Name: Baj Kourkian
Location: Florida
Date: 2008-02-18
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Wonderful, having a blast with it Geocaching
Comment: When you get it make sure the Datum is set correctly otherwise you will get very frustrated. Once the Datum is set its perfect.
Name: kalkavekkian
Location: Dowagiac,Mi.USA
Date: 2008-04-09
Customer Rating: -
Summary: love this garmin etrex
Comment: I really enjoy using the Garmin etrex hand held GPS.I recently read up on Geo-Caching on the internet and discovered a wonderful new hobby, but i wasn't sure which GPS would be more suitable for me as i lacked experience in using one.I spoke with a man at a sporting goods store and he gave me the low down on the various features.I ordered the Garmin etrex which has a color screen and find it is easy to read .I chose this GPS because it didn't have too many"bells and whistles" .I wanted something which would be easy to comprehend and wouldn't take up too much of my time getting used to its features.I sure chose well!I studied the booklet and next day went Geo-Caching and found my target and was able to post my find on the website, Geo-Caching.com ,that evening.I would recommend this model to anyone who is a first time user of a GPS unit!In fact, if i ever had to replace my Garmin Etrex, i'd purchase another one from Amazon.com ,just like it.I have really enjoyed my new hobby and thanks to the ease in this GPS unit ,am able to find Geo-Cashes,daily and now i am hiding my own Geo-caches for other enthusiasts to find.
Name: Ken A. Huth
Location: Williamson, NY United States
Date: 2008-02-11
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Great geocaching unit at a good price (with notes for Mac users)
Comment: I was totally chessed off at Magellan when my Explorist 100 died under warranty and they refused to support or repair it (this was a new unit!). So I only considered Garmin based on liking my car unit.
Mac Users:
It's a bit tricky, but I am able to use the USB cable and the 'send to Garmin' to automatically load waypoints from geocaching.com. One warning is that they have a Mac firmware web updater and it's very new and froze on my attempt to use it, which blanked my unit. [...]. I did the update for this unit on a friends PC and it went fine.
There are some Mac caching software, but none of them are working for me with this unit. So keep that in mind if you really want to go beyond the web waypoint downloads. That's a bummer, since Maccaching and GeoJournal look like they'd be great.
The included software does not work on a Mac, so ignore that CD. From the Garmin site, you can download the plugin for Mac to make Safari aware of the unit so you can do the "send to Garmin' trick. They also have the Mac version of their WebUpdater (the one that hosed my first unit) on their site. Finally, you don't need any USB drivers for Tiger or Leopard OSX, so don't worry about them only being for Windows on the Garmin site.
Usage:
Crazy fast turn on and acquiring satellites. We are thrilled that we can turn it on in the car and it will start to pick up satellites right away. Our Magellin (an cheap 100 unit) would take awhile even outside in cloudcover.
It also seems to save all the time, as the shutdown is very fast, with no 'saving' note like our Magellin made us wait for.
I guess our only complaint is that we like to use the backlight a lot and that sucks batteries. It's winter now, and so many days and locations are dim, and without the backlight, the unit can be pretty dim to read. It takes 2 AA's. It also has a system pref for the type of battery you use (Alkaline, NiMH or LiOn), why? Maybe to only USB charge when they are NiMH's?? But remember to set that to the correct type.
We really love auto loading the coordinates. And even with the free account on Geocaching.com, we get the cache name, GC# and coordinates. That saves tons of time and mistakes. We find ourselves loading up any cache that interests us, just in case.
Accuracy:
The unit seems right on. Our other unit would usually be more like 20-30 feet accurate in the woods, and this one led us right to the cache and showed 16' accuracy at that point under normal tree cover. It also refreshes more often than our old unit, so it feels more responsive. No more going 20 feet and then seeing that the arrow just didn't update to show we were going the wrong way, or overshot.
Build:
It seems solid and took our last rainy hike well. The back has a bit of a gap, but the seal must lock in fine. It uses the 'D' lock, so just half a twist to lock and unlock, which is fast and appreciated on a cold cache while changing batteries. We always had to dig to get the Magellin's ring out and turning to pop the back.
Thumb toggle:
If you've used the old Garmin's with button input, the toggle on the front is really welcomed. We zip through data entry and you push the toggle in to accept an entry. It's also a shortcut to Mark your current location (holding down the toggle button). Another tip is that holding down the lower left button brings up the 'Find' menu quickly.
Speed:
One thing I noted was that when I went just one setting more on 'detail' for the maps, it really cut the redraw speed (which is a tad slow to begin with), so that was disappointing.
Hope that helps someone and happy caching!
for Team Spiderweb4-2
Name: Susan Moss
Location: Upstate NY
Date: 2007-10-04
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Vast Improvement over earlier models.
Comment: This is my second Garmin GPS. I was the first kid on my block to get their original eTrex and, at the time, it was a super help for someone who spends many days afield each year. Suddenly, wandering around became do-able for someone w/o orienteering training. I bought this unit because I was looking for quicker acquisition of satellites and better reception under the tree canopy. And it does those things well, and more! With 24mb of internal memory, and available topo maps to download, the Venture HC is a powerful tool for the newbie outdoorsperson and more advanced traveller alike. I'm very impressed with the power, size, and price. You can't go wrong with this little GPS!
Name: E. Ho
Location:
Date: 2008-05-03
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Garmin Venture HC
Comment: The HC model's high-sensitivity antenna really works!! I have an old model without the H-antenna, that really had trouble receiving a 3D signal under cover. The HC was able to maintain a satellite link even under forest canopy (but with pockets of holes in the canopy), and under sheltered walkways (open sides). However, if indoors or under extremely dense canopy the receiver loses all signal; but this is expected. The lock-on after turning-on the system is quick. I was not able to test the WAAS function as my location is not covered. However, without the WAAS, I have verified that the GPS tracking was accurate to within 5-10m, and that was good enough for me.
The colour display is very readable, even under bright sunlight. The controls are intuitive. I can use all the basic functions without reading the manual.
The unit is small, compact, and rugged. Battery life is OK, although the Legend HCx lasts almost twice as long. However, I can't justify the big jump in price to the Legend HCx. It would be good if Garmin decides to increase the batt life of the venture hc.
There is considerable lag when scrolling the map. It takes a while for the unit to redraw the map. This is not a problem with the GPS, but rather, the processor chip that is being used. They should come up with a faster processing chip. If you are in a hurry, the slow redrawing of the map, when you want to quickly scroll-search a new location, can get on your nerves.
Overall, at US$137 from Amazon, this is a good buy. I use it for mountaineering and adventure travels. I bring extra lithium batteries for cold conditions. Not for car use. This model doesn't come with the barometer, altimeter, compass that the Summit has. And this is a GOOD THING. Use your GPS purely for that function: GPS. Carry a separate magnetic compass and topo map. And bring along a dedicated altimeter/barometer/digital compass. This is the only safe way of navigating remote mountains and extreme environments.
Amazon packed my GPS unit very nicely in their cardboard box lined with air bags to protect the unit. I appreciated that. The product arrived flawless.
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