Garmin eTrex Legend bad for geocashing..

[SmokeEater85911]

I am new to this "sport" if you will so I managed to snag a Garmin eTrex Legend.. upon playing this this neat little toy I discovered it doesnt tell you which streets to take to go to your destination, it only draws you a straight line! If I were on the freeway it would tell me what exit to take, once I take the exit, I'd be lost though!

 

I read the manual cover to cover and couldnt figure this bit out.. so I decided Im going to return my GPS and shoot for another device... *sigh* I was having fun too... ;(

[+Insane Kangaroo]

I am new to this "sport" if you will so I managed to snag a Garmin eTrex Legend.. upon playing this this neat little toy I discovered it doesnt tell you which streets to take to go to your destination, it only draws you a straight line! If I were on the freeway it would tell me what exit to take, once I take the exit, I'd be lost though!

 

I read the manual cover to cover and couldnt figure this bit out.. so I decided Im going to return my GPS and shoot for another device... *sigh* I was having fun too... ;(

 

You need a unit which is capable of loading City Navigator or other related maps which might have streets to help you out. I recently loaded City Nav North America on my 76CSx, and must say it makes a world of difference.

[SmokeEater85911]

I am new to this "sport" if you will so I managed to snag a Garmin eTrex Legend.. upon playing this this neat little toy I discovered it doesnt tell you which streets to take to go to your destination, it only draws you a straight line! If I were on the freeway it would tell me what exit to take, once I take the exit, I'd be lost though!

 

I read the manual cover to cover and couldnt figure this bit out.. so I decided Im going to return my GPS and shoot for another device... *sigh* I was having fun too... ;(

 

You need a unit which is capable of loading City Navigator or other related maps which might have streets to help you out. I recently loaded City Nav North America on my 76CSx, and must say it makes a world of difference.

 

thanks, all i can say is even though I am new to the GPS units, the legend is garbage.. its not very user friendly, its sluggish, and the thumbstick click is obnoxious and easy to press it the wrong way causing you to add an accidental waypoint, change a waypoint, move the map, etc... i need to find a new unit..

[bmirak]

I am new to this "sport" if you will so I managed to snag a Garmin eTrex Legend.. upon playing this this neat little toy I discovered it doesnt tell you which streets to take to go to your destination, it only draws you a straight line! If I were on the freeway it would tell me what exit to take, once I take the exit, I'd be lost though!

 

There is nothing wrong with your device. The preloaded basemap is limited to highways. If you want detailed street navigation, you need to purchase and install the City Navigator mapset. You can install this to the Legend.

[bmirak]

thanks, all i can say is even though I am new to the GPS units, the legend is garbage.. its not very user friendly, its sluggish, and the thumbstick click is obnoxious and easy to press it the wrong way causing you to add an accidental waypoint, change a waypoint, move the map, etc... i need to find a new unit..

 

The Legend isn't garbage - its just an entry level model. You get what you pay for. Spend more money and get a 60csx or a Colorado + City Navigator.

[+storm180]

No handheld unit you buy is going to come with streets pre loaded. You going to have buy other software to do it. Same goes for topo unless you get the Colorado 400T. All handhelds come with limited basemap, all other maps are extras.

[+gpsjager]

I am new to this "sport" if you will so I managed to snag a Garmin eTrex Legend.. upon playing this this neat little toy I discovered it doesnt tell you which streets to take to go to your destination, it only draws you a straight line! If I were on the freeway it would tell me what exit to take, once I take the exit, I'd be lost though!

 

I read the manual cover to cover and couldnt figure this bit out.. so I decided Im going to return my GPS and shoot for another device... *sigh* I was having fun too... ;(

Many fine geocaching GPS units (including the Legend) do not have map auto-routing capability, the lack of one feature not making the unit "bad" for the other function. Garmin's website clearly shows which units have auto-routing capability, I'd suggest looking at the Legend Hcx.

[+fratermus]

The legend is not bad for geoCACHing.

 

It will give you turn by turn if you buy MetroGuide and pre-plot the course on the PC. CN will not provide turn by turn on non-routing GPSr, if I remember correctly, and will want to send the routing info to the GPSr, reducing the 8mb map capacity by half.

