Garmin etrex?

[Jim]

Just got a surprise from when I purchased my 200 merc last March...I got a Garmin etrex in the mail today. Does anyone have any tips? Things to be concerned about?

Thanks,

Jim

[Catch 22]

The unit is water tight except for the battery compartment. If you get the unit wet, pull out the batteries so they won't corrode inside. It is a good unit and is fairly user friendly. Have fun with it.

[Roeboat]

Bought an E trex last year for fishing Westport. The best spots were about 12.8-14.4 miles out so the e trex was invaluable. Worked awesome! Never had a problem with the waterproofing (knock on wood) and lord knows we saw some water on some very rough trips. I like the speedometer function, compass course setups, etc. Very handy to have and wouldn't leave home without it on the big blue.

One note however: Keep a spare set of batteries! On one trip the fog came in thick just as I looked down at the e trex and it said low batteries. Bad timing to say the least. I did a quick compass course check and shut it off to save what little battery power I had left til I got closer to shore. Spare batteries are now a permanent fixture on my boat.

[swampy]

love my etrex !!!! simple device for my simple little mind ....learn it well before you NEED to use it ...my neighbors think I'm nuts as I wander about the neighborhood staring at my hand !!! The rivers are falling !!!The rivers are Falling !!!

[moman]

I like my Venture unit (which is similar) but can't seem to be able to judge the battery life, sometimes its good, other times I'd put new batteries in and find the thing dead at the end of the day. Quite frustrating this elk season. On the other hand, the fix is easy, carry lots of extra batteries.

As for user-friendliness, some functions are, some are not. I loaned mine to a friend recently (hey, I don't have it back) and strongly suggested he spend some time in his backyard with it before he hiked high in the Wallowas. As we all know, lots of people have gotten lost trying to figure out how to use their compass on the second day of their back country trip.

[BlindSquirrel]

I have the Etrex Summit which is very similar to the basic yellow etrex. The best features of the etrex compared to other GPS units are that it is : waterproof, the smallest and lightest of any GPS, and relatively simple to use. Smallest and lightest help while hiking -- but don't matter too much in a boat.

As others said - learn to use it well before you need it.

You can learn a lot more about the etrex on the Yahoo groups site - http://groups.yahoo.com and search for etrex. In the etrex group they have a lot of posts about use, tip/tricks, freeware/shareware/payware software for mapping and uploading and downloading, etc. Without a PC and software, all handheld portable GPS's are cumbersome to use for more than simple tasks.

I think most of the comments about battery life variation come down to temperature dependence of batteries. When it's cold - the batteries just don't last as long - for GPS's, headlamps, frs radios, etc. When the "dead" batteries warm back up - then they are useful again. For AA batteries - I think you get what you pay for -- that is --Kirkland batteries don't last as long as Duracell.

Good luck using your GPS!
Pete

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: Blind Squirel ]</p>

[Jim]

Thanks for all your help...batteries will certainly be set aside, knowing me I wouldn't have thought of that! Practice is fun! I hit a waypoint today...one of my duck blinds...just got back from finding it in the dark...wow! Can't wait to do that in the early mornings! Can waypoint some nice corn fed Mallards and bring them to my blind?? What about 50 40lb Kings for next year...will they come?

Thanks again!

Jim

[Beer Waggin]

Compared to other GPS's I think they are garbage. I got one with my new Mercury purchase last spring as well. I call it my electronic compass. Maybe because I have spent so many hours figuring out how to use my other Garmin I just don't care to take the time to learn the functions of another GPS. I certainly wouldn't recommend it anyone for purchase after using one with more features.
I do agree with the extra batteries though, these things love to eat'em up, and when there dead, you may parish as well.

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: NorRivDave ]</p>

[mudsucker]

Ditto on the battery thing. I had the same thing happen and now i carry spares. I also got a power cord for mine to use when in the boat to save on the battery problem. the power cord was less than $20.00 so well worth it in battery savings

mudsucker