Review of the Garmin “eTrex” GPS Personal Navigator

The Garmin eTrex GPS Personal Navigator unit is small (4″ x 2″ and weighing 5 oz. with the 2 AA batteries installed) and sporty (bright yellow or camo), and it is the perfect companion for any hiker, biker, camper, geocacher, fisherman or other “directionally challenged” person.

Aside from the latitude/longitude information you would, of course, expect from a GPS unit, the Garmin eTrex GPS unit also shows current speed, average speed, time of day, sunrise/sunset, trip timer, trip distance, phases of the moon, and even the best times of day to fish in any particular location.

The Garmin eTrex GPS unit communicates with 12 satellites, and it can pinpoint your position wihin 15 meters (and usually much closer) anywhere in the world.

Easy to learn and easy to use, the function buttons on the Garmin eTrex GPS unit are located on both sides of the unit in an ergonomic one-handed configuration. The operation is logical and well laid out, and the menus are easy to use and easy to read. It has several features which are very useful to the adventurer, including its exclusive “TracBack” feature that reverses your track log and helps you navigate back to your starting point. It is also waterproof. And for the techies among us, it even has the capability of being connected to a computer for the purpose of downloading coordinates.

New technology is always scary, but the simplicity of the Garmin eTrex GPS unit will have you well-versed in its use and finding numerous ways to rely on its capabilities in no time! I purchased my Garmin eTrex GPS on the advice of the Geocaching.com website, when I decided to try my hand at geocaching. I have never been good with maps, or coordinates, or anything resembling navigation, so I assumed that I would have to have my husband “program” the unit for me and probably accompany me on all of my searches, because I wouldn’t be able to operate it. But I was wrong!! I’m having so much fun with this new toy, and I’ve also found that it is a great motivating tool to use for my exercise program. You can see how fast you are walking, exactly how far you’ve walked, and you can even keep a running log, so you know how many miles you walk each week. This allows you to raise your goals, and feel very good about your increased level of exercise.

As you understand its many features, you will find even more reasons to use the Garmin eTrex GPS unit. For example, runners can use it as part of their training – to monitor their times compare times to previous runs. Locate the GPS coordinates of an unknown restaurant or your friend’s new home in an unknown part of the country (there are numerous sites on the Internet where you can get this type of information). For those who are extremely “directionally challenged,” you can even quickly and easily mark the location of your car in the mall parking lot. No more wandering the aisles for 30 minutes trying to remember where you parked your car! The more you use the Garmin eTrex GPS Personal Navigator unit, the more you will think of other uses.

The Garmin eTrex GPS unit is inexpensive in the world of GPS units, generally priced at around $100, although you can often find it on sale on the Internet. It is the “gold standard” recommended by Geocaching.com for the new geocacher – inexpensive, easy to use and full of possible uses.

Join the thousands who have purchased this Garmin eTrex GPS unit as a “cool toy” and learned to rely upon it as a valuable tool.