[SmokeEater85911]

The legend is not bad for geoCACHing.

 

It will give you turn by turn if you buy MetroGuide and pre-plot the course on the PC. CN will not provide turn by turn on non-routing GPSr, if I remember correctly, and will want to send the routing info to the GPSr, reducing the 8mb map capacity by half.

 

im looking for something that is going to do this well, and be under $200, looks like im gonna be looking for used or refurb.. thanks guys for the help

[+ZSandmann]

Hmmmm I'm hovering around 1600 finds and my "crappy" Legend got me to almost all of them. A Venture got me to the first 200. I don't need turn by turn, I loaded MapSource so I can see the roads and navigate there myself. I don't want a little voice telling me "Turn Left Ahead" "Turn right ahead" "Cache is at base of tree - Beep!" Where's the sport?

[+Happy Humphrey]

The Legend HCx does do autorouting (as long as you have the correct map loaded). It's not entry-level either but quite sophisticated.

Perhaps you have the "old" Legend?

[SmokeEater85911]

The Legend HCx does do autorouting (as long as you have the correct map loaded). It's not entry-level either but quite sophisticated.

Perhaps you have the "old" Legend?

 

i guess.. I have "old blue" its just the Legend, when I booted it, the copyright was 2005.. so if anything i need an update.. so there IS or there ISNT software I can download to make this bad boy auto-route? right now if I say Im at point A and want to get to point B it draws me a straight line.. this would work If I had my handy dandy personal helicopter haha

[+philthebottle]

i guess.. I have "old blue" its just the Legend, when I booted it, the copyright was 2005.. so if anything i need an update.. so there IS or there ISNT software I can download to make this bad boy auto-route? right now if I say Im at point A and want to get to point B it draws me a straight line.. this would work If I had my handy dandy personal helicopter haha

 

The original Legend, which it sounds like you have, will not autoroute on its own. Like was stated before, you can load the Garmin software onto your computer, have the software on your computer autoroute you (from a specific start point that you choose while sitting at your computer) then upload the maps, route and waypoints to the Legend.

 

Personally, I think that autorouting would take half the fun out of it. Pick up a street map and use that or just stumble about until you find your way (you'll never know what you'll find). Both methods have done me fine so far with my old Legend.

[+S.A.R 29]

Have not used one, but DeLormes PN-20 comes with topo 7 which includes street level mapping and auto routing capability . Price starts around 299.00.

[+biscuits&gravy]

We recently bought a Garmin Venture HC it came with a Topo map (includes streets) on sale at Dicks Sporting Good store on sale for $169

 

It is adequate for geocaching, hiking, and it was helpful on Sunday when we were dring in and around Pittsburgh - I like it a lot. Its nnot slow, works inside many buildings and under tree cover.

[SmokeEater85911]

I guess I can just stick it out with the one I have.. like you said its more fun to try to figure your way out there... If I want one that talks and says "turn left here" "make u-turn here" I should get one made specifically for that such as a tomtom...

 

okay so what software do I need to do this? Id imagine there's lots of torrents out there for this kinda stuff, not that im promoting doing so

[+gravechaser]

You just need Garmin MapSource that covers North American cities. I have this and a blue Legend. I was able to load the areas for Rapid City and the Black Hills along with Sheridan, WY and it gave me street names with alley detail. Admittedly it took me awhile to figure out how to get the maps I wanted transferred to the Legend but once done we didn't get lost once. We used that Legend every day for 16 days and didn't get lost once.

 

Right now I can't find my MapSource CD for the exact title but it is for cities in North America.

[+coggins]

I guess I can just stick it out with the one I have.. like you said its more fun to try to figure your way out there... If I want one that talks and says "turn left here" "make u-turn here" I should get one made specifically for that such as a tomtom...

 

okay so what software do I need to do this?

You can get some good free legal maps for your area here:

 

http://www.ibycus.com/ibycususa/

[SmokeEater85911]

You just need Garmin MapSource that covers North American cities. I have this and a blue Legend. I was able to load the areas for Rapid City and the Black Hills along with Sheridan, WY and it gave me street names with alley detail. Admittedly it took me awhile to figure out how to get the maps I wanted transferred to the Legend but once done we didn't get lost once. We used that Legend every day for 16 days and didn't get lost once.

