Gets the job done in a small package

I use this site all the time so I thought it was time to become a contributor. Here is my first attempt. I have provided some background information because it is information I would have found useful if I knew it before my purchase.

I became interested in a GPS unit while traveling in Europe with a buddy. Half way through our trip he pulled out a Garmin eTrex and tried to demonstrate it to me. Being a tech guy I was very intrigued but disappointed, as he had nothing but problems trying to lock onto enough satellites in Barcelona, Spain. He wasn't familiar with its operation and having no experience with GPS devices myself, I didn't know what to expect so nothing I did magically solved the problem.

In Paris, France he was able to get it to work and told me what direction we were traveling, how fast, etc. It wasn't really of any use since he had a great sense of direction and Paris is pretty easy to get around in anyway.

We went our separate ways shortly thereafter and I decided to visit London for a few days where I got the bug about purchasing my own unit. I did some research, mostly on this site, and came away with the impression that the Magellan units are better in that they locate satellites more quickly and hold on to the signal longer. So off I went to find a store that sells Magellan in an unfamiliar country. Fortunately everyone spoke English (kind of).

I did not know the equivalents of Best Buy, Fry's, Circuit City, etc. but using the manufacturer web sites (both Magellan and Garmin) I identified the "authorized" dealers and went about trying to find the stores. As it turned out I found "electronics row" only after purchasing my Geko. (I would write where they were but my maps are put away and I don't recall the name of the area. Tip: find a group of young looking individuals with iPods or other gadgets and ask them. I bet I would have found out a lot sooner if I had done this. As it turned out I stumbled upon the area by accident.) The differences were the availability (both Garmin and Magellan were available) and the prices were better, however the stores were mobbed so getting any information and reading the manuals would not have been possible. There were literally dozens of electronic stores selling everything you could think of. At least a half dozen of them had Garmin and/or Magellan devices on display in the window. Would have saved money purchasing in the U.S. though. European taxes are brutal and getting a VAT refund appears to be intentionally difficult and time consuming.

I ended up buying the Garmin Geko 301 due to the difficulty of finding Magellan devices in stock at the “authorized” dealers. I bought it from Cotsworld, a sporting good chain. The sales person was knowledgeable and based on my research and discussion (he found Garmin to be better but they didn't stock Magellan) I decided that it made no sense to purchase a unit with built-in maps because they all come with a map of the local country and I live in the U.S.A. so it seemed stupid to spend the extra money and have to use the updateable memory for maps in my own country. I also decided I wanted an electronic compass for those quick reads and the entry models didn’t include them. Note: Don’t under estimate the usefulness of just having a compass. My unit’s compass switches from true compass mode to GPS-locked compass mode automatically depending on the status of the satellite lock. IF THE GPS DEVICE DOES NOT HAVE A SATELLITE LOCK THE *ONLY* INFORMATION YOU WILL HAVE IS THE ELECTRONIC COMPASS. DON’T BUY A DEVICE WITHOUT ONE!!

I read the manuals of several units (see the advantage of going to a store like this) and decided that I also wanted WAAS/EGNOS (earth-based beacons that supplement satellites and IS active in parts of Europe) and I didn't want my unit to forget the waypoints during battery replacement (seemed essential).

The Garmin eTrex unit I originally selected didn't state in the manual nor Garmin web site that it remembered waypoints and as I didn't know enough to test it so I errored on the side of caution: based my purchase decision on what the manual stated.

So here I am with a Garmin Geko 301 in the middle of London trying to figure it out. As expected I had considerable difficulty getting it to lock onto enough satellites to provide any information. As I became more familiar with the unit this because less of an issue. Garmin units have the option of displaying the satellite locations overhead. I am not sure if it is from partial detection or knowledge of where all of them are supposed to be once it detects two, but it does this. Once you know where the satellites are overhead you can reposition yourself around blockages such as tall buildings. Very useful!

If you’ve ever been to London you know that except for the parks in the middle of the city the streets are not particularly wide. What I learned is that crossing the street slowly, or waiting on the island in the middle is frequently enough to get a lock as there are fewer obstructions from buildings when you do this. Not every time, but often. Again knowing where the satellites are located overhead helps immensely.

So not having any maps how did I actually use this unit? I knew the precise time (extremely useful when traveling through Europe), and checked if Big Ben rang on time (it did). Knew the time of sunrise and sunset each day, which helped for sightseeing and of course picture taking. Knew how much I walked every day. At one point I was trying to get someplace I had previously visited and marked before it closed and was able to determine based on estimated time of arrival if I would make it. (Using the information provided I altered my speed to get there in time. Without it I would have not made it as I had no idea where it was.) When I got off the tube (subway) I would “mark” the station location (obviously needed to give it time to re-lock on the satellites). I also marked occasional landmarks that I wanted to get back to or were in interesting areas. I could display the relative location of each on the map (which is smaller than the eTrex – bigger would definitely be an advantage). Not great, but usable. On several occasions I just set the unit to guide me back to a marked location and walked along the street checking the directional indicator, distance, etc. displays. Since there are no street maps and not all streets are in a perfect grid you just follow your instincts and the unit will get you there. On more than one occasion I didn’t think I was bearing in the right direction but sure enough each time I used it I got there.

Batteries lasted about a day if I recall, and that’s using it heavily throughout the day. When I knew the batteries were running low I would replace them if I was in an area where the unit had a good satellite lock. A “cold start” like this takes the longest to complete. Being that the unit takes 2 standard AAA batteries I never carried more than one set with me as backup. And I never needed more than this on a given day. The unit needs the compass re-calibrated whenever the batteries are replaced. You literally put it on a flat surface and turn it a few times. You'll need a really small coin or pocket knife to pop the battery cover off. I’ve used the Geko on an airplane when next to a window. The altitude didn’t seem right. I don’t think the display had enough digits and the unit became confused? Kept meaning to contact Garmin to see what they said but never did.

One feature I really liked (besides size) is that the unit has all dozens of fields of information from which to choose for one of the displays. You basically customize the display to your needs. I didn’t like having to constantly press one button to toggle to the desired display, but Magellan seems to have issues where holding the buttons down for so many seconds triggers different functions. This doesn’t seem any better.

Since the unit I bought didn't have built-in maps it was identical to what I would have found in the U.S. and has a setup option for 16 languages and 3 dozen country selections (for time zone, plus "other" which you configure for the offset). The box and manuals are in American English (as opposed to British English).

I read where one reviewer said that Garmin/Magellan is like Coke/Pepsi. I would agree. I prefer Coke with some foods otherwise Pepsi. Both are good and often you do not get a choice. Although I have not had a Magellan unit to compare with, my expectation is that it has its own set of quirks and in the end I would not find that one was really any better than the other.