Garmin Etrex Legend HCx
I've been using the Garmin Legend HCx for about a month now and I've been very, very pleased with it. I use Garmin Legend HCx mainly for hiking and backpacking; anywhere from well established trails in state parks to the deep back-country of southern California. This is not a unit I would suggest for use while driving. Maybe in the hands of your navigator, sitting shotgun, but this not a drivers GPS unit in my opinion. For hiking, and some casual Geocaching, it's been an excellent companion and tool.
Some of the things I really like about Garmin Legend HCx GPS are, for one, that the buttons are located on the side of the unit near the top. This becomes particularly relevant when the unit is actually in use IN your hand. Your fingers are at the top, the display is at the bottom and you can manipulate the buttons without your hand blocking the display. This may sound like a minor thing, but it's not.
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Garmin Legend HCx GPS Description
GARMIN eTrex Legend HCx Hand Held Receiver w/ Built in GPS Patch Antenna. MicroSD card slot allows for storage of optional MapSource detail /MicroSd card not included. WAAS enabled, 12 parallel channel GPS receiver. Built in GPS patch antenna. Display: 1.3 in W x 1.7 in H, 256 color, high resolution, transflective TFT /176 x 220 pixels. LED backlit display and keypad. Battery life: up to 32 hours typical use using two AA alkaline batteries. Includes a built in Americas autoroute basemap with automatic routing capabilities including highways, exits and tide data /USA only. 500 user waypoints with name and graphic symbol; 20 reversible routes, 50 points per route. Position formats include Lat/Lon, UTM, Loran TDs, Maidenhead, MGRS, user grid, and more. Audible alarms for anchor drag, arrival, off course and clock. Large numbers option for easy viewing, dual position display mode. Trip computer provides odometer, stopped time, moving average, overall average, total time, max speed and more. 10,000 point automatic track log; 20 saved tracks /500 points each/ let you retrace your path in both directions. Built in celestial tables for best time to fish and hunt, plus sun and moon calculations. Fully compatible with MapSource products including BlueChart, City Navigator, U.S. TOPO 24K, U.S. TOPO and US Inland lakes. Waterproof, IEC 60529 IPX7, /Submersible 1 meter at 30 minutes.
Garmin eTrex Legend HCx has indoor GPS sensitivity
The Garmin eTrex Legend HCx is much faster and more sensitive than older Garmin products. I can get fixes anywhere within my house; my old StreetPilot 2610 only works 1ft from a window. It is compact and lightweight. I loaded Citi Navitagator 8 on it and plan to add topo maps for the southwest. I got a 2G SD card for $6 and and loaded CitiNav maps for the entire western US and eastern seaboard using about 900M of space. Figure that the 1G left over will be enough for my topo maps. I went to the MyGarmin website and got a Citi Navigator 8.0 unlock code for an additional unit at no cost (we had purchased it earlier for our Garmin StreetPilot). I am told the new 2009 version only unlocks one unit.
The user interface is not intuitive but after reading the manual and using it a few times it gets easy. The screen though small is bright and clear and I have no problem reading it from my dashboard. The turn-by-turn navigation works well; just like a PND, except that there is no audio. I got this unit mostly for hiking and am looking forward to taking it on the trail.
Garmin Legend HCx Good for biking
I bought this unit to replace an older eTrex Legend model that I mount on my bicycle handle bar. As noted by other reviewers the HCx unit has enhanced sensitivity and very long battery life. My rechargeable AA's last at least 5 times longer than in the old unit. Also it never loses track when outside, and it will find lock in the house, something the old unit never did.
As also noted by others, the built in base map does not provide much data. It's the same map that was in the old unit. I purchased separately the pre-programed street maps on micro SD card which provides full street and point-of-interest data for the entire country. (Google search "010-10679-50" for the best deal on this essential accessory.) I didn't by Garmin software maps because I use a Macintosh and Garmin has never supported the Mac. (They now have something they call "Bobcat" which is supposedly a Mac program to allow map manipulation and transfer. I haven't tried it.)
Anyway I use National Geographic TOPO! maps on my Mac and can download (eTrex to Mac) track data and plot maps of my outings and obtain elevation profiles and ride distances. It's also possible to transfer waypoints and routes both ways with TOPO!.
Another note regarding cycling; in the old unit I had to purchase a special back plate to allow it to clip to the handlebar mount. The new HCx comes with a clip that attaches to the back and allows it to slide into my old mount. (If you don't already have a bike mount kit, you'll need that accessory as well.)
Another problem with the old model that's fixed in this new unit is that the batteries are securely clipped in with damping material attached to the clips. My old unit would shut down when I hit even mild bumps until I damped the battery clips with small bits of handlebar tape.
Bottom line is that I'm very pleased with this device, but note that it is not complete without detailed maps. The street maps work for me; you may want other maps for other types of use.
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