Etrex Handheld
Garmin Etrex Handheld GPS Buyers Guide
Let’s start with a brief history of the Garmin ETrex Handheld GPS and go from there onto the features that you need for your specific endeavors. The first product the company produced was a panel mounted GPS receiver for and used by the United States marine core, starting at a whopping $2,500, which debuted in 1990. The product was instantly recognized for its innovation and quality and was back-ordered 5,000 units. To support this demand the company had to build completely new manufacturing facilities. Throughout the 90′s the Garmin handheld receivers were popular with the military in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and was used during the 1991 Gulf War. With the great success in the military Garmin decided to branch out to the civilian life, producing several products for the outdoors-man in the late 90′s. In 1998 the eTrex was released. A compact, lightweight, waterproof GPS unit that backpackers, hikers, and campers could bring to remote areas to ensure safety. This also came with the stunning 22 hours of battery life off of just two AA sized batteries.
Now that we see that the Garmin GPS is a real quality brand that the military couldn’t get enough of, let’s break down what features are available in the eTrex line, and which ones you want to pay for, and which ones you might not need. Let’s start with the display. This is an aesthetic feature as well as a functional feature. You can get an LCD display in a 4 level gray (black and white basically) or a 256 color display. The functional feature is you will have different colors that correspond with different area’s of terrain such as the trail, the grass/land, and water. This will help you identify features that you are looking for as well as see what you need to see from the GPS a lot quicker. The aesthetic feature is that it just plain looks really good.
Another feature you might consider having is the SD card available for use. With this you can grab routes and GPS locations quickly off the computer and load them up, as well as use this feature to swap information with friends, or save different routes and GPS locations onto a separate drive. This can also be done on the computer via a connector but an SD card is very convenient, so if looking into that feature it is going to be purely based on convenience rather than necessity, unless you have thousands of routes you want to store. Which brings me to the next point, what type of connector do you want to use. The USB is by far the best connector but the lower priced Garmin ETrex Handheld GPS units connect via a serial connector which is a bit of an outdated technology and may not be present on the newer computers, I’d definitely recommend finding one with a USB connector, they aren’t that much more expensive. Most other features that the Garmin GPS has come standard with all units and can be easily checked with a quick browse of the product information.
About the Author
If you are serious about finding a great outdoor GPS, I have prepared a Garmin eTrex Handheld GPS review site, reviewing the very best of the Gramin product line. Check it out at http://garminetrexhandheldgps.info
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NEW GARMIN ETREX 10 HANDHELD OUTDOOR HIKING GPS RECEIVER 010-00970-00 $124.93 |
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GARMIN eTrex 20 2.2″ Handheld GPS Navigation NEW! $182.81 |
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New Garmin eTrex 30 Outdoor Handheld GPS Receiver Navigator Hiking outdoors $285.50 |
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GARMIN ETREX LEGEND HCX COLOR HAND HELD GPS GARMIN ETRE $216.72 |
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Garmin Etrex Venture Hc Handheld GPS Receiver + Kit NEW $160.97 |
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Garmin Etrex Venture Hc Handheld GPS Receiver NEW $146.97 |
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GARMIN eTrex Vista HCx GPS Receiver Navigator Handheld GeoCaching 010-00630-00 $169.95 |
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Garmin eTrex H GPS Receiver $109.00 |
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GARMIN eTrex Summit HC Handheld GPS Receiver Navigator 010-00633-03 NEW $114.95 |
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NEW Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Color Mapping Handheld GPS $233.99 |
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GARMIN ETREX 10 HANDHELD GPS 010-00970-00 $121.83 |
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GARMIN eTrex 30 Handheld GPS ~ WORLDWIDE SHIPPING! from WESTLAKE MARKET! $298.00 |
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GARMIN eTrex 10 Handheld GPS ~ WORLDWIDE SHIPPING! from WESTLAKE MARKET! $124.95 |
