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I purchase this 3 to 4 years ago. For the money at that time, it is the best. I even do a little surveying with it and an engineering firm used my numbers without hesitation. I love it.
I ended up loading the NA Topo map and it gave me much better street level data for my rides, and I expect that I'll have better views of the land when hunting.Overall, I love the Legend. I also like the ability to mount it to my bike to log my rides, then being able to download them using MapSource.
It's still a bit more expensive that it is really worth now, as there is an updated model. The Legend has pretty much every feature that you would expect from a hand held unit.
I've had this GPS for a few years now. It works great for finding a deer blind before sunrise.
The time to acquire enough satellite to navigate is pretty quick, usually less than a minute.I've found that it is pretty good on battery life. The screen is slow in cold weather, but not unreadable.
The only thing that I'm not real happy about is the poor base map. If / when this one dies, I'll definitely replace it with another from the eTrex line.
I use my Etrex Legend in my kayaks. You also need two hands (usually) to operate it. I've been using it for two years, on the water, with no problems. The buttons are large enough that I can operate the Legend wearing my paddling gloves. It comes with only a serial cable, so you will probably need a serial to usb cable/adapter if you want to transfer its data to your PC. Once it locates its satellites on startup, it doesn't seem to lose them, even when stored in one of my kayak hatches. The display is sharp enough that with my sunglasses on I can read it even in bright sunlight. I get about 17 hours from one set of AA alkaline batteries.
(By way of contrast, my Merax/Gisteq Phototrakr sometimes resets on a kayak trip). The only real weakness is a somewhat cumbersome menu system that can be difficult to see in the sunshine. I don't know how it compares to newer devices, but as long as you don't need maps and only want breadcrumb trails, navigation functions, and speed/time recording, this device does the job. I like the accessory case for it, and advise buying it.
When it does find them, it seems to need 5 or (usually) more to find your location. Except for maps, it was very good. Even on a regular bike trail with few trees, I can not get a good use of the odometer, as the breadcrumbs would look like dashes. I lost it the mountains of Argentina.
It also only allows about 9 letters/numbers for a description of your POI.not enough. The Garmin ETrex Legend looks a little fancier, and it has a better (not great) map, but literally everything else is harder to use or inferior. The obvious first fault is that it doesn't find salelites quickly. For nearly 4 years and over 50 countries I had a Magellan Explorist 210. The screen is also smaller and harder to read than the Explorist. Trying to regain satelites can often take forever.
Additionally, when I have not moved the GPS for minutes, I keep getting changes in location and especially altitude.Other concerns are labeling the POIs. Very often when one pushes the save, it does not accept it.a real pain at an intersection while driving.
There are many other complaints. I literally always knew my direction, speed and location.
Then it gives such a variety of markers (i.e. Then nearby buildings, trees, mountains, tent ceilings, and more just shut it down, with a large prompt saying that it was out of satelite range.
This prompt blocks much of the screen, making your map nearly worthless. park, church, etc, etc), that one can spend minutes finding the most suitable one.
Keeping it short, I strongly recommend that you not buy a Garmin Legend.
It sure would be nice to be able to use the computer to load all those waypoints instead of having to type the co-ords into the GPS itself.Other than that, I am very impressed with the fact i can drop it, dunk it, and accidently kick it and have yet to see it give any sort of hickup. I have had this for a little over a year now, and I find it to be very handy and durable. This unit performs that task extremely well.As with most reviews on here, I agree that the map built in only has major highways on it. I hadn't needed it until this month, when I just got into geocaching. I dont have to worry about charging it or looking for replacement batteries that I have never heard of.Reliable, durable, and again - inexpensive. This is perfectly fine, as I wasn't even expecting that much out of the unit (I understand it was not designed for turn-by-turn navigation).The only thing I am kind of disappointed with is the cable that came with it.
I had to chase it down a creek and after i pulled it out - it just kept tickin. I was not looking for a very sophisticated GPS, just something I could use in case I loose my car after I go hiking. Thats right, dunk it. It came with a serial DB9 cable, and to my knowledge you cant find a computer made in this decade with a DB9 port on it. So in order to use the feature on my PC I would have to go out and purchase a DB9 to USB adapter cable. I also like the idea of using common batteries (2 AA's).
Good job garmin.
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