9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Small and Portable
Date of Review: Apr 8, 2005
The Bottom Line: If you want, take a look at the competing brands, but Garmin has a good reputation and this is GPS is not too basic or not too cluttered with features.
The Garmin GPS Legend is a mid to high-end handheld GPS unit. P
WHO IS IT FOR?
This unit is best suited to hikers due to its portablity and water resistancy (although I'd still be cautious about getting an expensive unit like that wet). Beginners or advanced GPS users will find this easy to use.
IN WHAT SITUATIONS WOULD I USE THE GPS?
I would not recommend this GPS unit if all you want to do is use it for in-car navigation. First of all, the screen is too small to comfortably comfortably view the screen, unless you have a co-pilot who takes care of the navigation. There is also no sound meaning you will not get voice guided directions or even beeps at waypoints. It is probably more practical on motorcycles where voice-guided GPS voices would be of no use anyway. Also, if you want to use it on the roads, you need to buy extra map software for your country and state, which is pretty expensive. The base software that comes with the unit is useless and inaccurate. At the time when I bought this unit, Magellen's base map data is also the same story - you need to buy extra map software for road navigation.
POWER-WISE:
Power-wise, yes, it is possible to plug this unit into the cigarette lighter of your vehicle. The batteries last for about 8 hours , and are not rechargable, unless you buy rechargable batteries (Not supplied by Garmin).
EXPANDABILITY:
On the matter of expandability - this GPS unit allows for pretty much all of Garmin's GPS software to be installed on it i.e Points of Interests and Metro Maps. Note that the basic version (the Yellow handheld) cannot install Points of Interest and Maps! The Green one (venture) can install Points of Interests, but when I last looked it cannot install maps! Be careful , and think of what you need. It is best bet to buy this unit in case you want these features.
CAPABILITY
The unit can display both metric or imperial measures. It displays Speed, Heading, Distance to Destination, Estimated Time to Destination, Estimated Destination Time, Current Time and I think more, and more than you will need. It also displays things like sunset/sunrise time. It has both a compass view and a map view. The map view will have a symbol showing your current location. You can also turn on the "Tracks" function which draws a line as you travel merrily along the surface or lower atmosphere of the Earth. There is also a routes function which I didn't find really useful anyway.
Concerning memory - I had a lot more memory than I needed. Don't worry about it.
The screen resolution is very good, but the details are pretty small. Again, if you want an in car navigation system, this is not the way to go. If you want to go hiking and also have an in-car nav system, get them both. This will not suffice for in car navigation.
This unit has WAAS capability, which means it can take advantage of the WAAS network, making the unit even more accurate. At the time I last looked, WAAS coverage is not available in Australia. It is available in the United States. WASS is NOT global and you should attempt a Google search if you want to find out if it is available in your location. That said, I don't think most people need WAAS at all.It is an extra.
INTERFACE
The interface of the GPS looks much like Windows with drop down menus. It is easy to use.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
I have had this handheld GPS unit for more than two years now. Recently, when I tried to turn on the unit it would not get a satellite reception even after waiting for more than 5 minutes in line of sight with the sky, which worried me. Then, it seemed to fix itself after a while. However,problems came back after the GPS unit failed to respond to my joystick and button inputs, and the screen displayed weird things. I have no idea what caused this malfunction, but it has not been resolved (partly because I do not really need to use this unit anymore). I have not exposed the GPS unit to any reasonable conditions which would damage it. It is suppose to be an outdoor device , thus, rugged.
As you all know, technology is not always perfect and things do break - in fact, this could happen to any GPS unit or appliance. I would take care not judge the GPS unit solely on this happening. However, I was certainly not happy.
OTHERWISE, the GPS unit performs very well and would almost certainly have more features than you need.
Overall, this unit is compact and very portable. Why did I give it 4 but not 5 stars? Well, it satisfies all the functions one would need, but I wished it includes some basic sound features (even a beep perhaps), and a slightly larger screen. Also, the GPS breaking down is also taken into account, but not too hardly, for the reasons I mentioned.
I say Yes I recommend it to a friend, given that what happened to me was bad luck. Just take a look at some other reviews before you make your final decision.
