To buy or not to buy-Garmin eTrex Legend Cx

[Badfish740]

My latest Pines misadventure really pushed me over the edge as far as buying a GPS. I'm not really into making big ticket purchases lately due to the fact that I have to save a mint in order to afford a house in this state, but I'm justifying it like this:

I really love exploring the pinelands.

Exploring the pinelands with handwritten directions gleaned from squinting at a satellite photo on Google Earth is a complete waste of valuable weekend time.

Having GPS for onroad trips would be nice too.

So I'm thinking about the Garmin eTrex Legend Cx. Amazon is selling it for $205 so I can swing that. Of course once I tack on the car charger and mount it'll be more like $260 I guess. The big question I have is maps-tell me if I'm understanding this correctly-the road maps come pre-loaded but the topos come seperately?

Basically what do I need to simply know where I'm going on the highway and the trails? I don't need to know where the Dunkin Donuts is, or when there's a traffic jam, or what the weather is...lol

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Yes, the topo maps are separate. You can't navigate using the topo maps, you have to turn it off before navigating on the road, but you can put it on and watch it, it has most of the roads in the pines.

I don't know what sort of navigating capability the Etrex has. We have the 60csx an it navigates really well, but it was a lot more than $205.

 

[RednekF350]

I have the 60CSX too and it was worth the extra scratch.
You can find it for $369 at thegpsstore.com
I have the Northeast Topo micro sd chip ($76.00 +/-) and the Bluechart for the Jersey coast ($146 +/-).
I don't have any street nav chips and don't plan on getting any.
The built in base map has major roads only but the topo chip shows almost all local roads and woods roads (without names).
Scott

 

[Badfish740]

I'm a little confused-Sue, what do you mean when you say that you can't navigate with the topo maps? I was under the impression that I could switch to the topo map, pull the GPS out of the holder, and walk with it? Also, when you say you don't know what kind of navigating capability the eTrex has, what do you mean exactly?

 

[Boyd]

Yes, of course you can "navigate" with the topo maps. They will display your position on the screen as you move around. You can also choose a waypoint (or series of waypoints) and the GPS will draw a line from your current position to that point.

But the topo maps aren't "routable." In other words, you can't tell the GPS you want to go to 1245 Main Street in Medford and have it compute turn by turn directions for you. The topo maps are "dumb" whereas the city maps are "smart." They will compute a complete route from your position to a destination and tell you where to turn each step of the way.

Unfortunately the city/street maps do NOT come with the Legend either, you have to purchase them separately. As Scott says, the only thing built into the GPS is a VERY crude "basemap." So it will include major roads like i295, the NJ Tpk, Garden St Pkwy, Rt 70, Rt 38, and other roads that size. It will have a few of the larger towns on it. But pretty much anywhere you'd want to explore the pines you'll just find a blank screen.

I have the Legend C (predecessor to the Cx) and it's a very nice unit for hiking around. It will be fine for driving around little roads in the pines but not so good for "real" auto navigation. Screen is small and dim, no voice prompts, no touchscreen for easy control as you drive, etc. If your budget is tight I'd suggest only getting the GPS and topo maps, then think about stuff like the car mount and charger later. The batteries last quite a long time if you don't turn on the screen backlight. If you want to use a GPS to really replace paper maps while driving I think you will quickly feel limited by any unit not designed for that purpose.

The Garmin StreetPilots are really nice for auto navigation, but expensive. However they come preloaded with the city/street maps for all of North America, and you can also load the Topo maps onto them. I've had one of these (2620) for about 3 years and it's a pleasure to use, screen is very visible even in full sunlight.

 

[Badfish740]

But the topo maps aren't "routable." In other words, you can't tell the GPS you want to go to 1245 Main Street in Medford and have it compute turn by turn directions for you. The topo maps are "dumb" whereas the city maps are "smart." They will compute a complete route from your position to a destination and tell you where to turn each step of the way.

Ahhhh...gotcha-now I understand. Somehow this concept escaped me before...lol Thanks for all of the advice everyone. I think for right now I might do as Boyd said and just get a GPS with topo maps. I have a more urgent need to know where I am in the pines rather than on the roads!

 

[RednekF350]

Ahhhh...gotcha-now I understand. Somehow this concept escaped me before...lol Thanks for all of the advice everyone. I think for right now I might do as Boyd said and just get a GPS with topo maps. I have a more urgent need to know where I am in the pines rather than on the roads!

I too don't need the street mapping.
The Mapsource topo chip is pretty detailed for the woods and I am very pleased with it.