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Garmin eTrex Legend HCx GPS unit - Owner Review
Review date: November 5, 2007
Personal biographical information:
| Name: |
Kurt Papke |
| Age: |
54 |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Height: |
6' 4" (193 cm) |
| Weight: |
220 lbs (100 kg) |
| Email address: |
kwpapke at gmail dot com |
| City, State, Country: |
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA |
Backpacking Background: mostly in Minnesota - all of the Superior
Hikiing Trail, starting on the Border Route.
Dayhiking in Utah,
Colorado and Oregon. Mostly Spring/Fall season. I have a
Masters
degree in Electrical Engineering and a 30-year career in software
development, so I have a working knowledge of electronics and software
which helps with a GPS.
Product Information
| Manufacturer: |
Garmin Ltd.
|
| Year of manufacture: |
2007 |
| Manufacturer website: |
http://garmin.com |
| Listed weight: |
5.5 oz with batteries (156 g)
|
| Weight as received: |
6.0 oz (172 g) with Duracell 1800mAh NIMH batteries
4.2 oz (118 g) w/o batteries
|
Unit dimensions, WxHxD:
|
4.2" x 2.2" x 1.2" (10.7 x 5.6 x
3.0 cm)
|
Display size, WxH:
|
1.3" x 1.7" (3.3 x 4.3 cm)
|
| MSRP: |
$289.27 |
PC interface
|
USB (cable supplied)
|
Field Information
| Location of testing: |
Minnesota, Oregon |
| Description of location: |
One 8-day/100 mile trip on the Border Route and Superior
Hiking trails, numerous dayhikes in the Twin cities area, and city
driving (Minneapolis, Portland). Elevations: 600 - 1800 ft (180 -
550 m) on the SHT, 0-400 ft (0 - 120 m)
|
| Weather conditions: |
Cool weather (40-60F) and heavy rain |
General Information
The Legend is a handheld GPS designed for trail use. The Legend
is the lowest end of the Garmin line with auto-routing
capability. The "H" stands for the new high-sensitivity receiver
which gives the unit the ability to capture satellites in a "green
tunnel". The "C" stands for a color screen. The "x"
indicates a slot for a MicroSD flash memory card (no built-in map
memory).
This review will focus on the handheld unit, but will touch on the MapSource software and the City Navigator NT, North America map,
as these are all part of a complete GPS system.
Description of Unit
 Controls
All interaction with the eTrex GPS is through 5 buttons:
| Power key: |
Turns unit on/off and sets backlight |
| Quit/page key: |
Escapes the current function or goes to the next main page |
| In/out zoom keys: |
Zooms in/out on a map page, or scrolls through lists in menus |
| Menu/Find key: |
context-sensitive menus or press and hold to access the Find
menu |
| Enter/rocker: |
joystick, press and release to Enter or mark locations |
I have had no problems performing desired tasks using these six
controls.
Handedness (left
versus right): I find that I use the Quit/page key more than any other
control, and it is located at the tip of my right thumb were it can be
used easily and without fatigue. The one control that is somewhat
"handed" is the Enter/rocker key: it is offset to the left front of the
unit where it is easily reached with the tip of my right thumb. I
find it uncomfortable to use the Enter/rocker control with my left
hand: it is too close to my hand and I have to "crook" my thumb too
much to access it. Left-handed users may find this annoying.
With gloves: I find
that the controls are large enough that I can easily perform all
operations with a mid-weight fleece glove. For those of us who
hike in colder climates this is an often-overlooked attribute.
The picture shows the Satellite Page of the Legend with backlight off
in full sun held in my gloved left hand.
Batteries/MicroSD slot
 The picture to the left shows the Legend with the back
case cover removed. The two AA batteries are easily removed and
replaced, though a fingernail is required to dig them out. The
MicroSD slot with a map chip installed is in the upper right corner of
the picture. Memory cards are painlessly inserted, and the slot
is spring-loaded making it trivial to pop out the card.
