Garmin eTrex Legend Review
The eTrex Legend offers extremely accurate readings (rated to within 2 to 3 meters). It has a good-size screen (288 x 160 pixels) making it easy to see location details, and the Legend redraws maps quickly when zooming in or out of a position.
With 8 MB of memory, there is also plenty of room for waypoints, routes, and saved tracks. The Legend will hold up to 500 waypoints, complete with a name and graphical symbol, 20 routes with 50 waypoints each, and it contains slots for 10 saved tracks. You can also download maps from Garmin's MapSource CD-ROMs to see street-level or topographic detail.
But one of the most striking attributes of the Legend is its comfortable and efficient design. While it rests easily in the palm of either hand, it's most suited for the left hand, where its handy click-stick can be manipulated with the thumb. The Legend is coated with a waterproof, rubberized plastic shell that grips nicely. Weighing in at only 5.3 ounces, it fits into a pocket or clips onto a belt loop, going almost unnoticed.
The internal trip computer of the Legend will provide a range of data about your hikes and drives, including current speed, average speed, trip distance, and time traveled (both moving and stopped). For those interested in checking out their foot pace and distance traveled, it's a handy GPS to have in hand.
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Pros:
o Comfortable, compact design
o Click-stick for interface navigation
o Bright backlight
o Handy distance-traveled feature.
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Cons:
o Accuracy of the system
o Sporadic reception within urban areas
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Garmin Forerunner 201 Review
Think of the Forerunner 201 as a watch, a bulky, large watch that can also track your workout statistics. The Forerunner 201 isn't so much a GPS system as it is a performance monitor with a bit of GPS sprinkled in. Specifically designed to be taken with you on a jog or bike ride, the Forerunner has a variety of features. Among these are: the History function, which allows you to view your workout statistics as they are broken down by individual days, or weeks. It can also show your entire workout history. You can also view a map of your route and can save "waypoints" to mark coordinates, in case you want to return to the place you were later. An especially fun feature is called "Virtual Partner" mode. This allows you to set a specific goal for yourself that your "virtual partner" will run, while you race him. The display is large enough, and easy enough to quickly read and configure, and the powerful rechargeable lithium-ion battery will easily run for at least 13 hours before needing a recharge.
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Pros:
o Virtual Partner allows you to race against your own time and distance goals.
o Comes with adjustable wristband and AC desktop charger.
o Waterproof.
o Keeps track of lap times, distance and calories burned.
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Cons:
o Accuracy of the system. The pace and mileage information often fluctuates and has problems, especially when the skies are cloudy and the weather is bad. It also has troubles with tall trees and buildings.
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Garmin Quest Review
Measuring 4.5 by 2.2 by 0.9 inches and weighing a mere 5.5 ounces, the Garmin Quest is all about portability. The display is easy to read in direct sunlight but becomes washed out and difficult to view under cloud cover or indoors. Fortunately, the screen is backlit and includes a backlight brightness control to match your lighting environment. The Garmin Quest uses a 12-channel, WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System)-enabled receiver and comes with built-in base maps of Europe. The package includes Garmin's City Select Europe street-level mapping software, a USB cable, an A/C power adapter, a 12-volt power adapter with speaker, reference manuals, and a mounting device.
In general the pinpoint accuracy from Garmin GPS receivers is spot on, and the Quest is no different, tracking our test route in the car and on foot perfectly. The only issue with the device is a minor one, the screen is a bit on the small side, so if using it in car be sure to mount the Quest in a place where it is easy to see if you want to view street names and addresses. The rechargeable internal lithium-ion battery is rated for approximately 20 hours under normal use.
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Pros:
o Compact design
o Strong receiver
o Solid mounting device
o Impressive battery life
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Cons:
o No memory card or hard drive for storage
o Users have to download maps.
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Garmin nuvi 350 Review
Whether you're in the market for a portable GPS device or are just looking for that perfect electronic travel companion for your next trip to Europe, the nüvi 350 from Garmin may well have you reaching for your credit card. The nüvi 350 is pretty thin and measures just 98.3 x 73.9 x 22.1mm and weighs 144g. The GPS antenna folds out of the rear, which negatively affects the neat look. The 320 x 240 display is touch sensitive and 2.8in in size. The sides house just a power switch, a USB jack for mains power, car power and PC connection, and 3.5mm earphones jack.
In addition, the nüvi 350 is also the first GPS unit that uses the new SiRFstar III GPS Module. This module is the latest generation of GPS receiver chipsets from the manufacturer SiRF. It appears to indeed be extremely sensitive, with a fast time to first fix (TTFF). Like all of Garmin's recently released automotive GPS products, the nüvi 350 is extremely easy to use. The only button on it is the power on/off button; all features and functions are accessed via the touch screen. It's rare that a company can create a new product category, develop a product in that category, and get it right on the first try, but Garmin appears to have done just that with the nüvi 350.
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Pros:
o Stylish design
o V. good quality 3D maps
o Bright backlight
o Voice instructions are clear and easy to follow.
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Cons:
o Requires a clear view of the open sky to link up to the satellites.
o Price, quite expensive.
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Magellan RoadMate 760 Review
The Magellan RoadMate 760 has a new onboard service called 'SmartDetour' which provides automatic rerouting in the event of traffic delays.
The RoadMate 760 includes a new Multl-Destination routing which allows you to enter up to 20 destinations. The RoadMate 760 will then find the shortest path between each of the destinations.
The POI database in the Magellan 760 has been upgraded with nearly 7 million locations. Another new feature we can’t wait to try is an automatic night mode operation where the brightness of the display changes based on the time of day.
The map display now provides the street number range for your current location which might be useful if you need to report a specific location in the event of an emergency. 12 voices are included and the voice directions given by the RoadMate 760 increase when the vehicle is travelling over 45 mph.
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Pros:
o Excellent user interface. A GPS interface for technophobes.
o Improved antenna reception and map tracking performance over previous Magellan Roadmate’s.
o Huge map database contains even the most remote roads.
o Massive Points of Interest (POI) database contains millions of shops, restaurants, banks, service stations, tourist attractions, parking garages, route planner etc.
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Cons:
o Automatic volume leveling doesn’t work well (volume seems to jump in large volume increments rather than subtle leveling adjustments)
o Sometimes long Irish street names don’t fit on the screen.
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