Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS Receiver
by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $117.48 You Save: $52.51 (31%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $112.93 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS Receiver
Customer Review: Loved it enough to replace it...
Summary: 5 Stars
I first bought this model almost three years ago - and I've just ordered another as my old one finally bit the dust. It was the first GPS device I've owned so I can't say how long you should expect one to last - but as a photographer who does a lot of hiking and travelling down old roads, I fell in love with this gizmo right off the bat and have come to really depend on it. I'll note that my old one got lots of use, but it was not dropped or abused in any way ... just "died on the trail" recently and won't fully boot-up any more. I couldn't find any info or way to "reset" anything - but again I don't know how long I should expect a unit like this to last. It could probably be repaired by Garmin but the expense and shipping may come to close to the price of a new one, and it's interesting to note that this item has only gone-up by about $2 since I bought the first. Considering how much I've come to depend on the thing, it's worth the price to me to just get a new one.
Tests I've done with it are just dead-on accurate - and this thing has followed me though a deep, narrow, heavily-wooded canyon where I've met other hikers who's GPS had lost the signal. (More expensive ones, too! And they've been amazed that mine was still tracking-along with about 15-foot accuracy!)
It's true that the built-in basemap isn't much - and in truth I've never been too impressed with the commercial add-on maps that sometimes cost $$$. But if you look online, you may find a FREE topo-map that will work with MapSource that's even better. I found one from [...] that covers the whole state of Arkansas (my turf) at 24K and is MUCH better than any of the high-dollar ones! EVERY feature is labeled/named better, the contours are more detailed, and it's POIs are more of historic/recreational interest. So Seek and Ye Shall Find!
But again - I loved this thing so much that I had to replace it when my "Faithful eTrex : The Electronic Bloodhound" (as I called it) finally died.
Customer Review: Excellent Geocaching Tool
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this item with geocaching in mind, and it has gone above and beyond my expectations. First, it has a special folder just for geocaches, which (because this product is a Garmin) can be downloaded directly from the geocaching.com website to the device, or you can enter them manually using the geocache symbol and it automatically sorts them. Secondly, it is accurate. It keeps a signal even in the woods, and is correct about coordinates to within 10 feet, usually even closer. It beeps when you are in range of a cache, which is especially useful when driving, because it tells you approximately which exit to use on the highway. Lastly, when you find one, it saves the information to its calendar so that you can log it later, and brings up the next closest automatically. This can be a drawback if you have a lot of undiscovered caches stored, because the next one on the list might actually be behind you on your route, but it's useful if you're looking for many in the same place.
This is a fairly good GPS for general use, also. It stores information about highway exits so that you can track them similarly to tracking geocaches. You can enter waypoints of all sorts and design paths among them. It has a very accurate speedometer and odometer feature, which calculates your maximum speed, moving and stopped time, and average speed across trips. As mentioned in other reviews, the default map is not great, but it does have the major highways on it, and it stores your path so you can check where you've been. It won't give you turn by turn directions, but if you want a relatively inexpensive GPS for geocaching or other waypoint finding tasks, this should be it.
Customer Review: Great device for beginners and geocachers
Summary: 5 Stars
I am new to the handheld gps market, and this is my first purchase. I bought this with the assumption that it would be a great device for hiking and geocaching, and I was correct in assuming this. The device seems to be accurate to within 10 feet or so, which is more accurate than I need but is excellent. I haven't played around with too many of the features just yet, as I stick to using waypoints most of the time. I cannot comment on the inclusion or use of any high end features, as I am still a "rookie" with these devices. For my uses, it is just about perfect.
I use it mostly for geocaching. It is great to use with the geocaching website, as there are buttons on the website to instantly download cache information directly to the gps device. This is a big improvement from my old method of typing in each cache's coordinates. It sorts the caches by which one is closest to your location, and once you've found one it moves onto the next one on the list. This is quite handy, especially if you're in a park or somewhere there is more than one cache close by. The battery life seems to be quite long, and is convenient in that the batteries are easy to replace and a standard size. There is no recharging the device in between uses. I haven't had any problems at all with it so far. It is quite small (reminds me of cellphone size), and fits into pockets, palms, etc... with no problem at all.
Overall a great purchase, and highly recommended to anyone. Especially those of you who are interested in geocaching.
Customer Review: Value for $$ trekking GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used a friend's etrex legend and vista HCx before. Decided to get the Venture HC due to it's low price. At $130, it's excellent value for money. This is why:
- High sensitivity receiver. Catches on to satellites fast! And holds on to them tenaciously! Locks in less than a minute and stays locked even in dense forest cover and in my house.
- Quite accurate, usually places you within 10 metres of actual location.
- Colour screen presents information a lot better compared to gray-scale screen of legend.
- Long battery life, using 2700mAh NiMHs (x2 pcs), it can go 12-16 hrs depending on your usage of backlighting.
- User interface is very easy to master, I didn't even need to read the manual. Customizable screens allow you to display whatever data field you like. The UI is almost the same as vista HCx (includes altimeter and electronic compass which the Venture HC doesn't have). So if you don't need those extra feature, this unit is perfect!
- Casing feels solid, nothing creaking yet and it's quite light and waterproof (IPX-7). The sides and back battery cover are rubberized for better grip.
Cons:
- Only 24Mb of internal memory and no memory card slot for expansion, have to choose which maps to load.
- Panning of the map on map screen slightly sluggish.
UPDATE (12 Jun 2009):
- able to run for 22 hrs on 2700mAh NiMH batts with minimal (<5%) usage of backlight.
Customer Review: Good unit
Summary: 5 Stars
This unit works great for my needs, which is to keep track of location and waypoints when I backpack in the Rocky Mountains. It's got an easy, one-click method of creating waypoints. It always acquires the signal quickly. It keeps track of a bunch of useful data - such as distance covered (an odometer reading that is also useful when exercising), moving time, resting time, local sunset and sunrise. It provides an elevation reading, which is useful in comparision with a topo map.
It's lightweight and small - which means it's easy to carry - and it appears to be durable (although I haven't dropped it yet to test this feature!)
I purchased separately the 2008 Topo US from Garmin. I loaded maps for my local area onto the unit and they work great. Easy to transfer between the PC and the unit.
I highly recommend the unit. The only issue I've noticed is with the batteries. It seems to go through them quickly. After loading fresh batteries, be sure to go into the configure settings and select the correct battery type - it makes a big difference, however even with the correct setting it seems the batteries don't last long. I haven't done much testing, but it seems a fresh set last maybe 3 hours. Be sure to carry extra ones with you.
Although it would be nice if the batteries lasted longer, I can live with it. The other features make it worthwhile.