The battery usage indicator can be seen on the main menu in the picture
below. I find the icon confusing, with the black color indicating
the remaining charge.
Though I like the compactness of the MicroSD format, I would be
concerned with changing these in the field. They are only the
size of a fingernail, and if dropped on the trail they would be
difficult to find.
The lanyard and its attachment slot can be seen at the left side of the
image.
Menus
 The page key navigates
sequentially through the main Legend menus: map, compass and main
menu (shown at left). When powering up the Satellite page is
displayed, and can
be returned to via the main menu. The order and which pages are
displayed in the page key
sequence can be customized, though I have not found
this necessary for my use. The contents of the pages can also be
customized, in particular the number and content of the displayed
fields. I have found this useful for the Trip Computer and
Compass pages where I have changed the default fields to data that I
wanted frequent access.
The main menu is used frequently, and can be rapidly accessed with two
presses of the menu
key. The default order is shown at left, but can be setup to
display in order of the most frequently used menus. I find the
default menu order works well for me, and I don't like it when things
get moved around on me.
Software Updates
I have updated the firmware once on my unit. The instructions are
clear, though a bit scary due to the warnings that if the download is
botched the GPS has to be sent back to Garmin for re-imaging with no
warranty coverage of the costs.
MapSource Software
 Though there
are 3rd party software packages that can be used to
upload/download and edit waypoints, tracks and routes, Garmin MapSource
is the only software that can load and display Garmin maps and comes
standard with the unit. MapSource comes with the same basemap as
the Legend. I have used MapSource effectively to edit my track
files post-hike to clean up detours, organize tracks by trail section,
and rename and annotate waypoints and tracks. I have also used it
to import GPX files for trails created by others with only one problem
encountered: I came across one GPX file which could not be imported by
MapSource but could be read and downloaded to my GPS by other 3rd party
software (EasyGPS).
The image to the left shows a typical MapSource screen: the yellow dots
are a track recorded from a hike, the panel on the right is the
detailed track log, and the graph shows the elevation profile of the
track. In the background on the left you can see tabs for the
main entities a GPS deals with: maps, waypoints, routes and tracks.
POI Loader: Garmin has a utility for downloading 3rd party Point Of
Interest files. I have used this to successfully load waypoints
for Portland microbreweries :)
City Navigator NT, North America map
The standard basemap pre-loaded in the unit is very rough: there were
times on the Border Route Trail that my GPS was saying I had crossed
the border
into Canada, when clearly I was on the U.S. side of the river.
With use of the City Navigator NT North America map the Legend no
longer declared me an illegal Canadian immigrant.
The auto-routing capabilities of the Legend are useless unless a street
map is purchased. I chose to buy a MicroSD chip preloaded with
the 2008 City Navigator NT, North America map. I was pleased with
the completeness of the map itself: it contains many forest roads
allowing the GPS to be used to navigate to remote trailheads, a
use often overlooked. It also has a very complete database of
POI's: gas stations, motels, restaurants, etc. that can be very useful
on road trips. I have appreciated the capability of doing a quick
find for the closest fueling stop.
My only disappointment with the map was the inability to upload and
view the map in MapSource. This severely limits its use in
pre-planning trips on a PC. A better alternative would be to buy
the DVD version of the same map and a blank MicroSD card. Another
disadvantage of the preloaded chip is the inability to manage multiple
maps, i.e. topo + roadmap. Additional map data cannot be added to
the preloaded chip, and there is only one chip slot.
I had a situation on my last trip where I would have liked both a topo
and the roadmap available: my car was parked at a shuttle service in
Grand Marais and as I descended from the SHT I would have liked to use
the roadmap routing to give me the best walking route through town to
my car. I can envision other situations (e.g. mid-hike resupply)
where this would be useful.
Driving navigation: I have used the Legend in my car in city
navigation. It makes good use of auditory cues and temporary map
zooms to warn the user of upcoming turns. I have used other car
GPS systems with voice outputs and I would have liked the verbal
warnings, but the "beeps" are a reasonable cost compromise.
