Name: Ben Johnson
Location: Queensland, Australia
Date: 2000-07-03
Customer Rating: -
Summary: You will love your little E-Trex.
Comment: I recently bought an E-Trex primarily because of the low cost of the unit. I am very satisfied with my purchase. I am surprised how rugged it feels and it appears to have a little more knock-ability than some other handheld GPS units I have used. I would have preferred a GPS with cross track error capability because I am also a recreational pilot, however the latest software revision (1.07) does show your position relative to the track line between two current waypoints on the map screen and this can be used to correct cross track error. I imagined the lack of buttons would have proved to be frustrating however this is not the case as the menus are logical and concise. Alphanumeric entry is via drop down menus, which let you quickly select numbers and letters for waypoint entry. Up to 500 waypoint entries are available and names are limited to combinations of up to six letters/numbers and there are many icons to choose from. You can quickly mark your present position as a waypoint by holding down one of the buttons for a second. It has all the usual nav formats and measurements can be displayed in Nautical (knots included), Statute (yards not included) and Metric.
I have used it bushwalking through fairly dense scrub and tree canopy and it did tend to track satellites well. There were a few short occasions where it lost signal in particularly dense cover (to be expected with a relatively small internal antenna) however it recovered within about ten seconds in lighter cover. I would not recommend relying on the GPS compass feature in dense cover because it did have trouble maintaining heading information updates in low satellite coverage areas. I am not disappointed with its performance in dense bush, and as anyone familiar with units with small antennas will know, it is just something you live with. I was using a magnetic compass in particularly dense areas where I experienced poor coverage and it is good navigation practice to use a magnetic compass and map in conjunction with your GPS anyway. In light and open cover I routinely get 8 metre accuracy and sometimes as good as 5 metre accuracy. If I turn it on outside near my last fix it usually gets a lock in about 10 seconds.
It maintains accuracy on the passenger seat of the car and is even better up on the dash. It gives a good presentation of speed, heading, time and distance to go on one big clear screen and the backlighting is very good. It has a nice rubbery casing and this makes it ideal to wedge it in an upright position between the dash mat and the windscreen while I am driving along.
I decided the genuine Garmin data upload cable was too expensive and made my own lead from a cannibalised mobile phone charger. Uploading the latest free Garmin software revision (mine was shipped with v1.05) was a snap and I was very impressed with how easy it was to update. The new software has some nifty features worth getting. I have used some shareware utilities such as "GARtrip" and "GPSutility" to upload waypoints from scanned paper maps and street directories, and you can edit, upload and download waypoint info and track info. It is obviously faster to modify waypoint info from your computer keyboard and then upload the new waypoints in seconds. It has a non-volatile memory so flat batteries don't present any risk of losing your stored data.
Any disappointments? Only a couple of minor ones. It is very hard to tell if the backlight is on in sunlight, and because it toggles on and off by momentarily pressing the power button, you can accidentally bump it on and be wasting batteries. You can't scroll the map around; you can only zoom in and out. This makes it difficult to review your recorded trail in any detail, and you need to zoom out and lose definition to see much of your trail. It gets cluttered with waypoint info when you zoom out trying to see your whole trail although you can turn the waypoint display off.
In summary, it is a compact gem of a GPS with a big screen and for the price I believe it represents excellent value. Make yourself a data lead or buy one from Garmin because the shareware computer-based utilities are cool. Two thumbs up.
Name:
Location:
Date: 2000-05-24
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Wildland Firefighter likes eTrex
Comment: For the price and its size, it's a 5 star product. Compared to many larger/pricer units it can be only a 3 star. This is a very competetive marketplace and with the removal of the military Selective Availablity coding on May 1st, you've got to take the big leap and buy one. The eTrex shows accuracy of 11-20 feet commonly. In reasonably dense conifer forests around 60 feet. Put yourself in the bottom of a canyon in that forest and you'll have to spend say 5 minutes positioning your GPS to get 100 foot accuracy. That will not work for surveyors, but you'll get back to where you started just fine. Again, the main reason for this success is the military making the accuracy available to all of us. By the way THANKS. This unit is a very reasonable entry GPS Some Problems with the eTrex: 1) Doesn't have a simple map in it and you can't download quality Topo maps onto it. 2) Smaller size means smaller antennae and its reception in timbered canyons is weak. 3) No external antennae hook-up for when in your car. 4) Does not have a built in compass capabilty for when using a bearing, like the very similar Garmin "Summit" model that will be released shortly.(The summit will cost about twice as much). You really need to use a quality compass with it. But, as you should know, GPS will not repace map and compass, just enhance it greatly. However, for your money, this a geat little unit.
