weber_sd

I bought the Invisible Shield kit for my Garmin Venture Cx about a month ago. I think it's great. It's perfectly clear and does not distort the screen at all. Seems tough as nails and it's very stuck to the screen. The only difference is that I get a little more reflection off the screen. A friend picked up a screen protector called from bestskinsever.com and it appears to be the same thing but they sell it without the bottle of application solution and sqeeegee. It's a little cheaper. I got curious what this stuff is so I did a little looking around. As far I can tell, it's a urethane film with an acrylic adhesive which is sold in rolls and pre-cut kits as a car paint protector (like an invisible car bra). It's called VentureShield. The adhesive solution seems to be water with little soap in it. You can buy it by the foot here: http://www.stickercity.com/store/home.php?cat=2228 At $5.99 a square foot I'm kind of tempted to buy a foot and try it on some other devices. Just something interesting for those of you who are tinkerers and have an Exacto knife handy and have a sense of adventure.

Take a look at www.motionbased.com. It's is a website that Garmin bought some time ago. It's mostly intended for users of Garmin's Forerunner (runner) and Edge (cyclist) users, but there are lots hikes on this site as well as running and bike riding routes. Click on the TrailNetwork tab and then do a search. Try "Joshua Tree hike" to get you started.

US Navy, 1977-1981. Aerographer's Mate 2nd Class (E5). After boot camp and "A" school, I spent the next 3 1/2 years at Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center in Monterey, CA. The Navy got me started on the career I still have today, it got me out to California where I settled, and I met my wife. I'd have to say I grew up the day I set foot in boot camp. All in all, one of the smartest things I've ever done.

If you are going for the Legend cx, then you might want to consider the Venture cx. The only difference is the color and the Venture does not come with a memory card, USB cable or the Trip&Waypoint manager software. The 64MB card is fairly useless and you will probably find yourself buying a 1GB card (around $20) separately. The USB cable is standard, so might already have one around from a camera or PDA. If not, they are cheap. The Trip&Waypoint manager software comes with any Mapsource product you buy anyway.

Amazon is my first choice for online purchases now. Here's an example of why: - the Vista cx I ordered in December worked for about 3 days and then quit. Just would not turn on. I contacted Amazon and they had a new unit on the way to me the next day. No hassle at all. The new unit works fine. - the price of the Vista cx went down by $17 a few weeks after I first ordered it. I contacted Amazon and they refunded $17 to my credit card. Again, no hassles. I have never, ever had a problem with Amazon. The prices are hard to beat and the service is first class.

I've been using the eneloop batteries for the past month in my Venture cx. They last and last. Since they don't use charge when sitting idle, I don't have to worry pulling them out of the unit and charging if I haven't used my GPSr for a few days. I bought 4 batteries, so I always have a spare set fully charged. I'm a fan.

Nice deal avpas. I ordered Navigator from Amazon last week and it is on the way. Now I see that I could have had the GPS 18 with Mapsource maps for less than the maps alone. The GPS 18 would have been fun to play with. Sure wish I had figured this out last week. Congrats to you!

I just looked at the Best Buy website and the bundle that I see with the USB GPSr says that it includes City Select. That is different and older than City Navigator. You might want to double check on what you are getting before you buy it. Sometimes websites are not updated and/or incorrect, so maybe this is with Navigator. If it is, then this is a pretty interesting way to buy it. I wish I had thought of it.

I had the same problem when I first attached my new Venture Cx. You will need to download and install the USB drivers from the Garmin website. http://www.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=591