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GARMIN ETREX 10 HANDHELD GPS 010-00970-00 $122.74 |
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NEW GARMIN ETREX 20 WORLDWIDE HANDHELD NAVIGATOR 010-00970-10 $185.94 |
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Garmin eTrex 20 Worldwide Handheld GPS Navigator $150.00 |
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Garmin eTrex H Personal Handheld Hiking Camping Survival Personal GPS Receiver $46.00 |
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Garmin eTrex 10 2.2″ Waterproof Handheld Outdoor GPS System W/HotFix $148.99 |
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Garmin Etrex Venture Hc Handheld GPS Receiver NEW $146.97 |
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Brand New! Garmin eTrex 20 Worldwide Handheld GPS Navigator $193.04 |
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Garmin eTrex Venture HC Handheld GPS Receiver – High Sensitivity – Color Screen $129.95 |
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Garmin eTrex 10 Handheld GPS $119.34 |
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NEW GARMIN ETREX 30 HANDHELD OUTDOOR HIKING GPS 010-00970-20 $274.90 |
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Garmin Etrex Venture Handheld GPS Receiver Unit $19.99 |
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Garmin etrex Legend Cx handheld GPS unit hiking camping blue waterproof $52.00 |
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Garmin eTrex 20 Handheld GPS Navigator, 2.2″ Screen, microSD,USB,Max 20 Hour New $206.30 |
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Garmin eTrex Venture HC Green 2.1″ Handheld GPS System $44.06 |
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Garmin eTrex H Handheld High Sensitivity GPS Navigator 010-00631-00 NEW $89.99 |
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NEW Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Mapping Handheld GPS System $229.99 |
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Garmin eTrex Legend GPS Handheld Personal Navigator Receiver-WAAS-Minty in Box! $79.95 |
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Garmin Etrex Venture Hc Handheld GPS Receiver + Kit NEW $160.97 |
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Garmin Etrex Venture Hc Handheld GPS Receiver NEW $146.97 |
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GARMIN ETREX 20 WORLDWIDE HANDHELD NAVIGATOR 010-00970-10, Brand New $183.99 |
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GARMIN ETREX 10 HANDHELD OUTDOOR HIKING GPS RECEIVER, Brand New $109.99 |
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Garmin eTrex H Handheld GPS Receiver $77.95 |
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GARMIN ETREX 20 GPS HANDHELD RECEIVER $130.00 |
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NEW Garmin eTrex Vista HCx Mapping Handheld GPS System $229.69 |
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Garmin eTrex 30 Handheld GPS $259.00 |
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GARMIN eTrex Legend Handheld GPS Navigation Unit $26.00 |
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GARMIN ETREX VISTA HCX GPS HANDHELD COLOR RECEIVER NEW $229.99 |
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Garmin MapSource TOPO! US 24k West Topographic Coverage for Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada (DVD) $82.41 Topo U.S. 24K Topo U.S. 24K DVD gives access to a wider coverage area than Garmin’s Topo U.S. 24k data cards. The new Topo U.S. 24K West DVD provides up-to-date detailed 24k topographic coverage for Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada. Built-in DEM (digital elevation model) data supports 3-D terrain shading and route elevation profiles to help estimate terrain difficulty. With routable road… |
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Garmin City Navigator North America for Detailed Maps of the United State, Canada and Mexico (DVD) $70.51 Garmin DVD maps are easier to plot routes compared to preprogrammed MicroSD cards. DVD maps require a PC or Mac computerDVD maps are easier to plot routes compared to pre-programmed MicroSD cardsRequires separate purchase of blank MicroSD/SD card for most devices (not sold thru QBP)… |
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Garmin MapSource U.S.A. Topographical Map CD-ROM (Windows) $46.00 Garmin’s United States TOPO MapSource CD-ROM is similar to U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000-scale topographic paper maps. It includes trip and waypoint management functions that allow you to transfer waypoints, routes, and tracks between your PC and nearly all Garmin GPS units (excluding the GPS 100 family and panel-mount aviation units). With MapSource, you can view highways, roads, hiking trails… |