Garmin etrex Legend

[Strangelove]

Is a Garmin eTrex Legend a useable option for a bike?

I Know nothing about GPS and have been offered one at what seems to be a reasonable price. (£90) Cant really justify the £700-£900 outlay for the streetpilots etc discussed on this forum that seem to be the dogs bollox. Is this a realistic cheap alternative or should I just forget the idea altogether? (in the absence of bags of dosh!)

Help please!

 

[tonys]

I use one for road and trail riding and it's fine. You will need to add some rubber strips to the inside of the battery cover to stop the batteries moving about. Mine's been tested as waterproof to considerable depths!

 

[Strangelove]

Thanks Tonys, might go ahead with deal, just didn't want to end up with something I didn't need or couldn't use!

 

[PanEuropean]

Strangelove:

If you're new to the whole topic of using GPS on a motorcycle, here's a quick decision-making guide that will help you sort out all the different products:

1) Does the GPSR support autorouting - in other words, will it calculate how to get you from A to B, or just display a map? The eTrex Legend you refer to does not support autorouting, whereas the more expensive GPSR's, such as the StreetPilot series and the GPS V, 276, 296 and others do.

2) Does the GPSR come with cartography (maps) included, or will you have to pay extra to buy maps? The eTrex Legend does not come with detailed maps, the StreetPilot series does.

3) What 'basemap' does the GPSR have in it? Almost all Garmin GPSRs have a 'basemap' in them, this is a built-in map that shows major cities and major highways. There are several different versions of the basemap, for different areas of the world. The North American basemap is called "Americas", the European basemap is called "Atlantic", and the Asia-Pacific basemap is called "Pacific". If you buy a GPSR new from a store, it's safe to assume it will have the basemap that corresponds to the region in which it is sold. If you are buying a second-hand GPSR, make sure it has the basemap appropriate to your region.

4) What do you want to use the GPSR for? If you just want something that shows you where you are at the moment, the eTrex family is worth considering. If you want to use the GPSR to look up locations, find hotels, restaurants, etc., or to create routes automatically (as mentioned in item 1), then you might be better off looking at a more capable (translation = more expensive) model.

Keep in mind that just about all the GPSRs, whether they cost $99 new or $1999 new, will show you your present position with pretty much the same accuracy. What you get, as you move up in the price range, is a bigger screen, additional capabilities such as calculating routes, and cartography included with the package. For the higher end units, such as the StreetPilot series, the price Garmin has to pay for cartography (which they source from other companies) can easily comprise half the price of the GPSR package.

PanEuropean

 

[richie]

Strangelove,

Depending where you are in ireland you'll be just as well off with the GPS you mentioned as the mapping of ireland is pretty useless. So your GPS would be usefull for statistics and keeping track of where you are and have been. Rather than how to get from A to B.

 

[PanEuropean]

Richie:

Sharp of you to pick up on Strangelove's location in Ireland, I missed that.

Your comments are correct, in the context of purchasing a higher-end GPSR that has address lookup and autorouting - the performance of the higher end GPSR's is entirely dependent on the quality of the detail maps available, and Ireland has not yet been fully covered in detail.

However, if Strangelove just wants a basic unit, to show him where he is, something that will show major roads and topographical features, but not street level detail, then an eTrex with MetroGuide Europe might not be a bad choice (inexpensive, too). With that particular combination, the hardware (GPSR) and software (cartography) more or less match the capabilities of each other.

PanEuropean

 

[TheJoker]

I used an eTrex Legend on my GSX-R for almost a year before I lost it. It was great fun - I discovered more roads in 1 month than I had in a year. You can upload maps into it and they'll show you where you are, and such. I didn't need (or want?) auto-routing so, the basemap with additional mapsource maps was fine. I had greater London loaded up in mine.
I also used it for timing on the Nurburgring which was a hoot - a miniature ring-map on the screen after every lap.

The screen is a bit small and the device can get a bit fiddly, but hey, for £90!!

I used one of those mobile-phone holders from poundland-stretcher (or whatever) and mounted that onto my top-yokes. Worked a treat, the GPS only came lose once; after putting the front wheel down at about 110mph a bit crossed up... Luckily I used the lanyard as a safety cord (This was on the E40 in Belgium)

 

[Strangelove]

Brilliant guys, thanks for the time and the comprehensive replies. I'm pretty well tied into the lower price end of the market so by reading your replies I think I'm confident now that I'll be buying something that I can use.

Cheers

 

[PanEuropean]

Strangelove:

Be sure to come back and let us all know how you like it after you have used it for a while.

A lot of the discussion here in the forum is about the really high end (and high price) GPSR's, such as the SP series and the 276/296. Unless someone is a really serious international traveller, or has deep pockets and likes toys, there are lots of other choices out there, such as the eTrex you are thinking of, that can meet individual needs just as well as the high end units.

So, stay in touch, OK?

PanEuropean

 

[richie]

Yeh good idea from Pan, My GPS60C could be useless to me once I get to Ireland so I could as well get a cheaper one too.

 

[ktm520]

Ritchie

Can you upload maps onto the 60c ?

 

[BurnieM]

Yes, the GPSmap 60C has 56MB of internal memory which should hold just under half of the UK

 

[gavinbell]

cheaper alternatives

anyone considering a more basic mapping GPS .....I have a Garmin 12 map for sale. Good basic mapping GPS, euro basemap and takes map data from roads and recreation.
See sale and wanted thread.

Gavin

 

[richie]

Ritchie

Can you upload maps onto the 60c ?

Again yes you can. But you have to buy it first. I am in the process of trying the www.gpsutlity.co.uk software. It wont autoroute but will let you scan your own maps. I also have mapsource with unlock codes...