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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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS Receiver
Customer Review: Great BASIC Handheld GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoy using this very small screen color Garmin eTrex HC GPS unit. I use it with coordinates to find old gold and silver mines (please always respect private property!!) and for geocaching. I find this specific Garmin unit to be much more intuitive to use and save or update my data than similar Magellan units I have used in the past.
Note: Depending on your specific use, please ensure you are using the correct map Datum!
Pros: Very fast satellite acquisition (after initial startup)
As accurate as any other handheld GPS
Great usage time between AA battery changes
Very easy to use - even for newbie's
Seems rugged enough
Good "worst case scenario" backup for your vehicle GPS (provided you have a navigator on-board and can accept plain vanilla guidance).
Cons: Will not charge up your cell phone. (Yeah, I know....just kidding!)
Some may need to carry a small magnifier to read the various screens
Other cons: Please add you own.
Customer Review: best entry level/budget GPS receiver
Summary: 5 Stars
you get the most bang for your buck with the venture hc. you have to know what this GPSr is for and not for. it's great for geocaching, hiking, and marking waypoints. it is highly accurate and can receive signals in deep cover of trees. buildings can interfere with the signal but not even the top end GPSr will get you better reception. i usually get an accuracy within 8-11 feet. for me, the most important thing in a handheld is getting reception and accuracy.
PROS:
- good battery life, lasts at least 14 hours
- highly accurate
- great reception
- compact size
- downloadable points of interest
CONS:
- no external memory
- if you load maps, refreshing screen is sluggish but not slow
- hard to find maps but if you do a search, you'll find it and it's free
- screen size is on the small side but you'll forgot about it after a few uses
- typing in waypoint names is a pain and cumbersome.
Customer Review: So many hand Held GPS' to choose from
Summary: 5 Stars
I read many reviews of handheld GPS units and was still confused about some of the features. Garmin makes so many you can still be uncertain. This GPS unit works wonderfully. I pre-plotted many GPS waypoints into the standard Garmin Map download program and then after my download they all appreared in my GPS. Plus, I was able to save them on my PC, so I could share them with other users.
When my friend and I used to use his on our ATV trips the joke was "we don't know where we are going, but we'll sure be able to get back". Well not now. With the preloaded way points we can head off towards any one of them and know how far away it is. Adding new way points along the way is easy as well.
The other features of the handheld are easy to use and are well described on the Garmin site. For the money spent, about $117.00 it works great. FYI, I an not interested in Topo Maps, but I believe they are available and would work fine as well.
Customer Review: Nice unit with a color screen for under $120
Summary: 5 Stars
Picked this up because we were interested in geocaching. The geocaching mode makes it easy to go from one find to another, and Garmin's website makes it a snap to load new caches to your unit. The color screen looks great and it appears to be very accurate since we've been able to locate most of the caches we've searched for. This unit does not do turn by turn road directions and doesn't have removable memory so if those are features you want, choose another unit. The internal memory lets you load a fair amount of map data although I have been able to fill it up. The base map that comes loaded in the unit is just that...basic. If you want streets other than major higways, topographical or waterway maps you'll have to buy those separate. For the cost of the additional maps they should give the units away...lol. Battery life is decent, maybe 12-14 hours on a pair of AA's and thats with using the backlight at 100% most of the time.Customer Review: Never get lost again
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this because I had gotten lost hunting grouse on state property twice already this year. I figured, why ever get lost when I can have a gps unit for a little over $100.
Heres what I like:
it seems pretty tough, and its water proof (does not float though)
it picks up satelites quick
its icon based menus are easy to work with
it is accurate
As a hunter, it provides me with all I need
If you are savvy enough, you can get topo maps loaded for free
it is fully geocache ready (added fun)
what I dont like:
limited internal storage. 24 megs gives me just enough room for the maps of the areas I hunt in NY and western Ma.
no SD card support.(next time I will buy a unit that accepts external storage)
other than that, its good. If you are like me and on a budget, this unit will work out very well.