GPS Help: Garmin Etrex Legend vs Magellan Sportrak Pro?

[clattin]

I' m looking at buying a new GPS before my Colorado Elk hunt this fall and am trying to decide between the Garmin Etrex Legend and the Magellan Sportrak Pro. Both have mapping capabilities and lots of RAM. How good are the topo map software programs? I' ve heard they' re not great, but are they worth the additional $100? I wish I could see the software before I buy it. The Magellan is cheaper, but I have an older Magellan GPS (GPS 4000) that is a COMPLETE POS so I' m a little leary about buying another Magellan. What are your thoughts?

Thx,
Clattin

[yellowlabman]

Can' t speak to the magellan...I own th e-trex legend. I bought it this winter NIB for $200 - $50 mail in rebate from GPSNOW.Com for a final total of $150. I really like the unit...has all the memory and features you will need. Screen could be a little larger though. Unit also EATS BATTERIES quickly, but all in all, seems like a decent unit. My friend has all the software and I downloaded it from him...much cheaper that buying. If you have a friend who has a Garmin, buy it with him/her and save.

[LeeinVa1]

i have the sport trak pro in color and did have the pro in black and white until my girlfriend left it on the fender of my truck. i found the map program (mapsend) is not to my liking, lacks a whole lot of details. i would stick to the garmin for sure.

[losthwy]

Neither the garmin or the magellan maps are nothing to write home about, both are fair. the garmin maps are a little better but the magellans have better reception according to a email from some folks would run gps website.

[RIStrutStopper]

I have the Legend, love the little unit. The screen is a little small, but when hiking thats just fine. I' d rather have the small unit that' s easily stashed out of the way and I never had a problem reading the screen. Unfortunately, I don' t have any of the map S/W, so I can' t comment on that. I have upgraded the operating S/W via the Garmin website download, and that was pretty easy (tip: if the unit you pick up has an early version of S/W, you should save any waypoint info you want to keep because the download will trash user info). I have downloaded a free copy of Easy GPS, and that serves me well for waypoint back-up, and it also allows me to get topos and arial photos of my hunting areas via the internet. Just click on a waypoint and map it...

[Phish-On!]

Good info! I posted the same type of question on another forum and got just about the exact same results. I' m leaning toward the Garmin Legend, but didn' t know about the GPS.com website. Thanks for the information. Good hunting!