Name:
Location: PHOENIX, AZ USA
Date: 2000-10-23
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Great features, great price, small and easy to use
Comment: I've wanted to get a GPS for a long time now and recently received this one as gift. I've used it for about two weeks and am very impressed. It is very small and light and easily fits in a pocket. I bought the bike mount accessory and have mounted this on my bike. It's small enough that it doesn't add a lot of weight or get in the way. Although it lacks mapping capabilities and some more advance features, it does everything that you really need a GPS to do. I live in the desert so I have not been able to test this under tree cover but - surprisingly -- it works great sitting on the passenger seat of my truck. Other units I've seen wouldn't function inside of a vehicle without an external antenna.
It seems to be very accurate and I have been able to get a reported accuracy of 16 feet. I was amazed at how accurately it was able to record my speed and distance traveled.
The manual could be written more clearly but the unit is very intuitive. I've never used a GPS before but was quickly able to figure out how to use all of the features. The buttons placemat was supposed to be designed for one hand operation. However, because the unit is so small, and I have large hands, it was a little awkward for me. I ended up using two hands to work the unit.
The display is readable in bright sunlight and the backlight feature makes it possible to use the unit in dimly lit situations.
I do have a gripe about battery life. It is supposed to run for 22 hours in "battery save mode." In regular mode, I went though my first set of batteries after about 10-12 hours of use. If you're taking this into the field - bring lots of spare batteries.
Name:
Location:
Date: 2000-12-07
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Simple & Precise
Comment: I bought this as a gift for my husband. He uses it mainly to scout hunting territory in the extreme wilderness of the upstate NY Adirondack Mts. There's not much more that I could add regarding the technical aspects of this unit that haven't already been covered brilliantly by Ben Johnson of Australia in a previous review-- mine is a layman's view. The eTrex GPS is a simple to use, accurate, & rugged piece of equipment that no hunter, hiker, or camper should be without. It's simplicity is what sets it apart from many other GPS units. I know for a fact that if something is too complicated to use it'll just sit in the box forever. After reading the very short & concise user's manual, my husband was outside "backtracking" a walk in the woods behind our house in 15 minutes. He managed to return to a marked point within 10 feet of it's shown location on the eTrex (this after moving miles away from the area & returning the next day). You will not be disappointed with the eTrex. Even if you decide that you must have more "bells & whistles"- start here first to learn the basics. One last thing-- no GPS ever replaces a map & compass- always carry both (a map reading course isn't a bad idea either).
Name: Chris Callahan
Location: Asheville, NC United States
Date: 2006-04-25
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Perfect entry level GPS
Comment: This is my first GPS unit, purchased soley to enter the sport of Geocaching--see geocaching dot com--and recommended at that website as the cheapest GPS unit that would allow you to participate in this new sport of finding items placed by others by longitude and latitude.
Well, the unit certainly works for that, although you have to either manually set a waypoint location, then modifying its latitude and longitude by manual entry, and I can only apparently find a SERIAL cable to connect it to a PC, and Mac's don't have serial ports.
But it's been a blast and money well spent, with some unintended uses I've discovered, such as:
! Easter egg hunts for geeks. This year I placed Easter egg caches around town and my 12 year old went on an Easter Egg hunt by finding them based upon waypoints.
2. You need a first class pedometer? I like walking, and you can set a waypoint as soon as you get out of the car, and leaving the unit own it'll tell you your average speed, total distance walked and time, all at once. You can use it to measure walking trails, the trail around the lake you walk three times a week, etc. I mean why pay $25 for a pedometer that you have to set your stride into the machine when you can get THIS for under a $100?
3. Lots of useful information, such as it's exactly 30 miles as the crow flies from home to office, but 48 by road.
WARNING: Do NOT let your teenagers have this in the backseat of the car, unless you want to hear, "Dad, you know you're going 82 miles an hour", only to look down and find that you are. This unit is EXTREMELY accurate measuring your speed on the highway.
So, I'm just BEGINNING to find out uses. Sure, this unit doesn't have street maps, and it's not color, and it's got a lousy computer connection with optional serial cable. But for under a $100 it get's you into the world of GPS and I'm constantly finding ways to use this little sucker.
So get it!
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