12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Excellent GPS unit!
Date of Review: Mar 29, 2002
The Bottom Line: Easy-to-use, highly recommended. It's getting four stars simply because it's the only GPS unit I've used. I doubt for the money there are many more better than this.
With much trepidation, I finally jumped into the GPS realm with this unit. I had many fears of hard-to-follow instructions and disappointing results. To my pleasant surprise, Garmin came through with flying colors with the eTrex Legend.
It's small, but has a comparatively high number of pixels in the display, giving it much greater resolution. The unit contains many useful features, some of which the casual user may never use.
One of my favorite things about Garmin products (and this may not be commonly known, I'm not sure) is that they seem to regularly upgrade their stock software for their GPS units. Not only that, but you can go to Garmin's home page, and if you have the PC-interface cable (such as that which COMES with the Legend, and isn't an additional option), you can upgrade the stock software on your unit, making it as current as the newly-produced units they're shipping out of the warehouse.....absolutely free! In the 6 months or so I've had my unit, I've upgraded the software about three times. Garmin is constantly striving to improve the performance of their units, which I think is great. Not to mention the fact that they could easily charge for this upgrading process. Way to go, Garmin!
Is it ALL "peaches n' cream"? Not really. Some of the minor drawbacks, as I see them, are battery usage. Yes, they can cut through batteries, but if you read your manual, you can figure out how to set your unit to maximize battery life. Also, like many GPS units, you need to be moving for the compass to give you an actual readout of the direction in which you're heading. Garmin's highest-end model has an electronic compass that doesn't require movement to display your heading. Don't let this discourage you from buying the Legend.
I know you're not supposed to, but on a recent flight to Florida, I just HAD to get out my Legend to see exactly where over the U.S. we were, what altitude we were flying at, and at what speed. What a kick!
In short, it's a GREAT unit for the money, and there is plenty of memory for the downloadable maps. I downloaded MapSource's "U.S. Roads and Recreation" maps, and they are great additions. Be advised, though, that every time you download new maps, previously downloaded maps are overwritten. You need to re-enter. This shouldn't pose a major problem.
Overall, if you can find a better, more compact unit with the accuracy and resolution of this unit, BUYT IT! But call me first, because I'd be interested in hearing about it.
Good luck, though.
