPilot c330
Unlike the c320, the c330 comes preloaded with City Select maps for North America or Europe. Step up to the c340 and the unit will announce upcoming street names and add optional FM TMC traffic alerts.
Over 100 users have contributed reviews of the StreetPilot c330
Compare prices on the Garmin StreetPilot c330
Here’s what others are saying:
