Experience of a Garmin eTrex 10?

[Dartmoor Dave]

I’ve only ever used a PDA running Memory Map for geocaching and have NO experience of Garmin at all. We are thinking of buying a Garmin (or two) to lend out to guests who wish to start geocaching (this is possibly the GPS that the National Trust lend out).

Does anybody have any experience of the eTrex 10 and is it any good for geocaching? What else is necessary in the way of maps – the reason I have always avoided Garmin is that I have a large collection of OS maps from MM.

If you haven’t used the eTrex 10, which Garmin would you recommend?

All help and contributions will be gratefully received 🙄

[MyBoyHarley]

Hello Dave:
I ‘ve had an ETREX 10 for a couple of years and I’m happy with it. I would describe it as an entry-level, basic piece of kit, but it has always served me well. I’m sure there is no need for me to go over the specs here, because the Garmin page, Youtube and the net have plenty to say in that area. My main points would be that it is very cheap, the batteries last for ages, and the accuracy is pretty good. There are many more advanced models out there, but at around £100.00, the cost is reasonable. The only negative points are that it comes with a black and white screen and no maps – downloadable or otherwise. I would be happy to answer any in-depth points you may have. Regards – Mike (MyBoyHarley)

[Tamerton Chocolates]

Our Garmin Gpsmap 60CSx died recently. We really couldn’t justify spending hundreds of pounds on a Montana or (my preferred choice) a Monterra for those few hours a month that I’d use it. I usually have my Android phone with me anyway so the GPS really is only there because it is more accurate and far more rugged.

So we opted for an cheap Etrex 30 .. I think it only differs with the 10 in that it has a colour screen and a compass.

It has a good, fast GPS lock and the batteries last forever. As with all Garmins the UI (please explain why Garmin’s cannot scroll diagonally!!) and the PC support (Mapsource) is horrid (but that may be a personal thing).

The main thing that really annoys me however is the little joystick at the top, it always gets pushed when you carry it in a pocket, creating waypoints all over the place and I haven’t found the one-button screen/keyboard standby that my CSx had.

The good thing is that you can load colour OS maps for free with a little trickery. You go to Bing and select OS maps. Take a screenshot of the area you like and then load that screenshot in google-earth as an overlay. From there you can export it as a kmz file file that garmin understands as a map – there is a howto somewhere if you search on the internet.

In all – it will do the job well, but it isn’t anything to get excited about.

[redvanman1971]

Ourt Garmin is the Etrex 20 , I did have the Etrex 10 for a short while but did miss the colour maps.

I got the maps from a site called http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm , very easy to download onto a memory card and load onto your Garmin
( not sure if the Etrex 10 had a memory card slot ).

The only difference between the 20 and the 30 is the 20 hasn’t got a barometric altimeter, wireless data sharing, and a 3-axis electronic compass.

Apart from the unwanted waypoints due to the joystick as mentioned by Tamerton Chocolates I do find it a easy piece of equipment to use .

[MyBoyHarley]

I can confirm that the Etrex 10 does not have a memory card slot, and that there are no additional maps or extra downloads available for this GPS. It does have a compass screen, although I personally prefer to use the basic interface which comprises a black arrow (me), moving towards the cache, and counting down the distance as progress is made. As mentioned, it is very basic BUT that means it would be foolproof as a “lend out” to beginners, and/or those not conversant with the equipment. Cache details are transferred to the machine in detail, and include hints and logs. It’s a basic load and go machine.
Hope this helps…

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