I also had this dilemma not but a month ago. Finally settled on a Garmin Etrex Legend CX, with the topo maps. I only got the 24K topos, but they are great. Can upgrade to 100k and it has city maps too so it is able to navigate as well. I like the massive 32 hr battey life and the small size. I don't believe it is as spot on accurate as the 60 CSX or the Oregon, both of which are reviewed quite highly, but it is a good bit cheaper and still pretty dang good for it's price to quality ratio. If you do have both sets of maps, to nav takes over automatically and it is a pain to get the topos up. You have to do a trick that is not listed in the manual where you push the map menu twice and then de-select all of the city maps(CN maps, I think they are called) before topo will come up. If you follow the manual, you will have to de-select each one individually ....endless scrolling through them.
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere. I went to Amazon and it is out of stock and they don't know when they will have it again and I couldn't find it at the Garmin site. The HCX is available but I don't know if it is the replacement for the CX or how it compares.
I think the HCX is the replacement...I think H stands for High sensitivity, and I do believe they are the replacements. I got mine on fleabay with the maps loaded for a decent price. I heard the basic Etrex are really good starters for a small price if you do not need maps. I almost did that, as I just wanted to be able to mark my spot, and be able to get back to it again, but I am a map nut. They do the pinpoint where you are and give you directions to where you want to go...after you save your positions.
I have a Magellan Roadmate for navigating in the car. I may look into getting the HCX for the topo maps. The price is reasonable. For now I have an old handheld I will use until I feel like loosening the purse strings and buying a new one. I'm kind of a map person but I'm more into gadgets. Can't have enough of them.
I have the Garmin eTrex HC and it's great except that the manual sucks big-time. Somebody needs to make a user manual for us hikers and prospectors that is based on reality. For the money it can't be beat once you get the hang of the user interface. My little auto Nuvi 250 accepts the same topo maps so I use it as well when I'm in the truck but it's not as accurate so I switch over to the eTrex once I park.
This is a subect that I struggled with for a long time . The more I researched, the more confused I got ..
My main purpose for a gps was for prospecting, and marking my claims, not for navigation on
roads etc . So I was looking for the most accurate handheld I could find . I was torn between the
Garmin Oregon 450t (nice big touch screen), the Delhorme pn 40 or 60 ( much better maps cheap ),
and the Garmin 60 csx ..
I finally decided on the 60 csx .. But when it arrived, it had a defective micro usb port . I contacted
Amazon, and they emediatly overnighted a new unit .Wow, talk about customer service !
Anyway, since I now had 2 units, I decided to test both for accuracy ..
With both units on, at the same time, in the same place, with the same conditions, the 1st unit
had an accuracy of +/- 7 ft, 12 satelite locks, and near full bars within a minute ..
The 2nd unit took 3 minutes to lock on to 5 satelites, and had an accuracy of about 17 ft at best ..
I decided to keep the 1st unit,as I don't think I can find a more accurate device for the price .
I get around the usb port issue by simply removing the sd card,and plugging it into the computer .
The basemap included is pretty much useless, and maps from garmin run about $100 each .. I was
however able to get some free topos online .. I believe the site was gpsfiledepot ?? Not sure, but I can
go back and find it if you want ..
I am still in the learning curve with it, but so far the only thing that impresses me about the unit,
is the accuracy,and speed of sat. aquisition..I can get 12 locks,and an accuracy of 9ft, inside my house..And, thats what I bought it for ..But if I didn't have the 2 units to test,side by side, I would never
have known how much they can differ ..
I look foward to hearing more input here .. Thanks !
Replies
This is a subect that I struggled with for a long time . The more I researched, the more confused I got ..
My main purpose for a gps was for prospecting, and marking my claims, not for navigation on
roads etc . So I was looking for the most accurate handheld I could find . I was torn between the
Garmin Oregon 450t (nice big touch screen), the Delhorme pn 40 or 60 ( much better maps cheap ),
and the Garmin 60 csx ..
I finally decided on the 60 csx .. But when it arrived, it had a defective micro usb port . I contacted
Amazon, and they emediatly overnighted a new unit .Wow, talk about customer service !
Anyway, since I now had 2 units, I decided to test both for accuracy ..
With both units on, at the same time, in the same place, with the same conditions, the 1st unit
had an accuracy of +/- 7 ft, 12 satelite locks, and near full bars within a minute ..
The 2nd unit took 3 minutes to lock on to 5 satelites, and had an accuracy of about 17 ft at best ..
I decided to keep the 1st unit,as I don't think I can find a more accurate device for the price .
I get around the usb port issue by simply removing the sd card,and plugging it into the computer .
The basemap included is pretty much useless, and maps from garmin run about $100 each .. I was
however able to get some free topos online .. I believe the site was gpsfiledepot ?? Not sure, but I can
go back and find it if you want ..
I am still in the learning curve with it, but so far the only thing that impresses me about the unit,
is the accuracy,and speed of sat. aquisition..I can get 12 locks,and an accuracy of 9ft, inside my house..And, thats what I bought it for ..But if I didn't have the 2 units to test,side by side, I would never
have known how much they can differ ..
I look foward to hearing more input here .. Thanks !