Supplied Accessories
The Legend comes standard with a lanyard and mounting adapter.
The adapter is useless without an extra-cost mounting
bracket for an automobile, bicycle handlebar, belt clip, etc. It
screws into a metal threaded socket in the back of the GPS. The
lanyard is easily lashed/removed from a slot on the bottom of the
unit. The lanyard extends 18" from the base, making it easy to
read the unit when hanging it around the neck, though personally I
never do so as I find it irritating to have it bouncing off my chest as
I walk.
Field Performance
Receiver Sensitivity
The "H" in HCx connotes that this Legend model has the Garmin
high-sensitivity receiver. I have never experienced a loss of
satellite capture with this unit in the field, even in densely wooded
areas of Northern Minnesota. I even get reasonable reception
inside buildings.
Screen legibility
The unit's color screen has good legibility with the backlight turned
off in bright sunlight. There is no need to find a shady area to
read the screen.
Battery life
I have not done an exhaustive battery life test with different battery
types to confirm the manufacturers claim. It will vary
of course depending on backlight usage, WAAS enabled/disabled,
etc. There is no "sleep" mode for the Legend.
Startup time
10.45 s to "Acquiring satellites"
40.2 s to satellite acquisition
Tracking
Tracks are the "breadcrumbs" that the unit logs during a trip.
The Legend has a TracBack feature for selecting the current
or saved track and allowing me to retrace my steps. This is the
purpose for which I
initially purchased a GPS: a fork in a trail or creekbed looks very
different when backtracking, and I've been known to take a
wrong turn. I used this function successfully on my BRT hike when
I took a wrong turn and lost the trail. TracBack use is a little
confusing at first as the unit requires selection of the point to track
back to, which when I take a wrong turn I really
don't care, I just want to go backwards.
Another feature that is confusing is that the Legend does not clear the
current track log when a track is saved. I typically save my
track at the end of every day, and have inadvertently ended up with a
lot of overlapping tracks.
Tracks are easily uploaded to MapSource and saved to a file. I
have found it useful to keep my tracks in separate files that can be
downloaded for use in re-hiking the same trail. This avoids
cluttering the GPS memory and map screen with tracks not currently in
use.
Routing
Routing works in two modes: following roadways, and
point-to-point. I find I mostly use routing in the car, so leave
the Legend in roadway mode rather than having it prompt me every time
(this is configurable). When route navigation is active, the page key menu has an additional
screen in the sequence with the turn-by-turn directions. I find
that the routes chosen by the Legend using the City Navigator map are
appropriate. Routing is configurable to prioritize shortest
distance or travel time.
Gripe: there does not seem to be a way from the Legend GPS to avoid a
given section of roadway. Case in point: I used to take
the I35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis bridge every day in my
commute to/from work, but with the recent
well-publicized collapse
that is no longer possible. I have been
using my
Legend to find alternate routes home, and I'd really like to indicate
that the bridge should be routed around, but have yet to find a way to
do this other than picking a waypoint to route through.
Conclusions
The Garmin Legend HCx is a useful compromise of cost, functionality,
trail and road use capabilities. I found it a reasonable choice
of a
first GPS unit for myself who bought it to use for a combination of
hiking, driving and
bicycling.
Pros:
- Low-cost, moderate weight, robust mechanical design,
waterproof
- Excellent receiver sensitivity, high memory capacity with add-on
SD card
- Routing capability makes it useful for car and bicycle use as
well as on the trail
- Complete support for map (if DVD maps are purchased), route,
track and waypoint management from a PC.
Cons:
- Requires purchase of a map to make the auto-routing capability
useful. The basemap is good for freeway driving only.
- Single MicroSD slot limits the utility of purchasing pre-loaded
map cards.
Read more reviews of Garmin gear
Read more gear reviews by Kurt Papke
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