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Anon
Halifax
May 23, 2012
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Pros: ease of use
Cons: unable to delete any geocashes
very this is my first GPS and found it easy to use, downloads maps and geocashes with ease
Recommend? YES
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Dan
Timmins Ontario
May 22, 2012
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EASY TO USE
nice and easy to use, small fits in hand nicely , batteries last a long time, has lots of extras once you know how to use it
Recommend? YES
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trekker J
everywhere
May 21, 2012
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COMPACT, WELL DESIGNED, GREAT PRICE
Pros: small, affordable, water resistant, shaded relief
Cons: no free maps like delorme units
For the price the eTrex 20 is definately worth the purchase. It's small size and user friendlyness makes it a great addition toany outdoor enthusiasts pack and the shaded relief is a nice touch as well. This is my 3rd gps system and my second Garmin unit. Although the delorme units give more options and an easily affordable price, Garmin remains my favorite and keeps portability and performance atop their priorities list. My favorite unit to date
Recommend? YES
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Stef
Quebec, Canada
May 14, 2012
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VERY GOOD, YET NOT PERFECT
Pros: long battery life, can easily be carried anywhere
Cons: slow cursor movement on map.
I have owned many Garmin units and this one did not really disappoint me. Small, rugged, precise, long battery life... It's a device that is pleasant to carry. It could easy get the GPS fix (position) even inside my house. The form factor makes it easy to stuff it into any pocket without fear of breaking it. To whoever is used to other larger models though, the size of the screen *is* rather small. The only other negative aspect is the overall slowness of navigation: you feel like you're back in the Commodore 64 era. Very slow cursor movement on map, and no diagonal movement.
Recommend? YES
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juan antonio
spain
Apr 24, 2012
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TODO CORRECTO
Pros: calidad
Cons: customs
Todo correcto, pero en España hay que pagar aranceles y muy caros... unos 40 euros.
Recommend? YES
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Shaunem
Calgary
Apr 23, 2012
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GREAT LITTLE GPS
Pros: maps, sd slot, it's a garmin
Cons: none
Came from using the explorist gc. Now I can load my topo, trail, and street maps and switch between them as needed. I have had no problems with the reported sticky issue.
Recommend? YES
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Helen
Victoria, BC
Mar 15, 2012
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LANDSHARKZ REVIEW OF THE ETREX 20
Pros: size, ease of use, profiles, osm map compatible
Cons: waypoint averaging isn't as intuitive as i'd like
Background: I have owned: eTrex LegendC, 60Csx, Colorado, Oregon 450 and a Delorme PN40. We've taught "Introduction to GPS Use for Garmin handheld owners" at the community college here in town. We've also taught geocaching to school groups and summer camps with the BCGA's Vista GPS units.
I like the Delorme a lot for it's ease of use and amazing accuracy even in heavy tree cover. When we travel to the US, the Delorme's out of the box maps are superb. But we live in Canada and need to use their Canadian maps which aren't as accurate as the Garmin maps and their programs for mapping and downloading waypoints and tracks are still a brain cramp for me after 3 years! Also, when we teach geocaching my GPS gets put away and I end up using the Garmin units of course.
When I saw the eTrex's were being updated I decided the time was right to make my next Garmin acquisition.
Out of the box Garmin GPS units are quite simply the simplest GPS to fire up and start using, even for very new GPS users. We always go online to Garmin's site and register new GPS units and check if there are any software updates required. This can alleviate a lot of problems that people often have with new GPS units. My new eTrex 20's serial number wasn't recognized by their site and so a quick note to their tech support was in order. I awoke to a note back saying that it was all fixed and they'd taken the liberty of finishing the registration process for me so it was now showing on my list of GPS units owned and ready to update. Nice :)
The eTrex 20 is a solid quality unit that has a reassuring hefty feel when loaded with batteries. I like that the rubber strip from the old eTrex's has been replaced with a moulded rubberized grip area which won't get wet and delaminate like the old one did. I anticipate great wear resistance from this rubberized area. The USB connection is hidden under a rubber weather-resistant flap, and the micro- SD slot is protected inside the battery compartment like on other Garmin GPS units.
I prefer the toggle over a touch screen for use with gloves in winter or on the bike. Also, when the GPS is in my pocket I don't need to worry about commands being initiated by the screen bumping around. It's a good idea to get an Invisible Shield for this unit (and all GPS units) as soon as possible to avoid the heart breaking first scratch.
In the field, both in the open, in west coast tree cover and in buildings it takes less than a minute to get a position fix, and the accuracy is quite good.
The profiles are very handy. Setting them up is a great rainy day or evening project don't try to set up your profiles when you're in a hurry. Take some time to think which ones you'll really use and then configure them. They can be edited at any time for your personal style of use.
I also purchased a bike mount and intend to use it this summer. Cycling and geocaching the Confederation Trail in PEI would be a joy with this GPS. This trail has been populated with over 1200 geocaches and Tourism PEI welcomes geocachers to visit and cache their lovely province.
The eTrex 20 will also work as a car GPS, though that is not its intended function and we'd likely not do this, but we certainly could and would if we ended up somewhere without our Garmin Nuvi.
If you only want one GPS for both hiking and driving then this would be an excellent choice. When it is used in the car, keep it plugged in so the screen backlit won't go out.
I look forward to many years of happy exploring with this GPS in my hand. You'll see it in pictures on our FB page (landsharkz) after our travels.