 

Right now I can't find my MapSource CD for the exact title but it is for cities in North America.

 

did you ened to buy a separate adaptor? my laptop has a serial port but its female as well, so i need to buy some sort of transitioning cable

[+coggins]

You just need Garmin MapSource that covers North American cities. I have this and a blue Legend. I was able to load the areas for Rapid City and the Black Hills along with Sheridan, WY and it gave me street names with alley detail. Admittedly it took me awhile to figure out how to get the maps I wanted transferred to the Legend but once done we didn't get lost once. We used that Legend every day for 16 days and didn't get lost once.

 

Right now I can't find my MapSource CD for the exact title but it is for cities in North America.

 

did you ened to buy a separate adaptor? my laptop has a serial port but its female as well, so i need to buy some sort of transitioning cable

You might need a USB to Serial adapter. The port on you laptop is most likely a DSUB HD15-F monitor output.

An RS-232 on a computer should be a DSUB 9-M. Same size, different number of pins and gender.

[+JohnTee]

Hi SmokeEater85911,

 

Don't know what, if anything, you've done with your Legend . . . but I'll add my two cents worth here too.

 

As with others, I found something like my first 200 caches with a Garmin eTrex Legend. Is it perfect? No. Under dense tree canopy you can lose signal and have GZ bounce from place to place. Does it have detailed maps? No. You really can get by without them. Print out cache descriptions and maps. Get a copy of something like M$ Streets and Trips on a laptop, plug your Legend in and use your laptop as a moving map display. Spend $120-140 and install Garmin's Streets Map. Go on an adventure, live on the edge, flirt with danger and go without a map. Go find where Ibycus is offering free maps for Garmins. Can a handheld autoroute? Yes, and some will do it better than others. The original Legend will probably have slower processing than current production GPS units.

 

If you really want something to drive with, get something to drive with. Buy a rebuilt StreetPilot or a new Nuvi from Amazon.com or Buy.com. You can use the "Send to GPS" button and send geocaches to either model through the USB cable. Use either model to navigate to the area of caches and use your handheld to hop out and find the caches. Have fun.

 

Cache On!

 

JohnTee

[SmokeEater85911]

Hi SmokeEater85911,

 

Don't know what, if anything, you've done with your Legend . . . but I'll add my two cents worth here too.

 

As with others, I found something like my first 200 caches with a Garmin eTrex Legend. Is it perfect? No. Under dense tree canopy you can lose signal and have GZ bounce from place to place. Does it have detailed maps? No. You really can get by without them. Print out cache descriptions and maps. Get a copy of something like M$ Streets and Trips on a laptop, plug your Legend in and use your laptop as a moving map display. Spend $120-140 and install Garmin's Streets Map. Go on an adventure, live on the edge, flirt with danger and go without a map. Go find where Ibycus is offering free maps for Garmins. Can a handheld autoroute? Yes, and some will do it better than others. The original Legend will probably have slower processing than current production GPS units.

 

If you really want something to drive with, get something to drive with. Buy a rebuilt StreetPilot or a new Nuvi from Amazon.com or Buy.com. You can use the "Send to GPS" button and send geocaches to either model through the USB cable. Use either model to navigate to the area of caches and use your handheld to hop out and find the caches. Have fun.

 

Cache On!

 

JohnTee

 

yeah i decided im going to use it anyway, and Ill get something for a blackberry when I upgrade my verizon phone in jan. thanks!

[+Trucker Lee]

I use a Legend, and a Summit. I like the Legend for the ease of entering waypoints on the go with the joystick. It is a good unit for locating caches.

 

But no, it is not a street navigation unit. You can load different maps on it if you wish. But to be truthful, do you really need a GPSr to think for you. If you are within a mile and half of a cache, and an exit is one mile away, do you need a GPSr to tell you it is time to get off the highway?

 

I fear too many are too reliant on electronic gadgets and the talking heads on the TV news, and the ability to think is lost.

[primesupafly]

I bought a 3 month old Legend last week and I've found 3 caches now.I think it does the job pretty good once you know how to use it.I only bought it for looking for caches,not driving,so I'm pretty happy with it.I too find it pretty easy to use and this is my first GPS unit.