Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx

[+enthralled]

I've doing a little bit of geocaching without a GPS for about a year now, and I'm thinking it's time to step it up and go ahead and purchase my first unit. I think I've decided on the Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx. Does anyone have any input on that? Also, is this one you can connect to your computer by USB to download waypoints? I have a Macbook Pro, is there anyone who also has a Mac that knows whether or not this GPS is compatible with it?

 

Thanks!

[+wkmccall]

I've doing a little bit of geocaching without a GPS for about a year now, and I'm thinking it's time to step it up and go ahead and purchase my first unit. I think I've decided on the Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx. Does anyone have any input on that? Also, is this one you can connect to your computer by USB to download waypoints? I have a Macbook Pro, is there anyone who also has a Mac that knows whether or not this GPS is compatible with it?

 

Thanks!

 

I have the Garmin Legend HCx and it's a great GPS, but sorry to say, I don't have a Mac, but I believe you can use it with a Mac though.

I've used my for nearly a year now and there's not much of a learning curve on this GPS at all. It's been in thick cover and in valleys without any problems.

[+wkmccall]

I've doing a little bit of geocaching without a GPS for about a year now, and I'm thinking it's time to step it up and go ahead and purchase my first unit. I think I've decided on the Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx. Does anyone have any input on that? Also, is this one you can connect to your computer by USB to download waypoints? I have a Macbook Pro, is there anyone who also has a Mac that knows whether or not this GPS is compatible with it?

 

Thanks!

 

I have the Garmin Legend HCx and it's a great GPS, but sorry to say, I don't have a Mac, but I believe you can use it with a Mac though.

I've used my for nearly a year now and there's not much of a learning curve on this GPS at all. It's been in thick cover and in valleys without any problems.

[+oldskoolboarder]

I have an HCX and use it w/ my Macbook. Yes, it's compatible but you'll have to deal w/ some "tricks" to get the maps over.

 

The Garmin maps are still formatted for PCs. Garmin posts tutorials on how to convert these to Mac format. I use Windows XP with Parallels so I used Windows to convert the maps and then brought them into Map Manager on the Mac. You can also use Bobcat which is good enough but not fully featured. But it does work on a Mac and is sufficient to track caches.

 

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3885

 

You can also MacCaching to transfer caches but IMHO Bobcat is your best option. Then you can at least use the Garmin maps with it.

 

Good luck.

[+enthralled]

What are the pros and cons or differences of getting a Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx or a Garmin GPSMAP Cx or Garmin GPSMAP CSx... which would you suggest me purchasing?

[+briansnat]

What are the pros and cons or differences of getting a Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx or a Garmin GPSMAP Cx or Garmin GPSMAP CSx... which would you suggest me purchasing?

 

The Legend HCX is more compact. That may be attractive if you are a hiker or backpacker. But if you are going to use it for vehicle navigation, the buttons on the side will make operating it difficult, esp. if you have it in a dashboard mount

 

The 60 line is heavier and larger than the eTrex line and the screen is slightly larger. The buttons on the front allow for easy operation when using it in the car.

 

Regarding the Map 60CX and 60CSX, the 60CX is close to the Legend in features, while the 60CSX is more similar to Vista HCX. The chief differences are the magnetic compass and barometric altimeter in the Vista HCX and 60CSX. The Legend HCX and 60CX use the sats to determine direction of travel, so you need to be moving for the unit to work properly. Once you stop, (or walk slowly) you're going to get strange readings because the unit doesn't know which direction is which.

 

With the magnetic compass in the Vista HCX and the 60CSX the unit can tell direction whether or not you are moving. The negative however is the need to calibrate the compass every time you change batteries, or let the GPS sit for a while unused. The compass also reduces battery life.

 

If you aren't going to use the unit for driving then I see no reason not to go with the Legend HCX, or the Vista HCX over the 60 models.

 

Another option is the Garmin Map 76 line (CX and CSX). These units are functionally identical to the 60 line, but with a different form factor. Because the form isn't nearly as popular as the 60 line, you can get the 76 units cheaper than the 60s even though they have a higher list price.

[+oldskoolboarder]

What are the pros and cons or differences of getting a Garmin Etrex Legend Hcx or a Garmin GPSMAP Cx or Garmin GPSMAP CSx... which would you suggest me purchasing?

 

I wanted a relatively small unit and didn't care about the compass. Because this is just for caching, I didn't care about car nav. I use my Blackberry or iPhone 3G for that. I also played w/ the HCx and 60CX and preferred the ergonomics of the Legend. YMMV. It also helped that Amazon had it on sale.

[+kellythetraveler]

I absolutely love my Legend HCx. I love the compact size, I can throw it in my pocket if needed. Pretend it's a phone when "trying" to be stealthy. My friend has the 60CX and really liked the size of mine. I have used it with a mac and I also use it for navigation on occasion.

[+Team PacketStorm]

Looks like its going to be the Legend HCX for me too, shot of an email to a few places regarding getting it to Australia from the US

Sooooo much cheaper!

Just need to decide where to get it