Recommend? YES
13 viewers found this helpful.
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cycle2003
Alberta
Mar 1, 2012
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GREAT FOR THE CASUAL HIKER
Great unit. Able to download free maps from openstreetmap and other internet sources. Will be using it for a hike in england, even found free maps for the city of London. Yes, the screen is small but what would you expect for a pocket sized GPS. Fairly easy to use but you do have to read the instructions!
Recommend? YES
9 viewers found this helpful.
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jayhawk
so cal
Mar 1, 2012
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MANUAL
As usual with Garmin -- poor user manual. In many cases, incomplete with no descriptions of terms. No examples of use, device doesn't always match manual for what ever reason. I like the auto navigation which works pretty well. Don't try reversing route as it doesn't seem to work correctly but, this may be fixed in future.
All in all not a bad unit as I can both drive and walk with goo results.
Recommend? YES
10 viewers found this helpful.
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pike
Japan
Feb 19, 2012
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GOOD HANDY GPS
eTrex20 has good accuracy and good battery life. Easy to use. But the screen is small and not clear. There is no easy way to change symbols of waypoints on the root.
Recommend? YES
15 viewers found this helpful.
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Arkville
Arkville
Feb 5, 2012
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NOT IMPRESSED YET
Pros: cache description download
Cons: too many to list right now. very poor manual.
Gave the new Garmin a try out today in the Monticello, NY area and was somewhat disappointed in the performance. The screen is difficult to see when not using backlit. Mapping was very poor, only showed major roadways and nothing for other roads and streets. Not sure if it was the GPSr or the satellites not responding well, but the GPS jumped all over most of the day and would not settle down to anything accurate.
At this point the only good thing I can offer about it is the fact you can download cache descriptions and logs, even they are a pain to delete (having to open the file on the computer and then delete them).
I think Garmin should provide a much more detailed manual on the use of this unit as well. Fumbling back and forth between screens and guessing what to do is just not what one should have to put up with considering the price of this unit.
At the moment I would not recommend this to anyone. I believe my old Vista H is far better and easier to use with the exception of the cache description download capability.
Will keep working with this unit and hope to find improvements in it's performance and my ability to figure out how it works in an efficient manor.
Recommend? NO
12 viewers found this helpful.
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Raidan
Ontario
Feb 1, 2012
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Pros: quick
Cons: could use larger screen
great GPS, quick acquiring of satelites, easy to use
Recommend? YES
17 viewers found this helpful.
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arkville
New York
Jan 30, 2012
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NICE UNIT, BUT
Pros: compact,fast power-up, good battery life,
Cons: poor user manual,screen could be brighter
Haven't used it too much yet, but find having to go back and forth between screens a bit cumbersome and unless I am missing something there is no easy way to delete "found"geocache files without hooking up to a computer and going into the GPX folder to delete them.
Recommend? NO OPINION
12 viewers found this helpful.
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SKTQCH
S.E. BC
Dec 8, 2011
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ETREX 20 FOR GEOCACHING
Pros: good accuracy, battery life, paperless geocaching.
Cons: no meaningful manual, no meaninful manual, no mean
This purchase was made to replace an older Etrex that suffered an unfortunate accident involving a paved parking lot. It is used exclusively for geocaching so accuracy and ease of use is paramount. The "20" has good accuracy, comparable to the Garmin 60 series, has a nice feel, and good battery life. It does paperless geocaching well when combined with GSAK with the help of a macro to install attributes.
My biggest complaint is the lack of virtually any meaningful manual. That makes the learning curve very steep. The little "nipple" control device takes a bit of getting used to and there are way too many steps to go between geocache descriptions and compass pages. It is still too dim to read properly in a vehicle but that may be because I haven't found out yet how to increase the brightness level (I've only been trying for a month). All in all it's a good machine and should eventually become very usefull when I figure out how everything works.
Recommend? YES
18 viewers found this helpful.
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Dan
Halton Hills, On
Dec 6, 2011
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NIFTY UNIT
It's a great little unit that (compared to my older model) powers up quickly, keeps its signal well in the forest and seems quite accurate. I would like to see an added feature that allows the tracks to remain visible on the screen while not recording a new track.
Recommend? YES
10 viewers found this helpful.
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Marsh
Kirkland Lake, Ontario
Nov 29, 2011
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GREAT
I have had 3 garmin units and this is the best one yet. Easy to use and lots of memory.
Recommend? YES
10 viewers found this helpful.
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Alex
Fredericton, NB
Nov 3, 2011
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A GREAT UPGRADE OF A GREAT PRODUCT
Pros: sturdy, good resolution, easy to use.
Cons: a bit more greedy with batteries, try recharables.
We originally bought an Etrex Venture HC when we started Geocaching three years ago. It has taken us places we never would have been before and was very well suited to our needs. The only thing it was missing was paperless caching. I got the new Etrex 20 for my birthday this year. For less than $10 more than what we originally paid, we've got paperless caching and better accuracy, faster connection and improved reception. Less time doing the "drunken bee dance" is a good thing, right?
Recommend? YES
15 viewers found this helpful.
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JANDRESIB
Bogotá, Colombia
Nov 1, 2011
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EXCELENT GPS
Pros: handly, battery last a lot
I bought it 3 weeks ago and its a great GPS. I use it in my bike mount to ride and use it for geocaching... very accurate and the bike mount work perfect.
Recommend? YES
19 viewers found this helpful.
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(4.5/5.0 based on 21 ratings)
