wahunterinrok

Well I went ahead and bought one. i got approval for the Legend from the boss(the wife). And then when I got to the store I got approval for the Vista, which has a few more features than the legend... Needless to say I am having a blast playing with it...

Dave590

wahunter, You picked a fine model.

There is one thing that I would like to mention; New G.P.S. users are often concerned about pressing the wrong buttons and screwing things up.

Any thing that you do, or "un-do" can eventually be made right again as you learn how to operate it.

About the worst thing that can happen is, you can erase your way-points. but if you just bought it...who cares.

wahunterinrok

I've been pretty happy with it I get a good signal even in Korea, so I have been impessed.

LeeinVa1

do you have any idea of what version of software that is currently in your gps? latest one is 3.60 and can be downloaded from the garmin.com site. you might want to take a look to see what is available there.

Brampton Mike

Garmin rules as far as i'm concerned!!!!!!!!!!!! Brampton Mike [8D]

PLB

I went with the Garmin Etrex. I was also in the military and thus I can read a map. A map will have more details than any GPS unit out there. Also, the models that have all that extra crap (maps, best hunt/fishing time etc. etc.) have a much shorter battery life.

When it comes to a GPS, I want a reliable piece of equipment that will tell me where I am (within 10-15 yards), and a long battery life. I will always carry a map & compass with me for details or as a backup if needed.

Just my 2 cents.

Sharp Shooter

I use a garmen e-trex. It can do all that. You can download maps from the computer and stuff like that. I think any garmen is good.

LeeinVa1

Withthe garmin etrex (yellow version) you cannot download maps to it, only the Legend, Venture and Vista allows this in the etrex series. I have mentioned this before and will do it again here. check out the maptech.com. terrain navagitor is a topo map program that allows you to print out your own topo maps, you can zoom in on an area and print it or print a larger area with less detail. for you first time users of a gps and for some of you old timers you need to set your gps on NAD 27 (conus) instead of the current setting of wgs 84. also, switch over to UTM instead of dd/mm/ss. if you need further explanation on this just give a yell.

Carpmaster

I have used garmin, magellan, and lowrance but i like the lowrance ones the best for the mapping.

Dave590

This has little to do with navigating in the woods, but I thought it worth sharing.

I recently had occasion to use a garmin e-maps G.P.S. that was hooked up to a lap top.

That was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It was quite litterally a full color street map, with a little red dot representing your current location...As I drove down the road,,,the little red dot moved along the map...It even gave off "beeps" as I closed in on the pre-set destination.

It quite litterally looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Again, this really has nothing to do with navigating in the woods, but it is incredible what technology can do.